Developmental Psychologyinfancy and Childhood 5Th Edition David R Shaffer Full Chapter

Developmental Psychology:Infancy and
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Fifth
Canadian
Edition
Infancy and
Childhood
Shaffer
Kipp
Wood
Willoughby
Roberts
Gottardo
Krettenauer
Lee
Newton
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Developmental
Psychology
Infancy and
Childhood
fifth canadian edition
David R. Shaffer
University of Georgia
Katherine Kipp
University of Georgia
Eileen Wood
Wilfrid Laurier University
Teena Willoughby
Brock University
Kim P. Roberts
Alexandra Gottardo
Tobias Krettenauer
Joanne Lee
Nicky Newton
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Developmental Psychology, Fifth
Canadian Edition
by David R. Shaffer, Katherine Kipp,
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Brief Contents
Preface xiii
PArt I theory AnD reseArCh In the DeveLoPmentAL sCIenCes

Chapter 1 Introduction to Developmental Psychology and Its research strategies 1
Chapter 2 theories of human Development 36
PArt II FounDAtIons oF DeveLoPment

Chapter 3 hereditary Influences on Development 68
Chapter 4 Prenatal Development 98
Chapter 5 Birth and the newborn’s readiness for Life 123
Chapter 6 Physical Development: the Brain, Body, motor skills, and the Beginnings
of sexual Development 145
PArt III LAnguAge, LeArnIng, AnD CognItIve DeveLoPment

Chapter 7 early Cognitive Foundations: sensation, Perception, and Learning 178
Chapter 8 Cognitive Development: Piaget’s theory, Case’s neo-Piagetian theory,
and vygotsky’s sociocultural viewpoint 218
Chapter 9 Cognitive Development: Information-Processing Perspectives
and Connectionism 264
Chapter 10 Intelligence: measuring mental Performance 307
Chapter 11 Development of Language and Communication skills 348
PArt Iv soCIAL AnD PersonALIty DeveLoPment

Chapter 12 emotional Development, temperament, and Attachment 394
Chapter 13 Development of the self and social Cognition 429
Chapter 14 sex Differences and similarities, and gender-role Development 463
Chapter 15 moral Development and Aggression 498
PArt v the eCoLogy oF DeveLoPment

Chapter 16 the Family 538
Chapter 17 Beyond the Family Context: Peers, schools, and media 576
glossary g-1
references r-1
name Index I-1
subject Index I-23
NEL iii
Contents
Preface xiii Learning Theories 42
Watson’s Behaviourism 42
Skinner’s Operant Learning Theory 42
Bandura’s Cognitive Social Learning
PArt I Theory 43
theory AnD reseArCh In the n Box 2.1 FoCus on reseArCh: An Example of
Observational Learning 44
DeveLoPmentAL sCIenCes Contributions and Criticisms
of Learning Theories 45
ChAPter 1
Cognitive-Developmental Theories 47
Introduction to Developmental Psychology and Its
Piaget’s View of Intelligence
research strategies 1 and Intellectual Growth 47
Introduction to Developmental Psychology 1 Contributions and Criticisms
What Is Development? 2 of Piaget’s Viewpoint 48
The Scientific Study of Development and Its Origins 6 Sociocultural Theories 49
Early Philosophical Perspectives on Childhood 6 Contributions and Criticisms
Children as Subjects of Study: Baby Biographies of Vygotsky’s Viewpoint 50
and Diaries 7 Information-Processing Theories 50
Research Methods in Developmental Psychology 8 Contributions and Criticisms of the
Gathering Data: Basic Fact-Finding Strategies 8 Information-Processing Viewpoint 51
Detecting Relationships: Correlational and Ethological and Evolutionary Theories 52
Experimental Designs 16 Assumptions of Classical Ethology 52
Research Strategies in Developmental Psychology 23 Ethology and Human Development 52
Research Designs for Studying Development 23 Evolutionary Theory 53
Ethical Considerations in Developmental Research 30 Contributions and Criticisms of the Ethological
What Makes a Research Study Ethical and Evolutionary Viewpoints 54
or Unethical? 31 Ecological Systems Theory 55
Postscript: On Becoming a Wise User Contexts for Development 55
of Developmental Research 32 Family and the Ecological Systems Theory 57
Summary 33 Contributions and Criticisms
of the Ecological Systems Theory 58
Key Terms 35
Themes in the Study of Human Development:
Questions and Controversies 59
ChAPter 2
The Nature/Nurture Issue 59
theories of human Development 36
The Active/Passive Issue 60
The Nature of Scientific Theories 36 The Continuity/Discontinuity Issue 60
Psychoanalytic Theories 38 The Holistic Nature of Development Issue 61
Freud’s Psychosexual Theory 38 Theories and World Views 62
Contributions and Criticisms of Freud’s Theory 39 The Developmental Systems View 63
Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development 40
Summary 65
Contributions and Criticisms of Erikson’s Theory 40
Psychoanalytic Theory beyond Freud and Erikson 41 Key Terms 66
NEL v
vi Contents
PArt II The Period of the Embryo 101

The Period of the Fetus 101
FounDAtIons oF DeveLoPment Environmental Influences on Prenatal
ChAPter 3 Development 105
hereditary Influences on Development 68 Teratogens 105
Principles of Hereditary Transmission 68 n Box 4.1 DeveLoPmentAL Issues: Teratogenic
The Genetic Material 69 Effects of Sexually Transmitted Diseases/
Growth of the Zygote and Production Infections 108
of Body Cells 70 n Box 4.2 the InsIDe trACk: Joanne Rovet /
Germlines 70 Kelly Nash 112
Multiple Births 71 Environmental Hazards 114
Male or Female? 72 Maternal Characteristics 116
What Do Genes Do? 72 Prevention of Birth Defects 120
How Important Are Environmental Applying Developmental Themes
Influences? 73 to Prenatal Development 120
How Do Phenotypes Develop Summary 122
through Genotypes? 73
Key Terms 122
n Box 3.1 DeveLoPmentAL Issues: Examples of
Dominant and Recessive Traits in Human
Heredity 75 ChAPter 5
Polygenic Inheritance 76
Birth and the newborn’s readiness
The Role of Epigenetics 76
for Life 123
Hereditary Disorders 77
Childbirth and the Perinatal Environment 123
Chromosomal Abnormalities 78
The Birth Process 123
Genetic Abnormalities 80
The Baby’s Experience 124
Predicting, Detecting, and Treating Hereditary
Labour and Delivery Medication 126
Disorders 81
The Social Environment Surrounding
n Box 3.2 Current ControversIes: Ethical Issues
Birth 128
Surrounding Treatments for Hereditary
n Box 5.1 the InsIDe trACk: Ann Bigelow 130
Disorders 84
Birth Complications 130
Hereditary Influences on Behaviour 86
Anoxia 130
Methods of Studying Hereditary Influences 86
Low Birth Weight 131
Estimating the Contribution of Genes
and Environment 86 Reproductive Risk and Capacity for
Recovery 134
Hereditary Contributions to Personality 89
Applying Developmental Themes to Birth 135
Hereditary Contributions to Behaviour Disorders
and Mental Illness 89 The Newborn’s Readiness for Life 136
Theories of Heredity and Environment Interactions Newborn Reflexes 137
in Development 90 Infant States 138
The Canalization Principle 90 Developmental Changes in Infant States 139
The Range-of-Reaction Principle 91 n Box 5.2 DeveLoPmentAL Issues: Sudden Infant
From Genotype to Environment 91 Death Syndrome 140
n Box 5.3 APPLyIng DeveLoPmentAL reseArCh:
How Do Genotype/Environment Interactions
Influence Development? 92 Methods of Soothing a Fussy Baby 142
Contributions and Criticisms of the Summary 143

Behavioural Genetics Approach 94 Key Terms 144
Applying Developmental Themes to Hereditary
Influences on Development 95 ChAPter 6
Summary 95 Physical Development: the Brain,
Key Terms 97 Body, motor skills, and the Beginnings
of sexual Development 145
ChAPter 4 An Overview of Maturation and Growth 146
Prenatal Development 98 Changes in Height and Weight 146
From Conception to Birth 99 Changes in Body Proportions 147
The Period of the Zygote 99 Skeletal Development 148
NEL
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Contents vii
Muscular Development 148 n Box 7.1 FoCus on reseArCh: Causes and

Variations in Physical Development 148 Consequences of Hearing Loss 184
Development of the Brain 149 Taste and Smell 185
Neural Development and Plasticity 149 Touch, Temperature, and Pain 186
n Box 6.1 the InsIDe trACk: Dr. Sid Segalowitz 150
Vision 187
n Box 6.2 the InsIDe trACk: Bryan Kolb 152 Visual Perception in Infancy 189
Brain Differentiation and Growth 153 Perception of Patterns and Forms 189
n Box 7.2 the InsIDe trACk: Daphne Maurer 192
Motor Development 156
Basic Trends in Locomotor Development 157 Perception of Three-Dimensional Space 193
Fine Motor Development 160 Intermodal Perception 197
Psychological Implications of Early Motor Are the Senses Integrated at Birth? 197
Development 162 Development of Intermodal Perception 198
Beyond Infancy: Motor Development Explaining Intermodal Perception 199
in Childhood 163 Infant Perception in Perspective—And a
n Box 6.3 APPLyIng reseArCh to your LIFe: Look Ahead 200
Exercise: The Key to a Healthy Childhood 164 Perceptual Learning in Childhood: Gibson’s
The Onset of Puberty: The Early Beginnings of the Differentiation Theory 200
Physical Transition from Child to Adolescent 165 Cultural Influences on Perception 201
Sexual Maturation in Girls 165 Basic Learning Processes 203
Sexual Maturation in Boys 166 Habituation: Early Evidence of Information
Individual Differences in and Sexual Maturation: Processing and Memory 203
Early Onset 166 Classical Conditioning 204
Secular Trends—Are We Maturing Earlier? 166 Operant (or Instrumental) Conditioning 206
Does Timing of Puberty Matter? 167 Operant Conditioning in Infancy 208
Causes and Correlates of Physical Development 168 Observational Learning 210
Biological Mechanisms 168 n Box 7.3 APPLyIng DeveLoPmentAL reseArCh:
Environmental Influences 169 Corporal Punishment— Cultural Ideals and
Applying Developmental Themes to Physical Alternatives 211
Development 173 Applying Developmental Themes to Infant
Summary 175 Development, Perception, and Learning 214
Key Terms 176 Summary 215

Key Terms 217
PArt III ChAPter 8

LAnguAge, LeArnIng, AnD Cognitive Development: Piaget’s theory, Case’s
CognItIve DeveLoPment neo-Piagetian theory, and vygotsky’s sociocultural
viewpoint 218
ChAPter 7 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development 219
early Cognitive Foundations: sensation, Perception, What Is Intelligence? 219
and Learning 178 How We Gain Knowledge: Cognitive Schemes
Early Controversies about Sensory and Perceptual and Cognitive Processes 220
Development 179 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development 221
Nature versus Nurture 179 The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 Years) 221
Enrichment versus Differentiation 179 n Box 8.1 DeveLoPmentAL Issues: Why Infants
Research Methods Used to Study the Infant’s Sensory Know More about Objects than Piaget
and Perceptual Experiences 180 Assumed 227
The Preference Method 180 The Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 Years) and the
Emergence of Symbolic Thought 230
The Habituation Method 180
n Box 8.2 DeveLoPmentAL Issues: Play Is Serious
The High-Amplitude Sucking Method 181
Business 232
The Evoked Potentials Method 182
n Box 8.3 the InsIDe trACk: Kang Lee 240
Brain Imaging Techniques 182
n Box 8.4 FoCus on reseArCh: Is Theory of Mind
Infant Sensory Capabilities 183 Biologically Programmed? The Special Case
Hearing 183 of Autism Spectrum Disorder 241
NEL
viii Contents
The Concrete-Operational Stage Cognitive Inhibition: Dismissing

(7 to 11 Years) 242 Irrelevant Information 281
The Formal-Operational Stage Meta-attention: What Do Children Know about
(11 to 12 Years and Beyond) 244 Attention? 282
An Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory 246 Alternative Models of Memory: Fuzzy Traces
Piaget’s Contributions 246 and Scripts 283
Challenges to Piaget 247 Fuzzy-Trace Theory 283
Case’s Neo-Piagetian Theory 248 Schemas 284
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective 250 The Development of Event Memory 286

The Role of Culture in Intellectual Origins of Event Memory 286
Development 250 n Box 9.3 applyIng researCh to your lIfe:
The Social Origins of Early Cognitive What Happened to Our Early Childhood
Competencies 252 Memories? 287
Implications for Education 255 The Social Construction of Autobiographical
Memories 288
The Role of Language in Cognitive
Development 256 Summing Up 289
Vygotsky in Perspective: Summary Children as Eyewitnesses 290
and Evaluation 257 How Suggestible Are Child Witnesses? 291
Applying Developmental Themes to Piaget’s Implications for Legal Testimony 292
and Vygotsky’s Theories 260 The Development of Analogical Reasoning 292
Summing Up 261 The Development of Number and Arithmetic
Summary 261 Skills 294
Counting and Arithmetic Strategies 294
Key Terms 262
n Box 9.4 the InsIDe traCk: Jeff Bisanz 296
Evaluating the Information-Processing
Chapter 9
Perspective 299
Cognitive Development: Information-processing n Box 9.5 applyIng researCh to your lIfe: Some
perspectives and Connectionism 264 Educational Implications of Research on Attention
Information Flow and the Multistore Model 265 and Memory 300
Cognitive Processes and the Multistore Connectionist Approaches to Cognitive
Model 266 Development 301
Developmental Differences in “Hardware”: The Origins of Connectionism 301
Information-Processing Capacity 267 How Are Networks Created? 301
Development of the Short-Term Store 267 How Connectionist Networks Work 302
Knowledge Base and Memory Development 269 Connectionism and Development 302
Developmental Differences in “Software”: Applying Developmental Themes to Information-

Strategies 270 Processing Perspectives 303
Rehearsal 271 Summary 304
Organization 272 Key Terms 306
Elaboration 272
Production and Utilization Deficiencies 273
Chapter 10
Multiple Strategy and Variable Strategy Use 275
Intelligence: Measuring Mental performance 307
The Development of Metacognition and Executive
What Is Intelligence? 308
Control Processes 276
Psychometric Views of Intelligence 308
Knowledge and Reasoning 277
The Modern Information-Processing
n Box 9.1 the InsIDe traCk: Ori Friedman 278
Viewpoint 312
Retention and the Development of Attention 279 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences 314
Changes in Attention Span 279
How Is Intelligence Measured? 315
n Box 9.2 the InsIDe traCk: Kimberly Schonert-
The Wechsler Scales 316
Reichl 280
n Box 10.1 Cultural InfluenCes: Making American
Development of Planful Attentional
Tests Valid in Canada 317
Strategies 280
n Box 10.2 the InsIDe traCk: Donald H. Saklofske 318
Selective Attention: Ignoring Information That Is
Clearly Irrelevant 281 Distribution of IQ Scores 318
NEL
Contents ix
Group Tests of Mental Performance 319 Producing Sounds: The Infant’s Prelinguistic
Newer Approaches to Intelligence Testing 319 Vocalizations 362
Assessing Infant Intelligence 319 What Do Prelinguistic Infants Know about Language
and Communication? 363
What Do Intelligence Tests Predict? 322
IQ as a Predictor of Scholastic Achievement 322 The Holophrastic Period: One Word at a Time 365
IQ as a Predictor of Health, Adjustment, and Life Early Semantics: Building a Vocabulary 365
Satisfaction 323 n Box 11.2 the InsIDe trACk: Janet F. Werker 366
Factors That Influence IQ Scores 326 Attaching Meaning to Words 367
The Evidence for Heredity 326 When a Word Is More than a Word 371
The Evidence for Environment 327 The Telegraphic Period: From Holophrases to Simple
Sentences 371
Social and Cultural Correlates of Intellectual
Performance 328 A Semantic Analysis of Telegraphic
Speech 372
Home Environment and IQ 328
The Pragmatics of Early Speech 373
Social Class, Culture, Race, and Ethnic Differences
in IQ 331 n Box 11.3 APPLyIng reseArCh to your LIFe:
Learning a Gestural Language 374
Why Do Groups Differ in Intellectual
Performance? 332 Language Learning during the Preschool
Period 375
Improving Cognitive Performance through
Compensatory Education 337 Grammatical Development 376
Long-Term Follow-Ups 338 Semantic Development 378
The Importance of Parental Involvement 338 Development of Pragmatics
and Communication Skills 379
The Importance of Intervening Early 339
n Box 10.3 APPLyIng DeveLoPmentAL reseArCh: Language Learning during Middle Childhood 380
An Effective Compensatory Intervention Later Syntactic Development 381
for Families 339 Semantics and Metalinguistic Awareness 381
Creativity and Special Talents 340 Further Development of
What Is Creativity? 340 Communication Skills 382
The Psychometric Perspective 341 Bilingualism: Learning More than One Language 385
The Multicomponent (or Confluence) n Box 11.4 the InsIDe trACk: Johanne Paradis 387
Perspective 341 n Box 11.5 the InsIDe trACk: Ellen Bialystok 388
Sternberg and Lubart’s Investment Theory 342 Applying Developmental Themes to Language
Applying Developmental Themes to Intelligence Acquisition 390
and Creativity 345 Summary 391
Summary 345 Key Terms 392
Key Terms 347
ChAPter 11
PArt Iv
Development of Language and Communication
skills 348 soCIAL AnD PersonALIty
The Five Components of Language 349 DeveLoPment
Phonology 349
Morphology 349 ChAPter 12
Semantics 349 emotional Development, temperament,
Syntax 350 and Attachment 394
Pragmatics 350
Emotional Development 394
Theories of Language Development 350 Displaying Emotions: The Development
The Learning (or Empiricist) Perspective 351 (and Control) of Emotional
The Nativist Perspective 352 Expressions 395
n Box 11.1 FoCus on reseArCh: On the “Invention” of Recognizing and Interpreting Emotions 399
Language by Children 355 Emotions and Early Social Development 401
The Interactionist Perspective 356 Temperament and Development 402
The Prelinguistic Period: Before Language 361 Hereditary and Environmental Influences on
Early Reactions to Speech 361 Temperament 403
NEL
x Contents
Stability of Temperament 405 ChAPter 14

