Introduction To Infant Development

Infants may seem to do little more than eat, sleep, and play. Yet behind this misleadingly simplistic fa ade occurs an awe-inspiring process of development through which infants make sense of, and learn how to interact with the world around them. Written by leading researchers in the field, Introduction to Infant Development, Second Edition, provides fascinating insight into the psychological development of infants. This new edition captures the latest research in the field, with new chapters on perceptual and cognitive development as well as memory development; the text also examines the role of gender, culture, and social class in infant development. The coverage of language development and motor development has also been revised to account for the latest research. With enhanced pedagogical features throughout and a new Online Resource Center, Introduction to Infant Development is the ideal teaching and learning tool for those studying this intriguing field.

This fourth edition of the best-selling topically-organized introduction to infancy reflects the enormous changes that have occurred in our understanding of infants and their place in human development over the past decade.

This topically-organized text provides a comprehensive overview of infant development with a strong theoretical and research base. Readers gain a clear understanding of infant development and issues that will be the focus of significant advances in infancy studies in the future. The new fifth edition reflects the enormous changes in the field that have occurred over the past decade. The thoroughly revised chapters emphasize work from the 21st century, although classic references are retained, and explore contextual, methodological, neurological, physical, perceptual, cognitive, communicative, emotional, and social facets of infant development. The fifth edition features a more accessible style and enhanced pedagogical and teaching resource program. This extensively revised edition features a number of changes: • The fifth edition adds a new co-author, Martha Arterberry, who brings additional teaching and research skills to the existing author team. • An enhanced pedagogical program features orienting questions at the beginning of each chapter and boldfaced key terms listed at the end of the chapter and defined in the glossary to help facilitate understanding and learning. • Two new boxes in each chapter – Science in Translation illustrate applied issues and Set for Life highlight the significance of infancy for later development. • Increased emphasis on practical applications and social policy. • More graphs, tables, and photos that explain important concepts and findings. • Literature reviews are thoroughly updated and reflect contemporary research. • All new teaching web resources -- Instructors will find Power Points, electronic versions of the text figures, and a test bank, and students will find hyperlinked references and electronic versions of the key concepts and the definitions. Intended for beginning graduate or advanced undergraduate courses on infant (and toddler) development or infancy or early child development taught in departments of psychology, human development & family studies, education, nursing, social work, and anthropology, this book also appeals to social service providers, policy makers, and clergy who work with community institutions. Prerequisites include introductory courses on child development and general psychology.

This comprehensive and exciting book strikes an ideal balance between a research-based and an applications-oriented approach to infant development. Down-to-earth and easy and to understand withough being simplistic, Mercer's book offers a timely examination of the complexities of infant development, including cultural and gender issues. Infants can be enormously vulnerable, but at the same time can show great resilience. Their memories are short, but they are constantly learning attitudes and values that will be with them throughout their lives. Mercer addresses these paradoxes and many others, showing the beginning student that while infat development is complex, a real understanding can be reached with patient reading, observation, and discussion. Well-thought-out problems and real-life examples bring infant development into the students' realm of experience. In a field where there a few simple questions and no simple answers, Mercer's book "offers breadth and scope of information which human service professionals should have" (Dana Davidson, University of Hawaii).

This up-to-date overview of the fast-moving field of infant development covers all the major areas of interest in terms of research, applications and policy. Provides an up-to-date overview of progress on important developmental questions relating to infancy. Balances North American and European perspective. Written by leading international researchers. Now available in full text online via xreferplus, the award-winning reference library on the web from xrefer. For more information, visit www.xreferplus.com

Electronic Inspection Copy available for instructors here The Second Edition of An Introduction to Child Development has been fully updated to provide a comprehensive survey of the main areas of child development, from infancy through to adolescence. Equipping students with an appreciation of critical issues in the field and an understanding of empirical research that bears on the study of children, the text provides balanced coverage of topics and theoretical perspectives that represent both classic and cutting edge work in child development. In terms of new content, it now covers more on the biological foundations of development, plus new chapters on moral development and applied developmental psychology. The Second Edition includes the following features: - learning points - section & chapter summaries, - end-of-chapter glossaries - suggestions for further reading - sample multiple choice questions - sidebars featuring in depth discussions of key research findings or points of debate within the field of child development. The text comes with a dedicated website with resources for both students and instructors.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.