Children’s Thinking: Cognitive Development and Individual Differences (with InfoTrac)

by David F. Bjorklund

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Author: David F. Bjorklund

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0534622453
ISBN 13: 978-0534622459

A comprehensive book supported by extensive research studies and data, Bjorklund's text presents the broadest coverage of topics in cognitive development. Unlike other books, Bjorklund shows readers how developmental function can help explain individual differences in cognition by covering both the typical pattern of change in thinking observed over time and the individual differences in children's thinking in infancy and childhood. A major theme of this book is the continuous transaction between the child embedded in a social world: although a child is born prepared to make some sense of the world, his or her mind is also shaped by forces in the physical and social environment.

Review

"The book provides a unique organization of theories and ideas related to child development that encourages learners to make cross connections and to think critically about issues in child development."

"(This is) an easily understood text on a complicated subject. The most current take on the theories is included as well as practical applications."

"Its strengths are its coverage of biological, behavioral, cognitive, ecological and psychoanalytic perspectives on development."

"Bjorklund's text has broad appeal to students from different disciplines. It is unique in that ties together typical development and atypical development."

"This book is an excellent resource for students seeking a comprehensive understanding of cognitive development. The book contains depth as well as breadth and is written in an approachable style." "Highly complex ideas are deconstructed into a form that can be easily understood by most college students and examples can help students imagine the application of theories of cognitive development in the design of lessons, the raising of children and communicating with others."

About the Author

David F. Bjorklund is Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University, where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in developmental psychology since 1976. He received a B.A. degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts in 1971, an M.A. degree in psychology from the University of Dayton in 1973, and a Ph.D. degree in developmental psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976. He has received numerous teaching and research awards from Florida Atlantic University, and is the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award. He has co-authored several books. Bjorklund has served as Associate Editor of CHILD DEVELOPMENT, published by the Society for Research in Child Development, has served on the editorial boards of DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW, JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY, JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY, and SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY, and has served as a contributing editor to PARENTS MAGAZINE. He has published more than 100 scholarly articles on various topics relating to child development and has received financial support for his research from the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the German Research Foundation. His current research interests include children's cognitive development, cognitive developmental primatology, and evolutionary developmental psychology.