life span essay

Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective - Fourth Edition

(38 reviews)

Martha Lally, College of Lake County

Suzanne Valentine-French, College of Lake County

Last Update: 2023

Publisher: Martha Lally, Suzanne Valentine-French

Language: English

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Reviewed by Michael Shaughnessy, Professor, Eastern New Mexico University on 1/16/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This is a VERY comprehensive book, integrating historical, medical and psychological information as it relates to human growth and development. That being said at 496 pages- it is really a graduate level book- as undergraduates would be overwhelmed with it and its comprehensiveness. It is up to date and chock full of tables and figures and pictures and is well organized and rich and robust with depth.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

From what I have seen the book is accurate, and while I did not read every word of every page of this 496 page book- what I have read seems on target and relevant and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Very timely and relevant- one notices the mention of COVID and it's impact on learning and the growth and development of the human organism. Artificial intelligence will be integrated into this 10 chapter book relatively quickly. At first, when I saw 10 chapters, I thought this would be a superficial summary type of book but it is surprisingly an indepth very comprehensive book- one that might fit into an honors class.

Clarity rating: 5

Clarity is good- but this book would need to be a text for a 16-week course- to allow students to read and reflect and absorb the material.

Consistency rating: 5

Logical rational and reasonable---but the length is overwhelming- students might intially be drawn to the pictures charts and graphs- but this is a graduate level text for a graduate level class- in which the graduate students have plenty of time to read and review and reflect.

Modularity rating: 4

This is a ten-chapter book- but it really delves into each chapter extensively. I was initially happy to see the 10-chapter organization- but each of these chapters is rich and robust and in depth-. I suppose that students could be told to skim over the historical and medical parts and just glance at the charts and graphs and figures- but this is a THICK book- 496 pages- and it deserves a full semester. I would NOT recommend this for a summer class.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

It is easy to reflect on the organization as it covers the human development from birth to death - and does so comprehensively. This is a book for reflective scholars- who want to stop and think about and in class- to discuss all of the issues comprehensively covered.

Interface rating: 5

Charts, graphs, figures---are all clean and neat---font could be larger in SOME places- but BOLD is used for terms and headings- and this is nicely organized.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Readable, enjoyable, conversational----but time has to be allocated for a real reading of this 496 page tome.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The authors seem to have worked on this- and I have seen a balance here- and I have no concerns or objections.

As I have already mentioned,----this is a book that deserves a full semester---and should not be used in a 4-week summer class or any 8-week approach. This book deserves the time to absorb, think about and reflect on the material that is interwoven with theory and factual knowledge and information. This is a rich robust, but thick challenging book for serious graduate students who really do want to learn more not just about human growth and development- but the human condition !

Reviewed by Kelli Rogers, Assistant Professor Practice, University of Texas at Arlington on 12/12/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This text examines how biological, psychological, and social factors shape people’s lives from conception to death, covering various stages of development and a number of theories relates to these stages. However, there is need for further discussion of atypical development and the influence of various social, cultural, and environmental contexts. There is no glossary, which would be helpful for students who prefer to print the text.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content parallels other text on lifespan development and course curricula. However, more contemporary research would increased its accuracy. Detailed discussions of risk and protective factors relative to each of the stages of development would provide a more comprehensive perspective. In addition, other issues of diversity (besides just socioeconomic background and culture) should be described.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

This text contains relevant information, however, there are several older references. While this may be appropriate for theoretical and historical discussions of human development, it fails to include updates in science and technology that significantly influences development. In addition, the inclusion of case vignettes would improve relevance and engagement. The text is written and arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.

This text is well-organized and easy to read, which makes it ideal for undergraduates. The learning objectives could be more concisely written, as there are several sets of topic-specific learning objectives in each chapter.

Consistency rating: 4

The text appears to be presented in a consistent manner, with regard to terminology and framework. However, the degree of depth to which theories and concepts are covered varies. For example, there are fewer theories discussed in chapters middle adulthood through late adulthood, which may be a reflection of current literature.

Modularity rating: 5

The text consists of 10 chapters, organized by developmental stages and can be easily reorganized and realigned for a variety of course modalities. The text is also easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion and the layout remain consistent across all chapters. However, some chapter lack a smooth transition between subsections and topics.

The text is free of significant interface issues. The table of contents and external links embedded within the chapters are navigable. The charts and images are readable.

I did not noticed any grammatical errors or issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I would have appreciated more content on issues of diversity and how this significantly impacts various stages of development. Ageism was limited to experiences in late adulthood ad fails to discuss ageism in adolescence. Case study examples of a variety of backgrounds, disabilities and abilities, religions/spirituality, etc., would improve cultural sensitivity and inclusivity. More diverse images and the inclusion of studies of nonwhite populations would be beneficial.

Overall, I found this text to be very comprehensive in covering all of the developmental stages and major theories of development. While the majority of the content is consistent with other texts, supplemental reading materials, documentaries, case vignettes, etc., are necessary to improve relevance, accuracy, and inclusiveness.

Reviewed by Michael Slavkin, Assistant Professor of Psychological Services and Counseling, Marian University on 5/31/22

Each chapter is organized around a developmental level. Pertinent theories and concepts are covered. Details are strong and material is well discussed. read more

Each chapter is organized around a developmental level. Pertinent theories and concepts are covered. Details are strong and material is well discussed.

No accuracy issues were evidenced. The text is error-free and no bias seems to exist. Relevant information and up-to date references.

The textbook is relevant, providing current information that links with the current research in the field. There is a clear arrangement as the text is tied to areas of development. The fact that there are 10 chapters makes the text fairly straightforward to implement over the course of a term.

No clarity issues were found. The text is written in a clear style, and provides good content with limited jargon. Those terms that are new are highlighted for student ease (no glossary is included, but bolded words are used for new terms).

The text is internally consistent, using a clear organizational scheme. There is no issue with framework, and material could be supplemented easily.

The text is divided into 10 chapters, which could be aligned to different course management systems easily. The text is not overly self-referential. It can be organized and aligned with articles or materials relatively easily.

The topics in the text are organized well. The material is clearly stated, and presented relatively easily for review.

No navigation problems or distorted in any way. The text was displayed well.

Clear text with no grammatical issues.

The book does an exemplary job of sharing up-to-date material that supports a strong multicultural and diverse background. Details about exceptionalities, neurodiversity, and cultural/social sensitivity are included.

The text by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is a solid overview of lifespan development. Appropriate for psychology, sociology, education, and human services; this would be a strong textbook for use in a variety of programs. Well organized and developed.

Reviewed by Joshua Smith, Psychology Instructor, Dodge City Community College on 2/25/22

This book is well laid out and covers all of the major areas of the lifespan development. The book is hits on all of the major concepts and theories that I would want to teach in an introductory or intermediate lifespan development course. The book does not contain a list of key terms and definitions at the end of the chapters or a glossary. An index at the end of the text would also be helpful.

Content in the text is consistent with other introductory development textbooks. Historical and theoretical information is accurate and contemporary examples are beneficial. The text presents information that is consistent with psychological theory and supported by research in a way that appears free of any overt bias.

