Recent advances in our understanding of the human brain suggest that adolescence is a unique period of development during which both environmental and genetic influences can leave a lasting impression. To advance the goal of integrating brain and prevention science, two areas of research which do not usually communicate with one another, the Annenberg Public Policy Center's Adolescent Risk Communication Institute held a conference with the purpose of producing an integrated volume on this interdisciplinary area. Presenters/chapter contributors were asked to address two questions: What neurodevelopmental processes in children and adolescents could be altered so that mental disorders might be prevented? And what interventions or life experiences might be able to introduce such changes? The book has a 5-part structure: biological and social universals in development; characteristics of brain and behaviour in development; effects of early maltreatment and stress on brain development; effects of stress and other environmental influences during adolescence on brain development; and reversible orders of brain development. The twenty chapters include contributions from some of the most well-known researchers in the area.

International Review of Research in Developmental Disabilities, Volume 57 in the series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters written by an international board of authors who discuss Peer mentoring and the development of friendships between individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities, Health issues across adulthood in Down Syndrome: a view from multiple databases, Mindfulness interventions in developmental disabilities: issues and possibilities, Reading Interventions for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities: a review, Communication system identification for individuals with complex communication needs, and much more.

This handbook presents an overview of research on test anxiety and related forms of students' stress and anxiety at schools and other academic environments, and also brings together a series of psychological interventions to prevent and treat anxiety disorders related to academic assessments. Its aim is to inform about strategies that help promote more adaptive behaviors towards academic assessment, as well as discuss other variables (e.g., bullying) that influence test anxiety, a typical stressor at the school and academic environment. These stressors can impair the students' socio-cognitive development, impairing their ability to study and posing a risk to their mental health. The volume is organized in three parts. The first part brings together chapters discussing different variables and processes associated with academic anxiety, such as test anxiety and social influence, academic motivation, bullying, and procrastination. The second part is completely dedicated to psychological interventions with students designed to promote adaptive coping strategies to deal with academic anxiety and to prevent the development of psychopathologies associated with it. These interventions are based on different approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, analytic behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and mindfulness, among others. Finally, the third part presents strategies that teachers can adopt to manage academic anxiety. The Handbook of Stress and Academic Anxiety: Psychological Processes and Interventions with Students and Teachers will be a valuable resource for school and clinical psychologists, teachers, school managers and policy makers by providing information based on the best scientific evidences to help students cope with academic anxiety, prevent the development of psychopathologies associated with it and promote mental health at schools and other academic environments.

This book is an exploration of science in the making. It offers readers the opportunity to critically reflect on the process of development of Vygotsky's research program from the perspective of dialectics, focusing on the dramatic process of building and rebuilding cultural historical theory. Vygotsky's creative and dramatic journey is no less important than the concrete results of his research. An epistemological and historical investigation of the formulation of cultural historical theory sheds light on the process of knowledge production and reveals hidden dimensions of creativity in science.

What are the processes, from conception to adulthood, that enable a single cell to grow into a sentient adult? The processes that occur along the way are so complex that any attempt to understand development necessitates a multi-disciplinary approach, integrating data from cognitive studies, computational work, and neuroimaging - an approach till now seldom taken in the study of child development. Neuroconstructivism is a major new 2 volume publication that seeks to redress this balance, presenting an integrative new framework for considering development. In the first volume, the authors review up-to-to date findings from neurobiology, brain imaging, child development, computer and robotic modelling to consider why children's thinking develops the way it does. They propose a new synthesis of development that is based on 5 key principles found to operate at many levels of descriptions. They use these principles to explain what causes a number of key developmental phenomena, including infants' interacting with objects, early social cognitive interactions, and the causes of dyslexia. The "neuroconstructivist" framework also shows how developmental disorders do not arise from selective damage to the normal cognitive system, but instead arise from developmental processes that operate under atypical constraints. How these principles work is illustrated in several case studies ranging from perceptual to social and reading development. Finally, the authors use neuroimaging, behavioural analyses, computational simulations and robotic models to provide a way of understanding the mechanisms and processes that cause development to occur.

