Lifespan Development, Global Edition

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Early Childhood Stage: the preschool years from birth to six years old. Experts say that this phase is crucial in human development since it can determine overall life outcomes. I thought the textbook was broken down in a sensible manner, with content being grouped in an appropriate manner. The chapters have a good amount of content, but are not overwhelming or too long.

A major task beginning in childhood and continuing into adolescence is discerning right from wrong. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) extended upon the foundation that Piaget built regarding cognitive development. Kohlberg believed that moral development, like cognitive development, follows a series of stages. To develop this theory, Kohlberg posed moral dilemmas to people of all ages, and then he analyzed their answers to find evidence of their particular stage of moral development. Before reading about the stages, take a minute to consider how you would answer one of Kohlberg’s best-known moral dilemmas, commonly known as the Heinz dilemma: This text covered the major topical areas of human development in a thorough and concise format. The textbook contains ten (10) major units, with each unit covering a developmental stage, and broken into smaller sections of theories and concepts. The units also include supplementary materials to help the reader expand on perspectives and approaches. Overall, this text is highly comprehensive and easy to read. Baltes states that the development of a particular domain does not occur in a strictly linear fashion but that development of certain traits can be characterized as having the capacity for both an increase and decrease in efficacy over the course of an individual’s life. The writing is very clear. There are diagrams, charts, and images that all clearly depict what the authors are trying to convey.The headings, topics and learning objectives are appropriate and usable. The topics are recent and are likely to remain relevant for several years in the future. Culturally relevant content is integrated throughout the text. For example, many of the examples or included videos reference development in many cultures. Adolescent Stage: Adolescence is a phase of rapid physical and socio-emotional transformation brought about by puberty. Also called the "teenager phase" between the ages of 13 to 19 years, the adolescent stage is defined as the transition from childhood to adulthood. Figure 1. Baltes’ lifespan perspective emphasizes that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, contextual, and multidisciplinary. Think of ways your own development fits in with each of these concepts as you read about the terms in more detail. The new edition is available as a digital option through SAGE Vantage, an intuitive digital platform that offers auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools—including video—all designed to enable students to better prepare for class. Learn more.

Assignable video (available with SAGE Vantage) is tied to learning objectives and curated exclusively for this text to bring concepts to life. Watch a sample video now. Lifelong development means that development is not completed in infancy or childhood or at any specific age; it encompasses the entire lifespan, from conception to death. The study of development traditionally focused almost exclusively on the changes occurring from conception to adolescence and the gradual decline in old age; it was believed that the five or six decades after adolescence yielded little to no developmental change at all. The current view reflects the possibility that specific changes in development can occur later in life, without having been established at birth. The early events of one’s childhood can be transformed by later events in one’s life. This belief clearly emphasizes that all stages of the lifespan contribute to the regulation of the nature of human development. Early Adulthood Stage: Early adulthood typically spans from ages 20 to 35, where individuals explore open doors in many areas of life such as career, romance, building families, and forming close relationships. It is also the stage where humans achieve milestones in independence as they venture out in life, seeking to make their own choices.Lifespan development involves the exploration of biological, cognitive, and psychosocial changes and constancies that occur throughout the entire course of life. It has been presented as a theoretical perspective, proposing several fundamental, theoretical, and methodological principles about the nature of human development. An attempt by researchers has been made to examine whether research on the nature of development suggests a specific metatheoretical worldview. Several beliefs, taken together, form the “family of perspectives” that contribute to this particular view. By multidimensionality, Baltes is referring to the fact that a complex interplay of factors influence development across the lifespan, including biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes. Baltes argues that a dynamic interaction of these factors is what influences an individual’s development. Nonnormative influences are unpredictable and not tied to a certain developmental time in a person’s development or to a historical period. They are the unique experiences of an individual, whether biological or environmental, that shape the development process. These could include milestones like earning a master’s degree or getting a certain job offer or other events like going through a divorce or coping with the death of a child. History of Developmental Psychology: Socialization and Personality Development through the Life Span

Outstanding cultural contexts throughout (including videos, references and discussions in each topical area). Coverage of cultural diversity is interesting and relevant. This text examines how biological Format is highly organized and flows logically from one topic to the next in each developmental section. This text is organized similar to a traditional text book which can be beneficial to students who are new to OER learning materials or to those who may wish to print the PDF version for study review.Are we who we are because of nature (biology and genetics), or are we who we are because of nurture (our environment and culture)? This longstanding question is known in psychology as the nature versus nurture debate. It seeks to understand how our personalities and traits are the product of our genetic makeup and biological factors, and how they are shaped by our environment, including our guardians, peers, and culture. For instance, why do biological children sometimes act like their parents—is it because of genetics or because of early childhood environment and what the child has learned from the parents? What about children who are adopted—are they more like their biological families or more like their adoptive families? And how can siblings from the same family be so different? How does context impact human growth and development? Do the places, sociocultural environments, and ways in which we are raised influence who we become and how we grow and change throughout our lives? Best-selling author Tara L. Kuther helps students discover the answers with Lifespan Development: Lives in Context. Taking a chronological approach, the book follows three core themes: the centrality of context, the importance of research, and the applied value of developmental science. Dr. Kuther’s clear, concise narrative guides students through current and classic studies and foundational theories while exploring real-world connections and inclusive perspectives. The Third Edition features case studies, policy applications, and other examples, each accompanied by opportunities for personal reflection, prompting students to carry these discoveries into their own lives, relationships, and future careers. The most important aspect of contextualism as a paradigm is that the three systems of influence work together to affect development. Concerning adolescent development, the age-graded influences would help to explain the similarities within a cohort, the history-graded influences would help to explain the differences between cohorts, and the nonnormative influences would explain the idiosyncrasies of each adolescent’s individual development. When all influences are considered together, it provides a broader explanation of an adolescent’s development. Other Contextual Influences on Development: Cohort, Socioeconomic Status, and Culture Kohlberg identified three levels of moral reasoning: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional: Each level is associated with increasingly complex stages of moral development. I found the interface to be difficult, not as easy to use as other OER textbooks I have reviewed or used.