The Blackwell Handbook of Early Childhood Development presents a comprehensive summary of research into child development from age two to seven.

Comprises 30 contributions from both established scholars and emerging leaders in the field.

The editors have a distinguished reputation in early childhood development.

Covers biological development, cognitive development, language development, and social, emotional and regulatory development.

Considers the applications of psychology to the care and education of young children, treating issues such as poverty, media, and the transition to school.

A valuable resource for students, scholars and practitioners dealing with young children.

Kuhl provides additional insight into the nature of the biological and environmental signals controlling epigenetic programs through her work on the development of speech perception in human children. The issue she raises of what is general and what is special in human speech perception and language development bears directly on the "open" versus "closed" teaming systems observed by Mader for oscine songbirds. In the most detailed account of the biological and environmental signals controlling epigenesis, Pasko Rakic describes the ontogenetic processes that produce the primate cerebral cortex.

From earliest infancy, a typically developing child imitates or mirrors the facial expressions, postures and gestures, and emotional behavior of others. Where does this capacity come from, and what function does it serve? What happens when imitation is impaired? Synthesizing cutting-edge research emerging from a range of disciplines, this important book examines the role of imitation in both autism and typical development. Topics include the neural and evolutionary bases of imitation, its pivotal connections to language development and relationships, and how early imitative deficits in autism might help explain the more overt social and communication problems of older children and adults.

Part of the authoritative four-volume reference that spans the entire field of child development and has set the standard against which all other scholarly references are compared. Updated and revised to reflect the new developments in the field, the Handbook of Child Psychology, Sixth Edition contains new chapters on such topics as spirituality, social understanding, and non-verbal communication.

 

Volume 3: Social, Emotional, and Personality Development, edited by Nancy Eisenberg, Arizona State University, covers mechanisms of socialization and personality development, including parent/child relationships, peer relationships, emotional development, gender role acquisition, pro-social and anti-social development, motivation, achievement, social cognition, and moral reasoning, plus a new chapter on adolescent development.

Part of the authoritative four-volume reference that spans the entire field of child development and has set the standard against which all other scholarly references are compared. Updated and revised to reflect the new developments in the field, the Handbook of Child Psychology, Sixth Edition contains new chapters on such topics as spirituality, social understanding, and non-verbal communication.

 

Volume 2: Cognition, Perception, and Language, edited by Deanna Kuhn, Columbia University, and Robert S. Siegler, Carnegie Mellon University, covers mechanisms of cognitive and perceptual development in language acquisition. It includes new chapters devoted to neural bases of cognition, motor development, grammar and langauge rules, information processing, and problem solving skills.