This book examines the many roles of families in their members' food access, preferences, and consumption. It provides an overview of factors - from micro- to macro-levels - that have been linked to food insecurity and discusses policy approaches to reducing food insecurity and hunger. In addition, it addresses the links between food insecurity and overweight and obesity. The book describes changes in the U.S. food environment that may explain increases in obesity during recent decades. It explores relationships between parenting practices and the development of eating behaviors in children, highlighting the importance of family mealtimes in healthful eating. The volume provides an overview of efforts to prevent or reduce obesity in children, with attention to minority populations and discusses research findings on targets for obesity prevention, including a focus on fathers as change agents who play a crucial, yet understudied, role in food parenting. The book acknowledges that with the current obesigenic environment in the United States and elsewhere around the world, additional and innovative efforts are needed to foster healthful eating behavior and orientations toward food in childhood and in families. This book is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, professionals, and graduate students in developmental psychology, family studies, public health as well as numerous interrelated disciplines, including sociology, demography, social work, prevention science, educational policy, political science, and economics.

Understanding Autistic Relationship Across the Lifespan is an accessible overview of autistic relationships from the early years through to old age. This much-needed book combines the latest research findings with first-hand accounts to offer insight into the relationships of autistic people and how they differ to those of non-autistic people in a range of ways. Felicity Sedgewick and Sarah Douglas delve into life's stages and their challenges, revealing how navigating relationships can lead to misunderstandings, rejection, and trauma - but also to genuine connection, support, and joy. Illustrated throughout with extracts from interviews, and with extended narratives from Sarah, it explores key topics including: Relationships in the early years, childhood friendships, teenage friendships and romance, adult romantic and sexual relationships, LGBTQ+ relationships, finding community, family relationships, and issues in the later stages of life. The authors explore a wide range of emotions and life situations, examining the social world of autistic people and the strategies they use to navigate it. Understanding Autistic Relationship Across the Lifespan offers practical recommendations for both autistic and non-autistic people on how to have the healthiest and most satisfying relationships possible. It is essential reading for all those working with autistic people and studying autism, as well as autistic individuals and those close to them.

Autism 360 uses a hybrid and transdisciplinary methodology to identify mechanisms on how autism is prevented, diagnosed, treated and managed within personal and social constructs around the world. Adopting a lifespan approach, the book discusses lifestyle challenges and emphasizes issues relating to neurodiversity, individuality, best practices, and support of both people on the spectrum and their families. This book will help change population and individual attitudes and behaviors regarding autism. Its ultimate goal is to empower readers to become both agents of change and an integral part of the solution.

This is the first book in English to show how the work of Lev Vygotsky gave rise to a prolific and original school of cultural-historical psychology in Latin America. In recent decades, Latin American researchers have expanded Vygotskyan conceptualizations and applied practical theory to psychological and educational research and practice, but until now this production remained virtually unknown for English speaking audiences since it has been mainly published in Spanish and Portuguese. This timely volume contributes to change this situation by presenting a panoramic picture of the state of the art of cultural-historical psychology in Latin America. The book is divided in two parts. The first part shows how Latin American researchers used Vygotsky's work to develop new theoretical elaborations and empirical advances to deal with different political, social and cultural problems in the region. The second part presents an overview of the current state of cultural-historical psychology in Latin America. Throughout its 15 chapters, the book shows how Latin American researchers contributed to the studies of different aspects of the cultural-historical theoretical conception of the development of higher psychological functions, such as concept formation, inner speech, zone of proximal development and imagination, and how these theoretical elaborations have been applied to research and practice in fields such as sociocultural psychology, developmental psychology, psychotherapy and education in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico. Latin American Advances in Subjectivity and Development - Through the Vygotsky Route will be an invaluable resource to researchers, students and practitioners in the fields of psychology, education and other social sciences interested in discovering or learning more about the original Latin American school of cultural-historical psychology.

