Effective Parenting and Caregiving: Practical Guidelines from Psychological Science equips readers with education and training to help them care most effectively for children--from infants to toddlers and grade schoolers, and on to adolescents. This scholarship teaches seven evidence-based life lessons--principles of human dynamics, which when practiced regularly, help children become healthier, happier, and more successful.

Readers learn how to employ positive consequences to effectively influence behavior and apply the power of observational learning. They discover how to become a successful behavior-improvement coach with supportive and corrective feedback. They also learn how to practice empathy, manage behavior as a servant leader, and create an environment of mutual respect, interdependence, and interpersonal gratitude, all helping children achieve self-actualization--the application of personal capabilities for optimal accomplishment. Beyond this achievement is self-transcendence--the most valuable person-state for individuals and their social-support system. Readers learn how to reach that ultimate vision and help others do the same.

Effective Parenting and Caregiving is an exceptional textbook for courses within the behavioral and social sciences, especially applied psychology and human development. It is also a valuable guidebook for parents, caregivers, or any individual who wants to optimize the quality of care for others at home, school, work, or throughout the community at large.

E. Scott Geller, Ph.D. is an Alumni Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech, Cofounder of GellerAC4P, Inc., and Senior Partner of Safety Performance Solutions, Inc. For 50 years, he has taught and conducted research at Virginia Tech. Dr. Geller has authored, coauthored, or edited numerous books, book chapters, training manuals, magazine articles, and research articles addressing the development and evaluation of behavior-focused interventions to improve human welfare and life satisfaction. The College of Wooster awarded Dr. Geller an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. He has received lifetime achievement awards from the International Organizational Behavior Management Network and the American Psychological Foundation.

Angela K. Fournier, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Bemidji State University, where she serves as Director of the Human-Animal Interaction Laboratory.