Annual Editions: Child Growth And Development 07/08: Annual Editions

This FOURTEENTH EDITION of ANNUAL EDITIONS: CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT provides convenient, inexpensive access to current articles selected from the best of the public press. Organizational features include: an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites; an annotated table of contents; a topic guide; a general introduction; brief overviews for each section; a topical index; and an instructor’s resource guide with testing materials. USING ANNUAL EDITIONS IN THE CLASSROOM is offered as a practical guide for instructors. ANNUAL EDITIONS titles are supported by our student website, www.mhcls.com/online.

UNIT 1. Conception to Birth

1. Brave New Babies, Claudia Kalb, Newsweek, January 26, 2004

Advances in fertility technology are giving couples the power to choose the sex of their baby. Claudia Kalb discusses the technology and ethics of “ sex selection.”

2. Treating the Tiniest Patients, Claudia Kalb, Newsweek, June 9, 2003

Medical advances in surgical procedures for in utero patients are changing the way people view the earliest stages of life. Due to such improvements in science and medicine, unborn babies are now considered treatable patients, though there are ethical complications as to whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

UNIT 2. Cognition, Language, and Learning

Part A. Early Cognition and Physical Development

3. Reading Your Baby’s Mind, Pat Wingert and Martha Brant, Newsweek, August 15, 2005

Psychologists are learning more about infants’ social, emotional, and cognitive skills. New insights come from studying brain development, leading to a more detailed picture of the baby’s mind.

4. Brain Research and Early Childhood Development: A Primer for Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Kathleen C. Gallagher, Young Children, July 2005

This article describes how developmentally appropriate practice by teachers and parents can enhance children’s brain development. Research is described on how experiences can affect the development of synapses and levels of stress hormones, all to support children’s cognitive, social, and emotional growth.

5. Culture and Language in the Emergence of Autobiographical Memory, Robyn Fivush and Katherine Nelson, Psychological Science, September 2004

Our ability to remember early experiences reflects the contributions of different developmental processes. These leading scientists emphasize the roles of culture, narrative, styles of reminiscing, and gender in our ability to recall our early experiences.

6. Gender Bender, Sadie F. Dingfelder, APA Monitor on Psychology, April 2004

The author describes recent research evidence on the role of genes and prenatal hormones in gender identity and gender-related behaviors. These findings help illuminate the interplay between nature and nurture in boys’ and girls’ behavior.

7. Language and Children’s Understanding of Mental States, Paul L. Harris, Marc de Rosnay, and Francisco Pons, Current Directions in Psychological Science, February 2005

Normal children develop a theory of mind—they learn to understand other people’s feelings and points of view. These scientists describe research on the crucial role of maternal conversation and language interventions to promote children’s understanding of mental states.

Part B. Learning in School

8. A Deeper Sense of Literacy, Cynthia L. Scheibe, American Behavioral Scientist, September 2004

Children may be influenced by the images and messages within media, so teaching media literacy in the primary grades may help children develop critical thinking and technological competence. Scheibe describes her work with examples from social studies and language arts in the classroom.

9. Parental School Involvement and Children’s Academic Achievement, Nancy E. Hill and Lorraine C. Taylor, Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol. 13, 2004

Collaborations between schools and families promote children’s academic performance, and the authors describe research and policy recommendations on such healthy interaction. Involvement is considered in light of socioeconomic, community, and cultural context as well as children’s developmental levels.

10. The Trouble with Boys, Peg Tyre, Newsweek, January 30, 2006

After public debate about the challenges girls faced in public education, attention has turned to boys, who receive lower grades and are diagnosed more often with learning disabilities. The author discusses many influences, ranging from temperament, evolution, and the structure of classrooms.

11. The Preschool Promise, Julie Poppe and Steffanie Clothier, State Legislatures, June 2005

Young children who attend preschool seem to enjoy many later benefits in school readiness. This article addresses socioeconomic factors and legislative actions that influence young children’s preschool involvement.

UNIT 3. Social and Emotional Development

Part A. The Child’s Feelings: Emotional Development

12. Children’s Capacity to Develop Resiliency, Deirdre Breslin, Young Children, January 2005

Some children show resiliency, the ability to develop normally and thrive despite the presence of risk factors in their lives. This article describes factors that are common in resilient children, including heightened sensory awareness and high expectations from others.

Part B. Entry into the Social World: Peers, Play, and Popularity

13. Friendship Quality and Social Development, Thomas J. Berndt, Current Directions in Psychological Science, February 2002

Do childhood friendships dictate future success in the social world? Recent research suggests that they do. Interestingly, when examining social development in children, the quality of a friendship does not appear to be an indicator of how much friends influence each other.

14. Loneliness and Peer Relations in Childhood, Steven R. Asher and Julie A. Paquette, Current Directions in Psychological Science, June 2003

Some children are chronically lonely. Research shows this dimension of children’s social development is linked to being rejected and victimized by peers. The authors discuss how loneliness is related to children’s emotional maladjustment and school problems.

15. The Power of Make-Believe, Sora Song, Time, February 14, 2005

Imaginary playmates are common in children’s lives, and they seem to promote development by providing companionship and helping children use their imagination to resolve emotional issues and problem situations.

16. Gender and Group Process: A Developmental Perspective, Eleanor E. Maccoby, Current Directions in Psychological Science, April 2002

This psychologist describes how much of children’s gender socialization occurs within same-sex social groups. Interestingly, many sex-related qualities and behaviors emerge within a group setting more than when children are alone.

17. Taming Wild Girls, Jeffrey Kluger, Time, May 1, 2006

Although boys are more physically aggressive, girls more commonly engage in relational aggression—verbal and interpersonal aggression. Some schools are developing intervention programs to help girls deal with their interpersonal conflicts.

18. Girls Just Want to Be Mean, Margaret Talbot, New York Times.com, February 24, 2002

This article describes girls’ cliques: Queen Bees, Alpha Girls, and the Really Mean Girls. Although boys are often viewed as the more aggressive sex because of their overt physical aggression, research is discussed on verbal and interpersonal aggression that is more common in girls.

19. A Profile of Bullying at School, Dan Olweus, Educational Leadership, March 2003

Bullying involves the repeated exposure to negative actions by one or more peers toward an individual. In the past two decades, a 50 percent increase in the occurrence of bullying has been documented. Leading expert Dan Olweus outlines the typical process involved with bullying and gives supporting data for a prevention program that he has developed over the past 20 years.

UNIT 4. Parenting and Family Issues

20. The Case for Staying Home, Claudia Wallis, Time Magazine, March 22, 2004

Many women struggle to balance the demands of work and family. The author describes national trends and many case studies on the increasing numbers of mothers who choose to stay home rather than be employed.

21. Contemporary Research on Parenting: The Case for Nature and Nurture, W. Andrew Collins, Eleanor E. Maccoby, Laurence Steinberg, E. Mavis Hetherington, and Marc H. Bornstein, American Psychologist, February 2000

This distinguished team of leading developmental psychologists summarizes research on parenting related to the interaction of nature and nurture, children’s temperament, and the roles of peers and the neighborhood.

22. Stres...