How Children Develop

"The basic premise of the book is that all areas of child development are unified by a small set of enduring themes. These themes can be stated in the form of questions that child-development research tries to answer: 1. How do nature and nurture together shape development? 2. How do children shape their own development? 3. In what ways is development continuous, and in what ways is it discontinuous? 4. How does change occur? 5. How does the sociocultural context influence development? 6. How do children becomes do different from one another? 7. How can research promote children's well-being? These seven themes provide the core structure of the book. They are introduced and illustrated in Chapter 1; highlighted repeatedly, where relevant, in the subsequent 14 content chapters; and utilized in the final chapter as a framework for integrating findings relevant to each theme from all areas of development. The continuing coverage of these themes allows us to tell a story that has a beginning (the introduction of the themes), a middle (discussion of specific findings relevant to them), and an ending (the overview of what students have learned about the themes). We believe that this thematic emphasis and structure will not only help students understand enduring questions about child development but will also leave them with a greater sense of satisfaction and completion at the end of the course."--