Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence, 4th ed. - book reviews

Adolescence, Winter, 1996

This textbook is divided into five parts, each of which is introduced by a brief opener. Part 1 presents an orientation to the discipline and the tools of this trade, including a discussion and illustration of research methodologies and a succinct review of psychoanalytic, behavioristic, ecological, cognitive-developmental, and evolutionary theories of development.

The author analyzes the contributions and limitations of each research method and each of the major developmental theories. Parts 2 through 5 focus on major themes, processes, products, and contexts of development: biological foundations and physical development; language, learning, and cognitive development; social and personality development; and the ecology of human development. The fourth edition contains changes in the treatment of theoretical, empirical, and practical issues: (1) more attention to cultural/subcultural/historical influences, with a special emphasis on the impacts of economic deprivation on child development; (2) a stronger focus on the intricate interplays among biological and environmental forces in shaping development; (3) clearer illustrations that developmental outcomes depend crucially on the "goodness of fit" between people and their socializing environments; (4) greater emphasis on the importance of peer relations (and on the interplays between families and peers as socializing agents); and expanded coverage of adolescent development.