The World of Children

For the undergraduate child development course taught chronologically.

The World of Children is a chronological child development textbook by Joan Littlefield Cook and Greg Cook that helps students connect the science and the practice of child development in a way that can positively change lives. This exciting new text features an active learning system that exposes students to real people facing real world child development challenges, and encourages them to think critically about issues from multiple perspectives.

The World of Children demonstrates the practical applications of child development through interviews with a diverse group of real parents and a variety of professionals who rely upon child development information in their jobs. Each chapter also spotlights the ways programs, laws, regulations, and other governing aspects of society can affect children.

Looking for additional resources to help you understand the material and succeed in this course? MyDevelopmentLab contains study tools such as flashcards, self tests, videos, as well as MyVirtualChild which allows you to raise your own virtual child from birth through age 18 and monitor the results.

Want to learn more about MyVirtualChild? Visit www.mydevelopmentlab.com and click on the ‘watch this video’ link to learn about MyVirtualChild.

MyDevelpmentLab with MyVirtualChild is available at www.mydevelopmentlab.com.

Greg Cook is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Greg majored in Psychology at the University of Dayton and later received his Ph.D. in Psychology at Vanderbilt University. For over 20 years he has taught courses in child development, research methods, statistics, and related topics at Whitewater as well as at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Vanderbilt University. At Whitewater Greg received a department award and also a College of Letters and Sciences award for excellence in teaching. Students consistently comment on his ability to present difficult information in a clear and understandable way. Greg’s research on cognitive development has been published in scholarly journals such as Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. He also collaborated with colleagues in the College of Education on studies published in the Journal of Experimental Education, the Journal of Research & Development in Education, and the Journal of Reading Education. Greg is a former chairperson in the Department of Psychology and has also worked in the Associate Dean’s Office in his college, and currently serves as as Director of Academic Assessment.  Teaching students in face-to-face and in online formats is still his main passion.

Joan Littlefield Cook is a Professor of Psychology and current chairperson of the Psychology Department at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. As an undergraduate she majored in Psychology at Tennessee Technological University. She earned a Master’s and Ph.D. in Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.  Joan has taught courses for more than 20 years related to child and adolescent development, educational psychology, and cognitive psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Middle Tennessee State University. Her classes have ranged from large lecture courses with 250 students to small seminars. Students have always appreciated her knowledge of the field and her ability to present information in a way that is useful, motivating, and friendly. The Student Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison voted her as one of their most outstanding professors, and the UW-Whitewater Psychology Student Organization presented her with their Excellence in Teaching Award. Joan's research is on mathematical problem solving and cognitive development. She and her colleagues have published papers in the Cognition & Instruction, Journal of Educational Psychology, Intelligence, Memory & Cognition, the Gifted Child Quarterly, and the Journal of Experimental Psychology. She has co-authored two other books and numerous instructional materials.

Greg and Joan also co-authored Child Development: Principles and Perspectives, a fresh and widely-acclaimed textbook (published by Allyn & Bacon) that explores child development within a topical framework.

BRIEF TOC:

Part One: Beginnings

Chapter 1: Exploring Child Development

Chapter 2: Heredity and the Environment

Chapter 3: Prenatal Development and Birth

Part Two: Infants and Toddlers: The First Years (Birth through 2 years)

Chapter 4: Physical Development in Infants and Toddlers

Chapter 5: Cognitive Development in Infants and Toddlers

Chapter 6: Socioemotional Development in Infants and Toddlers

Part Three: Early Childhood: The Playful Years (3 through 6 Years)

Chapter 7: Physical Development in Early Childhood

Chapter 8: Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

Chapter 9: Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood

Part Four: Middle Childhood: The School Years (7 through 11 Years)

Chapter 10: Physical Development in Middle Childhood

Chapter 11: Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Chapter 12: Socioemotional Development in Middle Childhood

Part Five: Adolescence: The Transition toward Adulthood (12 Years and beyond)

Chapter 13: Physical Development in Adolescence

Chapter 14: Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Chapter 15: Socioemotional Development in Adolescence

DETAILED TOC

Part One: Beginnings

Chapter 1: Exploring Child Development

Defining the Field

            What Develops?

                        Nature and Nurture

                        The Role of Neuroscience

                        Diversity and Multiculturalism          

                        Positive Development and Resilience

            General Themes in Modern Child Development

Theories of Child Development

            What Is a Theory, and Why Are Theories Useful?

