1.2 Preface

Family Pride Grandpa Charilaos is proud of his tavern in northern Greece (central Macedonia), but he is even more proud of his talented grandchildren, including Maria Soni (shown here). Note her expert fingering. Her father and mother also play instruments—is that nature or nurture?
KUTTIG-RF-KIDS/ALAMY

In our daily lives, we experience many different situations, whether they are with our families and friends, peers from school, or the communities in which we live. We also witness others’ experiences, in person, on television, and in social media. During and after these events, we may try to figure out why a particular situation occurred, what impact it will have on those involved, and what will happen in the future.

As we try to make sense of our world, we create theories to better understand our circumstances and those of others. We take into consideration the characteristics of individuals—gender, personality traits, age, and ethnicity, to name a few. We then include external factors that we deem relevant to a situation, such as a person’s family background, past life events, and the neighbourhood or country in which the person grew up. In spite of the myriad individual and contextual factors, we realize that there are commonalities among diverse people as well.

We hope that this textbook will provide you with greater clarity on how we live, answer some questions you may have, and hopefully have you asking more! This textbook is just the beginning, an invitation to understand the complexities of your life, your family and friends’ lives, and the lives of all the other billions of humans alive now or who have lived.

Education occurs in hundreds of ways. Writing this book is one of our contributions; studying it is one of yours. We strove to make this text both challenging and accessible to every student. You deserve a book that respects your intellect and experiences, without making development seem dull or obscure.

Overall, we believe that a better world is possible because today’s students—you—will become tomorrow’s leaders. We hope that the knowledge you gain from reading this book will help you and your loved ones develop with more joy and fulfillment, and that you will share with others the insights that you gain into humanity—from one generation to the next.

To learn more about the specifics of this text, including the material that is new to the Canadian edition, read on. Or simply turn to Chapter 1 and begin your study.

New to this Canadian Edition

One thing you’ll notice from the first page of this book is that this is a truly Canadian textbook. This book has been thoroughly revised so that it speaks to our students—not only through Canadian examples and Canadian statistics, but by highlighting current research done by Canadians. The lives of Canadians are clearly at the centre of the textbook. There is a deliberate focus on Aboriginal children and families, French-Canadians and bilingualism, and issues of immigration (Susan’s area of specialty). Here are some of the specifically Canadian highlights for each chapter:

Chapter 1: The Science of Human Development

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Chapter 2: From Conception to Birth

Chapter 3: The First Two Years: Body and Mind

Sensory Exuberance Human animals are unusual in that all the senses function at birth, but motor skills develop slowly. This Ontario boy loves to grab the rings, or even bend over to taste and bite them, even though he cannot yet sit up unsupported.
ZHIYU WENG

Chapter 4: The First Two Years: Psychosocial Development

Chapter 5: Early Childhood: Body and Mind

Chapter 6: Early Childhood: Psychosocial Development

Chapter 7: Middle Childhood: Body and Mind

Chapter 8: Middle Childhood: Psychosocial Development

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Chapter 9: Adolescence: Body and Mind

Danger Ahead This boy thinks like the teenager he is. He ignores the risks.
ZAYAN.1904/GETTY IMAGES

Chapter 10: Adolescence: Psychosocial Development

Chapter 11: Emerging Adulthood: Body, Mind, and Social World

Chapter 12: Adulthood: Body and Mind

Chapter 13: Adulthood: Psychosocial Development

Education in Process These students, checking the Internet on the steps in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, illustrate why some scholars claim that college and university students learn more from each other than from their professors.
JEREMY WOODHOUSE/AGE FOTOSTOCK

Chapter 14: Late Adulthood: Body and Mind

Chapter 15: Late Adulthood: Psychosocial Development

Epilogue: Death and Dying

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Ongoing Features

While this book has been thoroughly updated and Canadianized, many characteristics of the first edition were acclaimed and have therefore been retained in this new edition.

