Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young Immaturity in Human Development [Paperback]

Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young examines the nature of childhood through an evolutionary lens and argues that childhood is an essential stage of development with its own unique purposes, separate from those of adulthood; a time of growth and discovery that should not be rushed.

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• Written by a renowned developmental psychologist
  
• Examines the role that our period of immaturity plays on the social, emotional, and educational needs of today’s children
  
• Challenges common perceptions of children as simply “adults in training”

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xi

1 The Benefits of Youth 1

Rushing through Childhood 3

Views of Development 5

A Darwinian Perspective 14

I Come Not to Praise Immaturity 20

2 The Youngest Species 21

A Brief Look at Human Evolution 23

The Evolution of Childhood 36

Timing is Everything 44

The Youngest Species 52

3 The Slow Rate of Growing Up 55

The Gamble of Delayed Development 56

Big Brains, Social Complexity, and Slow Development 58

Cooperating and Competing 62

Family Matters 63

Slow Growth and Brain Plasticity 65

Developmental Plasticity and Evolution 83

When Slow is Fast Enough 84

4 Adapting to the Niche of Childhood 87

The Benefits of Limitations 89

See Things My Way 93

Learning Language 101