David C. Geary - Böcker

The first volume in this ground-breaking series focuses on the origins and early development of numerical cognition in non-human primates, lower vertebrates, human infants, and preschool children. The text will help readers understand the nature and complexity of these foundational quantitative concepts and skills along with evolutionary precursors and early developmental trajectories.

Brings together and focuses the efforts and research of multiple disciplines working in math cognition. The contributors bring vast knowledge and experience to bear on resolving extant substantive and methodological challenges to help advance the field of basic number processing. Introductory sections and summaries will be included to provide background for non-specialist readers.

Biologists have known for decades that many traits involved in competition for mates or other resources and that influence mate choice are exaggerated, and their expression is influenced by the individuals' ability to tolerate a variety of environmental and social stressors. Evolution of Vulnerability applies this concept of heightened sensitivity to humans for a host of physical, social, psychological, cognitive, and brain traits. By reframing the issue entirely, renowned evolutionary psychologist David C. Geary demonstrates this principle can be used to identify children, adolescents, or populations at risk for poor long-term outcomes and identify specific traits in each sex and at different points in development that are most easily disrupted by exposure to stressors.

Evolution of Vulnerability begins by reviewing the expansive literature on traits predicted to show sex-specific sensitivity to environmental and social stressors, and details the implications for better assessing and understanding the consequences of exposure to these stressors. Next, the book reviews sexual selection-mate competition and choice-and the mechanisms involved in the evolution of condition dependent traits and the stressors that can undermine their development and expression, such as poor early nutrition and health, parasites, social stress, and exposure to man-made toxins. Then it reviews condition dependent traits (physical, behavioral, cognitive, and brain) in birds, fish, insects, and mammals to demonstrate the ubiquity of these traits in nature. The focus then turns to humans and covers sex-specific vulnerabilities in children and adults for physical traits, social behavior, psychological wellbeing, and brain and cognitive traits. The sensitivity of these traits is related to exposure to parasites, poor nutrition, social maltreatment, environmental toxins, chemotherapy, and Alzheimer's disease, among others. The book concludes with an implications chapter that outlines how to better assess vulnerabilities in children and adults and how to more fully understand how, why, and when in development some types of environmental and social stressors are particularly harmful to humans.

Describes evolved sex differences, providing predictions on the traits that will show sex-specific vulnerabilities Presents an extensive review of condition-dependent traits in non-human species, greatly expanding existing reviews published in scientific journals, and more critically, extending these to humans Applies condition-dependent traits to humans to identify children, adolescents, or populations at risk for poor long-term outcomes

Development of Mathematical Cognition: Neural Substrates and Genetic Influences reviews advances in extant imaging modalities and the application of brain stimulation techniques for improving mathematical learning. It goes on to explore the role genetics and environmental influences have in the development of math abilities and disabilities.

Focusing on the neural substrates and genetic factors associated with both the typical and atypical development of mathematical thinking and learning, this second volume in the Mathematical Cognition and Learning series integrates the latest in innovative measures and methodological advances from the top researchers in the field.

Provides details about new progress made in the study of neural correlates of numerical and arithmetic cognition Addresses recent work in quantitative and molecular genetics Works to improve instruction in numerical, arithmetical, and algebraic thinking and learning Informs policy to help increase the level of mathematical proficiency among the general public

Acquisition of Complex Arithmetic Skills and Higher-Order Mathematics Concepts focuses on typical and atypical learning of complex arithmetic skills and higher-order math concepts. As part of the series Mathematical Cognition and Learning, this volume covers recent advances in the understanding of children's developing competencies with whole-number arithmetic, fractions, and rational numbers. Each chapter covers these topics from multiple perspectives, including genetic disorders, cognition, instruction, and neural networks.

Covers innovative measures and recent methodological advances in mathematical thinking and learning Contains contributions that improve instruction and education in these domains Informs policy aimed at increasing the level of mathematical proficiency in the general public

Language and Culture in Mathematical Cognition,�First Edition focuses on the role of linguistic and cultural factors in math cognition and development. It covers a wide range of topics, including analogical mapping in numerical development, arithmetic fact retrieval in the bilingual brain, cross-cultural comparisons of mathematics achievement, the shaping of numerical processing by number word construction, the influence of Head Start programs, the mathematical skills of children with specific language impairments, the role of culture and language in creating associations between number and space, and electrophysiological studies of linguistic traces in core knowledge at the neural level.

