This volume provides a primarily nontechnical summary of experimental and theoretical work conducted over the course of 35 years which resulted in a developmental framework capable of integrating causal influences at the genetic, neural, behavioral, and ecological levels of analysis. It describes novel solutions to the nature-nurture problem at both the empirical and theoretical levels. Following field observations, laboratory experiments led to the discovery of the nonobvious prenatal experiential basis of instinctive behavior in two species--ground-nesting mallard ducklings and hole-nesting wood ducklings. This work also describes the experiences that lead to the rigid canalization of behavioral development as well as the social and sensory experiences that favor the continuance of flexibility. The author also describes in detail a developmental psychobiological systems view that supports a behaviorally and psychologically mediated pathway to evolutionary change in humans and other species. Written in a way that is readable to even the nonspecialist, the text is accompanied by numerous photographs that illuminate and add personal meaning to the written words. Readers will be engaged by the emphasis on the human aspect of the scientific enterprise.

Dale Goldhaber reframes the nature-nurture debates, providing fresh insight into old and persistent questions of human behavior and development.

Scientific research and science-guided practice based on the promotion of an individual′s strengths constitutes a radical shift in a new and growing area of study within the field of human development. Its trademark term is `positive youth development′. This approach to human development is based on the idea that, in addition to preventing problems, science and practice should promote the development of competencies, skills, and motivation in order to enhance individuals′ developmental pathways. Approaches to Positive Youth Development, is based on this concept and brings together authors from across Europe and America who are leaders in their respective fields. The main focus of the book, beyond a clarification of the paradigmatic foundations, concerns the major contexts of adolescents and young adults, namely, neighbourhoods and leisure locales, school and family, and the major themes of healthy psychosocial development, namely, competences and knowledge, prosocial behaviour, transcending problems of delinquency, civic engagement, identity, agency, and spirituality.

The essential reference for human development theory, updated and reconceptualized The Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, a four-volume reference, is the field-defining work to which all others are compared. First published in 1946, and now in its Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been considered the definitive guide to the field of developmental science. Volume 1, Theory and Method, presents a rich mix of classic and contemporary theoretical perspectives, but the dominant views throughout are marked by an emphasis on the dynamic interplay of all facets of the developmental system across the life span, incorporating the range of biological, cognitive, emotional, social, cultural, and ecological levels of analysis. Examples of the theoretical approaches discussed in the volume include those pertinent to human evolution, self regulation, the development of dynamic skills, and positive youth development. The research, methodological, and applied implications of the theoretical models discussed in the volume are presented. Understand the contributions of biology, person, and context to development within the embodied ecological system Discover the relations among individual, the social world, culture, and history that constitute human development Examine the methods of dynamic, developmental research Learn person-oriented methodological approaches to assessing developmental change The scholarship within this volume and, as well, across the four volumes of this edition, illustrate that developmental science is in the midst of a very exciting period. There is a paradigm shift that involves increasingly greater understanding of how to describe, explain, and optimize the course of human life for diverse individuals living within diverse contexts. This Handbook is the definitive reference for educators, policy-makers, researchers, students, and practitioners in human development, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and neuroscience.

Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young examines the nature of childhood through an evolutionary lens and argues that childhood is an essential stage of development with its own unique purposes, separate from those of adulthood; a time of growth and discovery that should not be rushed. Written by a renowned developmental psychologist Examines the role that our period of immaturity plays on the social, emotional, and educational needs of today’s children Challenges common perceptions of children as simply “adults in training”

An accessible introduction to behavioral epigenetics, The Developing Genome explores how experiences influence genetic activity. We develop as we do not because of the genes we have, but because of what our genes do. The Developing Genome explains this new discipline and its revolutionary implications, changing how we understand development and evolution.

Why do we grow up to look, act, and feel as we do? Through most of the twentieth century, scientists and laypeople answered this question by referring to two factors alone: our experiences and our genes. But recent discoveries about how genes work have revealed a new way to understand the developmental origins of our characteristics. These discoveries have emerged from the new science of behavioral epigenetics--and just as the whole world has now heard of DNA, "epigenetics" will be a household word in the near future. Behavioral epigenetics is important because it explains how our experiences get under our skin and influence the activity of our genes. Because of breakthroughs in this field, we now know that the genes we're born with don't determine if we'll end up easily stressed, likely to fall ill with cancer, or possessed of a powerful intellect. Instead, what matters is what our genes do. And because research in behavioral epigenetics has shown that our experiences influence how our genes function, this work has changed how scientists think about nature, nurture, and human development. Diets, environmental toxins, parenting styles, and other environmental factors all influence genetic activity through epigenetic mechanisms; this discovery has the potential to alter how doctors treat diseases, and to change how mental health professionals treat conditions from schizophrenia to post-traumatic stress disorder. These advances could also force a reworking of the theory of evolution that dominated twentieth-century biology, and even change how we think about human nature itself. In spite of the importance of this research, behavioral epigenetics is still relatively unknown to non-biologists. The Developing Genome is an introduction to this exciting new discipline; it will allow readers without a background in biology to learn about this work and its revolutionary implications.

Pellegrini argues that play is an excellent example of the influence of biology and culture on one other, especially during childhood. The innovative possibilities associated with different forms of juvenile play behaviour can influence both individuals' skill acquisition and possibly also the development of the species.

The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience is a seminal reference work in the burgeoning field of developmental behavioral neuroscience, which has emerged in recent years as an important sister discipline to developmental psychobiology. This handbook, part of the Oxford Library of Neuroscience, provides an introduction to recent advances in research at the intersection of developmental science and behavioral neuroscience, while emphasizing the central research perspectives of developmental psychobiology. Contributors to the Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience are drawn from a variety of fields, including developmental psychobiology, neuroscience, comparative psychology, and evolutionary biology, demonstrating the opportunities to advance our understanding of behavioral and neural development through enhanced interactions among parallel disciplines.In a field ripe for collaboration and integration, the Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience provides an unprecedented overview of conceptual and methodological issues pertaining to comparative and developmental neuroscience that can serve as a roadmap for researchers and a textbook for educators. Its broad reach will spur new insights and compel new collaborations in this rapidly growing field.