Theories of Developmental Psychology Fifth Edition

The book provides an overview of theories in developmental psychology. Some sections are better than others, but in general, the author seems to assume a reader that is ignorant to the world outside psychology. The chapter on ethology, for example, gives poor definitions of sociobiology, and skirts about words like homoplasy, giving bad approximations to the concepts rather than using the correct terms. At time (e.g., the chapter on Piaget), the book adds little to what one could get from a good general psych text. The Vygotsky chapter is written without consideration for his place in history.And (pet peeve); the book needed editing. Substituting 99% of the exclamation marks for periods would mean an immediate (and easy) improvement.However... it is not completely a waste of time for someone who wants a non-technical, simplistic explanation of the main theories in developmental psychology. The author seems to include most of the relevant research, with consideration to its relevance today. The chapters are structured coherently, beginning with an overview, and ending with summaries that are often the best written section. (They tend to have less excessive punctuation and less hyperclaiming.) The chatty, informal language would probably appeal to the layperson who wants to avoid more complex explanations.Recommended for people who want a broad overview of theories and methods of developmental psychology but do not wish to read technical language or challenging vocabulary.

Miller does a scholarly job in evaluating the merits of each of the developmental theories in psychology. This work is well-organized though the subject matter can be less than entertaining at times. It is definitely one of the best written, assessments of developmental psychology without exposing the reader to some of the perverse idiosyncracies of the likes of Freud, et. al. This work is recommended for its scholarship and cogent writing and clear assessments without being so biased as many writers tend to be.

I needed this book for a graduate course I am taking. I found it to be very dry and boring. It does not link well to the course syllabus. This is a book on theories. Merriam-Webser states that a theory is "an idea that is suggested or presented as possibly true but that is not known or proven to be true." Why present information that is not proven to be true? Does the entire field of psychology only consist of theories? When will it move on to something concrete.

Miller provides a good overview to several developmental perspectives. My class was very centered on comparing the different perspectives' stances on nature/nurture, qualitative/quantitative, what the mechanisms of development were, etc., the end pages of all the chapters, so this book served me well. Someone had highlighted nearly every word in most of the chapters before I got it, so I guess that's another passive vote for the book being useful.

This is great for the study of our development, this covers the theories of how we become what we will, there are so many ideas that are discussed here, it is a required text book for my classes, but this is also good read.

Used for a class in the Master's Program I completed. Good Information

The first two chapters are a little dry, but after that, the text becomes a nice read. The text presents ideas and theories, with quotes from the theorists, as well as sighting studies that support and/or refute the theories.

love the format of this textbook.

So busy reading forgot to write review