Nature and Nurture in Early Child Development

For developmental scientists, the nature versus nurture debate has been settled for some time. Neither nature nor nurture alone provides the answer. It is nature and nurture in concert that shape developmental pathways and outcomes, from health to behavior to competence. This insight has moved far beyond the assertion that both nature and nurture matter, progressing into the fascinating terrain of how they interact over the course of development. In this volume, students, practitioners, policy analysts, and others with a serious interest in human development will learn what is transpiring in this new paradigm from the developmental scientists working at the cutting edge, from neural mechanisms to population studies, and from basic laboratory science to clinical and community interventions. Early childhood development is the critical focus of this volume, because many of the important nature-nurture interactions occur then, with significant influences on lifelong developmental trajectories.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Daniel P. Keating; 1. Biological and experiential influences on psychological development Michael Rutter; 2. Neural development and lifelong plasticity Charles A. Nelson III; 3. Mother and child: preparing for a life Ronald G. Barr; 4. Early experience and stress regulation in human development Megan R. Gunnar and Michelle M. Loman; 5. Biology and context: symphonic causation and the distribution of childhood morbidities W. Thomas Boyce; 6. Understanding within-family variability in children's responses to environmental stress Jennifer Jenkins and Rossana Bisceglia; 7. Origins, development, and prevention of aggressive behavior Richard E. Tremblay; 8. Mental health intervention in infancy and early childhood Alicia F. Lieberman and Chandra Ghosh Ippen; 9. Bridging a population health perspective to early biodevelopment: an emerging approach Clyde Hertzman; 10. Society and early child development: developmental health disparities in the nature-and-nurture paradigm Daniel P. Keating.

About the Author :
Daniel P. Keating is Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Research Professor at the Center for Human Growth and Development, and Faculty Associate in the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research, all at the University of Michigan. He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), and a member of CIFAR's Successful Societies Program. Keating has held positions at the University of Minnesota, the University of Maryland, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education in Berlin, Germany, and the University of Toronto. He has occasionally appeared on television, including on the Phil Donohue Show, the Vision series on TV Ontario, and others. He has also been a guest on radio talk shows featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), focused mainly on his book (with Clyde Hertzman) Developmental Health and the Wealth of Nations (1999). Currently, much of his work focuses on the just-launched National Children's Study, for which he serves as an investigator in a number of capacities.

Review :
“More so than any other book, Nature and Nurture in Early Child Development compellingly moves developmental science into a new scientific era, one where integrative theoretical models, innovative and rigorous methodologies, and impressive longitudinal data sets combine to elucidate the system of relations that weave biological, behavioral, and contextual variables into a mutually influential process shaping the course of individual development. Professor Keating and his colleagues have produced a landmark book that sets the scientific standard for how theory-predicated research about the system of biology-context relations may significantly advance understanding of the dynamics of early childhood and innovatively inform policies and programs aimed at promoting positive and healthy development in the early years of life.” – Richard M. Lerner, Tufts University “This collection of articles, by some of the most esteemed developmental scientists of our time, is an invaluable resource for students of early development. If instructors are interested in exposing their students to cutting-edge research and theory, they will surely want to use this book.” – Laurence Steinberg, Temple University "....Keating (Univ. of Michigan) focuses not on nature and nurture individually, but on the interaction between the two during early childhood.... Recommended...." --J. Mercer, emerita, Richard Stockton College, CHOICE "....a welcome addition to the bookshelf of those interested in the nature–nurture discussion.... the organization of the volume from microprocesses to macroprocesses leads the reader to appreciate the different levels of analysis at which researchers are and can continue examining the interplay of nature and nurture.... Nature and Nurture in Early Child Development generally succeeds in its goals. A great deal of recent research is reviewed, and we suspect that even experts in development and related fields can learn a great deal from the volume. Furthermore, the writing is generally accessible and engaging.... We would recommend the book as a text for graduate classes in child development and for researchers interested in the state of the field.... readers will be well informed of the latest research developments shaping the nature–nurture landscape." --Daniel Hart, Theresa Murzyn and Marcus Woods, PsycCRITIQUES