The Development of Children and Adolescents

Penny Hauser-Cram is a professor at Boston College in the Lynch School of Education. She received her Ed.D. in Human Development from Harvard University in 1983 and her research focuses on children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and children and adolescents living in poverty. Kevin Nugent is Professor of Children, Families and Schools at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has been on the faculty there since 1986. He received his Ph.D. from Boston College and he is the Founder and Director of the Brazelton Institute in the Department of Developmental Medicine at Children's Hospital in Boston and is on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on early childhood development, cross-cultural study of child development and assessment and early intervention. Kathleen Theis received her Ph.D. from Boston College and is currently the Director of the Graduate Entry Pathway for the UMASS School of Medicine. She is both a developmental psychologist and a clinical specialist in mental nursing. She has extensive experience in the development of community-based nursing education and partnerships with clinical affiliates. John Travers passed away in the spring of 2011. He was a professor at Boston College in the Lynch School of Education where he had taught for more than 50 years. He was the author of a number of books in developmental and educational psychology.

Part 1 Introduction Chapter 1 A Childs Journey 3 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: All Children Have Birthdays 3 Children and Their Development 4 What is Development? 5 The Study of Development 5 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Developmental Domains 5 Developmental Epochs: Is Age the Answer? 6 Issues in Development 6 A Childs Journey in the 21st Century 9 Research Insights: Are Todays Children More Imaginative? 10 Parenting: Children in the Home 10 Children and Their Cultural Communities 12 Children in a Technological World 13 Culture and Parents Views on Childrens Disabilities 14 Practice: Video Games and Learning 15 Explaining Development: The Theories 16 Psychoanalytically Based Theories 16 Cognitive Theories 18 Learning Theories 23 Ethological Theories 25 Systems Theories 26 Focus On: Urie Bronfenbrenner 28 Asking Questions, Examining Answers 29 The Scientific Method 29 Designing Research Studies 30 Collecting Data 37 Reporting Research Results 38 Policy: Ethical Considerations 39 Chapter Summary 40 Key Terms 41 Critical Thinking Questions 41 Development 41 Part 2 Biological Beginnings Chapter 2 Biological Foundations of Child Development 43 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: It Can Start with Cells 43 The Biology of Life 44 The Functions of Cells 45 DNA, RNA, and Protein 45 WHEN CELLULAR SYSTEMS CONNECT: PKU as an Example 47 Research Insights: Turning Off Genes 47 Genes and Heredity 48 Genes and Chromosomes 48 Culture, Genetics, and Human Migration 50 Patterns of Heredity 51 Chromosomal Disorders 56 Parenting: Genetic Counseling 58 Gene-Environment Interactions 59 Mechanisms of Interaction Between Genes and Environment 59 Research on Gene-Environment Interactions: Kinship Studies 63 The Physiology of Thinking and Feeling 66 The Brain and Nervous System 66 The Endocrine System and the Physiology of Stress 72 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Stress and Child Development 73 Childrens Well-Being in Society 74 Indicators of Childrens Well-Being in the United States 75 Health Care among American Children 75 Policy: Who is Covered by Insurance, and How? 76 Practice: A Hmong Child in the American Health-Care System 77 Chapter Summary 78 Key Terms 79 Critical Thinking Questions 79 Development 79 Chapter 3 Prenatal Development 81 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Advocating for Care of Pregnant Women 81 Conception 82 Gametes and Meiosis 82 Fertilization 84 Prenatal Growth and Development 85 The Germinal Period: 0 to 2 Weeks 85 Policy: The Politics of Stem Cell Research 86 The Period of the Embryo: 3 to 8 Weeks 87 The Period of the Fetus: 9 Weeks to Birth 88 The Developing Brain: A Closer Look 90 Research Insights: Learning Before Birth 91 Development and the Prenatal Environment 92 Chemical Substances 92 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Alcohol and Pregnancy 95 Focus On: Ann Streissguth and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 95 Maternal Disease, Illness, and Stress 97 Environmental Pollutants and Hazards 101 Health During Pregnancy 102 Physiology of Pregnancy 102 Culture and Pregnancy 103 Practice: Recommendations for a Healthy Pregnancy 104 Complications of Pregnancy and High-Risk Pregnancies 104 A Special High-Risk Case: The Pregnant Adolescent 106 Pregnancy and Society 108 Birth-Rate Trends 108 Access to Health Care 108 Infertility 109 Parenting and ART: Telling the Children 113 Practice: Multiple Births 114 Parenting: Health, Family, and Culture 114 Chapter Summary 116 Key Terms 117 Critical Thinking Questions 117 Development 117 Chapter 4 Birth and the Newborn 119 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: An Unexpected Birth Experience 119 Birth 120 What Do You Know About Childbirth? 121 Preparing for the Birth of the Baby 121 Parenting: Writing a Birth Plan 122 Stage