Best Developmental Psychology Books of 2025

Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential is a comprehensive guide to help parents and teachers manage children's executive skills. The book offers easy-to-follow steps to identify a child's strengths and weaknesses, use activities and techniques to boost specific skills, and problem-solve daily routines. The book is filled with real-world examples and solutions, making it an easy and accessible read. This book is a great resource for parents of children who are struggling with executive skills and provides practical and detailed advice. Overall, it offers hope for children who are struggling and empowers parents to make small changes that can lead to big improvements.

The book "Smart but Scattered Teens: The 'Executive Skills' Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential" provides a science-based program for parents of "smart but scattered" teens to help them grow into a self-sufficient, responsible adult. The authors, Richard Guare, Peg Dawson, and Colin Guare, offer step-by-step strategies to help teens get organized, stay focused, control impulses, and emotions. The book is filled with helpful worksheets and forms that can be downloaded and printed. It is an absolute must-read for parents who want to help their teens reach their full potential, and the strategies provided in the book are sure to make your relationship with your teen stronger.

The AP® Psychology Crash Course book by Research & Education Association (REA) is an excellent study guide for students who want to earn a high score on the AP® exam. The book provides targeted review by covering only the information tested on the exam, saving valuable study time. It also offers expert test-taking strategies and advice from a veteran AP® Psychology teacher, Larry Krieger. The book includes a mini-test and a full-length practice exam online, which helps students prepare for the exam with timed testing and automatic scoring. Overall, this Crash Course is a must-have for students who want to succeed in the AP® Psychology exam.

The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is a comprehensive, empirically tested intervention specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. This state-of-the-art manual provides hands-on strategies for working with very young children in individual and group settings to promote development in key domains such as communication, social, cognitive, and motor skills, and play. The book is unique in integrating goals and teaching strategies from developmental, behavioral, and context-oriented approaches. With multisite research underway to test the encouraging results of early studies, this manual will enable interventionists to think more broadly and collaborate across disciplines within a comprehensive intervention framework.

This Training Manual for Behavior Technicians Working with Individuals with Autism is a comprehensive and practical resource for those undergoing training to become Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT). It follows the RBT Task List set forth by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) and covers everything from fundamental measurement and data collection to behavior reduction plans and ethics. The author, Dr. Jonathan Tarbox, is a renowned expert in applied behavior analysis and autism treatment. This book is an essential tool for anyone seeking to become an RBT and work with individuals with autism.

The book "Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention" is a valuable resource for K-12 school practitioners and teachers. The third edition offers new chapters on working with students with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, as well as guidance on developing individual education programs and multi-tiered systems of support. The book provides effective strategies for assessing students' strengths and weaknesses and promoting specific skills, such as organization, time management, sustained attention, and emotional control. The practical tools and reproducible forms included make it easy for teachers to implement the intervention strategies. Overall, this book is a must-have for anyone working with children and adolescents.

This book, Life-Span Human Development, written by Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider is a comprehensive guide to understanding the key transformations that occur in each period of the life span. The book combines a topical organization at the chapter level and an age/stage organization within each chapter, making it an easy read for anyone interested in developmental psychology. With its emphasis on theories and their application to different aspects of development, this book stands out for its focus on the interplay of nature and nurture in development. Overall, it is an excellent resource for students and professionals seeking a thorough understanding of human development.

Development Through Life: A Psychosocial Approach is a standalone book that presents human development across the life span using a life-stage approach, drawing on the psychosocial theory of Erik Erikson. The authors address physical, intellectual, social, and emotional growth in 11 life stages, from the prenatal period through elderhood, emphasizing the interdependence of individuals and their environments at every stage. The book provides numerous cases that show how research and theories can be applied to contemporary issues and how people cope with challenges they face at various points in life. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for those interested in studying human development and how it can be fostered throughout life.

Practical Ethics for Effective Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder is a newly revised book that provides behavior analysts with a quick reference on ethical behavior when working with individuals on the autism spectrum. It covers the principles and values of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s Professional and Ethical Compliance Code and addresses critical topics such as scope of competence, evidence-based practice, and ethical decision-making. The book also includes chapters on Quality Control in ABA Service Delivery, Ethical Issues in ABA Business Management, and Standardizing Decision-making in ABA Service Delivery. This book is a valuable resource for professionals seeking to improve their ethical practice and avoid common mistakes.

The Behavior Management Skills Guide is a comprehensive resource for parents, teachers, and therapists looking to change negative behaviors in children and adolescents. Written by experienced authors Scott Walls and Deb Rauner, this guide covers everything from evaluating behavior to creating effective intervention plans. It includes downloadable assessments, exercises, and tools to help match individual motivation to intervention plans, increase positive behaviors, and eliminate inappropriate behavior. With its de-escalation strategies, reaction plans, and administrator practice and staff training, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone dealing with challenging behaviors.