            Psychoanalytic, Behavioral, and Social Learning Theories

                        Psychoanalytical Theories

                        Behavioral Theories

                        Social Learning Theory

            Cognitive, Biological, and the Contextual and Systems Theories

                        Cognitive Theories

                        Biological Theories

                        Contextual and Systems Theories

Using the Scientific Method: Research in Child Development

            Descriptive Research Methods

            Correlational Research Methods: Measuring Associations

            Experimental Research Methods: Determining Cause and Effect

            Methods for Assessing Development

            Ethics in Research with Children

Applications of Child Development Research and Careers Related to Children

            Practical Applications of Child Development Research

                        Family and Parenting

                        Social Policy

            Careers Related to Children

Chapter 2: Heredity and the Environment

Genes and Human Reproduction

            Genes and the Magical Four-Letter Code

            Human Reproduction and Cell Division

How Traits and Genetic Abnormalities Are Inherited

            Dominant—Recessive Traits

                        Dominant Gene Diseases

                        Recessive Gene Diseases

                        X-Linked Traits

            Chromosome Abnormalities

            Prenatal Screening and Genetic Testing

How Genes and Environments Interact

            Range of Reaction, Canalization, and Niche-Picking

                        Range of Reaction

                        Canalization

                        Niche-Picking: I Gotta Be Me…

            Probabilistic Epigenesis: Activating Your Genes

Behavior Genetics: Measuring the Heritability of Traits

            Behavior Genetics, Heritability, and Shared and Nonshared Environments

            How Is Heritability Estimated?

            Heritability of Complex Characteristics

                        Heritability of Cognitive Skills

                        Heritability of Personality and Temperament

Chapter 3: Prenatal Development and Birth

Prenatal Development

            Conception

            Stages of Prenatal Development

                        The Germinal Stage: Conception through 2 Weeks

                        The Embryonic Stage: Weeks 3 through 8

                        The Fetal Stage: Week 9 through birth (38 to 40 weeks)

Teratogens: Health Risks for the Baby

            Alcohol, Cocaine, and Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy

                        Alcohol

                        Cocaine

                        Cigarette Smoking

            The Mother’s Health and Age

                        Mother’s Health

                                    Herpes

                                    Syphilis

                                    HIV/AIDS

                        Mother’s Age 

            Critical Periods

            The Role of Fathers

The Process of Birth

            Stages of Birth

            Cultural Differences Surrounding Birth

            Modern Birthing Practices in the United States: Choices and Alternatives

                        Birth Attendants

                        Prepared Childbirth

                        Pain Relief during Labor and Delivery

            Birthing Complications: Something Isn’t Right

                        Malpresentation

                        Fetal Distress

            Here’s the Newborn!

Becoming a Family: Psychological Adjustments to Having a Newborn

            The Transition to Parenthood

            Becoming the Big Brother or Sister

                        Conclusion

Part Two: Infants and Toddlers: The First Years (Birth through 2 years)

Chapter 4: Physical Development in Infants and Toddlers

Infants at Risk: Prematurity and Infant Mortality

            What Is Prematurity?

            Infant Mortality

            Prenatal Care: Having a Healthy Baby

Growth of the Body and Brain

            Physical Growth, Sleep Patterns, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

                        Physical Growth

                        Sleep Patterns

                        Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

            Feeding and Nutrition

            Structure of the Brain and Nervous System

            Forming the Brain and Nervous System

Sensory Capabilities

            Basic Components of Vision

                        How Clear is Their Vision?

                        Can They See Different Colors?

                        How Deep is that Drop? Early Depth Perception

            How Well Do Infants Hear?

            Smell and Taste

Motor Development

            Reflexes: The Infant’s First Coordinated Movements

            Voluntary Movements: The Motor Milestones

            Cultural Differences in Early Experience

            Toilet Training

Chapter 5: Cognitive Development in Infants and Toddlers

Perceptual Development

            Robert Fantz and the Early Work in Testing Visual Preferences

            Habituation—Dishabituation Research

           Intermodal Perception: Putting It All Together

Explaining Cognitive Development: Piaget’s Constructivist View

           Piaget as a Child Prodigy

           Constructivism and Interaction with the Environment

           Piaget’s Stage 1: Sensorimotor Thought (Birth to 2 Years)

Learning to Communicate

          What Is Language?

          Learning Theory: Language as a Learned Skill

          Nativist Theory: Born to Talk

                        Is Language Innate?

                                    Do All Humans Develop Language?

                                    Can Nonhumans Develop Language?

                                    Are There Physical Structures That Are Specialized for Language?

                                    Are There Sensitive Periods for Language Development?

                        Criticisms of Nativist Theory

          Interaction Theories: Cognitive and Social Interactionist Approaches

                        Cognitive Approach: Language Depends on Cognition

                        Social Interactionist Theory

          Early Communication: How Language Starts

                        Perceptual Skills

                        Social Interactions

                        From Crying to Words: Speech Production in Infancy

                        Semantics: Words and Their Meanings

                                    How Are Early Words Acquired?

                                    What is the Function of Early Words?

