Designed for topical courses in Child Development, offered in departments of psychology, education, family studies and child care. The Developing Child, Ninth Edition, is a best-selling topical child development book known for its personal, conversational writing style; balanced coverage of both theory and application and strong emphasis on culture. Helen Bee is a prominent author and researcher whose successful books on child and lifespan development, and whose lifelong devotion to these fields, have earned her an international reputation. *An informal style that uses the first person narrative voice and many personal anecdotes from the author's life and experience. *An emphasis on cultural variation, with frequent contrasts between collectivist and individualistic cultural systems. *Pedagogical features including critical thinking questions in the margins and annotated lists of suggested readings at the end of chapters *New In Part 4, 'The Thinking Child,' chapter on intelligence now comes after the chapter on cognitive structure. *New discussion of Siegler's new model for the development of strategies (Ch. 6), Sroufe's branching-tree conceptualization of developmental psychopathology (Ch. 15), and expanded discussion of Vygotsky's theory.