Infancy: Infant, Family, and Society,
6th Edition
Alan Fogel, University of Utah

Available February 19, 2014

ISBN: 1-59738-051-5
608 text pages / paper / Student Price $118.95

Table of Contents

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Author's syllabus

Infancy: Infant, Family, & Society is the sixth edition of Alan Fogel's classic text on development in infancy. It spans the four-year period in the human life course between conception and 36 months. The book's scientifically-based coverage is balanced by clear and accessible writing and the inclusion of both theoretical and applied topics.

Taking a systems perspective, this book places the infant in the context of interpersonal relationships with caregivers, other family members, hospitals, child care centers, and peers and with respect to the social policies and cultural practices that shape the course of these interpersonal relationships. A central theme of the book is the development of individual differences: the biological factors and environmental factors that combine to create unique developmental pathways for processes such as temperament, cognitive growth, and attachment.

Unique to Fogel's text is the extensive coverage of emerging forms of infant self-awareness that is at first grounded in the body and its senses (the emerging field of somatics) and gradually becomes more intersubjective to include an awareness of other people. Also covered is the failure to develop developmentally appropriate forms of self-awareness in relation to developmental disorders such as problems with attachment and autism. Many chapters contain simple experiential exercises that allow students to re-create for themselves the forms of self-awareness experienced by infants at different ages, as well as concrete suggestions for ways to connect with infants of different ages.

First published in 1986, Fogel's Infancy has been in print longer and for more editions than any other similar book. TheSixfth Edition has been completely updated and there is a completely new chapter on brain development.  However, the basic organization of the previous edition has been preserved, making it easy for instructors currently using the book to adapt the new edition to their courses.