The Developing Person: Through Childhood and Adolescence

by David G. Myers

Edition after edition, Kathleen Berger’s acclaimed bestseller, The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, re-establishes itself as the ideal chronologically organized textbook on child development. Exceptionally current, with a broad cultural perspective, the new edition is unmatched. It connects an evolving field shaped by fascinating new research and an evolving classroom shaped by powerful new media. But under the new findings and new media tools, the text’s deepest connection with students comes from the captivating, compassionate, authorial voice of Kathleen Berger, which makes the core concepts of developmental psychology clear, compelling, and relevant to the full range of students taking the course. Available for Fall 2014 classes, this update version features new content from Kathleen Berger in response to the release of the DSM-5. This new content is integrated into the text without changing pagination or the structure of the chapters.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Parenting, Education, School, Child Psychology

672 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

David G. Myers is a professor of Psychology at Hope College in Michigan, and the author of 17 books, including popular textbooks entitled Psychology, Exploring Psychology, Social Psychology and several general-audience books dealing with issues related to Christian faith as well as scientific psychology.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book for class, and actually did read the whole thing so it should count in my 2017 book challenge. Not a bad textbook, could have done without the personal anecdotes specific to the author at the beginning of each chapter. Liked the structure and organization of it, though.

[Carrie]

A text book I read from cover-to-cover for my college class. Really informative. This book takes you from a developing fetus through the teen years and explores different scientists' theories such as Piaget and Erikson. Learned a lot of new information that will be useful for grand babies, as my kids are mostly raised!

[Shavar Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Berger's frequent personal reflection on raising her own children adds a nice touch to the study of this academic book. Also, her extremely thorough knowledge of the subject is obvious and enlightening.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is for school, but it is fairly interesting and good if you are going to be a parent or going into the childcare field.

[Jacalyn Guiterrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your planning on studying child development or in the process, this is so so useful

[Deanna Schetselaar]

Yea for a thoughtful, incredibly interesting textbook. I think it helps that their is ONE author so there is a consistent voice throughout. I’m reading another textbook now on a similar topic with multiple authors and it has half the personality. Also, this book captures the complexity of child development with so many different disciplines involved in the research.

[Britt O'Duffy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Developing Person Through Child[hood] and Adolescence should not be a graduate school textbook. Perhaps this should be a critique of the professor rather than the book itself. But, even still... the text was VERY light on research and very heavy on anecdotes.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite textbook I've read for a class. Lost a star for suggesting that breastfeeding is irrelevant after 1 year (untrue in several ways), and lost another star for claiming "parents and teachers need to worry less about protecting teenagers against older online predators" (!).

[Hannah Mertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this for my college course! I read the entire thing and that’s why I am adding it to my reading goal this year. It taught me a lot about the adolescence years and how children learn. It was easy to understand and chapters took me about 2-3 hours to take notes for. Great textbook!

[Apzmarshl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great textbook that let's the author shine through. It adds a little personality. That's also a slight detriment as well because there is some opinion lightly sprinkled throughout. Overall really good coverage of child development.

[Kelli Bonin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best textbook I've ever read! Granted, it's been 12 years since I've read one so I've matured a bit since my last one. I actually learned quite a bit, reading this for my child development class. I almost wish I had purchased it rather than renting it.

[Skai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for my Child Psychology, class very interesting book, def enjoy reading this. For my Psychology class at the community college.

[Courtney Chappell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for my education class.

[Andrej · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. An ok textbook.

[Amie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook. Felt like I learned the info sufficiently.

[Aquila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class. Very informative.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good 'textbook'. Lots of information, easy and engaging to read.

[marina delgada · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⚙️
me l'he llegit per la uni i m'ha semblat molt interessant

[Sarah]

Realistically, I'm not going to bend over backward to review a textbook I'm reading mostly for work. However, some Fun Fast Facts seem to be in order.

*About 60% of fertilized eggs -- these are human zygotes, people -- do not implant in the uterus and therefore don't become pregnancies. When you think about that in the context of the current teen pregnancy rate, you want to personally thank each of those little lost DNA codons.

*Apparently some men have a mutation that causes either all their X-chromosome-bearing sperm or all their Y-guys to... be immobile. That's right. They get dropped off at the door and don't go in, while the other half of the pack takes off, eyes on the prize. Obviously, this means that the man in question can only produce children of one sex -- and he will likely never know! I'm obsessed with this tidbit, and have shared it in an embarrassing variety of fora lately.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I teach a child psychology course at a community college, and am now using the next edition (8e). There is so much to appreciate about Kathleen Stassen Berger's approach, but I suppose what I most appreciate is the she invites students into thinking scientifically about developmental psychology. She clearly knows her audience, and uses personal stories to engage the the students while at the same time, helps them to learn to appreciate the methods used in gathering knowledge about development.

[Gerry Hine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am learning how the mind of a child develops. Teaching techniques based on developmental psychology reinforce learning because the educator understands why certain styles work at certain ages. I will review this book often. I understand better what Laura King taught me in literacy class. Thanks Laura!

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I have a baby and a 3 year old, and this book really helped me understand the ways that my children are growing physically and mentally. it also kinda scared me about what I have to look forward to as they become teenagers, haha

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright so I'm actually reading like the 9th version of this book but for a textbook this was so excellent! It was fairly interesting writing throughout and I loved learning. One of the best text books I've ever read.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great developmental textbook. Organized in a chronological fashion by developmental domain (biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial).

[Ann-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive and interesting, I couldn't ask for better required reading. Concepts and theories are explained in a way that doesn't make you want to ram your head into a wall.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for class. Like most textbooks, it was overpriced and probably won't be of much use now that the class is over.

[Denise Vasallo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was for a class I was taking. It was very informative.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, for a textbook.

[Nichole Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few textbooks I actually enjoyed reading.

[Sam Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's pretty good for a text-book.