Writing That Communicates the Excitement and Challenge of the Field

An overview of the science of human development should be lively, just as real people are. Each sentence conveys tone as well as content. Chapter-opening vignettes bring student readers into the immediacy of development. Examples and explanations abound, helping students make the connections among theory, research, and their own experiences.

Up-To-Date Coverage

Our mentors welcomed curiosity, creativity, and skepticism; as a result, we are both eager to read and analyze thousands of articles and books on everything from autism to zygosity. The recent explosion of research in neuroscience and genetics has challenged both of us, once again, first to understand and then to explain many complex findings and speculative leaps. Our students continue to ask questions and share their experiences, always providing new perspectives and concerns.

The best of the new concepts are integrated into the text, including hundreds of new references on topics such as the genetics of delinquency, infant nutrition, bipolar and autism spectrum disorders, high-stakes testing, drug use and drug addiction, the importance of attachment, brain development throughout childhood and into the last years of our lives, and neurocognitive disorders.

RESEARCH ON THE BRAIN

Every major section of the book includes a section on the brain, often enhanced with charts and photos to help students understand its inner workings. The following list highlights some of this material:

An Interdisciplinary Approach

Cognizant of the interdisciplinary nature of human development, we reflect research in biology, sociology, education, anthropology, political science, and more—as well as psychology. Genetics and social contexts are noted throughout. The variations and hazards of infant day care and preschool education are described; the implications of various family structures throughout the life span are explored; the pivotal role of school and the workplace is noted; and so on.

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Coverage of Diversity

Cross-cultural, international, multi-ethnic, sexual orientation, wealth, age, gender—all these words and ideas are vital to appreciating how children develop. Research uncovers surprising similarities and notable differences: We have much in common, yet each human being is unique. From the discussion of social contexts in Chapter 1 to the coverage of cultural differences in mourning in the Epilogue, each chapter highlights possibilities and variations. New is the inclusion of genetic susceptibility, another source of variation.

New research on family structures, immigrants, bilingualism, emerging adults, and ethnic differences in health are among the many topics that illustrate human diversity. Respect for human differences is evident throughout. You will note that examples and research findings from many parts of the world are included, not as add-on highlights, but as integral parts of the description of each age.

Happy Grandfathers No matter where they are, grandparents and grandchildren often enjoy each other partly because conflict is less likely, as grandparents are usually not as strict as parents are. Indeed, Sam Levinson quipped, “The reason grandparents and grandchild get along so well is that they have a common enemy.”
FLORESCO PRODUCTIONS/CORBIS

Student Support

This book was designed for today’s students. Each chapter begins with a brief reallife vignette to help students connect to the chapter content. Key terms appear in boldface type in the text; they are defined in the margins and again in a glossary at the end of the book. The outline on the first page of every chapter and the system of major and minor subheads facilitate the survey-question-read-write-review (SQ3R) approach. Chapters end with a brief summary, a list of key terms, and key questions for review. Then application exercises suggest ways to apply concepts to everyday life.

Each major section of a chapter closes with “Key Points,” allowing students to pause and reflect on what they have just read. Active learning is also stressed in “Observation Quizzes” that inspire readers to look more closely at photographs, tables, and graphs, as well as in “Especially for…” questions in the margins. Each “Especially for…” question is addressed to a specific population—such as parents, nurses, educators, psychologists, or social workers—who are asked to apply what they’ve just read. Furthermore, we chose each photograph and wrote each caption with the expectation that students will learn from it. (This Preface offers a selection of the photographs that appear in the book.)

Critical thinking is encouraged throughout—not just in the Opposing Perspectives boxes. Every chapter challenges myths, research designs, and cultural assumptions. A series of features called “A View from Science” apply the research that shapes theory, practice, and application.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Much of what students learn from this course is a matter of attitude, approach, and perspective—all hard to quantify. In addition, there are specific learning objectives, which supplement the key terms that should also be learned. New to this edition, two sets of objectives are listed for each chapter. Each question asked at the beginning of each chapter (“What Will You Know?”) correlates with a major heading in the chapter and focuses on general ideas that students might remember and apply throughout their lives.