The text was updated in 2019, but still contains several older references. Depending on your teaching goals (e.g., theoretical foundations vs. modern applications), the addition of more recent works could be beneficial. Instructors might need to supplement with recent research in some areas. There have been some updates from previous versions, such as the inclusion of social media and its influences on adolescents.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is clear and should be relatively easy for the average undergraduate student to understand. Major terms and concepts are generally defined in context as you read each chapter, but definitional content could be better. A glossary would help with this. It may occasionally be challenging for students to differentiate major theories or concepts from examples and elaborations on those concepts.

The table of contents is very informative and aligns clearly with the layout of each chapter. Chapter layouts are consistent and easy to follow, making the text very easy to navigate. An index at the end of the text would be helpful for students looking for concepts that are not major chapter or sections headings.

The organization and presentation of chapters follows the unfolding of the human lifespan, so reordering the text is not likely to be necessary. Within each chapter, the text is easily divisible into smaller sections for reading or teaching.

Chapters are clear and logically organized. Presentation of chapter topics follows the unfolding of the human lifespan which is appropriate for a lifespan course. Some instructors might choose to reorder subtopics and sections within a chapter which could easily be done.

Interface rating: 4

The interface is smooth. You can click on chapter titles or subsections from the expanded table of contents to be linked directly to that section of the text. However, navigation within each chapter would be more smooth if the bookmark function was used in the left navigation bar to provide point and click navigation to each chapter and section as you read.

I did not notice any grammatical errors during my review.

There is a nice, if small, section on culture and development in chapter one, but this is not detailed. In several areas, the text touches on culture and diversity, and explores their impact on development. For example, the text brings up cultural influences on cognitive development and education, gender and gender identity, parenting behaviors, marriage practices, and many other areas. However, as with many introductory texts the predominant focus is on white-western culture which serves as the normative comparison point for other groups.

I would use this text for my introductory course in developmental psychology.

Reviews prior to 2022 are for a previous edition.

Reviewed by Elbert Davis, Assistant Professor, Marshall University on 12/17/21

This is a very in-depth textbook on lifespan development. The authors follow the lifespan from pre-birth to death. The theories are introducted in the first chapter, and are again discussed in the relevant developmental stage in future chapters.... read more

The content of the textbook relies on factual information, providing references at the end of each chapter. Author bias was not observed. Errors were not evident.

This textbook would be easy to update. The chapters are broken into many different sections, which is reflected in the table of contents. While lifespan development is not a new concept, the authors included information on transgendered persons, which is not something usually discussed. That was refreshing to see.

The authors introduce jargon and new terminology by highlighting in purple. They also do a great job in breaking up text by using graphics and tables.

The chapters are arranged using the same basic framework, which makes it easier on the reader to know what to expect.

The authors use extensive subheadings to break up the material, as well as images and tables.

The topic of lifespan development makes it easier for organization. The authors started with pre-birth and discussed the various stages of development, inlcuding infancy, childhood, and adulthood, until death.

There was nothing confusing or distorted in the book. Navigation was easy. The subheadings in the table of contents were clickable, making it easy to navigate.

No graamatical errors were evident throughout the book.

Cultural diversity is woven into the chapters, as well as students with learning disabilites.

Reviewed by Lisamarie Bensman, Assistant Professor, Windward Community College on 12/12/21

This text includes all major areas of development that I would expect to find in a developmental text. The index at the beginning of the text is useful for a quick overview of what is in each chapter and can be used to jump to specific sections. There isn’t a glossary, which has its positives and negatives. Glossaries can be super helpful in reminding students of what terminology means, but they can also provide students with an oversimplified idea of those concepts, so for me a glossary is not a deal breaker.

The content in the text is accurate and provides a solid introduction to development. I was particularly pleased with how the authors presented Freud, as they appropriately acknowledged his lasting contributions to development, as well as the limitations of his work, and did so without his presenting his unsupported, unscientific theory of psychosexual development followed by the usual disclaimer. Avoiding this standard but very flawed way that many developmental texts handle Freud set a tone early on that the authors thought carefully about the validity of the content that they included and would present only the most accurate, scientifically supported information. That trend appears to have continued throughout the text (with a few exceptions, please see comments on relevance).

The majority of the content appears to be as current as can reasonably be expected for any text and, in some places, even more current than would be expected (for instance, when I selected this text in 2019 it already included a small section on children in detention centers at the southern US border and the impact separation and stress has on children, as well as the APA’s opposition to family separations). There are a few places, particularly in regards to pregnant individuals in the second chapter and in regards to gender identity that language could be more inclusive and better reflect current research and understanding, but even then, the language and understandings used are not that out of date nor different from how many developmental texts approach these issues (I’m not saying this standard approach is a good thing, merely a common issue).

The writing in this text is clear and easy to follow. The style is a bit more formal than would be my ideal for my particular students, but it’s not overly formal in an off-putting way. The syntax is appropriate for college students of all levels.

The text is consistent in the framework and terminology used. As a developmental text, it follows a standard organizational format for each chapter (after the beginning two foundational chapters and minus the final chapter on death and dying). The authors clearly, consistently, and appropriately reference back to the same theories and concepts throughout each chapter (adding new developmental concepts and removing old concepts, as appropriate). They provide enough context each time that a past theory/concept is presented to remind students what the students already know without giving so much context that students feel like they are re-reading the same information over and over again.

The chapters in the text are a bit lengthy because they cover all areas of development within the chapter’s developmental time period. If desired, smaller sections within each chapter could be assigned using page numbers. But there’s only one link for the whole book, as opposed to separate links per chapter or section, so if you were going to assign sections within each chapter separately, you’d have to first figure out the page numbers and then students would have to navigate to those sections. This isn’t the end of the world, just like navigating to each chapter isn’t the end of the world, but it might be something you or your students find annoying. As this is a developmental textbook, I wouldn’t suggest doing the chapters or sections out of order (I’d say the same for any developmental text).

This text is well organized. It has one chapter per developmental time period with each chapter progressing from physical development to cognitive development and ending with social development. Putting all three areas of development into one chapter does make the chapters long, but students seem to think they have less reading this way than with development textbooks that do three chapters per developmental time period (i.e. one chapter per area). Within each chapter, the topic order makes sense and follows naturally.

Interface rating: 3

The interface for this book is okay. The text and images flow well together. There are no confusing breaks/blank spaces or distorted images. That being said, it’s not the easiest text to navigate. If you know what page you want or remember to use the table of contents at the beginning of the text (which does allow you to jump directly to a section), you’re all set. But if you’re in a chapter and want something else in that chapter, it’s a scroll till you find it or use ctrl-F a lot type situation. On the left-hand side of the .pdf are thumbnails of the pages, but a linked table of contents would be easier. That way, the sections and order of the chapter could be seen at a glance and, if linked, one could jump directly to the desired section.

There are no large grammatical errors of note. For the most part, the text reads well/easily. There are a few hiccups here and there, but nothing overwhelming, nor do the small issues happen enough to be off-putting or undermine confidence in content.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

Based on the reviews, I expected more discussion of culture than I found in this text. Even the ‘issues in development’ section in chapter 1 is missing the question of whether development is universal or particularistic, an overarching question addressed in most developmental classes. That being said, there are some sections throughout the text that do mention the impact of culture. In a related vein, as far as diversity goes, while there is some diversity mentioned, there isn’t as much diversity as needed to reflect real life. Even the images selected skew highly Caucasian in many sections. This lack of diversity made the text less relevant to my students who are extremely diverse and might struggle to see themselves in the images and descriptions given.

