Lifespan Development, Global Edition

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The textbook appears to be accurate. Some of the publications are a bit dated, but still provide empirical evidence to support the scope of what is being discussed. I did not notice any glaring omissions or issues with the content. Piaget said that children develop schemata to help them understand the world. Schemata are concepts (mental models) that are used to help us categorize and interpret information. By the time children have reached adulthood, they have created schemata for almost everything. When children learn new information, they adjust their schemata through two processes: assimilation and accommodation. First, they assimilate new information or experiences in terms of their current schemata: assimilation is when they take in information that is comparable to what they already know. Accommodation describes when they change their schemata based on new information. This process continues as children interact with their environment. Erik Erikson introduced the Psychosocial Theory of Development as a modification of Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Theory. He proposed that social connection throughout the lifespan fosters development. According to Erikson, each stage in life consists of certain tasks that must be completed, and the inability to do so elicits feelings of insufficiency. The textbook is straight forward in its discussion of the content, some of which may be a bit weak in certain areas. Middle Adulthood Stage: Middle adulthood is generally defined as ages 35 to 65. Some key features of this phase include maintaining stability in relationships, careers, hobbies, parenting, and preparation for late adulthood. Most people experience love and work at their peak during this stage. Signs of aging also become more apparent such as graying hair, muscle loss, visual changes, and hearing problems.

Experiments involve significant control over extraneous variables and manipulation of the independent variable. As such, experimental research allows developmental psychologists to make causal statements about certain variables that are important for the developmental process. Because experimental research must occur in a controlled environment, researchers must be cautious about whether behaviors observed in the laboratory translate to an individual’s natural environment. Psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley (2006) spent their careers looking at early language ability and progression of children in various income levels. In one longitudinal study, they found that although all the parents in the study engaged and interacted with their children, middle- and high-income parents interacted with their children differently than low-income parents. After analyzing 1,300 hours of parent-child interactions, the researchers found that middle- and high-income parents talk to their children significantly more, starting when the children are infants. By 3 years old, high-income children knew almost double the number of words known by their low-income counterparts, and they had heard an estimated total of 30 million more words than the low-income counterparts (Hart & Risley, 2003). And the gaps only become more pronounced. Before entering kindergarten, high-income children score 60% higher on achievement tests than their low-income peers (Lee & Burkam, 2002).Psychologist Mary Ainsworth built upon British psychologist John Bowlby's original study on attachment theory in her 1970s research. Ainsworth classified attachment into three types: secure attachment, ambivalent-insecure attachment, and avoidant-insecure attachment. Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development The content is accurate and current and provides a strong overview of development. It is error-free and unbiased. Discontinuity: Billy struggles to learn how to read and write. Once he finally is able to read and write well, he struggles in math. Once he feels like he is doing well in math, he struggles to understand politics and remember historical facts. Each stage is a crisis or task that Billy has to complete before moving on to the next. History of Developmental Psychology: Socialization and Personality Development through the Life Span

Culture is often referred to as a blueprint or guideline shared by a group of people that specifies how to live. It includes ideas about what is right and wrong, what to strive for, what to eat, how to speak, what is valued, as well as what kinds of emotions are called for in certain situations. Culture teaches us how to live in a society and allows us to advance because each new generation can benefit from the solutions found and passed down from previous generations. Lawrence Kohlberg explored another aspect of human development. As Piaget focused on cognitive development, Kohlberg's primary area of study is how individuals process morality-based choices. His stage includes three levels of Moral Development:German psychologist Paul Baltes, a leading expert on lifespan development and aging, developed one of the approaches to studying development called the lifespan perspective. This approach is based on several key principles: Integrated examples of Lives in Context illustrate how our biology, cultural, lived experiences all are embedded in multiple layers of context, including family, culture, neighborhood, community, norms, values, and historical events. This key coverage is embedded in all sections throughout the text, linking to learning objectives, related core concepts, and to clear, real-life examples. The reading level of this text is appropriate and undergraduate students should be able to understand the material as it is presented. The text offers clear explanations of theoretical concepts in a way that should promote understanding. Furthermore, the learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter are clear and easy to understand. The text includes examples that are relevant to child development today and college students specifically. It also includes links to videos and supplementary material that are very current. That said, this text could benefit from including more current research to show that our understanding of development is an ongoing process, with new developments arising all the time.

In this poem, William Wordsworth writes, “the child is father of the man.” What does this seemingly incongruous statement mean, and what does it have to do with lifespan development? Wordsworth might be suggesting that the person he is as an adult depends largely on the experiences he had in childhood. Consider the following questions: To what extent is the adult you are today influenced by the child you once were? To what extent is a child fundamentally different from the adult he grows up to be? The text is very clear and readable. The content and presentation is very clean, which makes it easy to understand.The text covered all areas and ideas appropriately. Although several concepts and terms were defined, inclusion of a glossary would be more informative. The text covers most areas of subjects effectively and appropriately. The textbook is accurate and contains up-to-date and relevant information as would typically be seen on this topic.

The textbook is consistent in terms of terminology used, also the framework of of the text itself. The system is a bit difficult to use, but as stated previously this would probably change and improve the more the user used the textbook. Thinking in Context critical-thinking questions appear at the end of every A-head section. These questions encourage readers to compare concepts, apply theoretical perspectives, and consider applications of research findings presented. The textbook is fairly easy to read, although the system to use it seemed a bit difficult to use. I am sure this would improve the more one uses this textbook, but the transitions to chapters was not terrific. Thinking in Context: Intersectionality coverage is integrated within chapters to emphasize the role of context in diversity and the many forms that diversity takes, including sex, gender, race and ethnicity, ability, socioeconomic status, and more. Each section within a chapter concludes with related critical thinking items.

Development is plastic

The text is pretty modular. The only issue is that it comes as a single PDF document, which leaves the student to "jump" between sections. An instructor can't just post a link to a section, though the Table of Contents does make navigation simple.