What are the processes, from conception to adulthood, that enable a single cell to grow into a sentient adult? They are so complex that any attempt to understand development necessitates a multi-disciplinary approach, integrating data from cognitive studies, computational modeling, and neuroimagingan approach until now seldom taken when considering child development. Neuroconstructivism is a major two-volume work that seeks to redress this balance, presenting an integrative new framework for considering development. In Volume One, the authors review up-to-date findings from neurobiology, brain imaging, child development, as well computer and robotic modeling to consider why children's thinking develops the way it does, and propose a new synthesis of development that is based on five key principles found to operate at many different levels of description. Their Neuroconstructivist framework also shows how developmental disorders, such as dyslexia, can arise from typical developmental processes operating under atypical constraints. Of central importance to Neuroconstructivism is the idea that computer and robotic models are vital tools for investigating the processes and mechanisms involved in learning and development. Volume Two illustrates the principles of Neuroconstructivist development through contributions from nine different labs across the world. This volume complements Volume One by providing concrete examples of how the Neuroconstructivist principles can be grounded in a diverse range of domains, and thereby shape the research agenda in each.

What is childhood? In recent years, a cluster of critical and complex ideas have emerged around the nature of biological, social and psychological growth in the early years, reflecting the changing nature of adult - child relations, and political and cultural understandings of childhood in the twenty-first century. In this clear and concise book, Michael Wyness offers fresh insights into the current state of play within childhood studies. Drawing on work from a number of disciplines including sociology, geography and history, he discusses the contested terrain of theoretical and research advances with particular attention to the notion of children s agency and the concept of global childhoods. Key conceptual debates are illustrated through a range of contemporary issues that affect children and adults, including inequality, child abuse, ill-health, child labour, sexualization and identity formation. This book will appeal to students and academics within the fields of sociology, education, geography, history and childhood studies.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to psychological assessment and covers areas not typically addressed in existing test and measurements texts, such as neuropsychological assessment and the use of tests in forensics settings. The book introduces the vocabulary of the profession and the most basic mathematics of testing early as being fundamental to understanding the field. Numerous examples are drawn from tests that the authors have written or otherwise helped to develop, reflecting the authors' deep understanding of these tests and their familiarity with problems encountered in test development, use, and interpretation. Following the introduction of the basic areas of psychometrics, the book moves to areas of testing that represent various approaches to measuring different psychological constructs (memory, language, executive function, etc.), with emphasis on the complex issue of cultural bias in testing. Examples of existing tests are given throughout the book; however, this book is not designed to prepare students to go out and administer, score, and interpret specific psychological tests. Rather, the purpose of this book is to provide the foundational core of knowledge about tests, measurement, and assessment constructs, issues, and quantitative tools. Explains what constitutes a psychological test, how tests are developed, how they are best used, and how to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses; Describes areas of testing that represent different approaches to measuring different psychological constructs; Explains applications of psychological testing to issues in the courts; Addresses how test authors and publishers design and research tests to address the difficult and demanding issues of cultural differences in test performance and interpretation of test results.

• Interweaves a trauma-informed perspective throughout the text. • Equips clinicians with practical skills and helps them build their confidence with facilitating individual, dyadic sessions, and parent sessions. • Includes summary tables, worksheets, helpful tips, and eye-catching illustrations for both practical and academic use. • This book will be the first to apply Dr. Leslie Greenberg’s internationally-renowned clinical theory, research, and teaching of EFT to a new population: youth and their caregivers • Includes an impressive array of acclaimed contributors, including Dr Leslie S. Greenberg (a developer of EFT). • Moves from theory to practice, demonstrating how the approach can be used with specific client populations, such as anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder. • EFT institutes around the world and the Family Psychology Centre would be able to utilize this book as a training resource. In addition, the International Society for Emotion Focused Therapy (isEFT) would be able to list this book as a resource for further reading. • Contributing authors include psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists, offering an interdisciplinary perspective with useful applications for primary care as well as more complex mental health difficulties.