Early Temperamental Profiles sex Differences and similarities, and gender-role
and Later Development 406 Development 463
n Box 12.1 the InsIDe trACk: Elizabeth J. Hayden 406
Defining Sex and Gender 464
Attachment and Development 409
Categorizing Males and Females: Gender-Role
Attachments as Reciprocal Relationships 409
Standards 464
How Do Infants Become Attached? 410
n Box 14.1 DeveLoPmentAL Issues: What Traits
Individual Differences in Attachment Characterize Males and Females? 466
Quality 414
Factors That Influence Attachment Security 418 Some Facts and Fictions about Sex Differences 466
Attachment and Later Development 421 Actual Psychological Differences between
the Sexes 466
n Box 12.2 the InsIDe trACk: Ellen Moss 424
Cultural Myths 469
Applying Developmental Themes to Emotional Do Cultural Myths Contribute to Sex Differences in
Development, Temperament, and Attachment 425 Ability (and Vocational Opportunity)? 470
Summary 426 Developmental Trends in Gender Typing 472
Key Terms 427 Development of Gender Identity 472
Development of Gender-Role Stereotypes 473
ChAPter 13 n Box 14.2 the InsIDe trACk: Lisa Serbin 474
Development of the self and social Cognition 429 Development of Gender-Typed Behaviour 475
Development of the Self-Concept 429 Theories of Gender Typing and Gender-Role
Self-Differentiation in Infancy 430 Development 478
Self-Recognition in Infancy 430 Evolutionary Theory 478
Contributors to Self-Recognition 432 A Biosocial Overview of Gender Differentiation and
Social and Emotional Consequences Development 479
of Self-Recognition 433 n Box 14.3 FoCus on reseArCh: Is Biology Destiny? 482
“Who Am I?” Responses of Preschool Social-Learning Theory 484
Children 434 Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory 486
Conceptions of Self in Middle Childhood 434 Gender Schema Theory 487
Who Am I to Be? Identity as an Extension An Integrative Theory 488
of Self-Concept 436 Psychological Androgyny: A Prescription
Self-Esteem: The Evaluative Component for the 21st Century? 489
of Self 436 Do Androgynous People Really Exist? 490
Origins and Development of Self-Esteem 436 Are There Advantages to Being Androgynous? 491
n Box 13.1 the InsIDe trACk: Shelley Hymel 439 Applications: On Changing Gender-Role Attitudes
n Box 13.2 the InsIDe trACk: Joanne and Behaviour 492
Cummings 439 n Box 14.4 APPLyIng reseArCh to your LIFe:
Social Contributors to Self-Esteem 440 Combating Gender Stereotypes with Cognitive
Interventions 494
Development of Achievement Motivation and
Academic Self-Concept 442 Applying Developmental Themes to Sex Differences
Early Origins of Achievement Motivation 442 and Gender-Role Development 495
Achievement Motivation during Summary 495
Middle Childhood 443 Key Terms 496
Beyond Achievement Motivation: Development of
Achievement Attributions 447
ChAPter 15
The Other Side of Social Cognition: Knowing about moral Development and Aggression 498
Others 452
Defining the Moral Domain 499
Age Trends in Person Perception 452
Moral Foundations Theory 499
n Box 13.3 DeveLoPmentAL Issues: Racial
Turiel’s Social Domain Theory 500
Categorization and Racism in Young Children 453
The Anthropologist View 501
Theories of Social-Cognitive Development 455
Evolutionary Roots of Morality in Young
Applying Developmental Themes to the Development
Children 502
of the Self and Social Cognition 459
Empathy and Compassion 502
Summary 460 Social Preference for Helpfulness 503
Key Terms 461 Prosocial Helping 503
NEL
Contents xi
Beyond Nature— Cultural Influences on Sympathy n Box 16.1 the InsIDe trACk: Hildy Ross 552
and Prosocial Behaviour 504 Positive Contributions of Sibling
Rule Internalization in the Context of Close Relationships 553
Relationships 505 Characteristics of Only Children 554
Positive Reinforcement in the Context Diversity in Family Life 555
of Close Relationships 506 Adoptive Families 556
n Box 15.1 APPLyIng reseArCh to your LIFe: How Donor Insemination (DI) Families 556
Should I Discipline My Children? 509 Gay and Lesbian Families 557
Social-Modelling Influences 510 Family Conflict and Divorce 558
Moral Reasoning Development 511 Remarriage and Blended Families 560
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development 511 n Box 16.2 APPLyIng DeveLoPmentAL reseArCh:
Updates to Piaget’s Theory 513 Smoothing the Rocky Road to Recovery
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development 516 from a Divorce 561
Empirical Support for Kohlberg’s Theory 519 Down the Hidden Side of Family Life: The Problem
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Approach 522 of Child Abuse 564
The Development of Aggression 524 How Prevalent Is Child Abuse
and Neglect? 564
Aggressive Behaviour in Infancy and Childhood 525
Is There a Typical Profile of an Abuser? 565
Aggressiveness as a Trait: How Stable Is It? 526 Who Is Abused? 566
Sex Differences in Aggressive Behaviour 527 Consequences of Abuse and Neglect 568
Aggression as a Behavioural Problem 528 n Box 16.3 the InsIDe trACk: David Wolfe 569
Dodge’s Social Information-Processing Theory of How Can We Reduce the Prevalence
Aggression 528 of Abuse and Neglect? What Works? 570
n Box 15.2 the InsIDe trACk: Tina Malti 530 Applying Developmental Themes to Family Life,
Social and Cultural and Influences on Aggression 530 Parenting, and Siblings 572
Coercive Home Environments: Breeding Grounds for Summary 573
Aggression 531
Key Terms 574
Methods of Controlling Aggression
in Young Children 532
ChAPter 17
Applying Developmental Themes to Moral
Beyond the Family Context: Peers, schools,
Development and Aggression 535
and media 576
Summary 535
Peers as Agents of Socialization 576
Key Terms 536 Who Is a Peer and What Functions
Do Peers Serve? 577
The Development of Peer Sociability 578
PArt v Peer Acceptance and Popularity 582
Children and Their Friends 585
the eCoLogy oF DeveLoPment n Box 17.1 the InsIDe trACk: William Bukowski 585
n Box 17.2 DeveLoPmentAL Issues:
ChAPter 16
A Longitudinal Analysis of the Benefits
the Family 538 of Chumships 588
Understanding the Family 538 n Box 17.3 APPLyIng DeveLoPmentAL reseArCh:
The Family as a Social System 539 On Improving the Social Skills of Unpopular
Families Are Developing Systems 540 Children 589
Parental Socialization during Childhood 543 Parents and Peers as Influence Agents 590
Two Major Dimensions of Parenting 544 Increasing Conformity to Peers 590
Four Patterns of Parenting 544 School as a Socialization Agent 591
Social Class and Ethnic Variations How Well Educated Are Our Children?
in Child Rearing 548 A Cross-Cultural Comparison 591
The Influence of Siblings and Sibling n Box 17.4 APPLyIng reseArCh to your LIFe:
Relationships 551 Should Preschoolers Attend
Changes in the Family System School? 592
when a New Baby Arrives 551 Determinants of Effective Schooling 596
Sibling Relationships over the Course Do Our Schools Meet the Needs
of Childhood 551 of All of Our Children? 599
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xii Contents
Effects of Media Technologies on Summary 611

Child Development 602 Key Terms 613
Development of Media Literacy 603
Some Potentially Undesirable Effects of Screen glossary g-1
Media Technologies 604
references r-1
Some Desirable Developmental Outcomes from
Screen Media Technologies 606 name Index I-1
subject Index I-23
Computer Technologies and Cognitive Development 608
The Added Impact of the Internet 608
Applying Developmental Themes to Extrafamilial
Contextual Forces in Child Development 610
NEL
Preface
You will note that this fifth Canadian edition of Developmental Psychology: Infancy and
Childhood differs significantly from its predecessors. The revised title reflects a change in
focus, and the list of authors reflects a collaborative effort to create a timely, meaningful,
and accurate developmental textbook for Canadian students. Although this text has
always been written by multiple authors, the fifth Canadian edition is unique as it reflects
the expertise of seven Canadian developmental researchers (along with two original
authors from the United States) working together to create a comprehensive yet stream-
lined text that reflects the many domains of developmental psychology. In fact, the order
of authorship among the Canadian contributors was decided randomly as all contributed
equally to this edition. This edition is also unique in its focus. Where earlier editions
examined development through childhood and adolescence, this edition has been stream-
lined to focus on childhood (starting from before birth up until about 12 years of age). In
making this transition, we were able to further refine, update, and elaborate on the
information presented in our fourth edition. Importantly, given the time between the
fourth and fifth editions, considerable revisions were made to accommodate the fast pace
of change in the research literature. We have continued to couch the content in terms of
issues faced by Canadians, but we have also incorporated research from a range of coun-
tries to provide as complete a picture as possible.
Like the previous edition, this text provides an overview of child development that
reflects the best theories, research, and practical advice that developmentalists have to
offer. It is a substantive developmental text that we hope is interesting, accurate, up to
date, and written in clear, concise language that both introductory and more advanced
students can easily understand. We believe that a good text should talk to rather than at
its readers. It should anticipate their interests, questions, and concerns. It should treat
them as active participants in the learning process. It should stress the processes that
underlie developmental change, so that students come away from the course with a firm
understanding of the causes and complexities of development. We wanted this text to
challenge students to think about the fascinating process of human development, to
share in the excitement of our dynamic discipline, and to acquire a knowledge of devel-
opmental principles that will serve them well in their roles as parents, teachers, nurses,
childcare workers, pediatricians, psychologists, nurses, academics, or in any other capacity
in which they may one day influence the lives of developing individuals.
Philosophy
Certain philosophical views underlie any systematic treatment of a field as broad as child
development. The philosophy that guided the construction of this text can be summa-
rized as follows.
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xiv Preface
We Believe in Theoretical Eclecticism

Many theories have contributed to our knowledge about child development, and this
theoretical diversity is a strength rather than a weakness. Some theories may do a better
job than others of explaining particular aspects of development, but we see time and
again that different theories emphasize different aspects of development and that knowledge of
many theories is necessary to explain the course and complexities of human develop-
ment. So this book does not attempt to convince its readers that any one theoretical
viewpoint is best. The behaviouristic, cognitive-developmental, ecological, sociocultural,
information processing, ethological, behavioural, and genetic/biological viewpoints (as
well as several less encompassing theories that address selected aspects of development)
are all treated with respect.
The Best Information about Human Development

Comes from Systematic Research
To teach this course effectively, one must convince students of the value of theory
and systematic research. Although there are many ways to achieve that objective,
this text discusses the many methodological approaches that researchers use to test
their theories and answer questions about developing children. Care has been taken
to explain why there is no one best method for studying developing individuals and
why our most reliable findings are those that can be replicated using a variety
of methods.
We Believe in a Strong Process Orientation

In recent years, investigators have become increasingly concerned about identifying and
understanding developmental processes—the biological and environmental factors that
cause us to change—and this book reflects that concern. We believe that students are
more likely to remember what develops, and when, if they know and understand the
reasons that these developments take place.
We Believe in a Strong Contextual Orientation

One important lesson that developmentalists have learned is that children live in histor-
ical eras and sociocultural contexts that affect every aspect of their development. We
have highlighted these contextual influences in two ways. First, cross-cultural comparisons
are discussed in various places throughout the text. Cross-cultural research helps us see
how human beings can be so much alike and, at the same time, so different from one
another. Second, the impacts of such immediate contextual influences as our families,
neighbourhoods, schools, and peer groups are considered throughout the first 15 chap-
ters as we discuss each aspect of human development, and again in the final two chapters
as important topics in their own right.
Human Development Is a Holistic Process

Although individual researchers may concentrate on particular topics such as physical
development, cognitive development, or the development of moral reasoning, develop-
ment is not piecemeal but holistic: human beings are at once physical, cognitive, social,
and emotional creatures, and each of these components of self depends, in part, on
changes taking place in other areas of development. This holistic perspective is empha-
sized throughout the text.
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Preface xv
A Developmental Text Should Be a Resource

