Catherine Salmon & Todd K. Shackelford (2008). Family relationships: An evolutionary perspective. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
This is a scholarly book but still quite readable by the first-year student. Each chapter is written by a different expert or set of experts. The chapters bring an evolutionary perspective to bear on parent-child relationships, sibling relationships, domestic violence, and all aspects of family dynamics.
Barbara Rogoff (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
A thesis of this book, by a leading cross-cultural researcher, is that throughout development people look to others in their culture to see how to behave. The book examines cross-cultural differences in disciplinary styles, sleeping arrangements, children’s segregation from or integration into the adult community, concepts of independence and interdependence, responsibilities at each life stage, concepts of adolescence, initiation into adulthood, and education.
Peter Gray (2013). Free to learn: Why unleashing the instinct to play will make our children happier, more self-reliant, and better students for life. New York: Basic Books.
Peter Gray presents his provocative argument that modern society and schooling ignore the evolutionary value of play, which is taken for granted in hunter-gatherer societies. He argues, with evidence, that many of the problems of contemporary education can be resolved if we liberate our children to pursue their own interest through self-directed play, essentially entrusting them with their own education. Although you may not agree will all of Professor Gray’s conclusions, the book provides much food for thought.
Robert Epstein (2007). The case against adolescence: Rediscovering the adult in every teen. Sanger, CA: Quill Driver Books.
In this provocative book, Epstein argues—with considerable evidence —that young people, and our whole society, would be far better off if we treated adolescents more like adults than we currently do. He argues quite convincingly that most adolescents are fully capable of adult responsibilities. By infantilizing adolescents we deprive them of civil rights and frustrate their drives to behave in adult-like ways. Whether or not you agree with Epstein’s thesis, the book will give you much to think about.
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (2006). The old way: A story of the first people. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Thomas was only 19 years old when she ventured into Africa’s Kalahari Desert with the rest of her family in search of the !Kung hunter-gatherers. This book is a wonderfully written, vivid account of the lives and ways of these peaceful people. We can learn much about ourselves by examining our “old way”—our hunter-gatherer way—of living.
Alan M. Slater & Paul C. Quinn (Eds.) (2012). Developmental psychology: Revisiting the classic studies. London: SAGE Publications.
The saying goes hindsight is 20/20–at least it is in this look back at some of the most important and influential developmental studies of our time. This 14-chapter book, with contributions from prominent psychologists, conducts critical analyses of landmark studies such as Harlow’s monkeys, Little Albert, and Bandura’s Bobo doll research. It brings the concepts these classic studies explore into current context and shows how they influenced research in subsequent years.