Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young: Immaturity in Human Development

Humans take longer to reach maturity than most other species on earth. We are the ′Peter Pans of the Animal Kingdom.′ In this engaging and insightful look at the nature of childhood, developmental psychologist David Bjorklund applies more than thirty years of research and writing experience to understanding not only why humans have evolved this way, but what role this period of immaturity plays in the social, emotional, and educational needs of today’s children. Challenging common perceptions of children as simply “adults in training,” Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young urges readers to re–examine childhood through an evolutionary lens, seeing it as an essential stage of development with its own unique purposes, separate from those of adulthood; a time of growth and discovery that should not be rushed.

Spis treści:
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
Chapter 1: The Benefits of Youth.
Rushing through Childhood.
Views of Development.
A Darwinian Perspective.
I Come Not to Praise Immaturity.
Chapter 2: The Youngest Species.
A Brief Look at Human Evolution.
The Evolution of Childhood.
Timing is Everything.
The Youngest Species.
Chapter 3: The Slow Rate of Growing Up.
The Gamble of Delayed Development.
Big Brains, Social Complexity, and Slow Development.
Cooperating and Competing.
Family Matters.
Slow Growth and Brain Plasticity.
Developmental Plasticity and Evolution.
When Slow is Fast Enough.
Chapter 4: Adapting to the Niche of Childhood.
The Benefits of Limitations.
See Things My Way.
Learning Language.
How Do Adults View Children’s Immature Thinking?.
Adapting to Childhood.
Chapter 5: The Advantages of Thinking You’re Better than You Are.
The Development of Metacognition – Knowing What We Know.
Some Benefits of Less–Than–Perfect Metacognition.
When We Deal with Children.
Know Thyself, But Not Too Well.
Chapter 6: Play: The Royal Road through Childhood.
What is Play?.
The Adaptive Value of Play.
Children Playing, Children Learning.
Play it Again, Kid.
Chapter 7: The Most Educable of Animals.
The Myth of “Earlier is Better”.
Prenatal Learning.
Early (Postnatal) Learning.
Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Education.
Stress in the Schoolhouse.
Old Brain, New Curriculum.
Chapter 8: The Changing Face of Childhood.
Pushing Children through Childhood.
A Brief History of Childhood.
The Costs of Ignoring Immaturity: The Well–being of America’s Children.
The Independent Human Juvenile: A New View of Childhood?.
Racing to Adulthood, Prolonging Adolescence.
Epilogue: Homo Juvenalis.
Revisiting Childhood.
Visiting Adulthood.
Notes.
References.
Index

Nota biograficzna:
David F. Bjorklund is Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University. His publications include Parents Book of Discipline (with Barbara R. Bjorklund, 1999), The Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology (with Anthony D. Pellegrini, 2002), and Children’s Thinking: Cognitive Development and Individual Differences (fourth edition, 2005).

Okładka tylna:
Humans take longer to reach maturity than most other species on earth. We are the ′Peter Pans of the Animal Kingdom.′ In this engaging and insightful look at the nature of childhood, developmental psychologist David Bjorklund applies more than thirty years of research and writing experience to understanding not only why humans have evolved this way, but what role this period of immaturity plays in the social, emotional, and educational needs of today’s children. Challenging common perceptions of children as simply “adults in training,” Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young urges readers to re–examine childhood through an evolutionary lens, seeing it as an essential stage of development with its own unique purposes, separate from those of adulthood; a time of growth and discovery that should not be rushed.