Book for Students— One That Reflects Current
Knowledge
This text cites many new studies and new programs of research—many are “hot off the
press” (see The Inside Track boxes)—to ensure that our coverage represents the most
up-to-date understanding of topics in developmental psychology. However, we have
avoided the tendency to ignore older research simply because it is older. Many of the
classics of our discipline are featured prominently throughout the text to illustrate impor-
tant breakthroughs and to show how our knowledge about development builds on earlier
findings and insights.
organization
There are two traditional ways of presenting human development. In the chronological,
or “ages and stages,” approach, the coverage begins at conception and proceeds through
the lifespan, using ages or chronological periods as the organizing principle. By contrast,
the topical approach is organized around areas of development and follows each from its
origins to its mature forms. Each of these presentations has its advantages and disadvan-
tages. On the one hand, a chronological focus highlights the holistic character of devel-
opment but may obscure the links between early and later events within each
developmental domain. On the other hand, a topical approach highlights developmental
sequences and processes but at the risk of failing to convey that development is holistic
in nature.
This book is organized topically to focus on developmental processes and to provide
the student with an uninterrupted view of the sequences of change that children experi-
ence within each developmental domain. In our opinion, this topical approach best
allows the reader to appreciate the flow of development—the systematic, and often truly
dramatic transformations that take place over the course of childhood, as well as the
developmental continuities that make each individual a reflection of his or her past self.
At the same time, we consider it essential to paint a holistic portrait of the developing
person. To accomplish this aim, we have stressed the fundamental interplay among bio-
logical, cognitive, social, and cultural influences for each and every aspect of development.
So, even though this text is organized topically, students will not lose sight of the whole
person and the holistic character of human development.
Content
We made an effort to retain in this edition those qualities of earlier editions that students
and professors say they like. One such quality is the division of the book into five parts.
n■ Part I: Theory and Research in the Development Sciences. This first part
presents an orientation to the discipline and the tools of the trade, including a
thorough discussion and illustration of research methodologies in Chapter 1
and a succinct review of the major theories of human development in Chapter 2.
These chapters illustrate why research methods and theories are important to
an understanding of human development. The coverage also analyzes the con-
tributions and the limitations of each research method and each major theory.
n■ Part II: Foundations of Development. Chapters 3 to 6 address foundations of
development strongly influenced by biological factors. Chapter 3 focuses on
hereditary contributions to human development and illustrates how genes and
environments interact to influence most human characteristics. Chapters 4 and
5 focus on prenatal development and on the many prenatal and perinatal
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xvi Preface
environmental factors that influence a newborn’s health and readiness for

adapting to the world outside the womb. Chapter 6 is devoted to physical
growth, including the development of the brain and motor skills.
n■ Part III: Language, Learning, and Cognitive Development. The five chapters
of Part III address the many theories and the voluminous research pertaining to
the development of language, learning capabilities, and intellectual develop-
ment. Chapter 7 begins exploring the growth of perceptual and learning capa-
bilities—two crucial cognitive foundations for many other aspects of
development. Chapter 8 is devoted to major viewpoints of intellectual growth
including Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory, Case’s neo-Piagetian theory,
and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. These theories are covered in detail, for
each is important to understanding the social, emotional, and language develop-
ments that are covered in later chapters. Chapter 9 explores the information-
processing viewpoint and connectionist models. The application of
information-processing research in everyday contexts is covered through topics
such as reasoning and mathematics. Chapter 10 focuses on individual differences
in intellectual performance. Here we review the intelligence testing movement,
the many factors that influence children’s IQ scores, and the merits of compen-
satory interventions designed to improve intellectual performance. The chapter
concludes with a discussion of creative abilities and their development. Chapter 11
explores the fascinating topic of language development and addresses a number
of intriguing questions such as, Do children acquire language more easily than
adults? Is sign language a true language? Does bilingualism promote or inhibit
linguistic proficiency and cognitive development?
n■ Part IV: Social and Personality Development. The next four chapters focus on
crucial aspects of social and personality development. Chapter 12 examines the
process of emotional development, the developmental significance of individual
differences in temperament, and the growth and implications for later develop-
ment of the emotional attachments that children form with their close compan-
ions. Chapter 13, on the self, traces the development of the self-concept and
children’s emerging sense of self-esteem, and the growth of social cognition and
interpersonal understanding. Chapter 14 focuses on sex differences and similari-
ties and on how biological factors, social forces, and intellectual growth can
interact to steer males and females toward different gender roles. The chapter
also examines the utility (or lack thereof ) of traditional gender roles and dis-
cusses ways in which we might be more successful at combating unfounded
gender stereotypes. Chapter 15 examines interrelated aspects of social develop-
ment that people often consider when making judgments about one’s character:
moral development and aggression.
n■ Part V: The Ecology of Development. The final section of the text concen-
trates on the settings, or contexts, in which people develop—the ecology of
development. Chapter 16 is devoted to family influences, focusing on the
functions that families serve, patterns of child rearing that foster adaptive or
maladaptive outcomes, the impacts of siblings on developing children, and
the effects of family diversities and family transitions on child development.
Chapter 17 concludes the text with an in-depth examination of three extra-
familial influences on developing children: peers, schools, and the impact
of media.
new to the Fifth Canadian edition

One of the most challenging tasks we face when writing a Canadian edition is under-
standing what defines a Canadian text. What should a Canadian text in developmental
psychology look like compared to the American texts we are accustomed to seeing?
Although, for the most part, Canadian and American researchers investigate
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Preface xvii
developmental psychology using the same theories, philosophies, designs, methods, and
analyses, we acknowledge that there are differences—some obvious, some not—in how
research is conducted.
One of the obvious areas of difference between the two cultures is that of legal
issues. Canadians and Americans have different legislation and therefore different
expectations on such basic issues as health care, parental leave, acceptable discipline,
and the right to appropriate education. There are more subtle differences, too, that
also need to be addressed. For example, though both countries promote diversity,
they do so in different ways. That Canadians embrace diversity is especially evident
in the way we respond to questions of language. Like many other countries in the
world, Canada supports two languages officially but also supports many heritage
languages through an array of publicly funded venues. The study of language,
second-language learning, and bilingualism in particular are areas of research in
which Canadians are at the forefront.
Throughout the text, we present issues like these that are important to Canadians.
The fifth edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to reflect the ever-changing
field of developmental psychology as well as to provide updated information on current
Canadian research.
As noted at the outset, one the largest changes between previous editions and
the present text is the focus. The present text focuses on child development, whereas
earlier editions targeted both childhood and adolescence. Although some develop-
mental theories and findings relate to both groups, a growing body of research indi-
cates unique developmental issues in these two stages of development. As a result,
whole courses are now offered for each of child and adolescent development. Thus,
the present text focuses on child development with some material extending into
early adolescence, as the division between childhood and adolescence is not so
clear-cut in all domains or for every individual. Some changes that cut across all
chapters include
n■ organization of material, with material being condensed, relocated, and pre-
sented in forms that allow easier comprehension of the main ideas;
n■ updates to existing research programs in the introduction of new research pro-
grams and studies in the text and highlighted in The Inside Track boxes to
summarize current research being conducted by prominent Canadian develop-
mentalists;
n■ the use of specific examples to highlight research findings and provide applica-
tions to real-life situations; and
n■ significant and thorough updates to the research and theory to reflect current
thinking in developmental psychology.
In addition to these general changes that affect all chapters, numerous specific
changes have been made in each chapter. The following provides some examples to dem-
onstrate particular changes within each chapter.
Chapter 1: Introduction to Developmental

Psychology and Its Research Strategies
n■ Added and updated discussions, materials, and research on the following topics:
●■ baby diaries (added information about Clara and William Stern)
●■ psychophysiological methods (added eye tracking)
●■ ethical standards for conducting research (Tri-Council policies)
●■ different notions of developmental stability (absolute and positional
stability)
n■ Streamlined content to make it more accessible by deleting non-essential con-
tent and by reorganizing subsections to improve flow.
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xviii Preface
Chapter 2: Theories of Human Development

n■ Updated information regarding theories and theorists and augmented these
updates with photos.
n■ Updated information on sociocultural theories.
n■ Introduced and discussed developmental systems view and Gottlieb’s model of
co-active developmental systems.
Chapter 3: Hereditary Influences on Development

n■ To ensure clarity for students, the information on heritability was removed from
the Current Controversies box and embedded in the text.
n■ Added paragraph in Developmental Issues box explaining the concept that
“recessive” doesn’t mean “rare” and “dominant” doesn’t mean “ordinary.”
n■ Reduced section on hereditary disorders.
n■ Expanded recent advances in epigenetics and other ways genes are changed.
Chapter 4: Prenatal Development

n■ Introduced current research on prenatal exposure to HIV, including the impor-
tance of differentiating experiences in developed versus developing countries.
n■ Updated prevalence statistics throughout.
n■ Updated section on prenatal exposure to alcohol, including our current under-
standing of FASD.
n■ Updated section on illicit drugs and highlighted the impact of opioids as well as
including a summary of the effects of cocaine.
Chapter 5: Birth and the Newborn’s

Readiness for Life
n■ New The Inside Track box to highlight infant–parent mirroring.
n■ Revised birthing environments section to capture diversity of choices.
n■ Updated information related to postpartum stresses and depression.
n■ Updated statistics on sudden infant death syndrome in Canada.
Chapter 6: Physical Development: The Brain, Body,

Motor Skills, and the Beginnings of Sexual
Development
n■ Updated research on physical and motor changes.
n■ New Applying Research to Your Life box to explain the importance of physical
activity for children.
n■ Revised discussion of sexual development to focus on early onset of puberty in
childhood.
Chapter 7: Early Cognitive Foundations: Sensation,

Perception, and Learning
n■ Revised section on research methods to include brain imaging techniques.
n■ Updated statistics on otitis media and its impact on language, cognition, and
social development of children with recurring infections.
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Preface xix
n■ Added information on the cues newborns use to recognize faces and how pain
is experienced by newborns.
n■ Revised section on the development of depth perception regarding why infants
avoid the drop-off in the visual cliff experiment.
n■ Updated statistics on corporal punishment of children and highlighting of its
impact on children’s aggression even in cultures that accept the practice.
Chapter 8: Cognitive Development: Piaget’s

Theory, Case’s Neo-Piagetian Theory, and
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Viewpoint
n■ Revised opening vignette to reflect a childhood example.
n■ Added information on physical reasoning system and explanation-based learning.
n■ New The Inside Track box featuring the research of Kang Lee.
Chapter 9: Cognitive Development: Information-

Processing Perspectives and Connectionism
n■ Rearranged sections to make the flow among theories smoother.
n■ Streamlined and updated section on mathematics to make this application seam-
lessly follow the theory.
n■ Expanded and elaborated material related to metacognition.
n■ Updated research and examples.
n■ New The Inside Track box on preschoolers’ reasoning.
n■ New The Inside Track box on mindfulness and academic success.
Chapter 10: Intelligence: Measuring Mental

Performance
n■ Revised and updated opening vignette.
n■ Added PASS theory of intelligence.
n■ Updated statistics.
n■ Revised and updated The Inside Track box on David Saklofske’s work to reflect
a new focus on emotional intelligence.
n■ Updated information on adoptions and the role of genetics versus environment.
n■ Updated section on intellectual disabilities to reflect the DSM-5.
Chapter 11: Development of Language and

Communication Skills
n■ Revised section on the optimal age of linguistic exposure to attain native profi-
ciency in second language learning by examining international adopted children.
n■ Introduced statistical learning in early speech perception and word learning.
n■ New Canadian statistics on immigrants and languages used.
n■ New The Inside Track box on Johanne Paradis’s work on syntax and mor-
phology in second-language learners.
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xx Preface
Chapter 12: Emotional Development,

Temperament, and Attachment
n■ Reorganized and streamlined discussion on attachment.
n■ Reorganized and streamlined discussion on emotions.
n■ Expanded discussion on temperament.
n■ Two new The Inside Track boxes highlighting the work of Ellen Moss and
Elizabeth Hayden.
n■ Expanded and updated references throughout the chapter.
Chapter 13: Development of the Self

and Social Cognition
n■ Revised discussion of identity.
n■ Expanded discussion of cultural differences in self-concept.
n■ Expanded discussion of self-esteem.
n■ Expanded and updated discussion of achievement motivation.
n■ Expanded and updated references.
n■ Two new The Inside Track boxes highlighting the work of Shelley Hymel and
Joanne Cummings.
Chapter 14: Sex Differences and Similarities,

and Gender-Role Development
n■ Expanded discussion of evolutionary theory.
n■ Updated Focus on Research box dealing with the Bruce/Brenda story.
n■ Expanded discussion of marketing and media influence on observational
learning of gender roles.
n■ Updated discussion of gender schema theory.
n■ Expanded and updated references throughout.
Chapter 15: Moral Development and Aggression

n■ Chapter restructured and sections on moral development and prosocial develop-
ment merged to reduce redundancy.
n■ Section on definition of moral domain expanded.
n■ Evolutionary perspectives introduced.
n■ Discussion of new research on infants’ social preferences, helping behaviour,
and lying.
n■ New The Inside Track box highlighting Tina Malti’s research.
n■ Research on bullying removed to reduce overlap with other chapters and make
content more pertinent for children’s development.
Chapter 16: The Family

n■ Updated references and Canadian statistics throughout chapter.
n■ Updated The Inside Track boxes.
n■ New discussion of the so-called “tiger parenting” style.
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Preface xxi
n■ Updated statistics and discussion on child abuse and neglect including practices
of immigrant families.
n■ Added information on “grooming.”
Chapter 17: Beyond the Family Context: Peers,

Schools, and Media Technologies
n■ Clarified the different forms of social inhibition (e.g., shyness versus withdrawing).
n■ Added information about how culture, intergenerational support, and tempera-
ment affects children’s behaviour and school success.
n■ Added more recent school models.
n■ Significant changes in technology have resulted in a different landscape for
children in today’s technological world. Conditions leading to change and the
impact of screen media technologies are introduced and elaborated upon.
n■ Introduced intergenerational contributions to schooling.
n■ Added information about how parents use technologies to monitor children’s
behaviour.
Writing style
Our goal has been to write a book that speaks directly to its readers and treats them
as active participants in an ongoing discussion. We have tried to be relatively informal
and down to earth in our writing style and to rely heavily on questions, thought
problems, concept checks, and a number of other exercises to stimulate students’
interest and involvement. Most of the chapters were “pretested” on our own faculty
and students, who identified parts that weren’t clear to them and suggested several
of the concrete examples, analogies, and occasional anecdotes that we’ve used when
introducing and explaining complex ideas. So, with the valuable assistance of our
student and peer critics, we have attempted to prepare a text that is substantive and
challenging yet reads more like a dialogue or a story than like an encyclopedia.
special Features
Among the more important features that are included to encourage student interest and
involvement and make the material easier to learn are the following:
n■ Introductions and chapter summaries. A brief introductory section at the
beginning of each chapter provides the student with a preview of what will be
covered.
n■ Concept Checks located at strategic points within each chapter give stu-
dents opportunities to review as they progress through the chapter. Concept
Checks include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, essay, and scenario-based
questions. Answers to all Concept Checks can be found at the end of each
chapter.
n■ Summary sections at the end of each chapter present bulleted statements
organized by major chapter section, summarizing the key points of each
section.
n■ Running glossary, key term lists, and comprehensive end-of-book glossary.
A running glossary provides on-the-spot definitions of boldface key terms as
they appear in the text. At the end of each chapter is a list of key terms that
appeared in the narrative, as well as the page number on which each term is
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xxii Preface
defined. A complete glossary of key terms for the entire text appears at the end
of the book. The number of the page where each term is first introduced is
included in the glossary.
n■ Boxes. Each chapter contains boxes that highlight important research, ideas,
processes, issues, or applications. The aim of these boxes is to permit a closer
or more personal examination of selected topics while stimulating the reader
to think about the questions, controversies, practices, and policies under dis-
cussion. For example, The Inside Track boxes highlight current Canadian
research and researchers; Applying Research to Your Life gives students useful
tools for becoming wise consumers of the research; Focus on Research boxes
discuss classic and recent studies that illuminate the topics and issues of devel-
opment; and Applying Developmental Themes sections highlight the book’s
four core developmental themes (nature/nurture, active/passive, continuity/
discontinuity, and the holistic nature of development), showing students how
chapter topics apply to these themes. Developmental Issues boxes highlight
applied questions important to development. All of these boxes are carefully
woven into the chapter narrative and were selected to reinforce central themes
in the text.
n■ The Inside Track boxes. An exciting feature of this text is The Inside Track.
These boxes highlight one or two recent studies or a program of research
conducted by researchers at Canadian universities. In writing these features,
we had the opportunity to communicate directly with almost all of the
researchers represented. You will notice that the research captures the state-
of-the-art work being conducted by Canadian researchers. Together, The
Inside Track boxes identify the extraordinary array of research being con-
ducted at Canadian universities. Although we have added new researchers in
this edition, these boxes feature only a few of the many individuals whose
work is making an impact on our understanding of Developmental Issues.
We would have liked to include many others but were limited, in some
cases, by space restrictions and, in others, by the advanced level of research,
which was beyond the scope of an introductory textbook. We have, how-
ever, integrated other important Canadian contributions throughout the
body of the text. In many cases, university affiliations are provided with the
researchers’ names to let students know where the researcher is located.
Where affiliations are left out, we felt they impeded the flow of the text or
compromised the clarity of the presentation. Overall, students will have an
opportunity to become acquainted with Canadian research and gain a better
understanding of how it fits within the big picture in developmental psy-
chology. In this fifth edition, we added new The Inside Track boxes, as well
as revising and updating the existing ones.
n■ Illustrations. Photographs, tables, figures, and chronological tables are
used extensively to review important developmental ideas and milestones.
All visual aids, including the occasional cartoon, were selected to illustrate
important principles and concepts and thereby enhance the educational
goals of the text.
n■ Critical-thinking questions. The What Do You Think? feature is designed to
encourage students to think about current controversies and/or to apply what
they have learned in formulating their own reasoned position on developmen-
tally significant issues. Any and all of these questions may serve as excellent
springboards for class discussion.
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Preface xxiii
supplementary Aids and Ancillaries

Instructor Resources
The Nelson Education Teaching Advantage (NETA) program delivers research-
based instructor resources that promote student engagement and higher-order
thinking to enable the success of Canadian students and educators. Visit Nelson
Education’s Inspired Instruction website at www.nelson.com/inspired/ to find out
more about NETA.
The following instructor resources have been created for Developmental Psychology:
Infancy and Childhood, Fifth Canadian Edition. Access these ultimate tools for customizing
lectures and presentations at www.nelson.com/instructor.
netA test Bank

