Maintaining a highly accessible writing style-one that is lucid and engaging without being simplistic-continues to be one of the goals of this reorganized and expanded sixth edition. The revised edition represents the rapidly transforming aspects of this field, with a wealth of new content and teaching tools. It portrays the complexities of child development with clarity and excitement, linking contemporary theory and research with everyday lives of children. Beginning with the history, and providing an under-standing of major theories, the text traces the organized sequence of the factors of child development-physical, cognitive, emotional, and social-emphasizing their interdependence and the processes of change from one stage to another. The book highlights complex combi-nations of biological and environmental factors that contribute to a child's development. Besides, it dis-cusses the role of family, neighbourhood and schools, and the impact of larger social structures on a child's well-being. The text also discusses many findings on socioeconomically and ethically diverse children living in the United States. Interspersed throughout are numerous examples to reflect these ideas-how biological dispositions can be maintained as well as transformed by social contexts. Unparalleled in clarity and readability, it is an ideal text for the students in psychology and sociology