Formative Experiences
The Interaction of Caregiving, Culture, and Developmental Psychobiology

Explores the formative effects of children's early life experiences, with an emphasis on interactions among neurodevelopmental, behavioral and cultural dynamics.

Carol M. Worthman (Edited by), Paul M. Plotsky (Edited by), Daniel S. Schechter (Edited by), Constance A. Cummings (Edited by)

9780521895033, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 April 2010

624 pages, 50 b/w illus. 11 tables
23.5 x 16.3 x 4.4 cm, 0.97 kg

"....Formative Experiences is a must-have for scholars interested in the biology of child development in cross-cultural context. It does a remarkable job of capturing the key points of what must have been a fascinating conference.... Formative Experiences would be an excellent catalyst for an interdisciplinary seminar on child development.... provide a broad playing field for graduate students in anthropology, developmental psychology, human biology, genetics, medicine, neurobiology, and related disciplines....."
--Mark V. Flinn, University of Missouri, American Journal of Human Biology

The authors offer a unique exploration of the formative effects of children's early life experiences, with an emphasis on interactions among neurodevelopmental, behavioural and cultural dynamics. Multidisciplinary case studies focus on specific periods of development, or windows of susceptibility, during which care giving and other cultural practices potentially have a long-lasting impact on brain and behaviour. Chapters describe in detail: how social experience interacts with neurodevelopmental disorders; how epigenetic mechanisms mediate the effects of early environment; the interaction of temperament and environmental influences; the implications of early life stress or trauma for mental health and well-being; and the cultural shaping of sexual development and gender identity. The final section translates insights from this work into a fresh appraisal of child-rearing practices, clinical interventions and global public health policy that affect the mental health and well-being of children around the world.

Introduction Carol M. Worthman and Constance A. Cummings
Part I. Historical, Cross-Cultural, and Developmental Science Perspectives: 1. Plasticity and variation: cultural influences on parenting and early child development within and across populations Robert A. LeVine
2. From measurement to meaning in caregiving and culture Marc Bornstein
Part II. How Experience Interacts with Biological Development: 3. Epigenetics and the social environment Moshe Szyf, Patrick O. McGowan, Gustavo Turecki and Michael Meaney
4. Sensitive periods in the early development of mammals Christoph Wiedenmayer
5. Confluence of individual and caregiver influences on socioemotional development in typical and atypical populations Matilda E. Nowakowski, Louis A. Schmidt and Geoff Hall
6. We are social - therefore we are: the interplay of mind, culture, and genetics in Williams Syndrome Carol Zitzer-Comfort, Judith Reilly, Julie R. Korenberg and Ursula Bellugi
Part III. Formative Relationships Within and Across Generations: 7. Ethnographic case study: Bofi foragers and farmers: case studies on the determinants of parenting behavior and early childhood experiences Hillary N. Fouts
Commentary Myron A. Hofer
Commentary Klaus K. Minde
8. Clinical case study: good expectations: a case study of perinatal child-parent psychotherapy to prevent the intergenerational transmission of trauma Amy L. Busch and Alicia F. Lieberman
Commentary Jill E. Korbin
Commentary Emeran A. Mayer and Stefan Brunnhuber
9. Ethological case study: infant abuse in Rhesus Macaques M. Mar Sánchez, Kai M. McCormack and Dario Maestripieri
Commentary Dante Cicchetti
Commentary Ronald G. Barr
10. Clinical case study: multigenerational ataques de nervios in a Dominican-American family: a form of intergenerational transmission of violent trauma? Daniel S. Schechter
Commentary Thomas S. Weisner
Commentary Urs M. Nater and Christine M. Heim
Part IV. Social and Cultural Contexts of Childhood Development: Normative Settings, Practices, and Consequences: 11. Ethnographic case study: Inuit morality play and the Danish medical officer Jean Briggs
Commentary Vivette Glover
Commentary Karla Jessen Williamson and Laurence Kirmayer
12. Ontogenetic perspectives on the neurobiological basis of psychopathology following abuse and neglect Sally B. Seraphin, Martin H. Teicher, Keren Rabi, Yi-Shin Sheu, Susan L. Andersen, Carl M. Anderson, Jeewook Choi and Akemi Tomoda
13. Ethnographic case study: Maria: cultural change and post-traumatic stress in the life of a Belizean adolescent girl Eileen Anderson-Fye
Commentary Frank W. Putnam
Commentary Anne E. Becker
14. Sex-gender, culture, and development: issues in the emergence of puberty and attraction Gilbert Herdt
Part V. Fear, Fun, and the Boundaries of Social Experience: 15. Ethnographic case study: Anak PKI: a longitudinal case study of the effects of social ostracism, violence and bullying on an adolescent Javanese boy Robert Lemelson, Ninik Supartini and Emily Ng
Commentary Jaap M. Koolhaas
Commentary Michael D. De Bellis
16. The evolution of social play Sergio Pellis, Vivien C. Pellis and Christine J. Reinhart
17. Ethological case study: social stress as a formative experience: neurobiology of conditioned defeat Kim L. Huhman
Commentary Jonathan Hill
Commentary Aaron Jasnow and Kerry Ressler
Commentary James Wilce
18. The basic affective circuits of mammalian brains: implications for healthy human development and the cultural landscapes of ADHD Jaak Panksepp
Part VI. Public Health, Education, and Policy Implications: 19. Translations from human development to public policy Neal Halfon, Emily S. Barrett and Alice Kuo
20. Global perspectives on the wellbeing of children Linda Richter
21. Global perspectives on the wellbeing of children: a response Jennifer Harris Requejo and Flavia Bustreo.

Subject Areas: Psychiatry [MMH], Child & developmental psychology [JMC]