This resource was updated for this edition by Nancy Ogden of Mount Royal University.
It includes over 100 multiple-choice questions written according to NETA guidelines for
effective construction and development of higher-order questions. Also included is a
range of short-answer and essay questions for each chapter.
The NETA Test Bank is available in a new, cloud-based platform. Nelson Testing
Powered by Cognero® is a secure online testing system that allows instructors to author,
edit, and manage test bank content from anywhere Internet access is available. No special
installations or downloads are needed, and the desktop-inspired interface, with its drop-
down menus and familiar, intuitive tools, allows instructors to create and manage tests
with ease. Multiple test versions can be created in an instant, and content can be imported
or exported into other systems. Tests can be delivered from a learning management
system, the classroom, or wherever an instructor chooses. Nelson Testing Powered by
Cognero for Developmental Psychology: Infancy and Childhood, Fifth Canadian Edition, can
be accessed through www.nelson.com/instructor.
netA PowerPoint
Microsoft® PowerPoint® lecture slides for every chapter have been updated for this edi-
tion by Nancy Ogden of Mount Royal University. There is an average of 30 slides per
chapter, many featuring key figures, tables, and photographs from Developmental
Psychology: Infancy and Childhood, Fifth Canadian Edition. NETA principles of clear design
and engaging content have been incorporated throughout, making it simple for instruc-
tors to customize the deck for their courses.
Image Library
This resource consists of digital copies of figures, short tables, and photographs used in
the book. Instructors may use these jpegs to customize the NETA PowerPoint or create
their own PowerPoint presentations. An image library key describes the images and lists
the codes under which the jpegs are saved. Codes normally reflect the chapter number
(e.g., C01 for Chapter 1), the figure or photo number (e.g., F15 for Figure 15), and the
page in the textbook. C01-F15-pg26 corresponds to Figure 1-15 on page 26.
mindtap
Off ering personalized paths of dynamic assignments and applications, MindTap is a
digital learning solution that turns cookie-cutter into cutting-edge, apathy into engage-
ment, and memorizers into higher-level thinkers. MindTap enables students to analyze
and apply chapter concepts within relevant assignments and allows instructors to mea-
sure skills and promote better outcomes with ease. A fully online learning solution,
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xxiv Preface
MindTap combines all student learning tools—readings, multimedia, activities, and

assessments—into a single Learning Path that guides the student through the curric-
ulum. Instructors personalize the experience by customizing the presentation of these
learning tools to their students, even seamlessly introducing their own content into the
Learning Path. Questions in the MindTap have been revised for this edition by Nancy
Ogden of Mount Royal University.
Student Ancillaries
mindtap
Stay organized and efficient with MindTap—a single destination with all the course mate-
rial and study aids you need to succeed. Built-in apps leverage social media and the latest
learning technology. For example:
n■ ReadSpeaker will read the text to you.
n■ Flashcards are pre-populated to provide you with a jump start for review—or
you can create your own.
n■ You can highlight text and make notes in your MindTap Reader. Your notes will
flow into Evernote, the electronic notebook app that you can access anywhere
when it’s time to study for the exam.
n■ Self-quizzing allows you to assess your understanding.
Visit www.nelson.com/student to start using MindTap. Enter the Online Access
Code from the card included with your text. If a code card is not provided, you can pur-
chase instant access at NELSONbrain.com.
Acknowledgments
As is always the case with projects as large as this one, there are many, many individuals
whose assistance was invaluable in the planning and production of the book. We would
like to acknowledge several researchers who helped to ensure the most up-to-date mate-
rial and understandings in the literature were present in this text. First, the updates to the
Principles of Hereditary Transmission section were greatly dependent on the eye-opening
and patient explanations from Dr. Sash Damjanovski from Western University, London,
Ontario. The research regarding early screen media relied heavily on research conducted
as part of the dissertations of two newly graduated doctoral students from Wilfrid
Laurier University, Dr. Domenica De Pasquale and Dr. Karin Archer. Dr. Marc Joanisse
of the University of Western Ontario deserves a special note of thanks for his assistance
in constructing the section on connectionism in Chapter 9.
Second, we would like to acknowledge the tremendous contributions of each
Canadian researcher highlighted in this text. Many not only shared their most important
pieces of work and took the time to summarize or review our summaries to make sure
information was accurate, but they also hunted down photographs so that we would be
able to show you the person behind the research.
Third, the quality of any volume in human development depends to a large extent
on the quality of the prepublication reviews from developmentalists around the world.
Many colleagues (including several dozen or so interested and unpaid volunteers) have
influenced this book by contributing constructive criticism, useful suggestions, refer-
ences, and a whole lot of encouragement. Each of those experts has helped to make the
final product a better one, and we thank them all.
The reviewers of the first through fifth Canadian editions include Scott Adler, York
University; Alisa Almas, University of Toronto; Tsasha Awong, Ryerson University; Lilly
Both, University of New Brunswick, Saint John; Elizabeth Bowering, Mount Saint
Vincent University; Anne Bowker, Carleton University; Mary Courage, Memorial
University; Jason Daniels, University of Alberta; Amy De Jaeger, University of Manitoba;
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Preface xxv
Nancy Digdon, Grant MacEwan College; Helen Doan, York University; Margaret Forgie,
University of Lethbridge; Deb Glebe, Wilfrid Laurier University; Darcy Hallet, University
of British Columbia; Barbara Hodkin, Mount Saint Vincent University; Gretchen Hess,
University of Alberta; Nina Howe, Concordia University; Jacqueline Kampman,
Thompson Rivers University; Jane Ledingham, University of Ottawa; Elizabeth Levin,
Laurentian University; Kathleen McKim-Dawes, University of New Brunswick; Mowei
Liu, Trent University; Kim MacLean, St. Francis Xavier University; Sandra Martin-Chang,
Mount Allison University; Laura Melnyk Gribble, University of Western Ontario; Colleen
McQuarrie, University of Prince Edward Island; Gene Ouellette, Mount Allison
University; Shelley Parlow, Carleton University; Alissa Pencer, Dalhousie University;
Carole Peterson, Memorial University of Newfoundland; Michael Pratt, Wilfrid Laurier
University; Marjorie Rabiau, McGill University; William Roberts, University College of
the Cariboo; Bruce Ryan, University of Guelph; Louis Schmidt, McMaster University;
Thomas Shultz, McGill University; Tanya Spencer, Lakehead University; Caroline
Sullivan, University of Ottawa; Kara Thompson, St. Francis Xavier University; Connie
Varnhagen, University of Alberta; Anthony Volk, Brock University; Tara Vongpaisal,
MacEwan University; Sally Walters, Capilano University; Gillian Wark, Simon Fraser
University; and Susan Weir, University of Regina. We would like to thank these reviewers
for helping to guide many of the changes we made to our book.
Finally, many other people have contributed their professionalism and skills to the
development and production of the fifth Canadian edition of this text. We are especially
grateful to Lenore Taylor-Atkins, Publisher for this project; to Liisa Kelly, who served as
Content Manager; to Imoinda Romain, Senior Production Project Manager; to John
Montgomery, who designed the book’s cover; to freelance copy editor Valerie Adams for
her skill, efficiency, tenacity, and attention to detail in copy editing; to MPS Limited for
proofreading and for page-formatting expertise; and to Claire Varley, Marketing Manager.
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1
Introduction to
Developmental Psychology
and Its Research Strategies
L
et’s begin this book with a question. Why did you choose to enroll in
a course on human development? For many of you majoring in psy-
chology, family studies, elementary education, or nursing, this class is
required. Expectant parents may take the course in order to learn more
about babies and children. Occasionally, people choose the course seeking to
answer specific questions about their own behaviour or that of a friend or family
member. Whatever your reasons, at one time or another you have probably
been curious about one or more aspects of human development. For example,
■■ What does the world smell, feel, sound and look like to newborn in-
fants? How do they make any sense of their new surroundings?
■■ When do infants first recognize their mothers? their fathers? them-
selves (in a mirror)?
■■ Why do many 1-year-olds seem so attached to their mothers and wary
of strangers?
■■ Foreign languages are difficult to follow if we merely listen to people
conversing in them. Yet, infants and toddlers will acquire their native
language without any formal instruction. How is this possible? Is lan-
guage learning easier for children than for adults? Is a child in a bilin-
gual home at a disadvantage?
■■ Why do you remember so little about the first two or three years of
your life?
■■ Why are some people friendly and outgoing, while others are shy and
reserved? How does the home environment influence an individual’s
personality?
■■ Why is it that all humans turn out similar in many ways and, at the
same time, so different from one another?
Introduction to Developmental
Psychology
The aim of this book is to seek answers for these and many other fascinating
questions about developing persons by reviewing the theories, methods, discov-
eries, and many practical accomplishments of the modern developmental
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2 Part One | Theory and Research in the Developmental Sciences
sciences. This introductory chapter lays the groundwork for the remainder of the book
by addressing important issues about the nature of human development and how knowl-
edge about development is gained. What does it mean to say that people “develop” over
time? How is your experience of development different from that of developing persons
in past eras or in other cultures? Why are scientific studies of human development impor-
tant? What strategies, or research methods, do scientists use to study the development of
children and adolescents? Let’s begin by considering the nature of development.
What Is Development?
development Development refers to systematic changes in the individual that occur between concep-
systematic continuities and changes tion (when the father’s sperm penetrates the mother’s ovum, creating a new organism)
in the individual over the course of
and death. By describing changes as “systematic,” we imply that they are orderly, pat-
life.
terned, and relatively enduring, so temporary mood swings and other transitory changes
developmental continuities in our appearances, thoughts, and behaviours are therefore excluded. The complement
ways in which we remain stable over
of change is continuity, or ways in which we remain the same. Change cannot be prop-
time or continue to reflect our past.
erly understood without understanding the ways we remain the same and continue to
developmental psychology reflect our past. Thus, the developmental process entails both continuity and change.
branch of psychology devoted to If development represents the continuities and changes an individual experiences
identifying and explaining the from “womb to tomb,” developmental sciences refers to the study of these phenomena and
continuities and changes that
is a multidisciplinary enterprise. Although developmental psychology is the largest of
individuals display over time.
these disciplines, many biologists, sociologists, anthropologists, educators, physicians,
developmentalist and even historians share an interest in developmental continuity and change, and have
any scholar, regardless of discipline
contributed in important ways to our understanding of both human and animal develop-
(e.g., psychologist, biologist,
sociologist, anthropologist, educator), ment. Because the science of development is multidisciplinary, we use the term develop-
who seeks to understand the mentalist to refer to any scholar—regardless of discipline—who seeks to understand the
developmental process. developmental process.
Why Do We Develop?
To grasp the meaning of development, we must understand two important processes
maturation that underlie developmental change: maturation and learning. Maturation refers to the
developmental changes in the body or biological unfolding of the individual according to species-typical biological inheritance
behaviour that result from the aging
and an individual person’s biological inheritance. Just as seeds become mature plants,
process rather than from learning,
injury, illness, or some other life assuming that they receive adequate moisture and nourishment, human beings grow
experience. within the womb. Beyond the womb, the human maturational (or species-typical) bio-
logical program calls for us to become capable of walking and uttering our first mean-
ingful words at about 1 year of age, to reach sexual maturity between ages 11 and 15, and
then to age and die on a roughly similar schedule. Maturation is partly responsible for
psychological changes such as our increasing ability to concentrate, solve problems, and
understand another person’s thoughts or feelings. So one reason that we humans are so
similar in many important respects is that our common species heredity guides all of us
through many of the same developmental changes at about the same points in our lives.
learning The second critical developmental process is learning—the process through which
relatively permanent change in our experiences produce relatively permanent changes in our feelings, thoughts, and behav-
behaviour (or behavioural potential) iours. Let’s consider a very simple example. Although a certain degree of physical matura-
that results from one’s experiences or
practice.
tion is necessary before an elementary school child can become reasonably proficient at
dribbling a basketball, careful instruction and many, many hours of practice are essential
if this child is ever to approximate the ball-handling skills of a professional basketball
player. Many of our abilities and habits do not simply unfold as part of maturation; we
often learn to feel, think, and behave in new ways from our observations of and interac-
tions with parents, teachers, and other important people in our lives, as well as from
events that we experience. This means that we change in response to our environments—
particularly in response to the actions and reactions of the people around us.
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Chapter 1 | Introduction to Developmental Psychology and Its Research Strategies 3
Of course, most developmental changes are the

product of both maturation and learning. Take language
development as an example. Infants’ brains are wired to
learn language, and the regular process of language acqui-
sition seems like a maturational process. However, expo-
sure to a language environment is critical for children to
learn to talk. Children learn different mother tongues
Matthew Bingley/CBC Licensing
depending on their language environment. Moreover,

when children learn a language, they do not just parrot
what they hear from others. Instead, they actively seek to
make sense of it, and extract the sounds, meanings, and
rules that govern our everyday language use. Thus, lan-
Despite the common assumption that highly successful children are
guage development as any other developmental process,
“naturally gifted,” the special skills they display require an enormous requires an active individual. Children actively contribute
amount of practice. For example, 7-year-old Vanya Virami’s victory as a to their own development. They do so by interpreting a
spelling bee champion in 2016 required ability, practice, and hard work. given situation differently, by triggering different reactions
from others, and by selecting different environments.
Consider an aggressive child in comparison to a child who is rather shy and withdrawn.
Both children experience the same environment (e.g., the classroom) differently, they
evoke different reactions in others (e.g., peers and teachers), and they choose different
friends. If children were not active individuals, their development would not happen. Thus,
development is always a joint function of maturation, learning, and the active individual.
What Goals Do Developmentalists Pursue?

Three major goals of the developmental sciences are to describe, to explain, and to opti-
mize development (Baltes, Reese, & Lipsitt, 1980). In pursuing the goal of description,
human developmentalists carefully observe the behaviour of people of different ages,
seeking to specify how people change over time. Although there are typical pathways of
development that virtually all people follow, no two persons are exactly alike. Even iden-
tical twins raised in the same home, to some extent, display different interests, abilities,
and behaviours. Thus, to adequately describe development, it is necessary to focus both
normative development on typical patterns of change (or normative development) and on individual variations
developmental changes that in patterns of change (or ideographic development). So developmentalists seek to
characterize most or all members of a understand the important ways that developing humans resemble each other and how
species; typical patterns of
development.
they are likely to differ as they proceed through life.
Description provides us with the “facts” about development, but it is only the starting
ideographic development point. Developmentalists next seek to explain the changes they have observed. In pur-
individual variations in the rate,
extent, or direction of development.
suing this goal of explanation, developmentalists hope to determine why people develop
as they typically do and why some people develop differently from others. Explanation
centres both on normative changes within individuals and on variations in development
between individuals. As we will see throughout the text, it is often easier to describe devel-
opment than to conclusively explain how it occurs.
Finally, developmentalists hope to optimize development by applying what they have
learned in attempts to help people develop in positive directions. This is a practical side
to the study of human development that has led to such breakthroughs as ways to:
■■ Promote stronger affectional ties between fussy, unresponsive infants and their
frustrated parents;
■■ Assist children with learning difficulties to succeed at school; and
■■ Help socially unskilled children prevent the emotional difficulties that could re-
sult from having no close friends and being rejected by peers.
The goal of optimization often appears to be clear and unproblematic. After all,
having children learn how to walk, talk, read, and count, and to have friends and to be
happy would be endorsed by most of us. However, sometimes it is less clear what quali-
fies as optimal development. Take gender roles and social behaviour as an example. Is it
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better to expect males to be more dominant and females to be more nurturing? Should
children be taught to tell the truth at all times? Any definition of optimal development
relies on cultural and societal values. Thus, the goal of optimization depends on the
values developmentalists share with the larger cultural context of which they are part.
Optimization goals may increasingly influence research agendas as developmental-
ists show greater interest in solving real problems and communicating the practical impli-
cations of their findings to the public and policymakers (APA Presidential Task Force on
Evidence-Based Practice, 2006; Kratochwill, 2007; Lerner, 2012; McCall & Groark, 2000;
Schoenwald et al., 2008). Yet this heavier focus on applied issues in no way implies that
traditional descriptive and explanatory goals are any less important, because optimization
goals often cannot be achieved until researchers have adequately described normal and
idiopathic pathways of development and their causes (Schwebel, Plumert, & Pick, 2000).
The Nature of Development

