A Personal Note to Students

My goal in preparing this second edition of Development Through the Lifespan is to provide a textbook that meets the instructional goals of your course as well as your own personal needs. I aimed for a text that is intellectually stimulating, that provides depth as well as breadth of coverage, and that portrays the complexities of human development in a way that will capture your interest while helping you learn.

To achieve these objectives, I have grounded this book in a carefully selected body of classic and current theory and research, brought to life with stories and vignettes of children, adolescents, and adults, many of whom I have known personally. In addition, the text discussion highlights the joint contributions of biology and environment to development throughout the lifespan, emphasizes how the research process helps solve real-world problems, and pays special attention to policy issues that are crucial to safeguarding children's and adults' well-being in today's world. I have also used a clear, engaging writing style and provided a unique pedagogical program that will assist you in mastering information, integrating the various aspects of development, critically examining controversial issues, and applying what you have learned.

 

Pedagogical Features

Maintaining a highly accessible writing style-one that is lucid and engaging without being simplistic-continues to be one of the text's goals. I will frequently converse with you and encourage you to relate what you read to your own life. In doing so, I hope to make the study of human development involving and pleasurable.

Stories and Vignettes about Real People. To help you construct a clear image of development and to enliven the text narrative, each chronological age division is unified by case examples woven throughout that set of chapters. For example, within the middle childhood section, you'll share the experiences and concerns of 10-year-old Joey; 8-year-old Lizzie; their divorced parents, Rena and Drake; and their classmates Mona, Terry, and Jermaine. In the chapters on late adulthood, you'll get to know Walt and Ruth, a vibrant retired couple, along with Walt's older brother Dick and his wife Goldie and Ruth's sister Ida, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Besides a set of main characters who bring unity to each age period, many additional vignettes offer vivid examples of development and diversity among children, adolescents, and adults.

Chapter Introductions and End-of-Chapter Summaries. To provide a helpful preview of what you are about to read, an outline and overview of chapter content appears in each chapter introduction. Especially comprehensive end-of-chapter summaries, organized according to the major headings in each chapter and including review questions and boldfaced terms, will remind you of key points in the text discussion.

Ask Yourself . . . Active engagement with the subject matter is also supported by critical thinking questions, which can be found at the end of major sections. The focus of these questions is divided between theory and applications. Many describe problematic situations and ask you to resolve these in light of what you have learned. In this way, the questions inspire high-level thinking and new insights.

Lifespan Perspectives icon. A tree-of-life icon highlights text sections, Lifespan Vista boxes, and "Ask Yourself" questions that contain material especially relevant to the text's lifespan-perspective theme. By marking text and critical thinking questions that illustrate assumptions of the lifespan perspective and consider constancy and change across a wide age span, the icon encourages you to deepen your understanding of lifespan development.

Boxes. Four types of boxes accentuate the philosophical themes of this book: Lifespan Vista Boxes. A special set of boxes is devoted to topics that have long-term implications for development or involve intergenerational issues. Examples include: The Human Genome Project; The Prenatal Environment and Health in Later Life; Maternal Depression and Children's Development; Like Mother, Like Child: Intergenerational Continuity in Adolescent Parenthood; Two Routes to Adolescent Delinquency; Childhood Attachment Patterns and Adult Romantic Relationships; and What Can We Learn About Aging from Centenarians?

Social Issues Boxes. These boxes discuss the impact of social conditions on children, adolescents, and adults and emphasize the need for sensitive social policies to ensure their well-being-for example, A Cross-National Perspective on Health Care and Other Policies for Newborn Babies, Treating Short Children with Growth Hormone, Homosexuality: Coming out to Oneself and Others, Sex Differences in Attitudes Toward Sexuality, Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren: The Skipped-Generation Family, and Voluntary Active Euthanasia: Lessons from Australia and the Netherlands.

Variations: Culture Boxes. This subtype of the Variations boxes highlights cross-cultural and multicultural variations in human development-for example, Immigrant Youths: Amazing Adaptation; Identity Development Among Ethnic Minority Adolescents; Work-Study Apprenticeships in Germany; Persistence, Passion, and Connection: Vocational Development of Highly Successful African-American Women; Menopause as a Biocultural Event; and Cultural Variations in Mourning Behavior.

Variations: Individuality Boxes. These Variations boxes focus on biological, psychological, and social factors that underlie wide individual differences in developmental pathways, traits, and capacities. Examples include Resiliency; Temperament in the Womb; Development of Infants with Severe Visual Impairments; Parent-Child Interaction and Cognitive Development of Deaf Children; "Mindblindness" and Infantile Autism; Peer Victimization; and What Factors Influence Psychological Well-Being at Midlife?

