Cognitive Development: An Advanced Textbook.

Edited by Marc H. Bornstein and Michael E. Lamb. 2011. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-84872-925-4. 477 pages. Paperback.

This text is written with an advanced undergraduate course, or early graduate course, in mind and consists of eight well-written and thorough chapters from Bornstein and Lamb's, Developmental Science, 6th edition, along with new introductory material. The chapters are divided into two parts.

Part 1, Foundations of Developmental Science, is an immediately useable combination of theory and methodology. It begins with a detailed introduction to developmental theories, possibly the best introductory discussion on this subject that I have read. One reason I say this is that Chapter 2, Concepts and Theories of Human Development, is not the typical introduction to individual theorists and their work. Here, the theoretical foundations are used to describe a vibrant and widening field of study. Furthermore, the authors do not leave this subject matter disconnected from the undeniably interdisciplinary nature of our field, nor from praxis. "Our research methods should be informed not only by colleagues from the multiple disciplines with expertise in the scholarly study of human development, but also by the individuals and communities we study" (p. 56), leading to a dual outcome of scholarship that includes "positive human development and social justice" (p. 57).

Chapter 3 successfully expands this idea of coupling development with society by recognizing "the role of culture in constituting human nature" (p. 67), and strongly acknowledging the "possibility that the very existence of certain stages of development may be the consequence of particular cultural-historical circumstances and not universal" (p. 111). Perhaps of particular interest here is the timely discussion concerning adolescence and emerging adulthood in America, "particularly under conditions of extensive intercultural contact marked by economic and political inequality" (p. 109). Closing Part 1, Chapter 4, Design, Measurement, and Analysis, remains somewhat connected to this big-picture ideal by keeping a quite detailed discussion of methodology associated with the "theoretically based questions motivating empirical investigations," as well as to research ethics. Although, "Readers should not expect to be qualified to meet the challenges represented by these technicalities merely as a result of studying this chapter," this is an excellent overview and would be quite beneficial to the author's intended audience.

Part 2, Development in Neuroscience, Motor Skills, Perception, Cognition, and Language, opens with a fine overview of Developmental Neuroscience (e.g. attention, memory, language, planning…). This section remains connected to earlier material by acknowledging the "extent to which the later stages of brain development can be influenced by the environment of the child" (p. 221), as well as anchoring the following discussions. Chapter 5 also takes a broader, more interdisciplinary view of its topic, Physical and Motor Development, pointing out that typically, "textbooks portray infant's motor development with simple line drawings on a milestone chart" (p. 307); this has certainly been my experience. The discussion here is built on the inseparability of motor development, or action, as well as perception, cognition, and emotion. Indeed, "Perceptual development could serve as a model of developmental studies, one as good as that of any field described in this textbook" (p. 355). We certainly agree, and Chapter 7 makes this point quite well while linking to "studies of the central and autonomic central nervous system and by active behavioral choice and learning" (p. 331), acknowledging cultural variability that "moves us away from biological determinism" (p. 354), and taking a lifespan approach to perception. Also interesting here, is the all to brief discussion of musicality and musical pitch as a function of perception. Although I understand why this is a rather limited section, sufficient recent work exists to expand this line.

Chapter 8, Development of Cognitive Abilities, succeeds in expanding "our view beyond the areas that are typically considered central to cognitive development" and, as with previous chapters and the book as a whole, successfully demonstrates "an increased emphasis on integration" (p. 398). This integration points out the fact that, "Cognitive science now subsumes much of the infrastructure of what was once considered Piagetian and neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development" (p. 370). The final chapter, Language Development, examines the "various cognitive and social processes" (p. 433) involved in language acquisition. Again, as with previous chapters, language is examined in developmental and social context, and is also viewed in the context of this volume (e.g. changes in brain structure, physical development, perception…). This chapter, and chapter 7 as well, could possibly expand to include Patel's work with language and music, or Saffron's work with infant musicality and auditory learning, as music and language constitute the two most significant ways that human beings make use of sound perception. But that is a minor point and certainly does not denote an actual weakness of this volume.

All in all, Cognitive Development… is a successful text and reference book. One of its more prominent strengths is the big-picture approach mentioned often above and used throughout, and its challenging synthesis (think Bloom's Taxonomy here). These qualities are described above in terms such as: context, linking, broad, connected, dual outcome, interdisciplinary … We should also mention that this book, having somewhat eliminated the traditional, but artificial, line between human development and educational psychology, need not be seen as limited to human development classes. Courses dealing with learning, motivation, and volition might also find value in this collection. However, one should again be aware of the term advanced in the title, it is appropriately used.

Reviewed by J.W. (Bill) Anderson, CFLE and N. Kelly. Bill is an associate professor in the Family & Consumer Sciences department of Illinois State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Alabama and teaches primarily in the areas of theory application in research and cross-cultural human development.

Nicole is currently a graduate student in Illinois State's Family & Consumer Sciences department pursuing her interests in public policy. She is also the current president of ISU's NCFR student affiliate group.