Now that we have defined development and talked very briefly about the goals that devel-
opmentalists pursue, let’s consider some of the conclusions they have drawn about the
nature of development.
A Continual and Lifelong Process. Although no one can specify precisely what
adulthood holds in store from even the most meticulous examination of a person’s child-
hood, developmentalists have learned that the first 12 years are extremely important for
setting the stage for adolescence and adulthood. Obviously, you are not the same person
you were at age 10 or even at age 15. You have probably grown somewhat, acquired new
academic skills, and developed very different interests and aspirations from those you had
in Grade 5 or in high school. And the path of such developmental change stretches ever
onward, through middle age and beyond, culminating in the final change that occurs
when we die. In sum, human development is best described as a continual and lifelong
process. The one constant is change, and the changes that occur at each major phase of
life can have important implications for the future. In this textbook the focus is on devel-
opment in infancy and childhood, which are the age periods where development is most
obvious, profound and fast. However, even when focusing on children, we should keep
in mind that development never stops.
Table 1.1 presents a chronological overview of the life span as developmentalists see
it. Our focus in this text is on development during the first four periods of life—prenatal
development, infancy and toddlerhood, preschool, and middle childhood. By examining
TABLE 1.1 A Chronological Overview of Human Development

Period of Life Approximate Age Range
1. Prenatal period Conception to birth
2. Infancy Birth to 18 months old
3. Toddler period 18 months to 3 years
4. Preschool period 3 to 5 years of age
5. Middle childhood 5 to 12 or so years of age (until the onset of puberty)
6. Adolescence 12 or so to 20 years of age (many developmentalists define the end of adolescence
as the point at which the individual begins to work and is reasonably independent
© Cengage Learning 2014
of parental sanctions)
7. Young adulthood 20 to 40 years of age
8. Middle age 40 to 65 years of age
9. Old age 65 years of age or older
Note: The age ranges listed here are approximate and may not apply to any particular individual. For example, a few
10-year-olds have experienced puberty and are properly classified as adolescents. Some adolescents are fully self-
supporting, with children of their own, and are best classified as young adults.
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how children develop, we will learn about ourselves and the determinants of our behav-
iour. Our survey will also provide some insight as to why no two individuals are ever
exactly alike. Our survey won’t provide answers to every important question you may
have about developing children. The study of human development is still a relatively
young discipline with many unresolved issues. But as we proceed, it should become quite
clear that developmentalists have provided an enormous amount of very practical infor-
mation about infants and children that can help us to become better educators, child/
adolescent practitioners, and parents.
A Holistic Process. It was once fashionable to divide developmentalists into three

camps: (1) those who studied physical growth and development, including bodily changes
and the sequencing of motor skills; (2) those who studied cognitive aspects of develop-
ment, including perception, language, learning, and thinking; and (3) those who concen-
trated on psychosocial aspects of development, including emotions, personality, and the
growth of interpersonal relationships. Today we know that this classification is misleading,
for researchers who work in any of these areas have found that changes in one aspect of
development have important implications for other aspects. Let’s consider an example.
What determines a person’s popularity with peers? If you were to say that social
skills are important, you would be right. Social skills such as warmth, friendliness, and
willingness to cooperate are characteristics that popular children typically display. Yet
there is much more to popularity than meets the eye. We now have some indication that
the age at which a child reaches puberty, an important milestone in physical develop-
ment, can have an effect on social life. For example, decrements in social relationships
may occur for those who reach puberty early relative to peers than those who reach
puberty later (Downing & Bellis, 2009; Mendle et al., 2012; Warren & Yu, 2015). Children
who do well in school also tend to be more popular with their peers than children who
perform somewhat less well in school.
We see, then, that popularity depends not only on the growth of social skills but also
on various aspects of both cognitive and physical development. As this example illustrates,
holistic perspective development is not piecemeal but holistic—humans are physical, cognitive, and social
unified view of the developmental beings, and each of these components of self depends, in part, on changes taking place in
process that emphasizes the other areas of development. Many researchers now incorporate this holistic theme into
important interrelationships among
the physical, mental, social, and
their theories and research. For example, in reviewing the literature on sex differences in
emotional aspects of human science and mathematics, Halpern and her colleagues (Halpern et al., 2007) adopted a
development. biopsychosocial approach in which they considered all aspects of the child in understanding
sex differences and similarities. The holistic perspective is one of the dominant themes of
human development today and a perspective around which this book is organized.
plasticity Plasticity. Plasticity refers to a capacity for change in response to positive or negative
capacity for change; a developmental life experiences. Although we have described development as a continual and lifelong
state that has the potential to be process and noted that past events often have implications for the future, developmental-
shaped by experience.
ists know that the course of development can change abruptly if important aspects of a
person’s life change. For example, aggressive children who are disliked by their peers
often improve their social status after learning and practising the social skills that popular
children display (Bierman, 2004; Mize & Ladd, 1990; Shure, 1989). It is indeed fortunate
that human development is so plastic, for children who have horrible starts can often be
helped to overcome their deficiencies.
Historical/Cultural Context. No single portrait of development is accurate for all

cultures, social classes, or racial and ethnic groups. Each culture, subculture, and social
class transmits a particular pattern of beliefs, values, customs, and skills to its younger
generations, and the content of this cultural socialization has a strong influence on the
attributes and competencies that individuals display. Development is also influenced by
societal changes: historical events such as wars, technological breakthroughs such as the
increasing portability and powerfulness of computers, and social causes such as
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environmentalism. Each generation develops in its own way, and each generation changes
the world for succeeding generations. So we should not automatically assume that devel-
opmental patterns observed in North American or European children (the most heavily
studied populations) are optimal, or even that they characterize persons developing in
other eras or cultural settings. Only by adopting a historical/cultural perspective can we
fully appreciate the richness and diversity of human development.
The Scientific Study of Development and Its Origins

Early Philosophical Perspectives on
Childhood
original sin According to Hermann Ebbinghaus (1908), one of the founders of experimental psy-
idea that children are inherently chology in the late 19th century, psychology is a scientific discipline with “a long past
negative creatures who must be but short history.” This characterization is still applicable to developmental psychology
taught to rechannel their selfish
more than a century later. Scholars have been pondering the nature of children’s
interests into socially acceptable
outlets. development and best practices for child rearing for centuries. Greek philosophy is
rich with answers. With the advent of developmental psychology as an independent
innate purity
field of inquiry in the late 19th century, a new way of approaching these questions
idea that infants are born with an
intuitive sense of right and wrong was established that relied more on empirical observation than philosophical specula-
that is often misdirected by the tion. Still, the empirical study of children’s development inevitably rests on philo-
demands and restrictions of society. sophical world views with a long past. How does the child become a mature adult? Is
tabula rasa the child passively shaped by culture and society? Or, does the child actively construct
the idea that the mind of an infant is beliefs and values on the basis of everyday social interactions with the physical and
a “blank slate” and that all social environment?
knowledge, abilities, behaviours, and Thomas Hobbes’s (1651/1904) doctrine of original sin held that children are
motives are acquired through
inherently selfish egoists who must be restrained by society, whereas Jean Jacques
experience.
Rousseau’s (1762/1955) doctrine of innate purity maintained that children are born
with an intuitive sense of right and wrong that society often corrupts. These two view-
points clearly differ in their implications for child rearing. Proponents of original sin
argued that parents must actively control their egoistic children; the innate purists
argued that parents should give their children freedom to follow their inherently posi-
tive inclinations.
Another influential view on children and child rearing was suggested by John Locke
(1690/1913), who believed that the mind of an infant is a tabula rasa, or “blank slate,”
and that children have no inborn tendencies. In other words, children are neither inher-
ently good nor inherently bad, and how they turn out depends entirely on their worldly
experiences. Locke argued in favour of disciplined child rearing to ensure that children
would develop good habits and acquire few bad ones.
GFX
These philosophers also differed on the question of children’s participation in their

own development. Hobbes maintained that children must learn to rechannel their natu-
rally selfish interests into socially acceptable outlets; in this sense, they are passive sub-
jects to be moulded by parents. Locke, too, believed that the child’s role is passive
because the mind of an infant is a blank slate on which experience writes its lessons. But
a strikingly different view was proposed by Rousseau, who believed that children are
actively involved in the shaping of their own intellects and personalities. In Rousseau’s
words, the child is not a “passive recipient of the tutor’s instruction” but a “busy, testing,
motivated explorer. The active searching child, setting his own problems, stands in
marked contrast to the receptive one . . . on whom society fixes its stamp” (quoted in
Kessen, 1965, p. 75).
Clearly, these philosophers had some interesting ideas about children and child
GFX
rearing. But how could anyone decide whether their views were correct? Unfortunately,
the philosophers collected no objective data to back their pronouncements, and the few
observations they did make were limited and unsystematic. Can you anticipate the next
step in the evolution of the developmental sciences?
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Children as Subjects of Study: Baby Biographies

and Diaries
The first glimmering of a systematic study of children can be traced to the late 19th
century. This was a period in which investigators from a variety of academic backgrounds
began to observe the development of their own children and to publish these data in
baby biography works known as baby biographies.
a detailed record of an infant’s An early and influential baby biographer was Charles Darwin, who made daily
growth and development over a records of the early development of his son (Darwin, 1877; and see Charlesworth, 1992).
period of time.
Darwin’s curiosity about child development stemmed from his theory of evolution. Quite
simply, he believed that young, untrained infants share many characteristics with their
nonhuman ancestors, and he advanced the (now discredited) idea that the development
of the individual child retraces the entire evolutionary history of the species, thereby
illustrating the “descent of man.” So Darwin and many of his contemporaries viewed the
baby biography as a means of answering questions about our evolutionary past.
A few decades after Darwin, Clara and William Stern kept one of the first systematic
diaries on the psychological development of their three children, Hilde, Günther, and
Eva, born in 1900, 1902, and 1904, respectively. A major publication based on these diaries
was Clara and William Stern’s book Die Kindersprache [Children’s talk], which became a
classic in the language acquisition literature (Stern & Stern, 1907).
Two to three decades later, Jean Piaget, a famous Swiss psychologist, observed and
recorded the development of his three children, Jacqueline, Lucienne, and Laurent. He
used these observations to develop more fine-grained methods for studying the develop-
ment of logical thinking in children. His theories revolutionized our understanding of
children’s cognitive development.
The diaries William and Clara Stern recorded for their children led to
the publication of Die Kindersprache [Children’s talk], which became a
classic in the language acquisition literature.
This is the first page of the diary of Clara and William

Stern’s firstborn child, Hilde, born April 7, 1900, at 2 a.m.
This page describes Hilde’s behaviour (e.g., sucking her
thumb), sensitivity to various sounds and light, as well as
the characteristic vowel patterns of her crying.
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These three famous examples demonstrate how keeping diaries of their own children
was an important step for researchers to establish developmental psychology as an empir-
ical field of inquiry. It allowed them to contrast their theories and ideas about children’s
development with empirical observations. To be sure, many of these observations may
not meet the more rigorous requirements of the scientific method expected today. Parent
researchers may not be entirely objective about their own children. They also may have
let their assumptions about the nature of development bias their observations so that they
“found” what they were looking for. Finally, each baby biography was based on a single or
small number of children—and often the child of a distinguished individual. Conclusions
based on a single case or limited sample may not hold true for other children.
Despite these shortcomings, baby biographies and diaries were a step in the right
direction. The fact that eminent scientists were writing about developing children implied
that human development was a topic worthy of scientific scrutiny.
Research Methods in Developmental Psychology

Modern developmental psychology is appropriately labelled a scientific enterprise because
scientific method those who study development have adopted the scientific method, which guides their
the use of objective and replicable attempts at reaching the three goals of describing, explaining, and optimizing development.
methods to gather data for the There is nothing mysterious about the scientific method. It refers to the use of objective
purpose of testing a theory or
hypothesis. It dictates that, above all,
and replicable methods to gather data for the purpose of testing a theory or hypothesis.
investigators must be objective and Although the word theory is an imposing term, theories are something that everybody has.
must allow their data to decide the If we were to ask you why males and females appear to be very different as adults when
merits of their thinking. they seem so very similar as infants, you would undoubtedly have some opinions on the
theory issue. Your answer would state or at least reflect your own underlying theory of the devel-
a set of concepts and propositions opment of sex differences. A theory is a set of concepts and propositions that describe and
designed to organize, describe, and explain some aspect of experience. In the field of psychology, theories help us to describe
explain an existing set of and explain various patterns of behaviour. Good theories have the ability to predict future
observations.
events. These theoretical predictions, or hypotheses, are then tested by collecting data.
hypothesis It is important that the method used to collect data is objective. By this we mean that
a theoretical prediction about some everyone who examines the data will come to the same conclusions; that is, it is not a
aspect of experience.
subjective opinion. It is also important that the method be replicable, meaning that every
time the method is used, it results in the same data and conclusions. Thus, the scientific
method dictates that, above all, investigators must be objective and must allow their data
to decide the merits of their thinking.
In earlier eras, when social philosophers such as Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau were
presenting their views on children and child rearing, their largely unsubstantiated claims
were often accepted as fact. People assumed that great minds always had great insights.
Very few individuals questioned the word of well-known scholars because the scientific
method was not yet a widely accepted criterion for evaluating knowledge.
The intent here is not to criticize the early social philosophers. However, great minds
WHAT DO YOU THINK? ? may on occasion produce miserable ideas that can do a great deal of harm if those ideas
What might you say to a person are uncritically accepted and influence the way people are treated. The scientific method,
who rejects an established then, is a valuable safeguard that helps to protect the scientific community and society at
finding by saying, “It didn’t large against flawed reasoning (Machado & Silva, 2007). Protection is provided by the
happen that way for my child”? practice of evaluating the merits of various theoretical pronouncements against the objec-
If this parent’s recollection is tive record, rather than simply relying on the academic, political, or social credibility of the
accurate, does this invalidate the
theorist. Of course, this also means that the theorist whose ideas are being evaluated must
finding?
be equally objective and willing to discard pet notions when there is evidence against them.
Gathering Data: Basic Fact-Finding Strategies

