Nature and Nurture in Early Child Development

Examines how nature and nurture interact over the course of life development, focusing on early childhood, from the developmental scientists working at the cutting edge.

Daniel P. Keating (Edited by)

9781107696457, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 August 2012

314 pages, 22 b/w illus. 3 tables
22.6 x 15 x 2.3 cm, 0.42 kg

"....a welcome addition to the bookshelf of those interested in the nature–nurture discussion.... the organization of the volume from microprocesses to macroprocesses leads the reader to appreciate the different levels of analysis at which researchers are and can continue examining the interplay of nature and nurture.... Nature and Nurture in Early Child Development generally succeeds in its goals. A great deal of recent research is reviewed, and we suspect that even experts in development and related fields can learn a great deal from the volume. Furthermore, the writing is generally accessible and engaging.... We would recommend the book as a text for graduate classes in child development and for researchers interested in the state of the field.... readers will be well informed of the latest research developments shaping the nature–nurture landscape."
--Daniel Hart, Theresa Murzyn and Marcus Woods, PsycCRITIQUES

For developmental scientists, the nature versus nurture debate has been settled for some time. Neither nature nor nurture alone provides the answer. It is nature and nurture in concert that shape developmental pathways and outcomes, from health to behavior to competence. This insight has moved far beyond the assertion that both nature and nurture matter, progressing into the fascinating terrain of how they interact over the course of development. In this volume, students, practitioners, policy analysts, and others with a serious interest in human development will learn what is transpiring in this new paradigm from the developmental scientists working at the cutting edge, from neural mechanisms to population studies, and from basic laboratory science to clinical and community interventions. Early childhood development is the critical focus of this volume, because many of the important nature-nurture interactions occur then, with significant influences on lifelong developmental trajectories.

Introduction Daniel P. Keating
1. Biological and experiential influences on psychological development Michael Rutter
2. Neural development and lifelong plasticity Charles A. Nelson III
3. Mother and child: preparing for a life Ronald G. Barr
4. Early experience and stress regulation in human development Megan R. Gunnar and Michelle M. Loman
5. Biology and context: symphonic causation and the distribution of childhood morbidities W. Thomas Boyce
6. Understanding within-family variability in children's responses to environmental stress Jennifer Jenkins and Rossana Bisceglia
7. Origins, development, and prevention of aggressive behavior Richard E. Tremblay
8. Mental health intervention in infancy and early childhood Alicia F. Lieberman and Chandra Ghosh Ippen
9. Bridging a population health perspective to early biodevelopment: an emerging approach Clyde Hertzman
10. Society and early child development: developmental health disparities in the nature-and-nurture paradigm Daniel P. Keating.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC], Psychology [JM]