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Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence cover

Psychology

Psychology

Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence

David R. Shaffer; Katherine Kipp

A topically organised undergraduate textbook on development from conception through adolescence that balances classic theory with research evidence and gives attention to practical applications for parents, teachers and practitioners. It is a long-established text whose current edition dates from 2013, so recent research is not represented.

Prerequisites: An introductory psychology course; no further prerequisites.

Difficulty Level
Intermediate
Academic Level
Undergraduate
developmental psychologychild developmentadolescencecognitive developmentTextbook

01 / Reading Guide

Reading Guide

Citation

Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2013). Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Chapter Summary

The ninth edition has 15 chapters in five parts. Cengage describes it as a popular, topically organised and thoroughly updated text on child and adolescent development, written in clear, concise language that talks "to" students rather than "at" them. The publisher says it presents the best theories, research and practical advice that developmentalists have to offer, with a focus on applications showing how theory and research apply to real-life settings. The part titles show the plan: a first chapter on the field and its research strategies, then biological foundations, cognitive development, social and personality development, and the context of development.

Part I, Chapter 1: Introduction to Developmental Psychology and Its Research Strategies

The single introductory chapter presents the field and the research strategies used to study development.

Part II, Chapters 2–5: Hereditary Influences on Development; Prenatal Development and Birth; Infancy; Physical Development: The Brain, Body, Motor Skills, and Sexual Development

The biological block starts with heredity and the prenatal period and birth, then covers infancy as a separate chapter, and ends with physical development: the brain, the body, motor skills and sexual development.

Part III, Chapters 6–9: Cognitive Development: Piaget's Theory and Vygotsky's Sociocultural Viewpoint; Cognitive Development: Information-Processing Perspectives; Intelligence: Measuring Mental Performance; Development of Language and Communication Skills

Two chapters give different accounts of cognitive development: first the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, and then information-processing perspectives. A chapter on measuring intelligence follows, and the block closes with language and communication skills. The contents show no stand-alone chapter on theories of development; the named theories appear in the title of the first cognitive-development chapter.

Part IV, Chapters 10–13: Emotional Development, Temperament, and Attachment; Development of the Self and Social Cognition; Sex Differences and Gender-Role Development; Aggression, Altruism, and Moral Development

Four chapters on social and personality development: emotion, temperament and attachment; the self and social cognition; sex differences and gender-role development; and aggression, altruism and moral development.

Part V, Chapters 14–15: The Family; Peers, School, and Media

The last two chapters cover contexts of development: the family, and peers, school and the media.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–5: Research and Biological Foundations

  • Research strategies: the methods developmentalists use to study change over time.
  • Heredity and prenatal development: biological influences before and at birth.
  • Physical development: the brain, body, motor skills and sexual development.

Chapters 6–9: Cognition, Intelligence and Language

  • Piaget and Vygotsky: the two theories paired in Chapter 6.
  • Information processing: an alternative account of cognitive change.
  • Intelligence and its measurement; language and communication skills.

Chapters 10–15: Social Development and Context

  • Emotion, temperament and attachment; self and social cognition.
  • Gender-role development; aggression, altruism and moral development.
  • Family, peers, school and media: the settings of development.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

  • Topical organisation. Each chapter takes one domain, such as language, intelligence, emotion or moral development, so an instructor can assign, and a reader can look up, one topic at a time.
  • A stated applied focus. The publisher says the authors focus on applications to real-life settings and name parents, teachers, nurses, day-care workers and pediatricians among those who may use the principles. For students heading into those roles this is a clear selling point.
  • Theory tied to a domain. The contents have no chapter devoted only to theories; Piaget and Vygotsky are named in the title of the first cognitive-development chapter, so theory is presented within a topic rather than separately.
  • Contexts in their own part. The final part, on the family, peers, school and media, gives the settings of development their own space.

Limitations

  • Dated. The ninth edition appeared in 2013 (Cengage lists copyright 2014), so it does not include more recent research; media, for example, appears only as one part of the title of the final chapter.
  • No separate theories chapter. A reader who wants one place for the major theories side by side must look elsewhere, for example in a dedicated survey of developmental theories.
  • Scope ends with adolescence. As the title says, the book covers childhood and adolescence, not adulthood or ageing.

Where It Fits in the Course

Shaffer and Kipp is a conventional topically organised textbook for a course on child and adolescent development. Siegler, Saffran and Gershoff's How Children Develop is its closest peer; it is a more recent text (2024) organised around enduring themes such as nature and nurture and the active child, and it is the better choice if recency matters. Goswami's Child Psychology: A Very Short Introduction is a short overview of how children think, learn and relate to others and can precede either textbook. OpenStax's Lifespan Development is free and covers development from conception to death.

For theory, Miller's Theories of Developmental Psychology is a critical survey of the major theories and fills the gap left by the absence of a theory chapter. Piaget's The Origin of Intelligence in the Child is the primary source that goes with the Piaget sections of Chapter 6, and Erikson's Childhood and Society is a classic account of psychosocial development that can be read after the social chapters.

How to Use This Book

The book is aimed at undergraduates in a child and adolescent development course, and in particular students who expect to work with children, as parents, teachers, nurses or in similar roles. The publisher does not list prerequisites.

Read Chapter 1 first for the research vocabulary. Parts II and III form the core for most courses, with Chapter 6 as the main theory chapter. Part IV and Part V can be read in any order; a course on social development may prioritise Chapters 10 to 13, and a course for future teachers may prioritise Chapters 8, 14 and 15.

Pair the cognitive chapters with a primary source or a theory survey, and check recent research on technology and media against a more current text, since the edition predates it.