No matter what aspect of development we hope to study—be it the perceptual capabili-
ties of newborn infants, the growth of friendships among elementary school children, or
the reasons some adolescents begin to use drugs—we must find ways to measure what
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interests us. Today, researchers are fortunate in having many tried-and-true procedures
they can use to measure behaviour and to test their hypotheses about human develop-
ment. But regardless of the technique employed, scientifically useful measures must
reliability always display two important qualities: reliability and validity.
the extent to which a measuring A measure is reliable if it yields consistent information over time and across observers.
instrument yields consistent results, Suppose you go into a classroom and record the number of times each child behaves
both over time and across observers.
aggressively toward others, but your research assistant, using the same scheme to observe
validity the same children, does not agree with your measurements. Or you measure each child’s
the extent to which a measuring aggressiveness one week but come up with very different aggressiveness scores while
instrument accurately reflects what
the researchers intended to measure.
applying the same measure to the same children a week later. Clearly, your observational
measure of aggression is unreliable because it yields highly inconsistent information. To
be reliable and thus useful for scientific purposes, your measure would have to produce
comparable estimates of children’s aggression from independent observers (interrater
reliability) and yield similar scores for individual children from one testing to another
shortly thereafter (test-retest reliability).
A measure is valid if it measures what it is supposed to measure. An instrument must
be reliable before it can possibly be valid. Yet reliability, by itself, does not guarantee
validity (Miller, 1997). For example, a highly reliable observational scheme intended as a
measure of children’s aggression may provide grossly overinflated estimates of aggres-
sive behaviour if the investigator simply classifies all acts of physical force as examples of
aggression. What the researcher has failed to recognize is that much high-intensity
behaviour may simply represent enjoyable forms of rough-and-tumble play without
harmful or aggressive intent. Researchers must demonstrate they are measuring the
attribute they say they are measuring before we can have much faith in the data they col-
lect or the conclusions they reach.
Keeping in mind the importance of establishing the reliability and validity of mea-
sures, let us consider some of the different ways in which aspects of human development
might be measured.
Self-Report Methods
Three common procedures developmentalists use to gather information and test hypoth-
eses are interviews, questionnaires (including psychological tests), and the clinical
method. Although these approaches are similar in that each asks participants to answer
questions posed by the investigator, they differ in the extent to which the investigator
treats individual participants alike.
Interviews and Questionnaires. Researchers who opt for interview or question-

naire techniques ask the child, or the child’s parents, a series of questions pertaining to
such aspects of development as the child’s behaviour, feelings, beliefs, or characteristic
methods of thinking. Collecting data via a questionnaire (and most psychological tests)
simply involves putting questions in written or electronic formats and asking participants
to respond to them, whereas interviews require participants to respond orally to the
structured interview or investigator’s queries. If the procedure is a structured interview or structured ques-
structured questionnaire tionnaire, all who participate in the study are asked the same questions in the same
a technique in which all participants
order. The purpose of this standardized or structured format is to treat each person alike
are asked the same questions in
precisely the same order so that the so that the responses of different participants can be compared.
responses of different participants Interviews and questionnaires have some very real shortcomings, as when they are
can be compared. used with very young children. Although some accommodations can be made—such as
using variations of smiley-faces as a rating scale instead of numbers or words (Egan,
Santos, & Bloom, 2007)—neither approach can be used with very young children, who
cannot read or comprehend speech very well. Investigators must also hope that the
answers they receive are honest and accurate and are not merely attempts by respondents
to present themselves in a favourable or socially desirable way. Clearly, inaccurate or
untruthful responses lead to erroneous conclusions. Investigators must also be careful to
ensure that participants of all ages interpret questions in the same way; otherwise, the
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age trends observed in the study may reflect differences in children’s ability to compre-
hend and communicate rather than real underlying changes in their feelings, thoughts,
or behaviours. Finally, researchers who interview both developing children and their
parents (or teachers) may have trouble determining which set of reports is more accurate
if the children’s descriptions of their own behaviours differ from those of the other infor-
mants (Hussong, Zucker, Wong, Fitzgerald, & Puttler, 2005).
Despite these potential shortcomings, structured interviews and questionnaires can
be excellent methods of obtaining large amounts of useful information in a short time.
Both approaches are particularly useful when the investigator emphasizes to partici-
pants that their responses will be confidential and/or challenges them to report exactly
what they know about an issue, thereby maximizing the likelihood of a truthful or
accurate answer.
clinical method The Clinical Method. The clinical method is very similar to the interview technique.
a type of interview in which a The investigator is usually interested in testing a hypothesis by presenting the research
participant’s response to each
participant with a task or stimulus of some sort and then inviting a response. After the
successive question (or problem)
determines what the investigator will participant responds, the investigator typically asks a second question or introduces a
ask next. new task to clarify the participant’s original answer. Although participants are often
asked the same questions initially, each participant’s answer determines what he or she is
asked next. Thus, the clinical method is a flexible approach that considers each partici-
pant to be unique.
Jean Piaget did not only observe his own children but relied extensively on the clin-
ical method to study children’s moral reasoning and intellectual development. The data
from Piaget’s research are largely protocol records of his interactions with individual
children. Here is a small sample from Piaget’s work (1932/1965, p. 140) on the develop-
ment of moral reasoning, which shows that this young child thinks about lying in a very
different way than adults do:
Do you know what a lie is?—It’s when you say what isn’t true.—Is 2 1 2 5 5 a lie?—
Yes, it’s a lie.—Why?—Because it isn’t right.—Did the boy who said 2 1 2 5 5 know
it wasn’t right or did he make a mistake?—He made a mistake.—Then if he made a
mistake, did he tell a lie or not?—Yes, he told a lie.
Like structured interviews, clinical methods are often useful for gathering large
amounts of information in relatively brief periods. This strategy’s flexibility is also an
advantage; by asking follow-up questions that are tailored to the participant’s original
answers, it is often possible to obtain a rich under-
standing of the meaning of those answers.
However, the flexibility of the clinical method is
also a potential shortcoming. It may be difficult, if
not impossible, to directly compare the answers of
participants who are asked different questions.
Furthermore, tailoring one’s questions to the par-
ticipant’s responses raises the possibility that the
examiner’s pre-existing theoretical biases may
affect the particular follow-up questions asked and
the interpretations provided. Because conclusions
drawn from the clinical method depend, in part,
on the investigator’s subjective interpretations, it is
always desirable to verify these insights using other
research techniques.
© image100/Corbis
Observational Methods
Investigators using the clinical method. All participants are asked the same Often researchers prefer to observe people’s
questions at first, but each participant’s answers to these initial questions behaviour directly rather than asking them ques-
determine what the researcher will ask next. tions about it. One method that many
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naturalistic observation developmentalists favour is naturalistic observation—observing people in their

a method in which the scientist tests
common, everyday (i.e., natural) surroundings (Pellegrini, 1996). To observe children,
hypotheses by observing people as this usually means going into homes, schools, malls, public parks, and playgrounds and
they engage in everyday activities in
carefully recording what they do. Rarely will investigators try to record every event
their natural habitats (e.g., at home,
at school, or on the playground). that occurs; they are usually testing a specific hypothesis about one type of behaviour,
such as cooperation or aggression, and will focus their attention and data collection
exclusively on acts of this kind. One strength of naturalistic observation is the ease
with which it can be applied to infants and toddlers, who often cannot be studied
through methods that demand verbal skills. A second strength of naturalistic observa-
tion is that it illustrates how people actually behave in everyday life (Willems &
Alexander, 1982).
However, naturalistic observation also has its limitations. First, some behaviours
occur so infrequently (e.g., heroic rescues) or are so socially undesirable (e.g., morally
reprehensible behaviours) that they are unlikely to be witnessed by an unknown observer
in the natural environment. Second, many events are usually happening at the same time
in a natural setting, and any (or some combination) of them may affect people’s behav-
iour. This makes it difficult to pinpoint the causes of participants’ actions or of any
developmental trends in behaviour. Finally, the mere presence of an observer can some-
times make people behave differently than they otherwise would. Children may “show
off ” when they have an audience, whereas parents may be on their best behaviour,
showing a strong reluctance, for example, to berate a misbehaving child as they normally
observer influence might. For these reasons, researchers often attempt to minimize observer influence by
tendency of participants to react to (1) videotaping their participants from a concealed location or (2) spending time in the
an observer’s presence by behaving in setting before collecting their “real” data so that the individuals they are observing will
unusual ways.
grow accustomed to their presence and behave more naturally.
Mary Haskett and Janet Kistner (1991) conducted an excellent piece of naturalistic
observation to compare the social behaviours of nonabused preschoolers with those of
daycare classmates identified by child protection agencies as having been physically abused
by their parents. The investigators first defined examples of the behaviours they wished
to record—both desirable behaviours, such as appropriate social initiations and positive
play, and undesirable behaviours, such as aggression and negative verbalizations. They then
time-sampling monitored 14 abused and 14 nonabused preschool children as the children mingled with
a procedure in which the investigator
peers in a play area of a daycare facility. Observations were made using a time-sampling
records the frequencies with which
individuals display particular procedure; each child was observed during three 10-minute play sessions on three dif-
behaviours during the brief time ferent days. To minimize their influence on the play activities, observers stood outside the
intervals that each is observed. play area while making their observations.
The results were disturbing. Abused chil-
dren initiated fewer social interactions than their
nonabused classmates and were somewhat
socially withdrawn. And when they did interact
with playmates, the abused youngsters displayed
more aggressive acts and other negative behav-
iours than did their nonabused companions.
Indeed, nonabused children often blatantly
ignored the positive social initiations of an
abused child, as if they did not want to get
involved with him or her.
Tragically, Haskett and Kistner’s observational
study, which was subsequently supported through
survey research (Anthonysamy & Zimmer-
Gembeck, 2007), shows that abused children are
Joanna Cotton
unattractive playmates who are likely to be disliked

and even rejected by peers. But as is almost always
the case in naturalistic observational research, it is
Children’s tendency to perform for observers is one of the problems that difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of these find-
researchers must overcome when using the method of naturalistic observation. ings. Did the negative behaviours of abused
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children cause their peers to reject them? Or did peer rejection cause the abused children
to display negative behaviours? Either possibility or another could account for Haskett and
Kistner’s results.
How might observational researchers study unusual or undesirable behaviours
that they are unlikely to observe in the natural environment? One way is to conduct
structured observation structured observations in the laboratory. In a structured observational study, each
an observational method in which the participant is exposed to a setting that might cue the behaviour in question and is then
investigator cues the behaviour of
surreptitiously observed (via a hidden camera or through a one-way mirror) to see if he
interest and observes participants’
responses in a laboratory. or she performs the behaviour. For example, Leon Kuczynski from the University of
Guelph (1983) got children to promise to help him with a boring task and then left them
alone to work in a room where attractive toys were present. This procedure enabled
Kuczynski to determine whether children would break a promise to work when they
thought there was no one present to observe their transgression. Kuczynski found that
some of the children did break the promise to work so they could play with the toys,
whereas others continued with the work even when they thought no one was watching.
Aside from being a most feasible way of studying behaviours that occur infrequently
or are not openly displayed in the natural environment, structured observations also
ensure that every participant in the sample is exposed to the same eliciting stimuli and has
an equal opportunity to perform the target behaviour—circumstances that are not always
true in the natural environment. Of course, the major disadvantage of structured obser-
vation is that participants may not always respond in a contrived laboratory setting as
they would in everyday life.
In an interesting example of structured observation, Tronick and his colleagues
(Tronick et al., 2005) studied the interaction between 4-month-olds and their mothers,
with a specific interest in how the mother–infant interactions of babies prenatally exposed
to cocaine compared to those of nonexposed infants. To find out, they brought 695
mother–infant pairs into a laboratory setting, 236 of whom had been exposed to cocaine
prenatally. Cameras were positioned so that both the infant’s face and the mother’s face
were videotaped for three two-minute periods. During the first two minutes, mother and
child were allowed to interact normally. During the second period, the mother was
instructed to present a “still face” to the infant; that is, she was told not to laugh, smile,
talk to, or touch the infant. During the third two-minute period, the mother was to
resume normal interaction with her child. This face-to-face still-face procedure allowed
the researcher to observe the interactions of interest in a little over six minutes, rather
than travelling to 695 different homes and waiting for hours and hours for the behaviours
to occur.
As Tronick and colleagues suspected, the interaction patterns of the cocaine-exposed
mother–infant pairs were different from those of the nonexposed pairs. For the most
part, the cocaine-exposed infants and their mothers did not appear to be engaged in the
kind of social interaction that facilitates both social and cognitive development in later
months. Previous research suggests that the quality of caregiver–infant interactions is
extremely important to the healthy social and cognitive development of very young chil-
dren (Ainsworth, 1979, 1989). Positive, synchronized interactions provide the infant with
the foundation for forming other positive, supportive relationships later on in life. Such
relationships also enable the child to investigate objects and the rest of the world without
excessive fear (Bowlby, 1973, 1988).
Case Studies
case study Any or all of the methods we have discussed—structured interviews, questionnaires,
a research method in which the clinical method, and behavioural observations—can be used to compile a detailed por-
investigator gathers extensive trait of a single individual’s development through the case study method. In preparing
information about the life of an
an individualized record, or case, the investigator typically seeks many kinds of informa-
individual and then tests
developmental hypotheses by tion about the participant, such as his or her family background, socioeconomic status,
analyzing the events of the person’s health records, academic or work history, and performance on psychological tests. Much
life history. of the information included in any case history comes from interviews with and
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observations of the individual, although the questions asked and observations made are
typically not standardized and may vary considerably from case to case. Case studies may
also be used to describe groups.
Although many developmentalists have used case studies to great advantage, there
are major drawbacks to this approach. For example, it is often difficult to directly com-
pare subjects who have been asked different questions, taken different tests, and been
observed under different circumstances. Case studies may also lack generalizability; that
is, conclusions drawn from the experiences of the small number of individuals studied
may simply not apply to most people. Theories posited after studying children sampled
from a large city in the United States may not apply to children in Canada or Finland or
Southeast Asia. For these reasons, any conclusions drawn from case studies should always
be verified through the use of other research techniques.
Ethnography
ethnography Ethnography—a form of participant observation often used in the field of anthropology—
method in which the researcher seeks is becoming increasingly popular among researchers who hope to understand the effects of
to understand the unique values,
culture on developing children and adolescents. To collect their data, ethnographers often
traditions, and social processes of a
culture or subculture by living with live for periods of months or even years within the cultural or subcultural community they
its members and making extensive are studying. The data they collect are typically diverse and extensive, consisting largely of
observations and notes. naturalistic observations, notes made from conversations with members of the culture, and
interpretations of these events. These data are eventually used to compile a detailed portrait
of the cultural community and draw conclusions about how the community’s unique
values and traditions influence aspects of the development of its children and adolescents.
Detailed ethnographic portraits of a culture or subculture that arise from close and
enduring contact with members of the community can lead to a richer understanding of
that community’s traditions and values than is possible through a small number of visits,
in which outsiders make limited observations and conduct a few interviews (LeVine et al.,
1994). Extensive cultural or subcultural descriptions are particularly useful to investiga-
tors hoping to understand cultural conflicts and other developmental challenges faced by
minority children and adolescents in diverse multicultural societies (Segal, 1991; see also
Patel, Power, & Bhavnagri, 1996). But despite these clear strengths, ethnography is a
highly subjective method because researchers’ own cultural values and theoretical biases
can cause them to misinterpret what they have experienced. In addition, ethnographic
conclusions pertain only to the culture or subculture studied and cannot be assumed to
generalize to other contexts or social groups.
An example of ethnographic research was conducted by Posada and colleagues
(Posada, Carbonell, Alzate, & Plata, 2004). Because the various questionnaires and behav-
ioural coding schemes typically used to assess caregiver–infant interactions were devel-
oped in studies using Caucasian middle-class participants from industrialized countries,
Posada and colleagues chose ethnographic methods to assess mother–infant interactions
in middle- to lower-middle-class families in Bogotá, Colombia. They then compared the
results derived from observations made in the Colombian households to results derived
using previously developed assessments.
In a traditionally ethnographic manner, observers made eight to nine two-hour,
unstructured visits to 27 Colombian homes. During the visits, mothers were told to carry
on with their daily routines, behaving as they normally would. The observers interacted
with the families naturally. After each visit, they transcribed their observations. Repeat
visits were conducted by the same observer.
From the observers’ transcripts, 10 domains of maternal caregiving were identified.
Using an inductive approach, two of the researchers and an ethnographic expert reviewed
the transcripts. On first pass, they identified major caregiving themes. Then they reviewed
the transcripts in more detail, focusing on specifying the major domains and identifying
subdomains. In this way they were able to develop a set of culture-sensitive scales that
could be used alongside previously developed measures in order to assess the universality
of infant-sensitive maternal care.
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The 10 scales of maternal sensitivity derived

from the observations included domains such as
promptness of response, enjoyment of interaction,
interactive smoothness, and quality of physical con-
tact. Results from the ethnographically derived
Colombian scales were highly consistent with
results from measures previously developed for
Caucasian middle-class and upper-middle-class fam-
Courtesy of the Shuar Health and Life History Project
ilies, lending credence to the notion that sensitive