Generally, I am satisfied with this text. I am currently finishing my fourth semester teaching with it. Students have reported that they find the book easy to read and engaging enough. I typically describe it as a solid text without the bells and whistles of the new for-purchase textbooks and that my students as a group get more out of this text that they can afford to read than they would out of a flashy, interactive text that few of them can afford to buy. I do recommend this text to other instructors.

Reviewed by Mary Ann Woodman, Adjunct Professor, Rogue Community College on 12/8/21

The content material in this book is very easy to read and well organized. It provides a comprehensive look at the stages of human growth over time including theoretical, methodological and historical approaches to lifespan development. Chapter 1: Introduction to Lifespan Development Chapter 2: Heredity, Prenatal Development, and Birth Chapter 3: Infancy and Toddlerhood Chapter 4: Early Childhood Chapter 5: Middle and Late Childhood Chapter 6: Adolescence Chapter 7: Emerging and Early Adulthood Chapter 8: Middle Adulthood Chapter 9: Late Adulthood Chapter 10: Death and Dying Each chapter presents physical development, cognitive development, and psychosocial (or social and emotional) development.

The information is historically accurate, unbiased and without error. It includes a balance of history and contemporary theories and concerns. The information in this text appears accurate, error-free, and unbiased. There is a great deal of content in each chapter from birth to death and all stages in between. Within each category of development, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development is covered along with stories and examples to support the theories. It also contains links to other resources for students to consider as they study.

The book was completed in 2019, so it is up to date, written and arranged in a way that provides for updates in an easy and straightforward manner. An instructor can easily supplement the material with current issues relevant to the material presented in each stage of human development. The bibliography at the end is also helpful.

The authors writing style is lucid, easily accessible with college level terminology. The learning objectives make it easy for student outcomes and instructor assessment. It would be beneficial to include a glossary and make certain the PDF meets standards of accessibility according to federal legislation.

Each chapter is laid out in a developmental structure with sub-headings that make it consistent in framework. There are no inconsistencies in terminology. The bold vocabulary and italic definitions are a desirable feature and the print size very readable.

The text is organized well and additional material could be added without presenting disruption to the reader. Because the content is already 468 pages, a bit much for college students to absorb in one term, it might be wise to condense some of the material if new content is later added.

Birth to death in a linear fashion is the mark of a book focused on Lifespan Development and this one offers physiology, psychology, sociology and research to support the content. It is well organized in chapters with clear subheadings, and very easy to follow.

The images, graphs, charts and visuals support and enhance the written material very well. Many students are visual learners therefore, this component adds a great deal for understanding the concepts. There are no places that distract or confuse the reader.

There are no grammatical errors in this book.

Most of the chapters include cultural sensitivity of race, ethnicity, and gender concerns. There is a fair amount of information focused on family diversity, religious populations, gender roles and inclusivity.

It will be a gift to offer this textbook at our College as the current cost of textbooks has risen to levels quite unaffordable by our students. Much appreciation to the authors for their incredible efforts in providing this resource for Lifespan Development Courses.

Reviewed by Jeongwoon Jeong, Instructor, Fort Hays State University on 10/20/21

The overall text covers comprehensive ideas including basic and advanced concepts of theories. It would have been better if the text included index or glossary. read more

The overall text covers comprehensive ideas including basic and advanced concepts of theories. It would have been better if the text included index or glossary.

The text content is mostly standard and accurate.

The text content is mostly up-to-date and relevant to each subject with different resources.

The text is well written and is to understand; however, it could have better if the text is more clearly separated between subjects and theories

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. They also well included tables and images for each theory or framework

I can say that the text has a high readability by including smaller reading sections.

The topics in the text are well organized by theories and others but some sections are not clear whether they are listed headings or sub-headings.

The text included appropriate images but I would recommend to have more vibrant images.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Since diversity is very important in our society, I hope that the text included more about cultural perspective in each chapter and theories.

Reviewed by Keonya Booker, Associate Professor, College of Charleston on 9/15/21

This textbook analyzes the human lifespan from birth until death. Each chapter includes a discussion about the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes that can be expected at every developmental stage. The expanded table of contents lists all sub-headed sections, but a clear distinction between the three aforementioned categories would have been useful. Terms are in bold print and defined for the reader. The addition of a glossary would be helpful for students who wish to have particular terms organized in one place.

Overall, the textbook is accurate. There are few errors that would significantly change the meaningful content of the book. As an introductory textbook, the major theories of development are presented correctly and without bias.

This textbook juxtaposes classic developmental theory (e.g., Sociocultural, Constructivism, Behaviorism) that will not change, with more recent information that may have to be updated. For example, in the late adulthood chapter the leading causes of death in the wake of COVID will likely have to be revisited. It should be easy to make these revisions. Since the last update was in 2019, another version could address this.

The writing was clear and without filler. Jargon is left to a minimum and examples are provided to help the reader understand complex terms. At times there is an overwhelming amount of statistical references, which can result in a sea of parenthetical percentages that may be hard for students to move through.

Each lifespan stage has a section devoted to physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. The textbook is consistent with respect to its terminology and framework. A list of fully cited references are provided at the conclusion of each chapter.

In its current state, the textbook is in a PDF format. While the table of contents provides page numbers, it would be preferable to have a more reader-friendly searchable function such as hyperlinked headers, or another way to go to a specific part of the text. As it stands right now, the reader has to seek and scroll. Also, each chapter is very dense, some at more than 40 pages. In a typical twice or thrice weekly class schedule, an instructor may have to assign sections and specific pages at a time.

As this is a developmental psychology textbook, the authors presented the human lifespan in a logical fashion. The physiological and social implications of each developmental stage are addressed.

Most of the images added to the reading experience; however, a few were distorted and unclear. Replacing these images would be helpful. The figures and tables illuminated important topical ideas and research findings.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

There were a handful of grammatical errors, some of which were within a bolded, defined term. Another thorough editing of the textbook could eliminate this issue.

The authors presented the qualities of the human experience from multiple cultural perspectives. Beyond racial and gender diversity, attention was paid to LGBTQ+ communities, neurodivergent populations, and those who are differently abled. Research was presented that explored how humans make sense of their worlds in a diverse set of circumstances and from a unique identity perspective. The inclusion of images that depicted various multicultural groups was an important component as well.

Thank you to the authors for providing an open source alternative to a traditionally published textbook. I appreciate the time and effort it took to complete such a large project.

Reviewed by Cebrail Karayigit, Assistant Professor, Pittsburg State University on 4/22/21

This book is comprehensive, and includes chapters on each stage of the lifespan. The book covers not only cognitive domain, but also biosocial and psychosocial development, involving continuity and change. The book also analyze different developmental events from the perspective of the major theories of development (e.g. Erikson, Kohlberg). This book also provides a thorough understanding of the timing and sequence of development throughout the lifespan.

