Development Across the Life Span, Global Edition, 8th edition

For courses in Lifespan Development

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A compelling blend of lifespan development research and applications. Development Across the Life Span provides a chronological overview of human development from the moment of conception through death, examining both the traditional areas of the field and more recent innovations. Author Robert Feldman focuses on how developmental findings can be can be applied meaningfully and practically, helping students to recognise the relevance of the discipline to their own lives. Thoroughly updated with the latest data and contemporary examples, the 8th Edition better engages students in key concepts via recent news items, timely world events, and contemporary uses of lifespan development.

Key features

• Developmental Diversity features, at least one per chapter, highlight issues relevant to today's multicultural society.
• 'Are You an Informed Consumer of Development?' features describe applications of specific research conducted by developmental investigators, helping students to see the relevance of the discipline to today's world.
• Looking Ahead sections at the beginning of each chapter orientate readers to the topics to be covered, bridging the chapter-opening prologue with the remainder of the chapter.
• Review and Rethink sections interspersed throughout each chapter recap the main points.
• Found throughout the text, Journal Prompts elicit critical thinking about the subject matter through written responses.
• Career references throughout the text help students grasp the applicability of the material to a variety of professions, including education, nursing, social work, and health-care providers.
• A running glossary offers students definitions of key terms in the margins of the page on which the term is presented initially.
• End-of-chapter material helps students review what they've learned and enables them to synthesise concepts.
  • Keyed to the chapter's learning objectives, a Looking Back summary at the end of each chapter ties the chapter together.
  • Each chapter's epilogue refers back to the chapter's opening prologue, further reinforcing the continuity of the material presented.
  • Putting It All Together integrative concept maps at the end of each part present a short vignette and prompt students to consider the vignette from both their point of view and the point of view of parents, educators, health-care workers.

New to this edition

• From Research to Practice features describe a contemporary developmental research topic and explain how it can be applied to everyday problems. Located in every chapter, these features help students to see the impact of developmental research throughout society. Almost all of the Research to Practice boxes are new to the eighth edition.
• New and updated information throughout the eighth edition ensures currency and boosts student engagement. For instance, advances in such areas as behavioral genetics, brain development, evolutionary perspectives, and cross-cultural approaches to development receive expanded and new coverage. Overall, more than a thousand new citations have been added, with most of those from articles and books published in the last few years. And new topics, many focused on contemporary issues that are relevant to students, have been added to every chapter.
• Numbered learning objectives for each major section provide a means for instructors to evaluate student mastery of specific content. These clear, specific learning objects help students direct their study most effectively and efficiently, and also enable instructors to focus their assessment.
• A brief vignette at the beginning of each chapter describes an individual or situation that is relevant to the basic developmental issues being discussed in the chapter. These engaging chapter-opening prologues introduce students to the real-world implications of the chapter topic.