Annual Editions: Human Development 07/08

This THIRTY-FIFTH EDITION of ANNUAL EDITIONS: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 07/08 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. Genetic and Prenatal Influences on Development

Part A. Genetic Influences

1. The Identity Dance, Gunjan Sinha, Psychology Today, March/April 2004

Identical twins are clones with the same genetic profiles. Life experience, therefore, must matter if identical twins develop unlike emotions, health problems, and personalities. This article reports scientific evidence that genes have the equivalent of molecular “switches” that can be turned on or off by prenatal and postnatal environmental factors. Several unlike identical twins are described.

2. The Power to Divide, Rick Weiss, National Geographic, July 2005

The United States under Bush limits federal funding of research on stem cells. Some states (e.g., California) and several countries (e.g., Singapore, Korea, U.K.) are making progress in therapeutic cloning of cells needed by diabetes, heart attack patients, and others. Some people with regenerated cells are already thriving. Will ethicists allow this research to continue? Should they?

3. The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives, Leon R. Kass, The American Spectator, November/December 2002

The 30,000 human genes have been mapped and biotech businesses are booming. Will genetic engineering result in every baby being born without any mental or physical disabilities? Will we eliminate tumors and infections, enhance immunity, and make disease extinct? How much more memory, or years of life, will we add? Will we be fulfilled or dehumanized? Leon Kass addresses these ethical issues.

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

Reproductive technology has made it possible for parents to have their eggs and sperm united in a lab dish. After selecting the genetic characteristics they want, the appropriate embryo (or embryos) is implanted in the mother for gestation. This practice has raised some troubling questions. Claudia Kalb addresses these questions of morality and ethics.

Part B. Prenatal Influences

5. Inside the Womb, J. Madeleine Nash, Time, November 11, 2002

Embryonic cells, also known as stem cells, generate most of the human organ systems in the earliest weeks of prenatal development. Not only aberrant genes, but also health, stress, nutrition, and toxins (e.g., drugs) can alter the precision of stem cell transformations. Concerns for embryonic development are not yet, but should become, a political priority, argues Nash.

6. The Mystery of Fetal Life: Secrets of the Womb, John Pekkanen, Current, September 2001

Environment affects prenatal development. This article reviews known dangers (e.g., alcohol and drug use, viral infections) and recently discovered endocrine disrupters (e.g., chemicals in our air, food, and water). The author gives advice on exercise, nutrition, and health maintenance to optimize the physical and cognitive status of the offspring.

7. The Smallest Patients, Claudia Kalb, Newsweek, October 3, 2005

The health of a fetus can now be safeguarded with surgery during pregnancy. Early detection and intervention have payoffs both for baby and for parents. A mother, who is relieved of the stress, anxiety, and depression associated with a physically challenged baby, tolerates the surgery well and can go on to deliver the baby normally at term.

UNIT 2. Development During Infancy and Early Childhood

Part A. Infancy

8. Four Things You Need to Know About Raising Baby, Joanna Lipari, Psychology Today, July/August 2000

In this article, Joanna Lipari explains the synthesis of important aspects of areas of infant development—genetic inheritance, physical development, cognitive skills, and emotional attachment—into a new view that equates parenting behaviors to software that promotes the growth of the baby’s brain (hardware). Lipari discusses attachment theory and compares “old thinking” about raising a baby with research-guided “new thinking.”

9. Who’s Raising Baby?, Anne R. Pierce, The World & I, February 2002

What happens to self-esteem and emotional/personality development when babies are rushed to do everything sooner and better than others? The author contends that parenting and infancy should be more about love of learning. Through play, babies discover their individuality and genetically driven interests. Pressuring them to conform to gender-appropriate activities (e.g., sports, ballet) or academic pursuits is miseducation.

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

This article reports earlier ages for most infancy milestones than previously reported, as evidenced by sophisticated brain imaging. The most intelligent babies are the happy ones. They learn more from loving caregivers than from TV. Cognition, language, social, and emotional skills are all enhanced by love and one-on-one attention.

11. 20 Ways to Boost Your Baby’s Brain Power, Alice Sterling Honig, Scholastic Parent and Child, February/March 2004

This article tells how to combine loving parenting with other environmental enrichments to enhance the brain connections that are established in infancy. Language, games, responsiveness, touching, and books are all suggested for stimulating babies.

Part B. Early Childhood

12. Long-Term Studies of Preschool: Lasting Benefits Far Outweigh Costs, Gerald W. Bracey and Arthur Stellar, Phi Delta Kappan, June 2003

This article summarizes three research studies showing the long-lasting benefits of early childhood education (e.g., higher education, career success, stable marriage, moral living) for preschool children living in poverty at the time of interventions. Each of the programs had extensive parenting involvement and encouraged attachment bonds. The authors argue that high-quality preschool today, taxpayer-funded, would reap future rewards for the United States.

13. Guilt Free TV, Daniel McGinn, Newsweek, November 11, 2002

A new generation of parents use television as an aid to early childhood socialization. New high-quality programs improve cognitive skills, language, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence. Some families still have anxiety about sex and violence. Kids’ TV programming is improving however.

14. Raising a Moral Child, Karen Springen, Newsweek Special Issue, Fall/Winter 2000

Parents are held responsible for ethics and morality training during early childhood. Our culture has fewer moral role models than before and more and more aggression and violence, increasing the urgency for moral lessons. Karen Springen relays the advice of several experts on how to help preschoolers learn right from wrong.

UNIT 3. Development During Childhood: Cognition and Schooling

Part A. Cognition

15. A Time and a Place for Authentic Learning, Joseph S. Renzulli, Marcia Gentry, and Sally M. Reis, Educational Leadership, September 2004

The process of knowing (cognition) is often lost as educators “teach to the test” to improve state-mandated achievement scores. Education rooted in cognitive science is found in schools that emphasize student thinking. The authors of this article describe authentic learning situations in which students become excited about learning in enrichment clusters.

16. The New Science of Dyslexia, Christine Gorman, Time, July 28, 2003

Genetic differences in brain wiring are now believed to create dyslexia. Children with dyslexia are skilled problem solvers and many achieve fame in arts and science. Reading involves separating language into phonemes, analyzing sounds, and automatically detecting them. Educational practices can improve these cognitive skills.

Part B. Schooling

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

Gender differences in brain development trigger faster language proficiency in girls and impulsive (often creative) activity in boys. Education favors girls when the focus is on standardized testing and sitting still. Schooling with hands-on learning and physical education gives boys more motivation to achieve. This article suggests a more respectful way to teach boys.

18. Wh...