The content of this is accurate and consistent with most developmental levels. However, there are few things in emerging adulthood section that I do not believe are fully up-to-date (e.g. emerging adulthood has been proposed as a new life stage between 18-29 in recent literature). Emerging adulthood and Early Adulthood could be covered separately and in different chapters.

The book explains how research contributes to the understanding of development. Although information included is mostly relevant to each developmental level, I do not see any focus on how use of social media plays a crucial role in adolescents' and emerging adults' lives.

The information presented is written very clearly, and the book is easy to follow.

The book has a consistent format and structure. The chapters has good internal consistency.

Each chapter could include a separate domain (e.g. cognitive, biosocial, and psychosocial/emotional), so it would make it easy to focus on specific topics across different developmental levels.

While the book has a consistent and logical structure, it would be helpful if the subsections in each chapter were arranged according to specific domain such as cognitive, biosocial, and psychosocial aspect.

Information is presented in a way that makes it easy to read and navigate. The book contains a lot of figures, graphs, and seems like a good fit with the online format.

No major grammatical errors were detected.

Although few chapters focus on diversity (e.g. chapter 1 and 8), it would make it more effective if each chapter included a section that attempt to analyze different developmental events from the perspective of non-Western perspective.

Reviewed by Dr. Charlene Moore-Peterson, Adjunct Professor, Aiken Technical College on 3/16/21

This book covers all areas effectively as it relates to the subject of Lifespan. read more

This book covers all areas effectively as it relates to the subject of Lifespan.

Accuracy is error and is unbiased.

Content in this book is updated and easy and straightforward to implement effectively.

This book provides adequate context.

Great consistency.

This book is easily readily divisible; broken down inyo section is quite helpful.

Well organized.

The text is free of interface issues.

Little to no grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive and is not offensive in anyway. Culturally appropriate.

Reviewed by Emily Healy, Assistant Professor, Bunker Hill Community College on 2/9/21

This textbook provides a comprehensive look at human growth and development over the lifespan. It begins with an introductory chapter, which looks at theoretical approaches to studying lifespan development, different methodological approaches to... read more

Chapter 1: Introduction to Lifespan Development Chapter 2: Heredity, Prenatal Development, and Birth Chapter 3: Infancy and Toddlerhood Chapter 4: Early Childhood Chapter 5: Middle and Late Childhood Chapter 6: Adolescence Chapter 7: Emerging and Early Adulthood Chapter 8: Middle Adulthood Chapter 9: Late Adulthood Chapter 10: Death and Dying

Each chapter and corresponding period of development is treated from different perspectives: physical development, cognitive development, and psychosocial (or social and emotional) development.

The information in this text is accurate, error-free, and unbiased. As a survey course, this book is tasked with covering a wide amount of information of the entire lifespan. The book looks at issues of heredity, prenatal development, birth, infancy and toddlerhood, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, emerging and early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood, and death and dying. Within each category of development, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial (social-emotional) development is considered. Furthermore, each period of development includes special topics and categories that are more pertinent to those periods of development. For example, in the chapter on late adulthood, issues of retirement, neurocognitive disorders, elder abuse, and substance use disorders specifically in the elderly populations are treated. By contrast, in the chapter on adolescence, special topics include sexual development, eating disorders, and teenage drivers.

This book is likely to retain a high score in relevance in the coming decades. While it provides a wealth of information specific to each stage of lifespan development, the information is no so specific as though it will become obsolete or outdated quickly. This textbook provides a solid foundation upon which instructors and educators may build in relevant examples from current events. For example, in the chapter on middle and late childhood, while the topic of physical development is discussed and special topics of sports and childhood obesity are treated, an individual instructor can bring in information that is relevant and pertinent to the specific population in which he/she/they are teaching.

This text is written clearly, in an accessible manner, providing both context and working definitions for any technical terminology. The textbook introduces students to technical terminology used in the field of human growth and development in a scaffolded manner, where new concepts are introduced in appropriate context, are then defined. and the concepts are used in examples in order to improve reader comprehension. Each section of the chapter begins with the learning objectives for that particular section. The text utilizes headers and subheaders to clearly denote information organization. Vocabulary words are bolded and set in the text in purple, and definitions are in italics.

The textbook is organized in a consistent manner. Each chapter begins with an overview. Each section of the chapter contains a text box including learning objectives for that section. Each chapter (apart from the first introductory chapter) treats the subject matter from three broad domains or dimensions: 1. Physical development 2. Cognitive development 3. Psychosocial (social-emotional) development

Within the chapters, consistent formatting of headers and subheaders are used. It is a well-organized and highly navigable text overall, which is student-friendly.

On the whole, this text is easily divided into sections. Chapters do not run over into each other, as each chapter begins on a new page. The text also makes use of a consistent, predictable format, which makes it more predictable for the reader. The only drawback to the text that I have found with regard to its modularity is that it would be helpful if the three approaches (physical development, cognitive development, and psychosocial development) were also set apart. For my own classes, I treat physical and cognitive development on one day (or one week), and psychosocial development on another day (or week), and it is not readily divisible into these sections.

Overall, the organization of this text is clear and predictable. Each chapter is clearly listed, with topics clearly defined. Each section contains a set of learning objectives for that section. In addition, the chapters are organized in a repeating manner, then adding in topic-specific information for that particular stage of development.

The text is easily navigable, and is easily exported as a PDF (in the event that the instructor wishes to break the textbook down chapter-by-chapter for students, such as in an online learning environment where different topics are treated on a week-to-week basis).

The text is very culturally sensitive. Pictures in the text depict a wide array of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious populations (for example: BIPOC, Muslim individuals, etc.). Furthermore, discussions of special topics within chapters are treated from a multitude of perspectives. For example, in the section on religion, a wide variety of faith traditions are treated, rather than singling out one perspective. Furthermore, in the section on family units, different formulations of families (including step- and blended- families, as well as LBGT families) are included.

Reviewed by Jacqueline McMillion-Williams, Adjunct Professor, Bunker Hill Community College on 1/31/21, updated 2/1/21

For a course on developmental psychology, this text provides appropriate coverage of all areas of the lifespan. The table of contents provides an effective index in both short and long form. Key words are bold and defined within the text, but... read more

Accurate information about theory and application with diverse perspectives of the lifespan. Theory presented within a historical context with examples of life lived in a variety of circumstances that influence development.

There is a clear timeline of theory formation, historical context, and application to current society and with recent data. The arrangement of the text, with clear citations and reference information at the end of each chapter allows data to be easily located and updated. This is also true of the use of current slang; reflective of the time and society the text is written within, but also easy to locate and update.

From my perspective, the audience for this book is students and as such, a benefit of this book in comparison to those I have used in the past, is the use of common and approachable language. There is an appropriate use of jargon so the reader can place it in context. Although the text is clearly academic, it tells a clear story about development that engages the reader.

From the beginning, there is a clear framework of development for the reader to follow. Contents of each chapter and use of terminology stays consistent with the framework.

