This edition incorporates learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter: The “What Will You Know?” questions indicate important ideas or provocative concepts—one for each major section of the chapter. After each major section, a medial summary repeats the main ideas of that section and then “What Have You Learned?” questions help students review what they have just read.

Much of what students learn from this course is a matter of attitude, approach, and perspective—all hard to quantify. Specific learning objectives arise from the “What Have You Learned?” questions, which now appear at the end of each major section rather than at the end of each chapter, as well as from the Key Terms which appear in bold in the text, and in the “Key Terms” activities at the end of each chapter. You will notice that those Key Terms are repeated several times after they are defined, to reinforce learning and understanding.

Ideally, students will answer the learning objective questions in complete sentences, with specifics that demonstrate knowledge. Some items on the new lists are straightforward, requiring only close attention to the chapter content. Others require comparisons, implications, or evaluations. Cognitive psychology and research on pedagogy have shown that vocabulary, specific knowledge, and critical thinking are all part of learning. These features are designed to foster all three.

We all need critical thinking skills. Virtually every page of this book presents not only facts but also questions with divergent interpretations. A new boxed feature called Opposing Perspectives appears in this edition of The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence for the first time. This box focuses on exciting and controversial topics—from prenatal sex selection to e-cigarettes. I have tried to present information and opinions on both sides of an issue so that students can practice weighing evidence, assessing arguments, and coming to their own conclusions.

In addition, the boxes titled A View from Science, which explain surprising insights from recent scientific research, and A Case to Study, which illustrate developmental issues through the story of specific individuals, have been extensively updated. All these new features are included in the Table of Contents.

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Also new to this edition are full-page illustrations of key topics in development. Every chapter now includes an infographic display of data on key issues ranging from the biology of twin births to the milestones in the journey to emerging adulthood across the world. These illustrations combine global statistics, maps, charts, and photographs. Aware of the many modalities of learning, I have worked closely with noted designer Charles Yuen to use these infographics to reinforce key ideas.

Understanding how we use data as developmentalists is an important part of what students learn in their courses. Data is a crucial part of understanding that developmental science is a science—and not just common sense. In this edition, I have created interactive activities based on important data from rates of breast-feeding to risk taking in adolescence. These are designed for students to be able to practice interpreting data.

For example, how do rates of breast-feeding differ by state across the United States and around the world, or how do rates of various risk-taking behaviors differ by gender or age during adolescence? These interactive activities are designed to engage students, make them more active learners, help them retain important material, and develop a deeper understanding of the quantitative data that we use in development. Instructors can assign these activities in the online LaunchPad that accompanies this book.

Many students taking this course will be interested in future careers in nursing or early child development. This book and accompanying testing material are fully correlated to the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) career preparation goals and the NCLEX (nursing) licensure exams.