Caregiving Concerns Tables. The relationship of theory and research to practice is woven throughout the text narrative. To accentuate this linkage, Caregiving Concerns tables provide easily accessible practical advice on the importance of caring for oneself and others throughout the lifespan. They include: Do and Don'ts for a Healthy Pregnancy; Building a Foundation for Good Eating Habits; Signs of Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs; Ways to Foster a Mastery-Oriented Approach to Learning and Prevent Learned Helplessness; Helping Children Adjust to Their Parents' Divorce; Keeping Love Alive in a Romantic Partnership; Ways Middle-Aged Parents Can Promote Positive Ties with Their Adult Children; Communicating Effectively with Alzheimer's Victims; and Resolving Grief After a Loved One Dies.

Milestones Tables. A Milestones table appears at the end of each age division of the text. These tables summarize major physical, cognitive, language, and emotional and social developments, providing a convenient device for reviewing the chronology of development across the lifespan.

FYI-For Further Information and Help. Students frequently ask where they can go to find out more about high-interest topics or to seek help in areas related to their own lives. To meet this need, an annotated section appears at the end of each chapter that provides the names and websites of organizations that disseminate information about human development and offer special services.

Additional Tables, Illustrations, and Photographs. Tables are liberally included to help students grasp essential points in the text narrative and extend information on a topic. The many full-color figures and illustrations depict important theories, methods, and research findings. Photos have been carefully selected to portray human development and to represent the diversity of people in the United States and around the world.

Marginal Glossary, End-of-Chapter Term List, and End-of-Book Glossary. Mastery of terms that make up the central vocabulary of the field is promoted through a marginal glossary, an end-of-chapter term list, and an end-of-book glossary. Important terms and concepts also appear in boldface type in the text narrative.
"I think the major strength of this book is its straightforward presentation of somewhat complex material. I think that the numerous headings and subheadings aid the reader in organizing the information. I felt the tables and figures that accompany the text were well-chosen and illustrative. Furthermore, I think that the amount of information presented was manageable. Students won't get bogged down with too much detail, but there is enough to keep them interested."

Stephanie Rowley,
University of North Carolina [nonuser]


"I LOVED the introduction, 'Sofie's Story.' This was not only intriguing in an objective sense, but it is surprisingly touching as well, when the reader discovers the personal connection to the author. So often students see professors and psychologists in a purely professional context--an authority figure, or at the very least, a nameless, faceless academician. It is an approach like this which not only engages the readers but shows the 'human side' of the author to the students and draws them in."

-Elizabeth Garner,
University of North Florida


"The information is current and accurate on the whole. I especially liked how practical applications and everyday examples are interwoven with theory and research throughout the chapter. The material is presented at a level that can be understood by both 2- and 4-year college students, with sufficient, but not overwhelming, detail."

"Caregiving Concerns tables: I think this is the nicest feature of the book. These tables are wonderful. They seamlessly integrate everyday applications of the material to everyday life with the scientific material being explored in the main text. This is the best integration of practical advice into the flow of the text I have seen in the various textbooks that I have used over the years."

"The 'look' of the book, the full-color photos and charts, the way the boxes and tables are visually integrated into the text, is better than most textbooks I have seen."

-Michael Caruso,
University of Toledo


"Overall, I have been very pleased with this textbook. I think it provides solid, up-to-date information about development and does so in a way that is appropriate for both majors and nonmajors. My students also like this book."

"I am extremely fond of the Caregiving Concerns tables. Because I teach a very diverse group of students, I work hard to incorporate as many practical suggestions as possible in my course. Many of my students are nonmajors who are taking my lifespan development course for their own interest. This information is applicable to many of them and a number of my students have remarked to me that they use it in their own lives. This is one of the reasons that I like this textbook so much."

"I have used this text in the past and intend to use it again in the future. I like this text because it generally uses an efficient writing style that is effective for undergraduate students. The sentences are simple and short. Dr. Berk also uses pictures, charts, and graphs and their corresponding captions to help present her ideas. In addition, Dr. Berk repeatedly addresses topics throughout the text. … This practice helps students to integrate the information more effectively. The information in this text is up-to-date and presented accurately and sensitively and responsibly."

Laura Hanish,
Arizona State University

I hope that learning about human development will be as rewarding for you as I have found it over the years. I would like to know what you think about both the field of human development and this book. I welcome your comments; please feel free to send them to me at Department of Psychology, Box 4620, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790, or care of the publisher, who will forward them to me.

Laura E. Berk