Authors divide the content of the textbook into sections that are logical for a comprehensive overview of the lifespan. Content is easy to divide into weekly readings or modules for student consumption and learning. Teachers could choose to assign in the original order or rearrange content by preference. Simultaneously the sections can be pulled out to be used a supplements for study in other courses on the lifespan such as early childhood, child psychology or adolescence and adult. You could also choose to restructure content to provide individual overviews of each theory.

Authors present topics in a logical sequence as chapters and subtopics are sections of each chapter. This makes the text easy to follow and annotate.

The textbook does not have any interface issues. It has appropriate headings to divide sections. Images and charts are clearly visible in color and black & white. Images are in appropriate locations that provide illustration of information. Alignment with text is complimentary.

I did not locate any grammatical errors in the text.

Text includes culturally relevant and sensitive examples of a variety of backgrounds (race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation) as well as about various aspects of biological, psychological and social influences on normalized development in a manner that may challenge students to rethink what is normal.

My use of this text with students is just beginning. Initial adoption occurred based on a recommendation from other faculty. Overall, the text is more up to date and culturally diverse than past texts I have used for similar and the same course. I would have liked some supplementary materials, but given the electronic format of the text, I have not found it difficult to create my own.

Reviewed by Meagan Docherty, Assistant Professor, Bowling Green State University on 12/15/20

This book is comprehensive, and includes chapters on each stage of the lifespan, as well as an introductory chapter with information on the lifespan perspective, theories, and research. Each chapter includes the major developmental changes and tasks associated with physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development. The table of contents is very detailed, and provides information on subheadings within each chapter.

This textbook is more accurate than others I've looked into using. It provides information on historical research and theory, while also providing a more contemporary perspective, and indicating when findings may be culture-dependent.

I think the content generally appears to be up to date, and includes more contemporary perspectives and recent research findings.

This book is written in a clear, simple style that I think would work well for undergraduate classes. New terms are introduced and explained clearly.

The book appears to be consistent in its approach and framework, including concepts covered and terms used.

With maybe a few exceptions, the text is generally broken up into several subheadings, making it easy to use certain sections on their own or reorganize material if needed.

I think overall the book is organized very well. Other lifespan psychology books tend to break chapters up into subsections for physical, cognitive, and social and emotional development, and it's my impression that undergraduate students appreciate that distinction, so it may help for a later edition of this book to adopt that organization.

Overall I think the book is laid out very well, but some of the charts and images appear to be low quality or dated. I like that there are links to sources embedded in chapters, but overall it does not have the same production quality that undergraduate students may be used to with current e-books.

I did not notice any grammatical errors in my reading of the book.

Overall I think the book does a good job of being inclusive and highlighting different cultural perspectives while being sensitive and appropriate.

I like the material covered in the book, and I think it would provide a good amount of breadth and depth for an undergraduate lifespan course. I think if the production quality was even higher, it would make the book even easier to adopt.

Reviewed by Amy Clinard, Assistant Professor, Bunker Hill Community College on 12/14/20, updated 12/18/20

The Table of Contents itemizes lifespan development just in terms of the stages of the lifespan (infancy, early childhood, etc.) and does not further itemize based on domains which many other textbooks do (physical, cognitive, psychosocial). Although the full table of contents does provide an exhaustive list of specific topics covered within each of those lifespan stages, it might have been better to have those topics itemized by domains.

I very much appreciated the level of accuracy and the unbiased nature of this textbook. It is clear that the authors were deliberate in integrating multiple diverse perspectives into their work. I have not found any major content errors.

This textbook is notably up-to-date and contains many timely, current and important conversations that are not always found in textbooks. It would seem that any necessary updates will be easily implemented as a result.

This textbook is written in a way that is clear, accessibly, and ELL friendly. It clearly identifies, defines and explains psychological jargon and technical terms in a way that is easily understood by the reader.

The text is exceptionally consistent with terminology and framework.

Due to the fact that this textbook only contains a few chapters (based on the stages of the lifespan such as infancy, early childhood, etc.), and is not broken down further into developmental domains (physical, cognitive, psychosocial growth), it can make it slightly challenging to identify and assign smaller reading assignments without referencing specific page numbers.

The topics presented within this textbook flow nicely, and are organized in a logical manner for the reader.

There are no interface issues within this text such as navigation issues, distortions of images, etc. I would add that some of the images included within this textbook are slightly rudimentary (black and white, with limited detail or visual interest) and may benefit from some more interesting components.

There are no grammatical errors within this text.

I would say that this is a major strength of this textbook. In my experience, many other textbooks contain a limited amount of perspectives and/or inclusion of diverse ideas. This particular book is intentional in terms of including diverse perspectives, local AND global issues, and is relevant and meaningful to all students as a result.

Reviewed by Joshua Becker, Professor of Psychology, Greenfield Community College on 6/30/20

The text itself is comprehensive, with each topic organized into logical and interesting sub-topics. The sub-topics are written comprehensively in easy-to-digest paragraphs. There is no glossary or index, however. read more

The information in this text is accurate, current, and relatively bias-free. Good (brief) section in Early Childhood on transgender kids, for example.

This text has a good balance of grand theories and current research. It will (like all texts) require continual revising as new theories emerge and new areas of focus become important for developmental psychologists.

The writing is clear and understandable.

Good internal consistency!

This is a strength of this text. Each subsection can be used on its own, or part of the whole.

Overall, the text is well organized, though I think I would prefer a text that has more layers of organization. This text has 10 chapters, each with numerous sub-headings, but without clear delineations between domains of development.

I did enjoy the interface - though this is essentially one long PDF document, which may be confusing or problematic for some students.

Nice writing!

The text includes weaves in topics related to several lenses of identity, including race, class, sexualities, and gender identity. It does not challenge, however, the enduring structures of oppression in the field of psychology and society at large - though this is probably considered outside the scope of developmental psychology.

I enjoyed the text! I would consider adapting it if I could find ancillary materials.

Reviewed by Kevin Duquette, Assistant Professor, Bridgewater State University on 6/22/20

Very clearly laid out with ten chapters ranging from prenatal to death. Table of contents acts also as an index of sorts, with specific topics within each stage clearly defined and page numbers provided. Could benefit from a glossary (either at the end of each chapter or at the end of the text as a whole) and/or separate index for concepts that are present throughout multiple chapters.

An overall comprehensive view of development with special consideration for culture and diversity. Text also discusses how views have changed over time (e.g., in relation to intellectual disabilities; gender roles, etc.), and uses the most current terms. Text also provides information on many developmental theories (as opposed to pigeonholing information to few), and continually spirals back to these topics to reinforce them. A few small errors (e.g., “tabula rosa” instead of “tabula rasa”, pg. 16), but by and large information is up to date, and clearly explained.

All information is up to date, and uses current citations. Authors also did a great job with citing and providing sources as well so that readers can find additional information on topics from the primary sources. In addition to current parenthetical citations, the writers provide context to let the reader know when the data were taken, which allows a more informed understanding of the numbers provided. Authors show data trends over time that will be easy to update as newer data are published.

One area where there could be additional relevant information would be in regards to substance use, and the recent legalization of marijuana across U.S. states and Canada, and how this legalization may affect understanding and interventions related to marijuana and other substance use.