caregiving behaviours are similar across cultures
and socioeconomic circumstances, at least within
the first few years of an infant’s life.
Another example of ethnological research
comes from the work of Gregory Bryant and Clark
Barrett (Bryant & Barrett, 2007). They observed and
interacted with the Shuar people, a culture of
hunter-horticulturalists living in the South American
rainforest who had little experience with people
Researchers attempt to understand cultural knowledge, values, and influences from industrialized countries. Bryant and Barrett
on the Shuar people by living within the community and participating in found evidence that Shuar adults were able to recog-
community life. nize infant-directed speech and even tell the differ-
ence between various intentions of speech (e.g., prohibitions, attention, approval)
in English, a language with which they have no experience. This exciting finding dem-
onstrated a universality in infant-directed speech that was not known before because all
previous research had been conducted with speakers from industrialized nations.
Psychophysiological Methods
psychophysiological methods Increasingly, developmentalists have turned to psychophysiological methods—
methods that measure the techniques that measure the relationship between physiological responses and
relationships between physiological behaviour—to explore the biological underpinnings of children’s perceptual, cogni-
processes and aspects of children’s
physical, cognitive, social, or
tive, and emotional responses. Psychophysiological methods are particularly useful
emotional behaviour/development. for interpreting the mental and emotional experiences of infants and toddlers, who
are unable to report such events (Bornstein, 1992).
Heart rate is an involuntary physiological response that is highly sensitive to psycho-
logical experiences. Compared to their normal resting, or baseline, levels, infants who are
carefully attending to an interesting stimulus may show a decrease in heart rate, those
who are uninterested in the stimulus may show no heart rate change, and others who are
afraid of or angered by the stimulus may show a heart rate increase (Campos, Bertenthal,
& Kermoian, 1992).
Measures of brain function are also very useful for assessing psychological state. For
example, electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings of brain wave activity can be obtained
by attaching electrodes to the scalp. Because different patterns of EEG activity charac-
terize different arousal states, such as sleep, drowsiness, and alertness, investigators can
track these patterns and determine how sleep cycles and other states of arousal change
with age. Novel stimuli or events also produce short-term changes in EEG activity. So an
investigator who hopes to test the limits of infant sensory capabilities can present novel
sights and sounds and look for changes in brain waves (called event-related potentials, or
ERPs) to determine whether these stimuli have been detected, or even discriminated,
because two stimuli sensed as “different” will produce different patterns of brain activity
(Bornstein, 1992). Researchers have used ERPs to explore infants’ reactions to others’
displays of emotions, finding that 7-month-olds attend more to facial displays of negative
rather than positive (or neutral) emotions (Leppanen, Moulson, Vogel-Farley, & Nelson,
2007), and that 12-month-olds are more inclined to use negative rather than positive (or
neutral) facial expressions as a guide for how they should be feeling or behaving in new
and uncertain situations (Carver & Vaccaro, 2007). More recently, technological advances
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have made it possible to observe the brain “in action.” Using MRI (magnetic resonance
imaging) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) technology, researchers can
compare pictures taken before a subject engages in an activity and during the activity to
see which areas of the brain were activated.
A highly specialized observational technique that qualifies as a psychophysiological
method is eye-tracking. Eye-trackers are small video cameras that track a person’s eye
movement and allow researchers to precisely determine what stimulus in the visual field
the person is looking at. Eye-trackers have been mostly used in combination with com-
puter experiments where the visual field is limited by a computer screen. However, they
also can be used as wearable devices when participants freely roam around in a research
lab. Many aspects of children’s perceptual, cognitive, and socioemotional development
have been successfully studied using eye-trackers as gaze direction and looking times
reveal important aspects of children’s information processing. Through the use of eye-
trackers, researchers can find out where children seek information and how they form
expectations while watching a series of events. This is particularly useful in research with
younger children who have limited verbal abilities.
It is a common finding in developmental psychology that verbal methods underes-
timate the cognitive abilities of children relative to nonverbal methods. Take, for
instance, the famous false-belief tasks. In this task, children watch two puppets enacting
the following script: a girl (or boy depending on the participant’s sex) is coming home
from grocery shopping with her mother. At the store, the girl got a chocolate bar. The
girl does not want to eat the chocolate right away, so she puts it in the green kitchen
cabinet. The girl then goes outdoors to play with a friend. While the girl is playing out-
side the house, the mother needs some chocolate for baking a cake. She takes a few bits
from the girl’s chocolate and puts it in the blue kitchen cabinet. The girl comes back
from playing with her friend. She is hungry and wants to eat some of her chocolate.
Where does the girl look for the chocolate bar? In the green or the blue kitchen cabinet?
When asked this question verbally, 3- to 5-year-old children commonly respond “blue,”
which indicates that they do not understand that others can hold false beliefs that are
different from their own. However, using eye-tracking methods, Southgate, Senju, and
Csibra (2007) found that even 2-year-olds gaze at the right location while giving the
wrong verbal response. Thus, children’s gaze reveals cognitive abilities that are not
present in their verbal reports.
Psychophysiological states of parents can also be examined in investigations of chil-
dren’s development. For example, the hormone oxytocin is thought to play a role in
human attachment and social relationships. Feldman and her colleagues measured oxy-
tocin levels in pregnant women across their pregnancies and after the birth of their chil-
dren (Feldman, Weller, Zagoory-Sharon, & Levine, 2007). They found that the hormone
levels across pregnancy predicted behavioural measures of bonding between the mothers
and their babies after birth. Psychophysiological measures can also be used with older
children to assess aspects of development. As one example, blood pressure and cortisol
levels have been found in adolescence to be accurate measures of chronic stress that is
empirically related to chronic childhood poverty (Evans & Kim, 2007).
Though very useful, psychophysiological responses are far from perfect indicators of
psychological states. Even though an infant’s heart rate or brain wave activity may indi-
cate that he or she is attending to a stimulus, it is often difficult to determine exactly
which aspect of that stimulus (shape, colour, etc.) has captured the infant’s attention.
Furthermore, changes in physiological responses often reflect mood swings, fatigue,
hunger, or even negative reactions to the physiological recording equipment, rather than
a change in the infant’s attention to a stimulus or emotional reactions to it. For these
reasons, physiological responses are more likely to be valid indications of psychological
experiences when participants (particularly very young ones) are initially calm, alert, and
contented.
Table 1.2 provides a brief review of the data-gathering methods that we have exam-
ined thus far. In the sections that follow, we will consider how investigators might design
their research to test hypotheses and detect developmental continuities and changes.
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TABLE 1.2 Strengths and Limitations of Seven Common Research Methods

Method Strengths Limitations
Self-reports
Interviews and Relatively quick way to gather much information; standardized Data collected may be inaccurate or less than completely
questionnaires format allows the investigator to make direct comparisons honest, or may reflect variations in respondents’ verbal skills
between data provided by different participants. and ability to understand questions.
Clinical method Flexible methodology that treats subjects as unique individuals; Conclusions drawn may be unreliable in that participants are
freedom to probe can be an aid in ensuring that the participant not all treated alike; flexible probes depend, in part, on the
understands the meaning of the questions asked. investigator’s subjective interpretations of the participant’s
responses; can be used only with highly verbal participants.
Observational methods
Naturalistic observation Allows study of behaviour as it actually occurs in the natural Observed behaviours may be influenced by observer’s presence;
environment. unusual or undesirable behaviours are unlikely to be observed
during the periods when observations are made.
Structured observation Offers a standardized environment that provides every child Contrived observations may not always capture the ways
an opportunity to perform target behaviour; excellent way to children behave in the natural environment.
observe infrequent or socially undesirable acts.
Case studies Very broad method that considers many sources of data when Kind of data collected often differs from case to case and may
drawing inferences and conclusions about individual be inaccurate or less than honest; conclusions drawn from indi-
participants. vidual cases are subjective and may not apply to other people.
Ethnography Provides a richer description of cultural beliefs, values, and Conclusions may be biased by the investigator’s values and
© Cengage Learning 2014

traditions than is possible in brief observational or interview theoretical viewpoints; results cannot be generalized beyond
studies. the groups and settings that were studied.
Psychophysiological Useful for assessing biological underpinnings of development Cannot indicate with certainty what participants sense or feel;
methods and identifying the perceptions, thoughts, and emotions of many factors other than the one being studied can produce a
infants and toddlers, who cannot report them verbally. similar physiological response.
Detecting Relationships: Correlational and

Experimental Designs
Once researchers have decided what they want to study, they must devise a research plan,
or design, that permits them to identify relationships among events and behaviours and
to specify the causes of these relationships. Here we consider the two general research
designs that investigators might employ: correlational and experimental designs.
The Correlational Design

correlational design In a correlational design, the investigator gathers information to determine whether
a type of research design that two or more variables of interest are meaningfully related. If the researcher is testing a
indicates the strength of associations specific hypothesis (rather than conducting preliminary descriptive or exploratory
among variables; though correlated
variables are systematically related,
research), he or she will be checking to see whether these variables are related as the
these relationships are not necessarily hypothesis specifies they should be. No attempts are made to structure or manipulate the
causal. participants’ environment in any way. Instead, correlational researchers take people as
they find them—already “manipulated” by natural life experiences—and try to deter-
mine whether variations in people’s life experiences are associated with differences in
their behaviours or patterns of development.
To illustrate the correlational approach to hypothesis testing, let’s work with a
simple theory specifying that youngsters learn a lot from watching television and are apt
to imitate the actions of the characters they observe. One hypothesis we might derive
from this theory is that the more frequently children observe TV characters who display
violent and aggressive acts, the more inclined they will be to behave aggressively toward
their own playmates. After selecting a sample of children to study, our next step in testing
our hypothesis is to measure the two variables that we think are related. To assess chil-
dren’s exposure to violent themes on television, we might use the interview or natural-
istic observational methods to determine what each child watches and then count the
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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
TO PURIFY YEAST FOR BREAD OR CAKES.
The yeast procured from a public brewery is often so extremely

bitter that it can only be rendered fit for use by frequent washings,
and after these even it should be cautiously employed. Mix it, when
first brought in, with a large quantity of cold water, and set it by until
the following morning in a cool place; then drain off the water, and
stir the yeast up well with as much more of fresh: it must again stand
several hours before the water can be poured clear from it. By
changing this daily in winter, and both night and morning in very hot
weather, the yeast may be preserved fit for use much longer than it
would otherwise be; and should it ferment rather less freely after a
time, a small portion of brown sugar and a little warm milk or other
liquid, stirred to it a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes before it is
required for bread-making, will restore its strength.
The German yeast, of which we have spoken in detail in another
part of this chapter, makes exceedingly light bread and buns, and is
never bitter; it is therefore a valuable substitute for our own beer-
yeast, but cannot be procured in all parts of the country, for the
reasons which we have stated.
THE OVEN.
A brick oven, heated with wood, is far superior to any other for
baking bread, as well as for most other purposes. The iron ovens,
now commonly attached to kitchen-ranges—the construction of
which has within these few years been wonderfully improved—
though exceedingly convenient, from the facility which they afford for
baking at all hours of the day, do not in general answer well for
bread, unless it be made into very small loaves or rolls, as the
surface becomes hardened and browned long before the heat has
sufficiently penetrated to the centre of the dough. The same
objection often exists to iron-ovens of larger size, which require care
and management, to ensure the successful use of them. A brick
oven should be well heated with faggot wood, or with a faggot, and
two or three solid logs; and after it is cleared, the door should be
closely shut for quite half an hour before the baking commences: the
heat will then be well sustained for a succession of bread, pies,
cakes, and small pastry. The servant who habitually attends at an
oven will soon become acquainted with the precise quantity of fuel
which it requires, and all other peculiarities which may be connected
with it.
A FEW RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN MAKING BREAD.
Never use too large a proportion of yeast, as the bread will not
only become dry very speedily when this is done, but it will be far
less sweet and pleasant in flavour than that which is more slowly
fermented, and the colour will not be so good: there will also be a
great chance of its being bitter when brewer’s yeast is used for it.
Remember that milk or water of scalding heat poured to any kind of
yeast will render the bread heavy. One pint of either added quite
boiling to a pint and a half of cold, will bring it to about the degree of
warmth required. In frosty weather the proportion of the heated liquid
may be increased a little.
When only porter-yeast—which is dark-coloured and bitter—can
be procured, use a much smaller proportion than usual, and allow
much longer time for it to rise. Never let it be sent to the oven until it
is evidently light. Bitter bread is unpalatable, but not really
unwholesome; but heavy bread is particularly so.
Let the leaven be kneaded up quickly with the remainder of the
flour when once it is well risen, as it should on no account be allowed
to sink again before this is done, when it has reached the proper
point; and in making the dough, be particularly careful not to render it
too lithe by adding more liquid than is requisite. It should be quite
firm, and entirely free from lumps and crumbs throughout the mass,
and on the surface also, which ought to be perfectly smooth.
In winter, place the bread while it is rising sufficiently close to the
fire to prevent its becoming cold, but never so near as to render it
hot. A warm thick cloth should be thrown over the pan in which it is
made immediately after the leaven is mixed, and kept on it until the
bread is ready for the oven.
HOUSEHOLD BREAD.
Put half a bushel (more or less, according to the consumption of

the family) of flour into the kneading tub or trough, and hollow it well
in the middle; dilute a pint of yeast as it is brought from the brewery
or half the quantity if it has been washed and rendered solid, with
four quarts or more of lukewarm milk or water, or a mixture of the
two; stir into it, from the surrounding part, with a wooden spoon, as
much flour as will make a thick batter; throw a handful or two over it,
and leave this, which is called the leaven, to rise before proceeding
further. In about an hour it will have swollen considerably, and have
burst through the coating of flour on the top; then pour in as much
more warm liquid as will convert the whole, with good kneading, and
this should not be spared, into a firm dough, of which the surface
should be entirely free from lumps or crumbs. Throw a cloth over,
and let it remain until it has risen very much a second time, which will
be in an hour, or something more, if the batch be large. Then work it
lightly up, and mould it into loaves of from two to three pounds
weight; send them directly to a well heated oven, and bake them
from an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters.
Flour, 1/2 bushel; salt (when it is liked), 4 to 6 oz.; yeast, 1 pint
unwashed, or 1/2 pint if purified; milk, or water, 2 quarts: 1 to 1-1/2
hour. Additional liquid as needed.
Obs.—Brown bread can be made exactly as above, either with
half meal and half flour mixed, or with meal only. This will absorb
more moisture than fine flour, and will retain it rather longer. Brown
bread should always be thoroughly baked.
Remark.—We have seen it very erroneously asserted in one or
two works, that bread made with milk speedily becomes sour. This is
never the case when it is properly baked and kept, and when the
milk used for it is perfectly sweet. The experience of many years,
enables us to speak positively on this point.
BORDYKE BREAD.
(Author’s Receipt.)
Mix with a gallon of flour a large teaspoonful of fine salt, make a
hollow in the centre, and pour in two tablespoonsful of solid, well
purified yeast, gradually diluted with about two pints and a half of
milk, and work it into a thick batter with the surrounding flour, strew a
thick layer over and leave it to rise from an hour to an hour and a
half; then knead it up with as much more warm skimmed milk, or half
new milk and half water, as will render it quite firm and smooth
without being very stiff; let it rise another hour, and divide it into three
loaves; put them into square tins slightly buttered, or into round
baking pans, and bake them about an hour and a quarter in a well-
heated oven. The dough can be formed into household loaves if
preferred, and sent to the oven in the usual way. When a finer and
more spongy kind of bread is required for immediate eating,
substitute new milk for skimmed, dissolve in it about an ounce of
butter, leave it more liquid when the sponge is set, and let the whole
be lightly kneaded into a lithe dough: the bread thus made will be
excellent when new, and for a day or so after it is baked, but it will
become dry sooner than the other.
Flour, 1 gallon; salt, 1 teaspoonful; skimmed milk, 2-1/2 pints, to
rise from 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Additional milk, 1 to 2 pints: to rise 1 hour. 3
loaves, baked 1-1/4 hour.
Obs. 1.—A few spoonsful of cream will wonderfully improve either
of the above receipts, and sweet buttermilk, substituted for the other,
will give to the bread the shortness of a cake: we would particularly
recommend it for trial when it can be procured.
Obs. 2.—Shallow round earthen pans answer much better, we
think, than tins for baking bread; they should be slightly rubbed with
butter before the dough is put into them.
GERMAN YEAST.
(And Bread made with German Yeast.)

This has very generally superseded the use of English beer-yeast
in London, and other places conveniently situated for receiving
quickly and regularly the supplies of it which are imported from
abroad; but as it speedily becomes putrid in sultry weather, and does
not in any season remain good long after its arrival here, it is
unsuited for transmission to remote parts of the country. Bread made
with it while it is perfectly sweet, is extremely light and good, and it
answers remarkably well for light cakes and biscuits. An ounce is the
proportion which we have always had used for a quartern (half a
gallon or three pounds and a half) of flour, and this, with the addition
of some salt and nearly a quart of milk, or milk and water, has
produced excellent bread when it has been made with care. The
yeast should be very gradually and perfectly moistened and blended
with the warm liquid; for unless this be done, and the whole rendered
smooth as cream, the dough will not be of the uniform texture which
it ought, but will be full of large hollow spaces, which are never seen
in well-made bread. The mass should be mixed up firmly and well
kneaded at once, then left to rise for about an hour; again kneaded
thoroughly, and again left to rise from three-quarters of an hour to an
hour; then divided, and lightly worked up into loaves, put into round
slightly buttered earthen pans, and sent immediately to the oven.
[187]
187. We give the proportions used and the exact manner of making this bread,
which we have had followed for more than twelve months, with entire
success.
A leaven may be first laid with the yeast, and part of the liquid
when it is preferred, as directed for bread made with beer-yeast, but
the result will be equally good if the whole be kneaded up at once, if
it be made quite firm.
PROFESSOR LIEBIG’S BAVARIAN BROWN BREAD.
(Very nutritious and wholesome.)

