Part 1 Introduction Chapter 1 A Child''s Journey 3 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: All Children Have Birthdays 3 Children and Their Development 4 What is Development? 5 The Study of Development 5 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Developmental Domains 5 Developmental Epochs: Is Age the Answer? 6 Issues in Development 6 A Child''s Journey in the 21st Century 9 Research Insights: Are Today''s Children More Imaginative? 10 Parenting: Children in the Home 10 Children and Their Cultural Communities 12 Children in a Technological World 13 Culture and Parents'' Views on Children''s Disabilities 14 Practice: Video Games and Learning 15 Explaining Development: The Theories 16 Psychoanalytically Based Theories 16 Cognitive Theories 18 Learning Theories 23 Ethological Theories 25 Systems Theories 26 Focus On: Urie Bronfenbrenner 28 Asking Questions, Examining Answers 29 The Scientific Method 29 Designing Research Studies 30 Collecting Data 37 Reporting Research Results 38 Policy: Ethical Considerations 39 Chapter Summary 40 Key Terms 41 Critical Thinking Questions 41 Development 41 Part 2 Biological Beginnings Chapter 2 Biological Foundations of Child Development 43 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: It Can Start with Cells 43 The Biology of Life 44 The Functions of Cells 45 DNA, RNA, and Protein 45 WHEN CELLULAR SYSTEMS CONNECT: PKU as an Example 47 Research Insights: "Turning Off" Genes 47 Genes and Heredity 48 Genes and Chromosomes 48 Culture, Genetics, and Human Migration 50 Patterns of Heredity 51 Chromosomal Disorders 56 Parenting: Genetic Counseling 58 Gene-Environment Interactions 59 Mechanisms of Interaction Between Genes and Environment 59 Research on Gene-Environment Interactions: Kinship Studies 63 The Physiology of Thinking and Feeling 66 The Brain and Nervous System 66 The Endocrine System and the Physiology of Stress 72 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Stress and Child Development 73 Children''s Well-Being in Society 74 Indicators of Children''s Well-Being in the United States 75 Health Care among American Children 75 Policy: Who is Covered by Insurance, and How? 76 Practice: A Hmong Child in the American Health-Care System 77 Chapter Summary 78 Key Terms 79 Critical Thinking Questions 79 Development 79 Chapter 3 Prenatal Development 81 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Advocating for Care of Pregnant Women 81 Conception 82 Gametes and Meiosis 82 Fertilization 84 Prenatal Growth and Development 85 The Germinal Period: 0 to 2 Weeks 85 Policy: The Politics of Stem Cell Research 86 The Period of the Embryo: 3 to 8 Weeks 87 The Period of the Fetus: 9 Weeks to Birth 88 The Developing Brain: A Closer Look 90 Research Insights: Learning Before Birth 91 Development and the Prenatal Environment 92 Chemical Substances 92 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Alcohol and Pregnancy 95 Focus On: Ann Streissguth and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 95 Maternal Disease, Illness, and Stress 97 Environmental Pollutants and Hazards 101 Health During Pregnancy 102 Physiology of Pregnancy 102 Culture and Pregnancy 103 Practice: Recommendations for a Healthy Pregnancy 104 Complications of Pregnancy and High-Risk Pregnancies 104 A Special High-Risk Case: The Pregnant Adolescent 106 Pregnancy and Society 108 Birth-Rate Trends 108 Access to Health Care 108 Infertility 109 Parenting and ART: Telling the Children 113 Practice: Multiple Births 114 Parenting: Health, Family, and Culture 114 Chapter Summary 116 Key Terms 117 Critical Thinking Questions 117 Development 117 Chapter 4 Birth and the Newborn 119 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: An Unexpected Birth Experience 119 Birth 120 What Do You Know About Childbirth? 121 Preparing for the Birth of the Baby 121 Parenting: Writing a Birth Plan 122 Stages of Labor 123 Childbirth and Pain 124 The Place of Childbirth: Home or Hospital? 