Writing is very accessible, and clear. Jargon terms are defined as part of the text and the flow of the book as a whole is logical. Main topics (i.e., developmental theories) are revisited and applied to specific life stages with relevant examples to connect to larger themes.

Major concepts are revisited in each chapter, and examples for application of knowledge are given. Further, the formatting itself is consistent, leading to an overall clean and intuitive look. Authors are also consistent with the use of discussion questions for each chapter.

Very well organized. Great use of headings, subheadings, bold, italics, color, and other formatting to break up ideas into intuitive sections. The chapters are broken up logically based on developmental periods. Could have benefited from additional focus specifically on early adolescence considering the importance of this stage of life (relative to others—similar to how the text broke up childhood into early ‘childhood’, and ‘middle & late childhood’)

Clear organization throughout. Good use of boxes, figures, graphs, etc. to enhance understanding and draw readers’ attention to important concepts or illustrations. Logically sequenced chapters and sections.

Very well-organized and good use of images/charts to enhance understanding. Text provides links to images, graphs, references for further reading, which enhances the interactivity of the text. Text would benefit from the ability to “jump” to chapters or sub-sections by clicking on that particular section in the table of contents.

Aside from the aforementioned “tabula rosa” being used instead of “tabula rasa” (p.16), this book reads well and is grammatically sound.

Shows appreciation and consideration of the effect of culture and intersectional identity on development. Provides international perspectives on development as well. The only criticism would be that the vast majority of the images used are of white people.

Solid text. Rivals books that are $100+.

Reviewed by Sandra Gilliland, Associate Professor, Louisiana State University of Alexandria on 4/20/20

This 468 page book covers all of the major stages and domains of development. The book begins with a detailed overview of the field of lifespan development and then goes into great depth on the common issues and areas of interest for each major... read more

The book appears to provide information from various perspectives allowing the student/reader to apply critical thinking to evaluate each topic.

This book was published in 2017, the majority of references are less than 10 years old. The topics are covered with several recent examples but also uses many of the historically popular studies that will remain relevant (for example Harlow's work on attachment).

This was actually my favorite part of the book. I found it very easy to read and feel as though my students would as well.

The book builds on some of the most reputable theories in lifespan development (Piaget, Erikson, Vygotsky).

Modularity rating: 3

I like that each stage of development is covered in separate chapters but it also results in very long chapters. For example chapter 3 is 44 pages long. That is a lot for students to digest so I would need to assign page numbers instead of chapters.

I like the breakdown of chapters into the developmental stages.

The book downloaded as a free PDF, no problems navigating.

No issues with grammar were noted.

Text and images appears to represent a wide arrange of different cultures.

The length of this book is a little intimidating but the content is excellent.

Reviewed by Masami Takahashi, Professor, Northeastern Illinois University on 4/5/20

This is a very comprehensive Lifespan Developmental Psychology textbook (465 pgs). It covers not only psychology but also a fair amount of biology as well, and almost any other topis I can think of including relatively up-to-date research findings. However, one may say that it is good for neither one thing nor the other. Although comprehensive, this book lacks details in theory and data for upper level Developmental Psychology courses for our Psych majors. The book simply scratches the surface of many topics. On the other hand, there is simply too much information for our Gen Ed Human Development. What this means is that the instructors are required to work quite a bit before adopting it for a particular course, at least initially (e.g., finding supplemental readings for our majors, selecting small portions of this textbook appropriate for our Gen Ed students, etc.).

It is accurate for the topics it covers, but the discussions are often limited in details for the Psych majors.

Content is relatively up-to-date. However. with any textbook with cutting-edge research evidence, it is inevitable that that part of the book will require further editing in the near future.

It is clearly written and readable for any level of undergrads.

I noticed several sections with duplication (i.e., cut/paste) that needs editing

For those instructors who are adopting a part of this book (e.g., easy sections for Intro Developmental), it would be helpful if the subsections in each chapter were numbered (2-1, 2-2, etc.) so that they can be specified in the syllabus.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

I like the fact that the References are provided not at the end of the book but immediately after each chapter. This allows the readers an easier access to the references if needed. Personally, however, I prefer a topic by topic (rather than chronological) arrangement of the chapters.

There are lots of Figures (mostly photographs from public domains) throughout the book that do not have any caption. I couldn’t tell what these pictures were for.

Good. Readable.

It includes a fair amount of cross-cultural studies

Having presented pros and cons above, would I adopt this book? Yes, I would for my Gen Ed course. That means after thoroughly reading this book, I have to handpick those sections that are general enough for the freshman/sophomore students, specify the pg numbers in syllabus, and align the contents with the exams that I already have for the course.

Reviewed by Linde Althaus, Psychology Instructor, Minnesota State University System on 3/8/20

This book covers all of the age groups covered in a lifespan class, but consolidates some age groups to lengthy chapters. read more

This book covers all of the age groups covered in a lifespan class, but consolidates some age groups to lengthy chapters.

The book appears to be straight-forward and accurate. Several topics could use up-dating and it surprised me that it was last updated in 2019.

The photos seemed dated and some of the topics could be refreshed, but it did not impact my perception of the book as a whole.

Topics were clearly written and were approachable to a reader.

The writing and terminology appears to be consistent throughout the text.

The chapters were long and I feel like it may be difficult to divide into modules. I'm not sure how I would assign the readings in a fully online class if I adapted this text.

This is a book organized from birth to death, which is how I like to teach Lifespan. Someone who teaches a topical approach would struggle using this text.

You have to scroll through the text to find your page. There are not easy ways to jump to various sections of the text. I wanted to read particular sections that I feel are my areas of expertise and I found it cumbersome.

What I read appears correct and well-written.

Some of the pictures are culturally diverse, but I would like more examples and descriptions of other cultures within the text.

I appreciate that this book is available, but I am hesitant to adopt it at the moment. If it was updated, made easier to navigate and more cultural diversity was added, I would definitely switch.

Reviewed by Pamela L. Parent, Associate Professor (Adjunct), J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College on 1/14/20

The text was comprehensive and well-planned. Addresses major concepts and theories with numerous online links to facilitate further inquiry. read more

The text was comprehensive and well-planned. Addresses major concepts and theories with numerous online links to facilitate further inquiry.

Accurate content with good coverage of material. Commendable addition of inclusion of some “nontraditional” areas in developmental psychology.

Good use is made of numerous and diverse live links allowing readers to access various resources.

Written in a clear and coherent manner with some excellent examples. Content was presented in a manner that made it useful to varying levels of learners.

Chapters are well-structured and organized in a clear manner throughout.

Chapters contain logical sections with subheadings. Developmental Psychology lends itself well to a chronological format as used in this text.

Well-organized with consistency in addressing domains. Chapter sections well-segmented.

This text worked well with the online format. Contains numerous helpful graphs, diagrams, etc.

Grammatical errors were not apparent however a few spelling errors that one would hope would have been caught on review - “constructivitst’ and “constrctivist” in the same sentence cluster.

This book consistently incorporated attention to diversity. The unique influences of various cultures on developmental stages was well-addressed.

A comprehensive textbook that works well as an OER. I am intrigued by the possibility of using this as my primary text.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Becker, Senior Instructor II, Eastern Oregon University on 1/4/20, updated 1/15/20

The text covers a wide range of topics related to development, including current trends and issues. read more

The text covers a wide range of topics related to development, including current trends and issues.