Baron Liebig pronounces this bread to be very superior to that
which is made with fine flour solely, both in consequence of the
greater amount of nutriment which it contains, and from its slight
medicinal effect, which renders it valuable to many persons
accustomed to have frequent recourse to drugs, of which it
supersedes the necessity. It is made with the wheat exactly as it is
ground, no part being subtracted, nor any additional flour mingled
with it. He directs that the wheat should not be damped before it is
prepared: but few millers can be found who will depart from their
ordinary practice to oblige private customers; and this determined
adherence to established usage intervenes constantly between us,
and all improvement in our modes of preparing food. The bread is
made in the usual way, with water only, or with a portion of milk
added to the yeast, as taste or convenience may dictate. The loaves
should be well baked at all times; and the dough should of course be
perfectly light when it is placed in the oven. Salt should be mixed
with the meal before the yeast is added.
ENGLISH BROWN BREAD.
This is often made with a portion only of the unbolted meal

recommended in the preceding receipt, mixed with more or less of
fine flour, according to the quality of bread required; and in many
families the coarse bran is always sifted from the meal, as an
impression exists that it is irritating to the stomach. If one gallon of
meal as it comes from the mill, be well mixed with an equal measure
of flour, and made into a dough in the manner directed for white
household bread, the loaves will still be sufficiently brown for the
general taste in this country, and they will be good and wholesome,
though not, perhaps, so entirely easy of digestion as Baron Liebig’s
Bavarian bread.
UNFERMENTED BREAD.
This bread, in which carbonate of soda and muriatic acid are

substituted for yeast or other leaven, has within these few years
been highly recommended, and much eaten. It may possibly suit
many persons better than that which is fermented in the usual way,
but it is not in general by any means so pleasant in flavour; and there
is much more chance of failure in preparing it in private families, as it
requires some skill to mix the ingredients with exactness and
despatch; and it is absolutely necessary that the dough should be
set into the oven the instant it is ready. In some hydropathic and
other large establishments, where it is always supplied to the table in
lieu of the more common kinds, it is, we have been informed by
patients who had partaken of it there for many months together,
exceedingly and uniformly good. More detailed information with
regard to it, will be found in our “Cookery for Invalids,” a work for
which our want of space in the present volume compels us to
reserve it.
“For each pound of flour (or meal) take forty grains of
sesquicarbonate of soda, mix it intimately with the sugar and flour,
then add fifty drops of muriatic acid of the shops, diluted with half a
pint of water, or with as much as may be requisite to form the dough,
stirring it constantly into a smooth mass. Divide it into a couple of
loaves, and put them immediately into a quick oven.” Bake them
thoroughly.
Author’s note.—Dr. Pereira, from whose book on diet the
substance of the above receipt is taken, says that delicious bread
was made by it in his presence by the cook of Mr. John Savory, of
Bond Street, equal to any bread fermented by the usual process. We
would suggest that the soda, mixed with the sugar, and a small
portion of the flour, should be rubbed through a hair sieve with a
wooden spoon into the remainder of the flour, and stirred up with it
until the whole is perfectly mingled, before the liquid is added.
Should lighter bread be desired, the soda may be increased to fifty
or even sixty grains, if the quantity of acid be proportionately
augmented. As common salt is formed by the combination of these
two agents, none beside is needed in the bread.
Flour, 1 lb.; sesquicarbonate of soda, 40 grains; sugar, 1
teaspoonful; muriatic acid of the shops, 50 drops; water, 1/2 pint (or
as needed).
POTATO BREAD.
One pound of good mealy potatoes, steamed or boiled very dry, in

the ordinary way, or prepared by Captain Kater’s receipt (see
Chapter XVII.), and rubbed quite hot, through a coarse sieve, into a
couple of pounds of flour, with which they should be well mixed, will
produce excellent bread, which will remain moist much longer than
wheaten bread made as usual. The yeast should be added
immediately after the potatoes. An ounce or two of butter, an egg
and some new milk, will convert this bread into superior rolls.
DINNER OR BREAKFAST ROLLS.
Crumble down very small indeed, an ounce of butter into a couple

of pounds of the best flour, and mix with them a large saltspoonful of
salt. Put into a basin a dessertspoonful of solid, well-purified yeast,
and half a teaspoonful of pounded sugar; mix these with half a pint of
warm new milk; hollow the centre of the flour, pour in the yeast
gradually, stirring to it sufficient of the surrounding flour to make a
thick batter; strew more flour on the top, cover a thick double cloth
over the pan, and let it stand in a warm kitchen to rise. In winter it
must be placed within a few feet of the fire. In about an hour, should
the leaven have broken through the flour on the top, and have risen
considerably in height, mix one lightly-whisked egg, or the yolks of
two, with nearly half a pint more of quite warm new milk, and wet up
the mass into a very smooth dough. Cover it as before, and in from
half to three-quarters of an hour turn it on to a paste-board, and
divide it into twenty-four portions of equal size. Knead these up as
lightly as possible into small round, or olive-shaped rolls; make a
slight incision round them, and cut them once or twice across the
top, placing them as they are done on slightly floured baking sheets
an inch or two apart. Let them remain for fifteen or twenty minutes to
prove; then wash the tops with yolk of egg, mixed with a little milk,
and bake them in a rather brisk oven from ten to fifteen minutes.
Turn them upside down upon a dish to cool after they are taken from
the tins. An additional ounce of butter and another egg can be used
for these rolls when richer bread is liked; but it is so much less
wholesome than a more simple kind, that it is not to be
recommended. A cup of good cream would be an admirable
substitute for butter altogether, rendering the rolls exceedingly
delicate both in appearance and in flavour. The yeast used for them
should be stirred up with plenty of cold water the day before it is
wanted; and it will be found very thick indeed when it is poured off,
which should be gently done. Rather less than an ounce of good
fresh German yeast may be used for them instead of brewer’s yeast,
with advantage.
GENEVA ROLLS, OR BUNS.
Break down into very small crumbs three ounces of butter with two
pounds of flour; add a little salt, and set the sponge with a large
tablespoonful of solid yeast, mixed with a pint of new milk, and a
tablespoonful or more of strong saffron water; let it rise for a full hour,
then stir to a couple of well-beaten eggs as much hot milk as will
render them lukewarm, and wet the rolls with them to a light, lithe
dough; leave it from half to three-quarters of an hour longer, mould it
into small rolls, brush them with beaten yolk of egg, and bake them
from twenty minutes to half an hour. The addition of six ounces of
good sugar, three of butter, half a pound or more of currants, the
grated rind of a large lemon, and a couple of ounces of candied
orange-rind, will convert these into excellent buns. When the flavour
of the saffron is not liked, omit it altogether. Only so much should be
used at any time as will give a rich colour to the bread.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; solid yeast, 1 large tablespoonful
(saffron, 1 teaspoonful; water, less than a quarter pint); new milk, 1
pint: 1 hour, or more. 2 eggs, more milk: 3/4 hour: baked 20 to 30
minutes.
RUSKS.
Work quite into crumbs six ounces of butter with a couple of

pounds of fine dry flour, and mix them into a lithe paste, with two
tablespoonsful of mild beer yeast, three well-beaten eggs, and nearly
half a pint of warm new milk. When it has risen to its full height
knead it smooth, and make it into very small loaves or thick cakes
cut with a round cake-cutter; place them on a floured tin, and let
them stand in a warm place to prove from ten to twenty minutes
before they are set into the oven. Bake them about a quarter of an
hour; divide them while they are still warm, and put them into a very
slow oven to dry. When they are crisp quite through they are done.
Four teaspoonsful of sifted sugar must be added when sweet-rusks
are preferred.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 6 oz.; yeast, 2 tablespoonsful; eggs, 3; new
milk nearly half a pint: baked 1/4 hour.
For either of the preceding receipts substitute rather more than an
ounce of German yeast, when it can be procured quite fresh; or
should an ounce of it only be used (which we should consider an
ample proportion), let the dough—especially that of the rusks—
become extremely light before it is kneaded down, and also
previously to its being sent to the oven. A somewhat smaller quantity
of yeast is required in warm weather than in cold.
[Remark.—The remainder of this chapter is extracted from a little

treatise on domestic bread-making, which we hope shortly to lay
before the public, as it appears to us to be greatly needed; but, as
we have already more than once repeated, we are unwilling to
withhold from the present volume any information which may be
generally useful.]
EXCELLENT DAIRY-BREAD MADE WITHOUT YEAST.
(Author’s Receipt.)
When we first heard unfermented bread vaguely spoken of, we
had it tried very successfully in the following manner; and we have
since been told that an almost similar method of preparing it is
common in many remote parts both of England and Ireland, where it
is almost impossible to procure a constant supply of yeast. Blend
well together a teaspoonful of pounded sugar and fifty grains of the
purest carbonate of soda; mix a saltspoonful of salt with a pound of
flour, and rub the soda and sugar through a hair-sieve into it. Stir and
mingle them well, and make them quickly into a firm but not hard
dough with sour buttermilk. Bake the loaf well in a thoroughly heated,
but not fierce oven. In a brick, or good iron oven a few minutes less
than an hour would be sufficient to bake a loaf of similar weight. The
buttermilk should be kept until it is quite acid, but it must never be in
the slightest degree rancid, or otherwise bad. All unfermented bread
should be placed in the oven directly it is made, or it will be heavy.
For a larger baking allow rather less than an ounce of soda to the
gallon (seven pounds) of flour.
Obs.—There are cases in which a knowledge of this, or of any
other equally easy mode of bread-making would be invaluable. For
example:—We learn from the wife of an officer who has for a long
time been stationed off the Isle of Skye, in which his family have their
abode, that the inhabitants depend entirely for bread on supplies
brought to them from Glasgow; and that they are often entirely
without, when the steamer which ought to arrive at intervals of eight
days, is delayed by stress of weather. The residents are then
compelled to have recourse to scones—as a mixture of flour and
water and a little soda (cooked on a flat iron plate), are called—or to
ship’s biscuit; and these are often found unsuitable for young
children and invalids. There are no ovens in the houses, though
there are grates for coal fires, in front of which small loaves of
unfermented bread could be baked extremely well in good American
ovens. Buttermilk can always be procured; and if not, a provision of
carbonate of soda and muriatic acid might be kept at hand to ensure
the means of making wholesome bread. In many other localities the
same plan might prove of equal benefit.
TO KEEP BREAD.
Bread requires almost as much care as milk to preserve it

wholesome and fresh. It should be laid, as soon as it is perfectly
cold, into a large earthen pan with a cover, which should be kept free
from crumbs, and be frequently scalded, and then wiped very dry for
use. Loaves which have been cut should have a smaller pan
appropriated to them, and this also should have the loose crumbs
wiped from it daily. It is a good plan to raise the bread-pans from the
floor of the larder, when there is no proper stand or frame for the
purpose, by means of two flat wedges of wood, so as to allow a
current of air to pass under them.
TO FRESHEN STALE BREAD (AND PASTRY, ETC.), AND
PRESERVE IT FROM MOULD.
If entire loaves be placed in a gentle oven and heated quite

through, without being previously dipped into cold water, according
to the old-fashioned plan, they will eat almost like bread newly
baked: they should not remain in it long enough to become hard and
dry, but they should be made hot throughout. In very damp localities,
when large household bakings take place but once in eight or ten
days, it is sometimes necessary to use precautions against the
attack of mould, though the bread may have been exceedingly well
made; and the method recommended above will be the best for
warding it off, and for preserving the bread eatable for several days
longer than it would otherwise be. If large loaves be just dipped into
cold water and then placed in a quick oven until they are again
thoroughly dried, they will resemble new bread altogether.
Pastry, cakes, and biscuits, may all be greatly improved when
stale, by heating them in a gentle oven.
TO KNOW WHEN BREAD IS SUFFICIENTLY BAKED.
When the surface is uniformly browned, and it is everywhere firm

to the touch, and the bottom crust of a loaf is hard, it is generally
certain that it is thoroughly baked. To test bread that has been cut (or
yeast-cakes), press down the crumb lightly in the centre with the
thumb; when it is elastic and rises again to its place, it is proof that it
is perfectly done; but if the indentation remains, the heat has not
sufficiently penetrated the dough to convert it into wholesome eating.
ON THE PROPER FERMENTATION OF DOUGH.
As we have previously said, too large a proportion of yeast, which

is very commonly used by persons not well skilled in bread-making,
although it produces quickly a light spongy dough, has a very bad
effect on bread, which it renders much less easy of digestion than
that which is more slowly fermented, and far less sweet and pleasant
in flavour: it also prevents its remaining eatable the same length of
time, as it speedily becomes dry. It is likewise very disadvantageous
to make the dough so lithe that it spreads about in the oven; and if it
be excessively stiff, and its management not thoroughly understood,
it will sometimes be heavy,. To prevent this, it should be kept quite
warm (never heated), and left a much longer time to rise. It will
frequently then prove excellent. It will ferment rather more quickly if,
when it gives symptoms of becoming light it is made up into loaves
with the least possible kneading, and a slight incision is made round
them and across the tops, and they are then placed in a warm air,
and kept secure from cold currents passing over them.

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Developmental Psychology:Infancy and

Childhood 5th Edition David R. Shaffer

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PArt I theory AnD reseArCh In the DeveLoPmentAL sCIenCes

PArt II FounDAtIons oF DeveLoPment

PArt III LAnguAge, LeArnIng, AnD CognItIve DeveLoPment

PArt Iv soCIAL AnD PersonALIty DeveLoPment

PArt v the eCoLogy oF DeveLoPment

PArt II The Period of the Embryo 101

Contributions and Criticisms of the Summary 143

Muscular Development 148 n Box 7.1 FoCus on reseArCh: Causes and

Key Terms 176 Summary 215

PArt III ChAPter 8

The Concrete-Operational Stage Cognitive Inhibition: Dismissing

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective 250 The Development of Event Memory 286

Developmental Differences in “Software”: Applying Developmental Themes to Information-

Stability of Temperament 405 ChAPter 14

Effects of Media Technologies on Summary 611

We Believe in Theoretical Eclecticism

The Best Information about Human Development

We Believe in a Strong Process Orientation

We Believe in a Strong Contextual Orientation

Human Development Is a Holistic Process

A Developmental Text Should Be a Resource

environmental factors that influence a newborn’s health and readiness for

new to the Fifth Canadian edition

Chapter 1: Introduction to Developmental

●■ psychophysiological methods (added eye tracking)

●■ ethical standards for conducting research (Tri-Council policies)

●■ different notions of developmental stability (absolute and positional

Chapter 2: Theories of Human Development

Chapter 3: Hereditary Influences on Development

Chapter 4: Prenatal Development

Chapter 5: Birth and the Newborn’s

Chapter 6: Physical Development: The Brain, Body,

Chapter 7: Early Cognitive Foundations: Sensation,

Chapter 8: Cognitive Development: Piaget’s

Chapter 9: Cognitive Development: Information-

Chapter 10: Intelligence: Measuring Mental

Chapter 11: Development of Language and

Chapter 12: Emotional Development,

Chapter 13: Development of the Self

Chapter 14: Sex Differences and Similarities,

Chapter 15: Moral Development and Aggression

Chapter 16: The Family

Chapter 17: Beyond the Family Context: Peers,

supplementary Aids and Ancillaries

netA test Bank

MindTap combines all student learning tools—readings, multimedia, activities, and

Of course, most developmental changes are the

depending on their language environment. Moreover,

What Goals Do Developmentalists Pursue?

The Nature of Development

TABLE 1.1 A Chronological Overview of Human Development

A Holistic Process. It was once fashionable to divide developmentalists into three

Historical/Cultural Context. No single portrait of development is accurate for all

The Scientific Study of Development and Its Origins

These philosophers also differed on the question of children’s participation in their

Children as Subjects of Study: Baby Biographies

This is the first page of the diary of Clara and William

Research Methods in Developmental Psychology

Gathering Data: Basic Fact-Finding Strategies

Interviews and Questionnaires. Researchers who opt for interview or question-