Eager Eaters Preschoolers generally eat whatever they get. These are the fortunate ones, sharing a fresh fruit snack with one another.
ZHANG BO/GETTY IMAGES

At the end of each chapter are more specific learning objectives (“What Have You Learned?”) that also connect to each major heading within the chapter but ask more specific questions about the chapter content. Suggestions and grading rubrics for these questions are available in the test bank that goes along with the book.

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OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES

New to this edition are boxed features on controversial and exciting topics in development—from prenatal sex selection to the right to die. These high-interest sections are introduced in every chapter and provide students with enough information on both sides of an issue that they can practise assessing arguments, looking at the evidence, and coming up with their own conclusions. A complete list of these new features is included in the table of contents.

Supplements

As instructors, we know that supplements can make or break a class. Students are now media savvy and instructors use tools that did not exist when they were in university or college. Many supplements are available for both students and professors.

In particular, we both know how important good quality assessment materials are to students who use them to study—and to instructors who use them to see how well students are doing in class. We personally revised and approved every question in the Test Bank and Learning Curve quiz bank—adding more challenging and analytical questions to meet students’ and instructors’ needs, and double- and triple-checking the accuracy of each question.

Launchpad

A comprehensive web resource for teaching and learning development, LaunchPad combines rich media resources and an easy-to-use platform. For students, it is the ultimate online study guide, with videos, an e-Book, and the LearningCurve adaptive quizzing system. For instructors, LaunchPad is a full course space where they can post class documents, easily assign and grade quizzes, and assess and record students’ progress. LaunchPad can be previewed at www.worthpublishers.com/launchpad/bergerinvitels2ecanadian. You’ll find the following in our LaunchPad:

LEARNINGCURVE QUIZZING SYSTEM

The LearningCurve quizzing system is designed based on the latest findings from learning and memory research. It combines adaptive question selection, immediate and valuable feedback, and a game-like interface to engage students in a learning experience that is unique to them. Each LearningCurve quiz is fully integrated with other resources in LaunchPad through the Personalized Study Plan, so students will be able to review material with Worth’s extensive library of videos and activities. And state-of-the-art question analysis reports allow instructors to track the progress of individual students as well as their class as a whole. A team of dedicated instructors—including Lisa Hager, Spring Hill College; Jessica Herrick, Mesa State College; Sara Lapsley, Simon Fraser University; Rosemary McCullough, Ave Maria University; Wendy Morrison, Montana State University; Emily Newton, University of California, Davis; Curtis Visca, Saddleback College; and Devon Werble, East Los Angeles Community College—have worked closely to develop more than 5000 quizzing questions specifically for this book. In addition, we reviewed every question to make sure that it was accurate and that it corresponded to the content of this new Canadian book.

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Human Development Videos

In collaboration with dozens of instructors and researchers, Worth has developed an extensive archive of video clips. This collection covers the full range of the course, from classic experiments (like the Strange Situation and Piaget’s conservation tasks) to investigations of children’s play, adolescent risk taking, and the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Instructors can assign these videos to students through LaunchPad or choose one of 50 popular video activities, which combine videos with short-answer and multiple-choice questions. For presentation purposes, our videos are available in a variety of formats to suit your needs, including download and flash drive.

Instructor’s Resources

Now fully integrated with LaunchPad, this collection of resources, written by Richard O. Straub (University of Michigan, Dearborn), has been hailed as the richest collection of instructor’s resources in developmental psychology. The resources include learning objectives, springboard topics for discussion and debate, handouts for student projects, course planning suggestions, ideas for term projects, and a guide to audiovisual and online materials.

Interactive Presentation Slides

A new extraordinary series of “next-generation” interactive presentation lectures give instructors a dynamic yet easy-to-use new way to engage students during classroom presentations of core developmental psychology topics. Each lecture provides opportunities for discussion and interaction and enlivens the psychology classroom with an unprecedented number of embedded video clips and animations from Worth’s library of videos. In addition to these animated presentations, Worth offers a set of pre-built slide sets with all chapter art and illustrations. These slides can be used as is or can be customized to fit individual needs.

