Infants, Children and Adolescents

For courses in Child Development

Visit the Showcase Website to see sample chapters, get information on the supplements (including sample videos and on-line simulations), and much more.

A best-selling, chronologically organized child development text, Berk and Meyers' Infants, Children, and Adolescents is relied on in classrooms worldwide for its clear, engaging writing style, exceptional multicultural and cross-cultural focus, rich examples, and long-standing commitment to presenting the most up-to-date scholarship while also offering students research-based, practical applications that they can relate to their personal and professional lives. The authors take an integrated approach to presenting development in the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains; emphasize the complex interchanges between heredity and environment; and provide exceptional attention to culture.

Renowned professor, researcher, and author Laura Berk is joined by new coauthor Adena Meyers. As faculty colleagues in the Department of Psychology at Illinois State University, they have collaborated on numerous projects, and their distinct areas of specialization and tremendous expertise make them a great team for coauthoring this new edition. Together, they present the latest theories and findings in the field to students in a manageable and relevant way. Berk and Meyers' signature story-like, conversational style invites students to actively learn beside the text's "characters," who experience real issues in development, including physical, cognitive, and peer challenges, as well as parenting and educational concerns. Berk and Meyers also help students connect their learning to their personal and professional areas of interest, speaking directly about issues students will face in their future pursuits as parents, educators, health care providers, social workers, and researchers. As members of a global and diverse human community, students are called on to intelligently approach the responsibility of understanding and responding to the needs and concerns of children.    

While carefully considering the complexities of child development, the authors present classic and emerging theories in an especially clear, engaging writing style, with a multitude of research-based, real-world, cross-cultural, and multicultural examples. Strengthening the connections among developmental domains and of theory and research with applications, this edition's extensive revision brings forth the most recent scholarship, representing the changing field of child development.

This book is also available in an abridged paperbound version, Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood, comprising the complete Chapters 1--13.

Infants, Children, and Adolescents, Eighth Edition is also available via REVEL(tm), an immersive learning experience designed for the way today's students read, think, and learn. Learn more.