                        Toddler Grammar: Rules for Putting Words Together

Chapter 6: Socioemotional Development in Infants and Toddlers

Attachment

           The History of Attachment Research

                        John Bowlby’s Ethological Theory

                        Harry Harlow’s Research with Rhesus Monkeys

                        Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation

           Factors Related to Attachment

                        Parent Factors

                        Infant Factors

                        Cultural Factors

                        Attachments with Fathers

                        Day Care and Attachments

            Early Attachment and Long-Term Outcomes

Temperament and Emotion

           Types of Temperaments

                        How Do Different Temperaments Form?

                        Goodness of Fit

                        Consistency over Time

           Other Approaches to Temperament

            Infant Responses to Emotions

           Toddler Self-Conscious Emotions

Social Relations and Play

           Infant Social Interactions and Sensorimotor Play

           Toddler Friends

           Toddler Conflicts and Symbolic Play

Part Three: Early Childhood: The Playful Years (3 through 6 years )

Chapter 7: Physical Development in Early Childhood

Growth of the Body and Brain

          Physical Growth and Nutrition

          Growth and Development of the Brain

          The Role of Experience in Brain Development

          Larger Developmental Patterns in the Brain

Motor Development and Physical Activity

          Gross-Motor and Fine-Motor Development

          Physical Activity and Exercise

          Cerebral Palsy

Health and Safety Issues

         Childhood Deaths and Safety Issues

         Child Maltreatment: Abuse and Neglect

         Effects of Abuse and Neglect

Chapter 8: Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

Piaget’s Stage 2: Preoperational Thought

         Flourishing Mental Representations

                     Symbols in Language

                     Symbols in Art

                     Symbols in Play

         Emergence of Intuitive Thought: “It  Seems Like..."

         Conservation Problems

         Piaget’s and Education

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural View of Cognitive Development

          Vygotsky’s Background: The Sociocultural Context for a New Theory

          The Role of Speech and Language

          Mediation: With a Little Help from Your Friends

          The Zone of Proximal Development

          Scaffolding and Collaborative Learning

Information Processing

          What Is the Information-Processing Approach?

          The Development of Basic Cognitive Processes

                       Changes in Processing Capacity

                       Changes in Processing Efficiency

                       Changes in Attention

          Metacognition and the Child’s Developing Theory of Mind

                       Theory of Mind

Language Development

          An Expanding Vocabulary

          Learning Grammar and the Social Rules of Discourse

          Bilingual Children: Learning Two Languages

Early Childhood Education and Kindergarten Readiness

          Early Childhood Education

          Kindergarten Readiness

Chapter 9: Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood

The Social and Emotional Self

            The Self, Self-Regulation, and Emotions

                        The Self

                        Self-Regulation

                        Emotions

            Developing Ideas about Gender

            Moral Development

Parenting

            Dimensions of Parenting

            Parenting Styles

            Discipline: What’s a Parent to Do?

                        A Caution about Punishment

                        Positive Discipline

Friends and Play

            Gender Segregation

            Types of Play

                        Parten’s Classic Study of Play

                        Sociodramatic Play

            Cultural Differences in Play

Part Four: Middle Childhood: The School Years (7 through 11 Years)

Chapter 10: Physical Development in Middle Childhood

Growth of the Body and Brain

            Physical Growth and Problems with Being Overweight

            Growth and Maturation of the Brain

Motor Development and Physical Activity

            Motor Development

            Physical Activity and Exercise

            Organized Sports

Health and Safety Issues

            Childhood Injuries and Safety Issues

            Child Sexual Abuse

                        Who’s at Risk?

                        What are the Effects of Child Abuse?

Children with Exceptional Needs

            What Is Developmental Psychopathology?

            Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

            Communication and Learning Disorders

            Autism Spectrum Disorders

Chapter 11: Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Piaget’s Stage 3: Concrete Operational Thought (Ages 7 through 11)

            What Is Concrete Operational Thinking?

            Class Inclusion, Seriation, and Transitive Inference Skills

Information Processing: Memory Development

            Two Models of Memory: Stores and Networks

            Working Memory

            Long-Term Memory

            Other Characteristics of Memory Development

                        Reconstructive Memory

                        Autobiographical Memory

Information Processing: Knowledge, Strategies, and New Approaches

            Knowledge Base

            Strategy Development

            Newer Approaches to Understanding Cognitive Development

                        Computational Models of Thought

                        Fuzzy Trace Theory

            Information Processing: Where Does It Stand?

Learning to Communicate: Language in Middle Childhood

            Experts in the Basics

            Metalinguistic Awareness

            Changes in How Language Is Used

            Connectionist Models of Language Development

Cognition in Context

            Development of Mathematical Skills

                        Laying the foundation for Mathematical Skills

                        Mathematical Skills during the Elementary Years

            Development of Reading Skills

            Development of Writing Skills

                        Inventive Spelling

                        Mechanics and Intermediate Writing

                        Planning and Revising

Chapter 12: Socioemotional Development in Middle Childhood

The Social and Emotional Self

            Self-Evaluations

            Emotional Development

            Gender Differences

            Moral and Prosocial Reasoning

                        Moral Reasoning

                        Prosocial Reasoning

            Aggression, Conduct Problems, and Resilient Children

                        Aggression

                        Conduct Problems

                        Resilient Children

Families

            Children and Divorce

                        What Factors Explain the Effects of Divorce?