Test Bank and Computerized Test Bank

The test bank, prepared by Jessica Herrick (Colorado Mesa University), Victoria Van Wie (Lone Star College), and Susan Chuang, includes at least 100 multiple-choice and 70 fill-in, true-false, and essay questions for each chapter. Good test questions are critical to every course, and we have gone through each and every one of these test questions with care. We have added more challenging questions, and questions are keyed to the textbook by topic, page number, and level of difficulty.

The Diploma computerized test bank, available on a dual-platform CD-ROM for Windows and Macintosh, guides instructors step by step through the process of creating a test. It also allows them to quickly add an unlimited number of questions; edit, scramble, or re-sequence items; format a test; and include pictures, equations, and media links. The accompanying gradebook enables instructors to record students’ grades throughout the course and includes the capacity to sort student records, view detailed analyses of test items, curve tests, generate reports, and add weights to grades.

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The CD-ROM is also the access point for Diploma Online Testing, which allows instructors to create and administer secure exams over a network or over the Internet. In addition, Diploma has the ability to restrict tests to specific computers or time blocks. Blackboard-formatted versions of each item in the Test Bank are available on the CD-ROM.

Thanks

We would like to thank the academic reviewers who have read this book in every edition and who have provided suggestions, criticisms, references, and encouragement. They have all made this a better book. We want to mention especially those who have reviewed this Canadian edition:

Sherry Beaumont, University of Northern British Columbia

Debashis Dutta, Renison University College and Conestoga College

Frank Elgar, McGill University

Wendy Ellis, King’s University College

Lana-Lee Hardacre, Conestoga College

Antonia Henderson, Langara College

Jacqueline Kampman, Thompson Rivers University

Cheryl Kier, Athabasca University

Laura Loewen, Okanagan College

Michael MacDonald, Oakland University

Michael Mueller, University of Guelph

Nancy Ogden, Mount Royal University

Rick Owens, George Brown College

Carol Prechotko, Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology

Kim Roberts, Wilfrid Laurier University

William Roberts, Thompson Rivers University

Scott Ronis, University of New Brunswick

Nicholas Rule, University of Toronto

Sandra Wiebe, University of Alberta

We would also like to thank those dedicated and thoughtful instructors who met with us to discuss the challenges and rewards of teaching life span development.

Melanie Doyle, Dawson College

Susan Finch, Dawson College

Michael Mueller, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Kim Roberts, Wilfrid Laurier University

Emily Schryer, University of Waterloo

Jan Schumacher, Georgian College

Saima Sheikh, Humber College

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A Note from Susan

I would like to first thank my wonderful parents who were my constant supports, always encouraging me to do my best, and my family and friends who provided great photos for the textbook. Many thanks to Jessica Bayne for reaching out to me to Canadianize this textbook. Her leadership, patience, and understanding throughout this process have made this a great learning experience. I am very grateful to my friend and colleague, Robert Moreno (Syracuse University, New York), for providing insightful comments on all of the chapters. Many thanks to the editorial, production, and photo research people at First Folio Resource Group Inc. for their attention to detail and always being positive and encouraging throughout this process, especially Debbie Smith, Tom Dart, Janice Dyer, and Maria DeCambra. I would also like to thank Ed O’Connor, my developmental editor, and the rest of the staff at Worth Publishers who helped make this book a reality, including Christine Burak, Julia Jevmenova, Tracey Kuehn, Rosemary McCullough, Katherine Nurre, Catherine Michaelsen, Lauren Samuelson, Barbara Seixas, and Vicki Tomaselli. Finally, at the University of Guelph, I would particularly like to thank all my students, including Jessica Furtado, Jenny Glozman, Kevin De Leon, Andrea Patterson, and Diana Truong, for their tireless efforts on the textbook, test bank, and LearningCurve.

Susan S. Chuang

February 2014