This handbook synthesizes and integrates the science of internalizing and externalizing childhood disorders with the diagnostic structure of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - 5th Edition (DSM-5) of the American Psychiatric Association. It offers a comprehensive overview of DSM-5 disorders in childhood, covering etiology, symptom presentation, assessment methods, diagnostic criteria, and psychotherapeutic and pharmacological approaches to treatment, prognosis, and outcomes. Clinical vignettes and empirical insights illustrate key concepts and diagnostic and treatment issues such as developmental, cultural, gender, and other considerations that may influence diagnosis and case formulation. In addition, chapters on psychosocial therapies offer robust guidelines for working with children and adolescents with DSM-5 disorders. The Handbook also addresses the shift from categorical to dimensional, diagnostic, and treatment systems, particularly focusing on the current shift in funded research in childhood disorders. Topics featured in this Handbook include: Intellectual disabilities and global developmental delay. Depressive disorders in youth. Posttraumatic and acute stress disorders in childhood and adolescence. Autism spectrum and social pragmatic language disorders. Alcohol-related disorders and other substance abuse disorders. Parent-child and sibling relationships. Cognitive-behavioral interventions and their role in improving social skills. The Handbook of DSM-5 Disorders in Children and Adolescents is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians, professionals, and scientist-practitioners in clinical child and school psychology, pediatrics, social work, and educational psychology.

Educating and caring for a child with autism is a severely difficult task, too often associated with frustration and disappointment. As a result, the inner development of these children is at times considered to be beyond the reach of parents and carers. This book challenges that assumption, exploring case studies where therapy based on a holistic approach has resulted in marked improvements in the children's behaviour and social integration. With an extended holistic programme, autistic children discover inner self-awareness and self-recognition, leading to first steps in relationships and social skills. The authors describe in detail their own practical experiences, as well as the findings of other experts in the field. This new third edition covers recent developments in diagnostic methods and approaches to treatment, including new case studies and a new chapter looking at the sensory aspect of autism and Sensory Integration Therapy. Well-researched and movingly written, this book has an essential, positive message for all those involved in the care and education of children with autism.

The Clinician's Guide to Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Symptoms, Assessment, and Treatment uniquely focuses on practical strategies for assessing and treating Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in youth. After briefly reviewing clinical characteristics of ODD and known causal factors, the book reviews brief and easily administered assessment measures of ODD. It further describes efficacious treatment elements across different treatment protocols that can be personalized for young children, older children, and/or adolescents that are based on unique clinical and family characteristics. Assessment and treatment tips for addressing commonly co-occurring problems, such as difficulties with toilet training, lying, problems with peers, and aggression are included. Finally, the book includes practical tools, such as therapeutic handouts, sample rating forms, and psychoeducational materials for parents and clinicians, along with links to online materials for ease of use in applied clinical settings.

Functional Analysis: A Practitioner's Guide to Implementation and Training provides practitioners with the most updated information about applying the wide span of current functional analysis (FA) methodologies geared specifically to applied service settings. The book serves as a self-instructional implementation to a broad-base of trainees and care-providers within schools, clinics, centers and human services organizations. Adopting a Behavioral Skills Training and competency-based training outcomes approach, the learning materials and activities featured in the book include suggested slideshow presentations, role-play exercises, pre- and post-training quizzes, natural setting evaluation methods, data recording forms, instructional scripts and reproducible handouts.

This book argues that robots are enchanting humans (as potential intimate partners), because humans are enchanting robots (by performing magical thinking), and that these processes are a part of a significant re-enchantment of the "modern" world. As a foundation, the author examines arguments for and against intimate relationships with robots, particularly sex robots and care robots. Moreover, the book provides a consideration of human-robot interactions and philosophical reflections about robots through the lens of magic and magical thinking as well as theoretical and practical re-evaluations of their status and presence. Furthermore, the author discusses the abovementioned issues in the context of disenchantment and re-enchantment of the world, characterizing modernity as a coexistence of these two processes. The book closes with a consideration of future scenarios regarding the meaning of life in the age of rampant automation and the possibility that designing robots becomes a sort of new eugenics as a consequence of recognizing robots as persons.

Despite their rich fossil history, there are only four surviving species of sirenians or sea cows, the only fully aquatic herbivorous mammals. The three species of manatees and the dugong live in the coastal waters rivers and lakes of more than 80 tropical and subtropical countries and are all on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This book examines sirenian conservation biology through the lens of their behavioral ecology and ethology. Sirenian feeding, diving, movement, social and reproductive behaviors are reviewed by an international team of scientists from eight countries, with an emphasis on data gathered in the past 15 years.