Includes cutting-edge findings, innovative measures, recent methodological advances and groundbreaking theoretical developments Synthesizes research from various subdomains of math cognition research Covers the full complement of research in mathematical thinking and learning Informs researchers, scholars, educators, students and policymakers

The fifth volume in the Mathematical Cognition and Learning series focuses on informal learning environments and other parental influences on numerical cognitive development and formal instructional interventions for improving mathematics learning and performance. The chapters cover the use of numerical play and games for improving foundational number knowledge as well as school math performance, the link between early math abilities and the approximate number system, and how families can help improve the early development of math skills. The book goes on to examine learning trajectories in early mathematics, the role of mathematical language in acquiring numeracy skills, evidence-based assessments of early math skills, approaches for intensifying early mathematics interventions, the use of analogies in mathematics instruction, schema-based diagrams for teaching ratios and proportions, the role of cognitive processes in treating mathematical learning difficulties, and addresses issues associated with intervention fadeout.

Identifies the relative influence of school and family on math learning Discusses the efficacy of numerical play for improvement in math Features learning trajectories in math Examines the role of math language in numeracy skills Includes assessments of math skills Explores the role of cognition in treating math-based learning difficulties

Humans have an extraordinary ability to create evolutionarily novel knowledge, such as writing systems and mathematics. This accumulated knowledge over several millennia supports large, dynamic societies that now require children to learn this novel knowledge in educational settings. This Element provides a framework for understanding the evolution of the brain systems that enable innovation and novel learning and how these systems can act on human cognitive universals, such as language, to create evolutionarily novel abilities, such as reading and writing. Critical features of these networks include the top-down control of attention, which is central to the formation of evolutionarily novel abilities, as well as self-awareness and mental time travel that support academic self-concepts and the generation of long-term educational goals. The basics of this framework are reviewed and updated here, as are implications for instructional practices.

Humans have an extraordinary ability to create evolutionarily novel knowledge, such as writing systems and mathematics. This accumulated knowledge over several millennia supports large, dynamic societies that now require children to learn this novel knowledge in educational settings. This Element provides a framework for understanding the evolution of the brain systems that enable innovation and novel learning and how these systems can act on human cognitive universals, such as language, to create evolutionarily novel abilities, such as reading and writing. Critical features of these networks include the top-down control of attention, which is central to the formation of evolutionarily novel abilities, as well as self-awareness and mental time travel that support academic self-concepts and the generation of long-term educational goals. The basics of this framework are reviewed and updated here, as are implications for instructional practices.

Now in a third edition, the authoritative classic text Male, Female evaluates both foundational and recent scholarship on the evolution of human sex differences, including how males and females differ in modern contexts.In comprehensive detail, David C. Geary describes how men and women differ based on evolutionary principles, how human sex differences are similar to those found in other species and how the expression of these differences is uniquely human. The principles of sexual selection-such as female choice and male-male competition-explain sex differences in parenting, mate choices, ways of competing for mates, social-political preferences, development, the brain, and cognition. Far from being one-sided in the nature-versus-nurture debate, Geary shows how an evolutionary framework can easily incorporate the influence of experience and cultural context on the development and expression of sex differences.Thoroughly updated and expanded, this third edition adds a chapter on sex differences that emerge in modern contexts, like occupational choices, variation in sexual orientation, gender identity, and relationships. Scholars from a wide range of sciences have much to learn from this monumental volume.

This stimulating volume assembles leading scholars to address issues in children’s cognitive, academic, and social development through the lens of evolutionary psychology.Debates and controversies in the field highlight the potential value of this understanding, from basic early learning skills through emerging social relationships in adolescence, with implications for academic outcomes, curriculum development, and education policy.Children’s evolved tendency toward play and exploration fuels an extended discussion on child- versus adult-directed learning, evolutionary bases are examined for young learners’ moral development, and contemporary theories of learning and memory are viewed from an  evolutionary perspective.Along the way, contributors’ recommendations illustrate real-world uses of evolution-based learning interventions during key developmental years.Among the topics covered: The adaptive value of cognitive immaturity:applications of evolutionary developmental psychology to early education               Guided play: a solution to the play versus learning dichotomyAdolescent bullying in schools: an evolutionary perspective                 Fairness: what it isn’t, what it is, and what it might be forAdapting evolution education to a warming climate of teaching and learningThe effects of an evolution-informed school environment on student performance and wellbeing  Evolutionary Perspectives on Child Development and Education will interest researchers and graduate students working in diverse areas such as evolutionary psychology, cultural anthropology, human ecology, developmental psychology, and educational psychology. Researchers in applied developmental science and early education will also find it useful.