Developmental Models 20

Dr. Ying Gu is employed by BGI-Research, all other Topic Editors declare no conflicts of interest.

Through the evaluation and integration of developmental theories, this volume proposes a new structural/behavioral model of development. Dr. Horowitz’s model helps account for both the behavioral development of children (with extensions across the life-span) and for the universal and non-universal characteristics in human behavioral development. Exploring Developmental Theories also sheds a new and different light on the nature- nurture or heredity-environment controversy and on the topic of continuity and discontinuity in development. Exploring Developmental Theories: *examines the concepts of stage, structure, and systems; organismic theory; and general system theory; *analyzes open and closed systems as well as organismic and mechanistic world views; *integrates the concepts associated with organismic and mechanist world views; *examines learning mechanisms and processes that foster the acquisition of behavior, and *discusses the strengths and weaknesses of Gessel, Piaget, and behaviorism in accounting for behavioral development.

"The book is well written and the theorists and their respective work are well-presented and clearly explained. . . . As a text dealing with the historical overview of major theorists and their work in human development over the last century or so, it is extremely strong and could be widely used in a variety of both undergraduate and graduate courses." —Ann C. Diver-Stamnes, Humboldt State University "In general, I found the websites and references listed at the end of each chapter to be very interesting and useful for taking students beyond what is in the text." —Jane Ledingham, University of Ottawa "A fine choice for a classic theories course, and I believe that the level of presentation would be appropriate for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. . . . The up-to-date web sites at the end of each section are a definite plus. The choice of sites is excellent." —Cosby Steele Rogers, Virginia Tech An Introduction to Theories of Human Development examines the development process, looking at the series of changes that occur as a result of an interaction between biological and environmental factors. Why might our behavior as an adult be so different from when we were infants? Why and how does one stage of development follow the next? Are the changes that we experience abrupt in nature or smooth and predictable? Author Neil J. Salkind reflects on such critical questions to help readers understand what happens along the way as one develops from infancy through later life. This book provides a comprehensive view of the primary theoretical models of human development including those from the biological, psychoanalytic, behavioral, and cognitive developmental perspectives. Along with a brief discussion of a historical background for each of these approaches, An Introduction to Theories of Human Development examines the application of these theories to various aspects of human development, such as the effectiveness of early intervention, individual differences, adolescence, and sociobiology. Features of this text: A final, integrative chapter compares the various theories presented in the book using Murry Sidman′s model of six criteria for judging a theory to help develop students′ skills for critically assessing theory. Classic approaches to understanding human behavior across the lifespan are also examined. Pedagogical features such as chapter opening quotes, boxed highlights, key terms, a glossary, and websites for further reading enhance student understanding of everyday human behavior. An Introduction to Theories of Human Development is an accessible text for advanced undergraduate students in the social and behavioral sciences including such fields as psychology, education, human services, nursing, sociology, social welfare, and human development and family studies.

The result of extensive scholarship and consultation with leading scholars, this text introduces students to twenty-four theorists and compares and contrasts their theories on how we develop as individuals. Emphasizing the theories that build upon the developmental tradition established by Rousseau, this text also covers theories in the environmental/learning tradition.

This text considers different economic models available in the global market. The US or Anglo-Saxon model is often portrayed as the best but now Asia is again on a roll. The book analyzes how these models have influenced both regional and global development, and engages in discussions upon alternatives and the search for the 'grail'.

Adolescenceâ€"beginning with the onset of puberty and ending in the mid-20sâ€"is a critical period of development during which key areas of the brain mature and develop. These changes in brain structure, function, and connectivity mark adolescence as a period of opportunity to discover new vistas, to form relationships with peers and adults, and to explore one's developing identity. It is also a period of resilience that can ameliorate childhood setbacks and set the stage for a thriving trajectory over the life course. Because adolescents comprise nearly one-fourth of the entire U.S. population, the nation needs policies and practices that will better leverage these developmental opportunities to harness the promise of adolescenceâ€"rather than focusing myopically on containing its risks. This report examines the neurobiological and socio-behavioral science of adolescent development and outlines how this knowledge can be applied, both to promote adolescent well-being, resilience, and development, and to rectify structural barriers and inequalities in opportunity, enabling all adolescents to flourish.

Recent discussions of the 'Chinese economic development model', the emergence of an alternative 'Muslim model' over the past quarter century and the faltering globalisation of the 'Washington Consensus' all point to the need to investigate more systematically the nature of these models and their competitive attractions. This is especially the case in the Muslim world which both spans different economic and geographic categories and is itself the progenitor of a development model. The 'Chinese model' has attracted the greatest attention in step with that country's phenomenal growth and therefore provides the primary focus for this book. This volume examines the characteristics of this model and its reception in two major regions of the world - Africa and Latin America. It also investigates the current competition over development models across Muslim contexts. The question of which model or models, if any, will guide development in Muslim majority countries is vital not only for them, but for the world as a whole. This is the first political economy study to address this vital question as well as the closely related issue of the centrality of governance to development.

The book discusses the development model of China which has now overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy. This remarkable economic achievement has not followed the Western world's favorite developmental tools — of freedom, democracy and a market driven economy, but rather China's unique model — of one-party authoritarian rule with a mixed economy. the Middle Kingdom's way of development has largely questioned the West's core values — freedom and democracy. the book argues that the model is based on the country's 3,000-year-old civilization, forged by the efforts, innovations, trial and error process of several recent generations, and guided by the Chinese Communist Party in the past 60 years.

In spite of its obvious importance and popularity, the field of cognitive development remains highly fragmented, scientifically. Instead of theoretical convergence towards a generally accepted set of principles, there remains a vast diversity of models of what knowledge and reasoning are, and how they develop. Courses and books tend to deal with this perplexing situation by simply presenting students with either a specific, favoured line, or by offering selections from the theoretical salad. As a result, students have great difficulty in obtaining a cohesive picture of the area. They are frequently bewildered by the diversity of schools, frameworks and approaches, with seemingly little connection between them. More seriously, they are deprived of a critical grasp of the area, and thus forced into a habit of early selectivity, rote memory of specific models in isolation, and regurgitation at exams. This in turn deprives the area of cognitive development of important critical impetus for future improvement. Models of Cognitive Development is an attempt to overcome these problems. It does this by arguing that the vast diversity of theories or models can be organised into groups according to a much smaller set of underlying assumptions or preconceptions, which themselves can be historically interrelated. By understanding these, students may be helped to find their way more confidently around the area as a whole, to see the 'wood' as well as the theoretical forest, and thus find themselves in a position to react to individual models more positively and more critically. Such criticism may, in turn, assist theoretical progress and unity in the future. Models of Cognitive Development covers all the contemporary theoretical and research strands in the area, with numerous examples, in a clear and straightforward manner, and should be useful to all students, researchers, and comparative theoreticians in the area.