                        Positive Outcomes of Divorce

            Never-Married Households and Stepfamilies

                        Never-Married Households

                        Stepfamilies

Play, Friends, and Peer Popularity

            Play and Best Friends

            Peer Popularity

            A Social Cognition Model of Peer Relations, and Helping Rejected Children

Schools and the Media

            Children’s Beliefs and Teachers’ Expectations about Schooling

                        Children’s Beliefs

                        Teacher’s Expectations

            Classroom Climate and Grouping Practices in Schools

                        Classroom Climate

                        Grouping Practices

            Children and the Media

            Children and Television

                        TV and Aggression

                        Positive Effects of TV

            Video Games, Computers, and the Internet

                        Video Games

                        Computer Games and the Internet

Part Five: Adolescence: The Transition toward Adulthood (12 Years and beyond)

Chapter 13: Physical Development in Adolescence

Growth of the Body and Brain during Adolescence

            Puberty

            Early and Late Maturation

            Brain Development

Sexual Activity during Adolescence

            Patterns of Sexual Activity

            Contraceptive Use in Adolescence

            Sexual Knowledge and Sex Education

Special Concerns about Teenage Sexual Activity

            Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Adolescents

            Teenage Pregnancy

                        Who is at Risk for Teenage Parenthood?

                        The Impact of Teenage Parenthood

            Forced Sexual Behavior

Adolescent Health Issues

            Nutrition and Exercise

            Eating Disorders

            Substance Use and Abuse

                        Risk Factors for Drug Use

            Other Health Issues during the Adolescent Years

        Adolescents Need More Sleep. 

                        Depression

                        Causes of Death

                                    Adolescent Drivers

                                    Suicide

Chapter 14: Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Piaget’s Stage 4: Formal Operational Thought (12 Years and Above)

            What Is Formal Operational Thought?

                        Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning

                        Abstract Thought

                        Separating Reality from Possibilities

                        Combinational Logic

                        Reflective Thinking

            Adolescent Egocentrism

            Evaluating Piaget’s Theory

                        Piaget’s Legacy

Recent Sociocultural Views of Cognitive Development

            Situated Cognition

            Guided Participation and Communities of Practice

            Thinking as Socially Shared Cognition: Two Heads Are Better Than One

Intelligence

            Theories of Intelligence

                        Psychometric Approaches

                        Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

                        Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

            Assessing Intelligence

                        Intelligence Testing Today

                        New Assessment Approaches

            Extremes of Intelligence: Intellectual Disability and Giftedness

                        Intellectual Disability

                        Gifted and Talented Children

            Ethnic Differences and Questions about Cultural Bias

Learning to Communicate: Language in Adolescence

            The Adolescent Register

            Social and Cultural Dialects

Cognition in Context: Adolescents Making Decisions

            How Well Do Adolescents Make Decisions?

            Making Vocational Choices

            The Forgotten Third: Improving the Transition from School to Work

Chapter 15: Socioemotional Development in Adolescence

Who Am I? Adolescents’ Understanding of Themselves

            Identity

                        Identity Status

                        Development of Ethnic Identity

            Sexual Orientation

                        The Development of a Homosexual Identity

                        Causes of Sexual Orientation

                        The Experience of Being Gay

            Morality

                        Kohlberg’s Level III

                        Later Work and Research on Kohlberg’s Theory

                        Other Moral Orientations and Moral Domains

Social Relationships: Family

           Teens Developing Autonomy: Conflict with Parents

                        Conflict between Teens and Parents

                        Dealing Effectively with Adolescent-Parent Conflict

            Family Structures

                        Adopted Adolescents

                        Families with Lesbian or Gay Parents

                        Ethnically Diverse Families

Social Relationships: Peers

           Friends and Peers in Adolescence

           Cliques and Crowds

                        From Gender Segregation to Dating

            Peer Pressure, Delinquent Behavior, and Aggression

            Leisure Time in Adolescence

Contexts of Development

             Adolescents in School

                        School Climate and Structure

            Differences in Academic Performance

                        How Can We Prevent Problems in Schooling?

            Cultural Contexts for Development

                        Cultural Orientations: Individualism and Collectivism

                        What’s the Neighborhood Like? Urban and Rural Poverty

                        Poverty: A Culture of Economics

                        The Inner City

                        Rural Poverty

                        Coming to America: Immigration and Acculturation

                        Explaining Culture’s Influence