Child development : myths and misunderstandings / Jean Mercer, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mercer, Jean, author.

Contributor:

ProQuest (Firm)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Child development.

Child rearing.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 334 pages)

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Los AngelesThousand Oaks : SAGE, [2013]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Mercer intrigues and engages you as she challenges you to turn a critical eye toward your own beliefs!

Using intriguing vignettes and insightful questions about children and families, the Second Edition of Jean Mercer's Child Development: Myths and Misunderstandings guides you in thinking critically about 59 commonly held beliefs about child development. Featuring a short essay for each of the beliefs covered, each selection explores and confronts commonly held misconceptions-encouraging you to think like a social scientist and to become a better consumer of media messages and anecdotal stories. Through the lens of a social science researcher, Mercer equips you with the facts, logic, and tools you'll need to think critically about your beliefs and the sources from which they originate.

Key Features

59 short essays about child development challenge you to reconsider your preconceived notions.

14 new essays cover language acquisition, adoption, discipline, nature versus nurture, and more!

Critical thinking questions at the end of each essay enhance your learning experience.

Examples of research help you make the connection between research designs and conclusions.

Material may be reviewed chronologically or by topic, allowing you to access information in just the way you need it. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Genetics and Prenatal Life 23

Claim 1 Genetic factors play such a strong role in human development that genes alone can determine certain human behavioral characteristics 25

Claim 2 There is no harm in putting off childbearing until the mother's career is established 30

Claim 3 If a child's problem is genetically caused, the problem will be present at birth and will stay the same throughout life 35

Claim 4 Unborn babies are not influenced much by the environment outside the mother's body 40

Claim 5 As a mother-to-be gets closer to the date when her child will be born, she needs to be more careful about alcohol and drugs, because the risk of birth defects increases throughout pregnancy 45

Claim 6 If a woman who is taking antidepressant medication becomes pregnant, she should stop taking the drugs because they may cause birth defects in her baby 50

Claim 7 Mothers care for their babies well because they have a maternal instinct 55

Claim 8 Babies work hard to be born 61

Claim 9 "Crack babies" can't be cured and will always have serious problems 65

Claim 10 We can learn about human development from studying baby animals, especially primates 70

Part II Infants and Toddlers 75

Claim 11 Parents need to have contact with their babies right after birth, so they can bond with them 77

Claim 12 Babies are born with emotional attachments to their mothers and can recognize their mothers at once 82

Claim 13 Feral children are individuals who have been brought up from infancy by animals 87

Claim 14 A baby's sleeping position can cause or prevent sudden infant death syndrome 92

Claim 15 Parents should not talk baby talk to their children, because this slows their language development 97

Claim 16 Being exposed to two different languages is confusing for babies and interferes with normal language development 101

Claim 17 Breast-feeding makes babies more intelligent 106

Claim 18 When parents divorce, it's important for young children to have certain experiences with both parents, or they will form an attachment to only one of them 111

Claim 19 Toddlers drop food on the floor because they want to make their parents mad 116

Claim 20 It is important for parents to work with babies and teach them how to walk 121

Claim 21 It is a good thing for an infant or a toddler to have experience with many caregivers, not just one or two 126

Claim 22 Some children would starve to death if their parents did not coax them to eat 131

Claim 23 Parents who were abused as children are likely to abuse their own children 136

Part III Preschoolers 141

Claim 24 Having kids listen to Mozart makes them smart 143

Claim 25 The time between birth and age 3 years is the most important period of development and learning in a person's life 147

Claim 26 People who were adopted will always be unhappy because they have suffered a Primal Wound 152

Claim 27 Children need to develop basic trust and show it by their confidence in other people 157

Claim 28 If a child is able to complete a task with an adult present, he or she is also able to do it alone 162

Claim 29 Preschoolers who hold their breath when angry are trying to upset their parents and get their own way 167

Claim 30 Vaccines and heavy metals cause autism 171

Claim 31 Autism rates are rising rapidly, especially in certain parts of the country, so something must be happening to cause more cases of this serious developmental problem 176

Claim 32 Children with brain injuries can be rehabilitated by using practices like patterning, and other problems can be treated with similar approaches 181

Claim 33 Preschoolers who try to bargain with their parents really want to manipulate and control adults, and they should not be allowed to negotiate 186

Claim 34 A young child can tell when someone is just teasing 191

Claim 35 Children with attachment disorders must be treated very sternly and differently from typically developing children-even in ways that are ordinarily considered abusive 196

Claim 36 Spanking should never be used to discipline a child, because it is ineffective and causes children to model the aggression they experience 201

Part IV School-Age Children 207

Claim 37 Children who play with matches will grow up to be seriously disturbed and violent and will probably be serial killers, especially if they are also cruel to animals and wet their beds 209

Claim 38 Children have different learning styles, depending on whether they are left brained or right brained 214

Claim 39 Karate lessons help schoolchildren achieve self-discipline and improve their schoolwork 219

Claim 40 Birth order is an important factor that determines children's intelligence and personality 224

Claim 41 When a child is mentally ill, any psychological treatment is better than no treatment 229

Claim 42 Bullying is a natural behavior for children, and there's nothing you can do to stop it 234

Claim 43 Sugar is a major cause of hyperactive behavior 239

Claim 44 Adopted children have many more problems of social and emotional development than do nonadopted children 244

Claim 45 If a child is sexually molested, he or she will probably repress the memory 249

Claim 46 Parents really don't influence their children's long-term development very much 253

Part V Adolescents 259

Claim 47 Children are more likely to become delinquent if their fathers are absent or uninvolved 261

Claim 48 Violent television programs and video games cause increased aggressive behavior 266

Claim 49 If parents are not strict enough, children will behave badly and may become criminals 271

Claim 50 Adolescents' brains go through some rapid changes; as a result, teenagers develop new ways of thinking about themselves and about the world 276

Claim 51 High self-esteem makes children perform better in school 281

Claim 52 Single-sex schools give better outcomes of academic achievement than do coeducational schools 286

Claim 53 The DARE program is an effective way to prevent children and adolescents from dealing or using drugs 291

Claim 54 Children and adolescents learn bad behavior from their peers 296

Claim 55 Young teenagers should be tried and sentenced as adults if they commit serious crimes 301

Claim 56 Adolescence is an emotionally dangerous time when teenagers are likely to attempt or commit suicide 306

Claim 57 Punishment is an effective way of changing children's and adolescents' undesirable behaviors 311

Claim 58 Children are reaching puberty earlier with each generation 316

Claim 59 Teenage boys and girls should have the same level of fat in their bodies, about 10% 321.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

OCLC:

918558118

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.