Esteemed Professor David Bjorklund, Ph.D., Launches Groundbreaking Contemporary Textbook on Developmental Psychology

David Bjorklund, Ph.D., renowned professor and associate chair of the Department of Psychology, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, recently released his latest book, “Child and Adolescent Development: An Integrative Approach.” Co-authored with Carlos Hernández Blasi and published by Cambridge University Press, the textbook looks to redefine how developmental psychology is taught and understood.

This comprehensive, topical textbook uniquely integrates three central themes of modern developmental science—developmental contextualism, a sociocultural perspective and evolutionary theory—in a strong, science-based introduction to child and adolescent development. By emphasizing the integration of these perspectives of human psychological development, along with findings from the expanding field of developmental neuroscience, the textbook aims to explain the fundamental underpinnings of young minds, as well as provide students with a holistic and up-to-date understanding of human development.

“The field of developmental psychology has changed drastically over recent decades, and textbooks have not kept up with these changes,” explained Bjorklund. “We organized this book using what we see as three overarching perspectives that guide today’s practitioners of developmental psychology. We also include findings from the expanding field of developmental neuroscience and integrate them with our other perspectives when possible. In doing so, we hope to change the way developmental psychology is taught by instructors and understood by a new generation of students.” 

For Bjorklund, the study of developmental and evolutionary psychology is more than just academic discipline. He feels it is important to study all aspects of human history in order to better understand psychological functioning.

“I have always believed that life is best understood as a process of ‘becoming,’ and it is through the scientific study of development that we gain insight into psychological functioning. Later in my career I realized that the development of the species—that is evolution—is also an important component to consider, and one that has interacted with and influenced individual development and vice versa.” 

Since 1976, Bjorklund has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in developmental psychology at Florida Atlantic University. He has received numerous teaching and research awards from the University, and he is the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award. He formerly served as associate editor of Child Development (1997-2001) and editor of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (2007-2024).

His other books include, “The Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology,” “Origins of the Social Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and Child Development,” “Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young: Immaturity in Human Development, Child and Adolescent Development: An Integrative Approach,” and “Children's Thinking: Cognitive Development and Individual Differences,” now in its fifth edition. In addition, he has published more than 100 scholarly articles on various topics relating to child development.

The book is now available through Cambridge University Press and major retailers such as Amazon.