Life Span Development: A Topical Approach, CourseSmart eTextbook

Development Across the Life Span: A Topical Approach addresses two main concerns of instructors that came out of extensive market research:  First, almost every instructor acknowledged that the breadth of lifespan development is so vast that it is difficult to cover the entire field within the confines of a traditional college.  Second, many instructors expressed the concern that traditional, chronologically-based lifespan development books were arranged in a way that made it difficult for students to understand the scope of development within particular topical areas   This book, which is based on the chronologically-organized, highly popular Development Across the Life Span, is be approximately 20% shorter than traditional lifespan books and topically organized.

 

Development Across the Life Span: A Topical Approach maintains the student friendliness that has been the hallmark of the original.  It is rich in examples and illustrates the applications that can be derived from the research and theory of lifespan developmentalists.  It pays particular attention to the applications that can be drawn from theory and research in the field.

 

To optimize student learning and to provide instructors with maximum flexibility, the book uses a modular approach.  Each chapter will be divided into three modules focusing on particular subtopics.  Consequently, rather than facing long, potentially daunting chapters, students will encounter material that is divided into smaller, more manageable chunks.  Of course, presenting material in small chunks represents a structure that research long ago found to be optimum for promoting learning.

The modular approach has another advantage:  It allows instructors to customize instruction by assigning only those modules that fit their course.  

PART I.  INTRODUCTION

 

Chapter 1.  An Orientation to Lifespan Development

Module 1.  Determining The Nature–And Nurture–Of Lifespan Development

Module 2.  Theoretical Perspectives

Module 3.  Research in Lifespan Development

 

PART II.  PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

 

Chapter 2.  Genetics, Prenatal Development, and Birth

Module 4.  Foundations of Genetics

Module 5.  The Interaction of Heredity and Environment

Module 6.  Prenatal Growth and Birth

 

Chapter 3.  Physical Growth and Aging Across The Lifespan

Module 7.  Physical Growth and Change

Module 8.  Motor Development

Module 9.  Perceptual Development

 

Chapter 4.  Health and Wellness

Module 10.  Stress and Coping

Module 11.  Illness and Well-Being

Module 12.  Promoting Health and Wellness

 

PART III.  COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

 

Chapter 5.  Cognitive Growth: Piaget And Vygotsky

Module 13.  Principles of Cognitive Development

Module 14.  Piaget’s Approach to Cognitive Development

Module 15.  Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive Development

 

Chapter 6.  Cognitive Growth: Information Processing Approaches

Module 16.  The Basics of Information Processing

Module 17.  Memory

Module 18.  Applying Information Processing Approaches

 

Chapter 7.  Language Development

Module 19.  The Origins of Language

Module 20.  The Course of Language Development

Module 21.  Culture and Language

 

Chapter 8.  Intelligence

Module 22.  Intelligence: Determining Individual Strengths

Module 23. Controversies Involving Intelligence

Module 24. Intellectual Disabilities and the Intellectually Gifted

 

PART IV.  SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 9. Social and Emotional Development

Module 25. Forging Early Social Relationships

Module 26. Emotional Development

Module 27. Personality

 

Chapter 10.  Development of the Self

Module 28. The Development of the Self

Module 29. Evaluating the Self

Module 30. Picking An Occupation: Choosing Life’s Work

 

Chapter 11.  Moral Development and Aggression

Module 31. Developing Morality

Module 32. Spirituality and Religion

Module 33. Aggression and Violence

 

Chapter 12.  Gender and Sexuality

Module 34. Gender: Why Do Boys Wear Blue And Girls Wear Pink? 

Module 35. Sexual Maturation and Sexuality

Module 36.  Relationships

 

Chapter 13.  Friends and Family

Module 37. Social Relationships Across the Lifespan

Module 38 .Lifestyles

Module 39. Family Life

 

Chapter 14.  Schooling, Culture, and Society: Living in a Multicultural World

Module 40. Schooling and Lifetime Learning

Module 41. Leisure

Module 42. A Multicultural World

 

PART V.  THE END OF LIFE

 

Chapter 15.  Death and Grieving: The End of Life

Module 43. Dying and Death Across the Lifespan

Module 44. Confronting Death

Module 45. Grief and Bereavement