Why youth is not wasted on the young: immaturity in human development

Abstract

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