This book explores the answers to fundamental questions about the human mind and human behaviour with the help of two ancient texts. The first is Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus) by Sophocles, written in the 5th century BCE. The second is human DNA, with its origins around 4 billion years ago, and continuously revised by chance and evolution. With Sophocles as a guide, the authors take a journey into the Genomic era, an age marked by ever-expanding insights into the human genome. Over the course of this journey, the book explores themes of free will, fate, and chance; prediction, misinterpretation, and the burden that comes with knowledge of the future; self-fulfilling and self-defeating prophecies; the forces that contribute to similarities and differences among people; roots and lineage; and the judgement of oneself and others. Using Oedipus Rex as its lens, this novel work provides an engaging overview of behavioural genetics that demonstrates its relevance across the humanities and the social and life sciences. It will appeal in particular to students and scholars of genetics, education, psychology, sociology, and law.

Recent advances in neuroscience have allowed researchers from various disciplines - developmental psychology, comparative psychology, and developmental psychopathology - to shed light on the neural systems involved in social engagement behaviours in both children and adults. The Development of Social Engagement presents the latest on the topic from each of these intersecting research areas. Developmental psychologists have long been interested in the constellation of behaviours that constitutes early social engagement in infants and young children. Renewed interest in this topic has been sparked by research applying new and innovative techniques to long-standing questions about the development of face processing, joint attention, language, and early social cognition. These developments have been mirrored by the growth of comparative work concerning the neurobiological correlates and determinants of social engagement behaviours across a range of non-human species. The chapters in this volume bring together work on all of these topics, including questions related to social systems, play, maternal behaviour, and evolutionary concerns. The volume also covers the recent application of rigorous biologically focused research paradigms to the study of atypical social engagement in children, both in terms of disorders such as autism and Williams Syndrome, and in terms of the effects of adverse early rearing environments (e.g., institutionalism). This book presents some of the latest research on social-engagement processes across a variety of disciplines that cover a range of life stages and species. It will provide both student and professional researchers with a taste of current research directions in this rapidly expanding field.

Authored by the absolute top authorities in quantitative and mixed methods research in this field. Introduces students to data analysis, and includes extensive coverage of research practices and related issues in design and methodology, and excellent coverage of a range of quantitative and mixed methods. Inclusion of the latter in a research text in applied linguistics is unique. Intuitive, chronological organization makes it easy for students to navigate and understand the book, while also being able to fruitfully consult individual chapters as needed. This organization allows students to conduct their own research studies from beginning to end. A wealth of graphics, visuals, exercises, practice tasks, boxes, and other pedagogic material provides students new to research with the necessary introductions to the key topics and debates in L2 research, as well as the tools to conduct their own research projects. There is no other core course text for SLA/L2-focused research design and analysis. Unlike other research methods core texts, Mackey/Gass focuses on L2 rather on applied linguistics more broadly. It therefore offers coverage of many more relevant methods. Also offers a hands-on guide so that students can conduct their own research. Mackey/Gass is much more user-friendly and well-written than extant books. Other books are a compilation of different contributions and styles without a unifying voice (or written as well as Mackey/Gass).

Analysis of variance is the backbone of experimental research. This book is a clear and straightforward guide to how to do the analyses, with an emphasis on how to interpret statistical results and translate them into prose that will clearly tell the audience what the data are saying. There are plenty of end-of-chapter practice problems, all with suggested answers. Life in the laboratory doesn't always follow the script, so both new and established techniques are presented for coping with non-standard situations. Because data analysis is not a closed subject, pros and cons are presented for various options. The final chapter is the first elementary presentation of functional measurement, a methodology built upon analysis of variance. Initially developed by Norman H Anderson, functional measurement (also known as information integration theory) offers a powerful technology for studying cognitive processes. The accompanying CD contains analysis of variance software that is easy to use (really!), with an interface that greets the user with appropriate requests. In addition to programs for standard analyses, the software includes several specialized routines that have heretofore been presented only in journals. This guide will be an important resource for students and professionals in the social, behavioural and neurosciences.