The text is accurate and includes a large number of references. It also includes important critiques of major theorists.

The structure of this text will allow it to be easily updated and continue to address important trends and issues.

Educational Psychology texts are often written with dense academic language that makes it a challenge for students to easily process and understand. This OER is written in a way that makes the information more accessible to students and will help keep their interest.

There is a consistent format and structure used throughout the text.

While the overall organization of the text is through chronological age, each chapter addresses many of the same topics in a way that would make it easy to focus on specific topics across different ages/chapters.

The text follows a consistent and logical organization.

The material is presented in a fashion that makes it easy to read and navigate.

No major grammatical errors or patterns were detected.

This text specifically addresses cultural differences related to the topics at hand in a way that is respectful and will help anyone working with a variety of cultures in the classroom.

Reviewed by Amy Hammond, Associate Professor/Dept Chair, Centenary College of Louisiana on 12/30/19

Very comprehensive! All the major concepts and ideas are addressed, although sometimes briefly (as is necessary in a lifespan text). read more

Very comprehensive! All the major concepts and ideas are addressed, although sometimes briefly (as is necessary in a lifespan text).

On the whole, the content is accurate and consistent with most developmental texts. There are elements in the pre-natal development section (particularly around teratogens) that I do not believe are fully up-to-date and provide inaccurate or misleading information.

Content is highly relevant to the topic. While there are some topics that some would consider “supplemental” throughout, there is enough variety that individual instructors can tailor inclusion of these materials as they desire.

Material is presented in a clear and coherent manner throughout the text.

The structure within in chapter reflects consistent approaches to the material. The writing and thoughtfulness is consistently strong throughout.

Organization and structure lend themselves to including or excluding various elements as one chooses. Major sections are easily identified and segmented.

The overall organization is very good for a chronological developmental text. Within chapters, there is a consistent organization of physical, then cognitive, then psychosocial issues and within these sections, when relevant, consistencies in the order of presentation of theories and concepts.

Learning Objectives in each chapter were clear, if exclusively at the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I found the use of headings within chapters to be difficult to follow. It wasn’t always easy to see which sections where sub-sections of which ideas. Overall, this text is less visually “fun” than the big publisher versions, however, it is full of colorful photos, relevant graphs and diagrams.

Excellent! This text is easy to read, but is still written in an appropriate manner for lower-level college students.

There is excellent coverage of ideas for a United States audience relevant to US-centric concerns (for example, there are very good sections on LGBTQIA issues). However, mention of topics outside a US context are somewhat thin (especially in the first half of the text). To be fair, this reflects weaknesses in the field more generally (which are slowly being rectified). There is more comprehensive consideration of cross-cultural issues in later chapters. The prenatal development section felt somewhat maternal-blaming. While there were some explicit mentions that environmental factors were important, there was strong implication that most things which could go wrong were the “fault” of the mother. Nothing was explicitly stated in this way, but I felt there was too little explicit and implicit acknowledgement of the randomness that can sometimes cause less-than-ideal outcomes during pregnancy and birth.

I am grateful to our colleagues who have worked to put together this excellent resource! And in particular that you have chosen to make it available in a way that invites ongoing use/changes/updates! It allows me to use the many, many, MANY wonderful elements and tweak the few things that are not quite my personal pedagogical approach. I anticipate adopting this text next year!

Reviewed by Sara Fier, Professor, Minnesota State University System-Southwest Minnesota State University on 12/30/19

The book provided good coverage of developmental psychology concepts. There was no index or glossary included, although the fact that the book is in an electronic format makes this less problematic than for a hard copy book. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The book seemed to present information accurately and presented multiple theories/perspectives on topics without getting too technical/detailed.

The book covers developmental psychology historical information and developmental basics well. More recent research is incorporated as well. The book's format seems to allow for updates to be easily made.

The book is easy to understand. In some cases illustrative examples help explain concepts that may be new to the reader. The reader would benefit from the use of additional examples.

The book's internal consistency is good, with chapters being organized in a similar format.

Developmental psychology allows for ease of modularity, and this text uses a chronological lifespan format.

The book was organized in the typical developmental psycology chronological format and then further broken down within each chapter by developmental domain: physical, cognitive, social. That was easy to follow. As future editions of the book lead to revisions within each domain, domain-specific organization and transitions can be reconsidered.

Navigation of the book was easy and seemed to work well in the electronic format. No display issues were noted.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

The book had grammatical/typographical errors comparable in number to published textbooks.

A variety of examples were provided related to diversity of race, ethnicity, and background. Authors should continuously strive to enhance incorporation of these topics into books.

I appreciate the authors making this book available. I look forward to using it as a devopmental psychology text.

Reviewed by Diane Bordenave, Associate Professor, SUNO on 11/9/19

The text covers lifespan development content from birth until death. There is an Table of Contents with chapter sections and page numbers for reference. read more

The text covers lifespan development content from birth until death. There is an Table of Contents with chapter sections and page numbers for reference.

I found no grammatical errors, bias or inaccurate content.

The content of the textbook should become more and more relevant as the country recognizes the importance of understanding and responding to the needs of an aging generation of baby boomers. For the most part, content has been more focused on early childhood and infant development. When comparing the content to older lifespan development textbooks, I did not see many issues where changes in a short period of time were necessary for updating the text. For the most part, issues of development covered here have remained relatively unchanged over time. Particularly in an introductory survey course, more in-depth analysis of changes and consequences such as those resulting from science or technology, are not expected here but can be further explored in graduate or higher level specialized courses on a topic.

The textbook is written at a level appropriate for the students at my HBCU, many of whom are first generation college students. Terminology, when used, is defined. Figures and Tables assist in interpreting the prose.

The terminology and framework in the text is internally consistent and is particularly suited to a lifespan approach. It helps to understand the continuity of life from birth to death and how earlier stages of development impact later ones when the terminology and framework are consistent.

I would have preferred that the text was divided into more chapters than 10 to better align with a typical semester of 15 weeks. Students tend to understand and work better on a chapter by chapter basis than on subsections in my experience.

After a well written introduction, the text presented the chapter is a logical fashion that followed the normal human developmental process from birth to aging/death.

I was able to both view the textbook online and download it and make a copy. I had no interface, navigational or display feature problems in either context. I intend to offer this textbook in an online format.

I found no grammatical errors, and I am a stickler for that in the academic setting.

I teach at an HBCU with mainly non-traditional students so cultural sensitivity is important to me in choosing content. The cover of the textbook is of a diverse family which is immediately welcoming. In the chapter are other culturally diverse images such as in Figure 1.1.

I have adopted this book for my Spring 2020 course CDFS 303 Lifespan Development in the Family. I am happy to give the students the benefit of not having to purchase an expensive textbook, which many of them were unable to do, and still benefit from the readings. I have recommended this book to my colleagues as well.

Reviewed by Sarah McEwan, Assistant Professor, Marian University on 11/4/19

This text addresses all aspects of human growth and development that I cover in my course. read more

This text addresses all aspects of human growth and development that I cover in my course.

