01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Citation
Siegler, R. S., Saffran, J., & Gershoff, E. (2024). How Children Develop (7th ed.). Macmillan Learning (Worth Publishers).
Chapter Summary
The seventh edition has 16 chapters. Macmillan Learning describes it as an up-to-date introduction to child and adolescent development that integrates developmental theory, cross-cultural research and real-world applications in a clear, accessible style. The edition expands coverage of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, of mental health in childhood and adolescence, and of gender and sexual development. The author biographies describe three researchers: Siegler studies how children learn mathematics and wrote the cognitive development textbook Children's Thinking, Saffran studies learning in infancy and early childhood with an emphasis on language, and Gershoff studies parental and school discipline and early childhood education. The chapter order moves from the field and biology to cognitive development, then to social development.
Chapters 1–3: An Introduction to Child Development; Prenatal Development and the Newborn Period; Biology and Behavior
The first three chapters set the frame: the field itself, development before and around birth, and the biological side of behaviour. They precede both the cognitive and the social halves of the book.
Chapters 4–8: Theories of Cognitive Development; Perception, Action, and Learning in Infancy; Development of Language and Symbol Use; Conceptual Development; Intelligence and Academic Achievement
Chapter 4 opens the cognitive half with theories of cognitive development, placed before the domain chapters. The remaining chapters move from perception, action and learning in infancy, through language and symbol use and conceptual development, to intelligence and academic achievement.
Chapters 9–11: Theories of Social Development; Emotional Development; Attachment to Others and Development of Self
Chapter 9 opens the social half with theories of social development, just as Chapter 4 does for cognition. Chapter 10 then treats emotional development, and Chapter 11 attachment and the development of the self.
Chapters 12–15: The Family; Peer Relationships; Moral Development; Gender Development
Four chapters on the settings and domains of social development: the family, peer relationships, moral development and gender development. The publisher's note on expanded coverage of gender and sexual development bears on the last of these.
Chapter 16: Conclusions
The book ends with a concluding chapter.
Key Concepts
Chapters 1–3: Foundations
- Child development as a field: the questions and approaches introduced in Chapter 1.
- Prenatal development and the newborn: the start of development.
- Biology and behaviour: the biological side of development.
Chapters 4–8: Cognitive Development
- Theories of cognitive development: the frameworks for explaining change in thinking.
- Perception, action and learning in infancy; language and symbol use; conceptual development.
- Intelligence and academic achievement.
Chapters 9–16: Social Development
- Theories of social development.
- Emotional development; attachment and the self.
- Family, peers, moral development and gender development.
Critical Analysis
Strengths
- A parallel structure. Both halves open with a theories chapter (Chapters 4 and 9), and each is followed by chapters on specific domains. Students meet theory before domain content, in both cognition and social life.
- Authors who are active researchers. The publisher's biographies describe researchers with sustained programmes in children's mathematical thinking, early language learning and discipline and early education. Siegler is also the author of the cognitive development textbook Children's Thinking.
- Current topics. The 2024 edition adds attention to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health in childhood and adolescence, and gender and sexual development.
- Cross-cultural and applied emphasis. The publisher states that the book integrates cross-cultural research and real-world applications, not only laboratory findings.
Limitations
- Little detail below chapter level. The publisher's page lists chapter titles but not section headings, so the depth and balance of individual chapters cannot be judged from it.
- Scope. The title and the description place the book at childhood and adolescence, so readers interested in adulthood and ageing need a lifespan text.
Where It Fits in the Course
How Children Develop is the more recent of the two main topically organised child development textbooks on this list. Shaffer and Kipp's Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence covers childhood and adolescence in a ninth edition that dates from 2013, and the contents of that edition show no stand-alone chapter on theory, whereas Siegler and colleagues give theory a chapter at the start of each half. A student with a choice should consider the later date of Siegler for current research.
Goswami's Child Psychology: A Very Short Introduction is a brief overview that can come first, and OpenStax's Lifespan Development is a free text that follows people from conception to death, suitable when adulthood is also part of the course. Miller's Theories of Developmental Psychology is a critical survey of theories and extends Chapters 4 and 9. Piaget's The Origin of Intelligence in the Child and Erikson's Childhood and Society are primary sources that can be read alongside the cognitive and social halves.
How to Use This Book
The book is aimed at undergraduates taking a child or adolescent development course. The publisher does not state prerequisites and describes the style as clear and accessible.
Read Chapters 1 to 3 first, then follow the two halves in order. The cognitive half (Chapters 4 to 8) and the social half (Chapters 9 to 15) each open with a theories chapter, which is best read before the domain chapters that follow it. A course can emphasise either half and choose among the domain chapters. Chapter 16 is the concluding chapter.
Use the theories chapters (4 and 9) as a reference when reading the domain chapters, ask of each topic which theory it tests, and read the chapters on topics of special interest, such as mental health, gender or the family, alongside current news and research.