Child Growth and Development 10/11

Annual Editions is a series of over 65 volumes, each designed to provide convenient, inexpensive access to a wide range of current articles from some of the most respected magazines, newspapers, and journals published today. Annual Editions are updated on a regular basis through a continuous monitoring of over 300 periodical sources. The articles selected are authored by prominent scholars, researchers, and commentators writing for a general audience. The Annual Editions volumes have a number of common organizational features designed to make them particularly useful in the classroom: a general introduction; an annotated table of contents; a topic guide; an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites; and a brief overview for each section. Each volume also offers an online Instructor's Resource Guide with testing materials. Using Annual Editions in the Classroom is offered as a practical guide for instructors. Visit www.mhcls.com for more details.

Annual Editions: Child Growth and Development 10/11

Preface

Correlation Guide

Topic Guide

Internet References

UNIT 1: Conception to Birth

Unit Overview

1. New Calculator Factors Chances for Very Premature Infants, Denise Grady, The New York Times, April 17, 2008

Researchers have developed a statistical tool to determine the chance of a premature baby's survival and the likelihood of birth defects. Gender and birth weight are key factors in helping babies born as early as 22 to 25 weeks survive. The calculations influence medical decisions that are to be taken for the care of these premature infants.

2. Success at Last, Deborah Kotz, U.S. News & World Report, May 7, 2007

Couples fighting infertility have some control over conception through the alteration of diet, exercise, and stress levels. Many factors in these areas can affect ovulation and hormone levels in women, thus influencing fertility, but men's habits matter as well.

UNIT 2: Cognition, Language, and Learning

Unit Overview

Part A. Early Cognition and Physical Development

3. Infants' Differential Processing of Female and Male Faces, Jennifer L. Ramsey-Rennels and Judith H. Langlois, Current Directions in Psychological Science, April 2006

This article about infants' processing of faces discusses infants' difficulty in forming a male prototype and also the fact that infants preferred female faces to male faces. This is explained in terms of environmental experiences with female faces and evolutionary dispositions.

4. The Other-Race Effect Develops during Infancy, David J. Kelly et al., Psychological Science, December 2007

Additional support for environmental influences on face processing is presented in this article. Infants learn to discriminate faces in their own race from other races by 9 months of age, a form of " perceptual narrowing," which may facilitate the development of the other-race effect seen in adults.

5. New Advances in Understanding Sensitive Periods in Brain Development, Michael S. C. Thomas and Mark H. Johnson, Current Directions in Psychological Science, January 2008

The human brain is marked by plasticity early in life but also is susceptible to the power of experiences at different ages. Sensitive periods occur when the brain seems optimally prepared to learn certain skills and knowledge, such as imprinting and attachment and even second languages.

6. Contributions of Neuroscience to Our Understanding of Cognitive Development, Adele Diamond and Dima Amso, Current Directions in Psychological Science, February 2008

Neuroscience has shown that biology is not destiny—that experience affects the growing brain. Authors Diamond and Amso describe recent neuroscience research in several areas, including infant imitation and mirror neurons, neurotransmitters, maternal touch and infant stress, and the intergenerational transmission of biological and behavioral characteristics.

7. It's Fun, but Does It Make You Smarter?, Erika Packard, APA Monitor on Psychology, November 2007

Children's Internet usage has increased greatly in recent years, but how does it affect their learning? Research suggests that because of the heavy text-based material online, Internet usage may improve children's reading performance. Children need to learn skills that are necessary for self-directed online learning for it to be productive.

8. 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. The scientists discuss research on the crucial role of maternal conversation and language interventions to promote children's understanding of mental states.

9. Children's Biased Evaluations of Lucky versus Unlucky People and Their Social Groups, Kristina R. Olson et al., Psychological Science, October 2006

Society tells us to take care of the disadvantaged or unlucky yet we often prefer people of privilege. To understand the origin of biases, the authors designed an experiment to test children's feelings toward lucky or unlucky peers. Young children like people with good luck rather than those with bad luck and generalize this liking to the group to which the lucky person belongs.

10. Future Thinking in Young Children, Cristina M. Atance, Current Directions in Psychological Science, April 2008

The ability to " mentally time travel" may be uniquely human, but when can children mentally project themselves into the future? Using experimental evidence, Atance shows that this skill emerges during the preschool years and may be involved in planning future behaviors and delaying gratification.

Part B. Learning in School

11. When Should a Kid Start Kindergarten?, Elizabeth Weil, The New York Times Magazine, June 3, 2007

This article presents multiple perspectives on when a child should begin school. The phenomenon of " redshirting," or opting to hold a child back, is explored, especially in terms of academic achievement. School readiness and family dynamics are also discussed.

UNIT 3: Social and Emotional Development

Unit Overview

Part A. The Child's Feelings: Emotional Development

12. A Neurobiological Perspective on Early Human Deprivation, Charles A. Nelson, Child Development Perspectives, January 2007

Many children worldwide are raised in institutional settings, which have been shown to have deleterious effects on development. Early institutionalization causes reduced cortical activity in the brain and a disturbed neuroendocrine system that regulates social behavior. These findings help explain how institutional care leads to developmental problems.

13. 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.

14. Emotions and the Development of Childhood Depression: Bridging the Gap, Pamela M. Cole, Joan Luby, and Margaret W. Sullivan, Child Development Perspectives, December 2008

Our understanding of typical or normal emotional development can help us understand children who have emotional problems, and vice versa. The authors describe emotional development and childhood depression, identifying risk factors for the disorder and the roles of negative emotions and positive emotions in early development.

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

15. Children's Social and Moral Reasoning about Exclusion, Melanie Killen, Current Directions in Psychological Science, February 2007

How do children develop morality? Today researchers are looking at different forms of social and moral reasoning present in children. Using social domain theory, the article frames how prejudice and stereotypes form and how children reason about exclusion.

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

Bullying involves the repeated exposure of 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.

17. When Girls and Boys Play: What Research Tells Us, Jeanetta G. Riley and Rose B. Jones, Childhood Education, Fall 2007

Play has many benefits for all children, but research shows that girls and boys often play in different ways. The authors review research on gender patterns in social interactions, physical play, and language usage. Implications for educators and parents are also discussed.

18. Girls Just Want to Be Mean, Margaret Talbot, The New Y...