Kathleen McCartney is Gerald S. Lesser Professor of Early Childhood Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Deborah Phillips is Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University.

List of Contributors.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Part I: Conceptual Frameworks.

Nature and Nurture in Early Childhood. (Kirby Deater-Deckard and
Katherine Cahill).

Vulnerability and Resilience in Early Child Development. (Ann S.
Masten and Abigail H. Gewirtz).

Family Influences on the Development of Young Children's
Competence. (Michael J. Guralnick).

Intersections Among Domains of Development. (Catherine C. Ayoub
and Kurt W. Fischer).

Part II: Early Biological and Physiological
Development.

Early Brain Development and Plasticity. (Jane W. Couperus and
Charles A. Nelson).

Social Regulation of Stress in Early Child Development. (Megan
R. Gunnar).

Temperament. (Jennifer N. Martin and Nathan A. Fox).

Part III: Cognitive Development.

Early Conceptual Development. (Susan A. Gelman).

Executive Functions in Developing Children: Current
Conceptualizations and Questions for the Future. (Marilyn C. Welsh,
Sarah L. Friedman, and Susan J. Spieker).

Developing Social Understanding in a Social Context. (Rachel
Barr).

Mathematical Thinking and Learning. (Herbert P. Ginsburg, Joanna
Cannon, Janet Eisenband, and Sandra Pappas).

Part IV: Language and Communicative Development.

Language Experience and Language Milestones During Early
Childhood. (Erika Hoff).

How Children Learn Language: A Focus on Resilience. (Susan
Goldin-Meadow).

What counts as literacy in early childhood? (Catherine E.
Snow).

Part V: Social, Emotional, and Regulatory Development.

Getting Along with Others: Social Competence in Early Childhood.
(Richard A. Fabes, Bridget M. Gaertner, and Tiernay K. Popp).

Feeling and Understanding: Early Emotional Development. (Ross A.
Thompson and Kristin H. Lagattuta).

Temperament, Attention, and the Development of Self-Regulation.
(Mary K. Rothbart, Michael I. Posner, and Jessica Kieras).

Maladjustment in Preschool Children: A Developmental
Psychopathology Perspective. (Susan B. Campbell).

Part VI: The Social Ecology of Early Development.

Family Systems. (Marc H. Bornstein and Jeanette Sawyer).

Poverty in Early Childhood. (Eric Dearing, Daniel Berry, and
Martha Zaslow).

Orphanages as a Developmental Context for Early Childhood.
(Charles H. Zeanah, Anna T. Smyke, and Lisa D. Settles).

Peer Relationships in Early Childhood. (Deborah Lowe Vandell,
Lana Nenide, and Sara J. Van Winkle).

Child Care and Early Childhood Education. (Deborah Phillips,
Kathleen McCartney, and Amy L. Sussman).

The Social Ecology of the Transition to School: Classrooms,
Families, and Children. (Robert C. Pianta and Sara
Rimm-Kaufman).

Media and Early Development. (Sandra L. Calvert).

Part VII: Policy Issues.

Evaluating Early Childhood Assessments: A Differential Analysis.
(Samuel J. Meisels and Sally Atkins-Burnett).

Head Start: What Do We Know About Its Effectiveness? What Do We
Need to Know? (John M. Love, Louisa Banks Tarullo, Helen Raikes,
and Rachel Chazan-Cohen).

Early Childhood Policy: A Comparative Perspective. (Jane
Waldfogel).

Promoting Social Competence in Early Childhood: Classroom
Curricula and Social Skills Coaching Programs. (Karen L. Bierman
and Stephen A. Erath).

Treatment and Prevention of Conduct Problems: Parent Training
Interventions for Young Children (2-7 Years Old). (Carolyn
Webster-Stratton and M. Jamila Reid).

References.

Author Index.

Subject Index

"The astute editors and leading scholars have produced the best
single overview of the exploding field of early childhood
development, covering both old and new pressing issues in this
burgeoning field. Must reading for both basic and applied workers,
as well as scholars working at the intersect of knowledge and
policy construction."

Edward Zigler, The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and
Social Policy

"This is a comprehensive and authoritative review of the field
of early childhood research, covering the basic scientific and key
policy issues, with contributions from the leading researchers. It
will be an essential reference for anyone interested in the
exciting early development of children, with the breadth, depth and
clarity of its coverage."

Judy Dunn, Professor of Developmental Psychology, Institute of
Psychiatry, London

"Kathleen McCartney and Deborah Phillips have recruited many of
the top names in the field of early child development to provide
timely and informative reviews of a very fast-moving field. This
handbook will be obligatory reading for researchers and
practitioners alike. Whether you are looking for a conceptual
framework, the latest empirical findings in key domains such as the
development of cognition, language and emotion, or the implications
for policy, this book should serve as a first point of
reference."

Paul L. Harris, Harvard University

"This book simply redefines "comprehensive"! It is truly
interactive in that it constantly elicits the reader's input by
raising and/or addressing issues that reach far beyond the printed
page."

Toni Brennan, University of Surrey

"The assembling of a large number of qualified experts to
write short, clear summaries of their areas is an impressive
achievement, and the context and policy sections go beyond
expectations ... making it valuable even to scholars already
knowledgeable in the field."

Marie-Pierre M. Gosselin and David R. Foreman, Canadian
Psychology