Infancy: The Basics offers an introduction to the developmental
science behind the fascinating world of infant development. This book
takes the reader from before birth through the moment infants come into
the world seemingly unable to do much but eat, eliminate, and sleep, and
across the few short, incredible years, to when infants are walking,
talking, thinking humans with clear preferences, wishes, and dreams,
having already forged strong long-lasting relationships.
Dispelling common myths and misconceptions about how infants'
perception, cognition, language, and personalities develop, this
accessible evidence-based book takes a novel whole-child approach and
provides insight into the joint roles of nature (biology) and nurture
(experiences) in infant development, how to care for babies to give them
the best start in life, and what it means for infants to become thinking
communicating social partners. Topics in this book are covered with an
eye firmly fixed on how infants' first years set the stage for the rest
of their lives. By helping us understand infants, experts Marc H.
Bornstein and Martha E. Arterberry give us the opportunity to learn
about the resiliency of our species and the many different contexts in
which families rear infants. They cover key topics, including how babies
are studied scientifically, prenatal development and the newborn period,
how infants explore and understand the world around them, how infants
begin to communicate, how infants develop an emotional life,
personality, and temperament, how infants build relationships, and how
parents succeed in bringing up babies in challenging circumstances.
This concise clear guide to the years from before birth to 3 is for
students of developmental psychology, pediatric medicine and nursing,
education, and social work. It also for all parents and professionals
caring for infants, who want to understand the secret world of infancy.