125 Focus On: Pioneers in the Natural Childbirth Movement 126 Research Insights: Risks in Planned Cesarean Delivery 129 At-Risk Infants: A Different Beginning 130 Prematurity and Birth Weight 130 Causes and Treatments of Prematurity 131 Prematurity and Developmental Outcomes 131 Low Birth Weight in the Developing World 132 A Different Beginning for Parents, Too 132 Research Insights: The Long-Term Risks of Prematurity 133 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Early Intervention for At-Risk Newborns 134 Focus On: Heidelise Als 134 Neonatal Mortality 135 Policy: The Fourth Millennium Development Goals 137 The Newborn 138 A Dramatic Transition 138 THE DEVELOPING BRAIN: Newborn Reflexes and Behavioral States 139 The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale 141 Sensory Capacities and the Social Newborn 142 The Developmental Tasks of the Newborn Period 147 The Parent-Infant Bond 147 Breast-Feeding: A Developmental Issue 147 Practice: The UNICEF/WHO Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative 148 Developmental Tasks Facing the Newborn 149 Research Insights: Effects of Breast-Feeding on Intelligence 150 Culture and Crying 151 Chapter Summary 152 Key Terms 152 Critical Thinking Questions 153 Development 153 Part 3 Infancy Chapter 5 Physical Development and Health in Infancy and Toddlerhood 155 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Beating the Odds 155 A Framework for Children''s Health and Physical Development 156 Biology of Health: Physical, Motor, and Perceptual Development 158 New Directions in Infant Motor Research 159 What Happens in the Brain? Beginning to Walk 160 Physical Development: How Babies Grow into Toddlers 162 Motor Development: From Sitting to Jumping 163 Research Insights: Climbing Stairs 165 Theories of Motor Development 166 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: Dynamic Systems Theory 169 Sensory and Perceptual Development: Taking in the World 169 The Developing Brain: Biology of Health 172 An Exuberant Burst of Synapse Formation 173 Focus On: Santiago Ramon y Cajal and Wilder Penfield, Pioneers in Brain Research 173 Research Insights: Mirror Neurons 175 Pruning: Refining the Brain Through Experience 176 Foundations of Health: Nutrition and Health 177 Nutrition for Infants and Toddlers 177 Nutritional Problems 178 Policy: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) 179 Capacities for Health: Caregivers, Environment, and Community 182 The Physical Environment 182 The Caregiving Environment 183 Culture and Sleeping Arrangements 184 Parenting: Products for Infants 185 Practice: Infant and Toddler Child-Care Settings 186 Motor Development in Different Cultural Environments 187 Disruptions in Health: Neuromotor Disabilities 189 Cerebral Palsy 189 Muscular Dystrophy 190 Down Syndrome 190 Policy: Early Intervention 191 Chapter Summary 193 Key Terms 194 Critical Thinking Questions 194 Development 195 Chapter 6 Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood 197 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Does Infant Stimulation Matter? 197 Theories of Cognitive Development 198 Piaget''s Sensorimotor Stage 199 Vygotsky''s Sociocultural Perspective 203 Culture and Fatherhood 205 Other Theories 205 Information-Processing Approaches 206 THE DEVELOPING BRAIN: The Basis for Cognitive Gains 210 Research Methods 211 Visual Preference Procedures 212 Object Exploration Approaches 214 Practice: Making Sense of Media Reports 214 Studies of Infant Imitation 215 Neuroimaging Techniques 215 Standardized Tests of Infant Cognitive Development 216 The Beginnings of Language 217 The Language Areas of the Brain 217 Theories of Language Development 218 WHEN SYSTEMS CONNECT: The Interactionist Approach 219 Acquiring Language: From Speech Perception to First Words 219 The Role of Experience in Language Development 221 Parenting: Wireless Parents 223 Research Insights: The Video Deficit 223 Raising a Bilingual Child 224 Infant and Toddler Education 225 Policy: Disparities in Cognitive Development in the First Years of Life 225 Focus On: James J. Heckman, Nobel Prize Winner in Economics 225 High-Quality Programs for Infants and Toddlers 226 Chapter Summary 227 Key Terms 228 Critical Thinking Questions 229 Development 229 Chapter 7 Psychosocial Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood 231 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: The Infant Mental Health Professional 231 Theories of.