This text is accurate up to its published date, 2017.

Published in 2017, so relatively up to date, but there's always few opportunities for updates here and there.

This text is quite user friendly and quick to read.

The text has solid internal consistency.

This book covers all the basics, but just the basics. This text does not contain a lot of additional fluff that other texts contain.

This text was well organized.

No issues with navigation.

I found no grammatical issues.

The text does a fine job covering the basics, but the field of psychology in general has a ways to go to become inclusive.

I chose this text for an accelerated course- I needed a book that accurately and concisely covered all my key concepts, which this did. However, this text did not have as many opportunities/ asides to provide further reading for students interested in specific areas as I have seen in other textbooks. If you are looking for fluff, this is not your textbook. However, I intend on continuing to use this text in my accelerated classes, as it was perfect for a quick overview that my students could manage in a short amount of time.

Reviewed by Allie Chroust, Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University on 4/21/19

The textbook covers human development across the lifespan. It is presented in the chronological framework. Each chapter provides an in-depth look at that stage of development. However, there is no glossary of key terms or index. Students would... read more

To the best of my knowledge, the information presented within the textbook is accurate. The one area for improvement in relational to accuracy would be the updating some of the sections to use more inclusive terminology (e.g., Children with Disabilities, p. 176).

The textbook is was last revised in 2017. I did come across one or two content areas that should have been updated for the latest edition (e.g., Box 2.3 on p. 50--the Tennessee Law has since been changed; Figure 1.18 p. 2006--it would be very easy to update the years on the basic figure as the years do not relate to any specific study it is simply a schematic of research design).

The textbook is written at a level that lower-level undergraduate students can understand.

Terminology and framework is consistent throughout textbook.

The text is divided into 10 chapters. There are subsections within each chapter if the instructor wishes to break up readings assignments into smaller chunks.

Chronological presentation of human development.

Textbook is easy to navigate within your PDF reader. Tables and Figures are clear. Each hyperlink I tested within the textbook worked properly.

No to minimal grammatical errors.

The textbook does an adequate job describing that human development occurs in variety of contexts, one of those contexts being culture. However, the textbook could provide a more in-depth description of the impact of culture on various developmental concepts. For example, the textbook frequently states, "in some cultures, ...." but, more often then not, textbook does not describe the different patterns of behavior or specify what culture is being referenced.

It is great to have an open textbook aimed at lifespan development however I would like to see a few improvements to make it more competitive against the ebooks for-profit publishers are providing: 1) glossary of terms and/or definitions in the margins 2) improved figures and creation of figure captions 3) inclusion of examples of applications of concepts that show students how the information can be directly applied to various careers 4) hyperlinks within the text--for example if students click on one of the learning objectives at the beginning of the chapter, they are taken to the section of that chapter that addresses that specific objective. 5) inclusion of reading comprehension questions for students to check themselves on before moving on to next section.

Reviewed by Patrick Smith, Associate Professor, Thomas Nelson Community College on 3/21/19

The comprehensiveness of the textbook is interesting, as there are only ten chapters. In other words, the authors pack a great deal of information into each chapter. This book covers all of the requisite topics for an introductory or survey... read more

This is an introductory level textbook, so specific research found in higher level courses would be missing. For the most part, this text covers the basics well, and any inaccuracies are negligible and can be overcome with good discussion.

The thoroughness of the coverage, which is a strength, makes this text very relevant to get a good discussion of actual human development going.

This textbook is very easy to read and follow. Any technical terms and theoretical concepts are well defined and illustrated within an applicable context.

There is no real individual psychological perspectives evident here beyond the basic introduction to this context of human psychology. For this reason, all areas of the human lifespan get fair coverage and presentation.

With a lifespan development course, it is easier to present material that can be discussed as physical, cognitive, or socioemotional. This textbook is divided by stage of life alone. For this reason, it may be difficult to separate chapters into smaller reading sections easily.

The text follows a nice, logical pathway through the human lifespan with a pretty strong connection between stages of development.

Technically, the presentation of the textbook comes without flaw.

There is no consistently evident problem with grammatical errors.

There is a pleasant focus on diversity and inclusion in both the text and the illustrations. There is some attempt to apply the principles discussed beyond the dominant culture of America, without this being forced and artificial.

I would highly recommend this textbook for an introductory, 200-level developmental psychology course. It hits all the right points and is engaging enough to stimulate some good class discussions.

Reviewed by Natalie Danner, Assistant Professor, Western Oregon University, Open Oregon Educational Resources on 3/20/19

This textbook is VERY comprehensive and covers lifespan development from prenatal development to death and dying. There is a very detailed Table of Contents; making it easy to find age groupings, theories, or concepts in development. There is no glossary, which would be helpful to find mentions of a specific term. Overall this textbook covers a great deal of material, without delving into the topic of atypical development.

The developmental theories and definitions were accurate.

Most of the content is still current, and the publication dates for this text is 2017. However there is an emphasis on Howard Gardener's Multiple Intelligence theory in Chapter 5 which has much research against it currently. Rather in the field we now advocate for more of a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach or a multi-sensory/hands-on approach to learning. Neither of which are mentioned in the text.

This text would be easy to read and accessible for an undergraduate course in child/adolescent/lifespan development.

Yes, this text is internally consistent.

I plan on using only several chapters of this textbook for a focus on child development ages 3-elementary; chapters 1, 4, and 5. These chapters do make sense on their own and will work as good content for my child development course. However, I wished that the theories that were mentioned, a few in each chapters, either could have all been combined in one chapter, or were easier to pull for individual readings for an online course.

Other than the theories, the book moves in a linear fashion from prenatal development to death and dying. Theories are interspersed in a variety of chapters.

It was easy for me to navigate through the textbook. Images and charts were clear.

This textbook used accurate grammar and writing conventions.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

The book does not mention cultural diversity, cultural bias, diversity of children and families, and other key topics needed in a child development text. Supplemental material will be needed to focus on this subject.

Reviewed by Laura Lawn, Adjunct Faculty, Chemeketa Community College on 3/5/19

On the whole, the book is very comprehensive, though there were a few places where it could have used a bit more. I did not see much on atypical development outside early childhood years which would be beneficial to include. It would also be nice to see a wider range of cultural studies. The text does not utilize a glossary, but the words are defined in the chapters and you can search the document if using as an e-book to find words which is even easier than a traditional glossary. Though if a student wants to print out the text, a glossary would be helpful.

This textbook is a straightforward discussion of human life span development which, as a field, is always growing. This book is largely current and accurate, but there should be updates as some references are older. Though the information is presented without bias and with references for further research.

The book is current and mostly up to date (as of 2019), though some of the references are a bit old. It worked when the authors were using the original work for a theory but other sources could be updated. For example, the media and development section didn’t touch social media. Including some of the newer studies would increase relevance to the technological age we are in.

The text is clear, easy to read, and understandable while still providing in-depth information. The graphics helped to clarify ideas, especially when explaining or comparing theories.

The look and feel of the text hold consistency through the document. Chapters were presented with continuing themes (such as Erikson’s stages in each life stage) and all work is referenced.

This text is sectioned into logical chunks that can be taught individually or in conjunction with each other. You do not need to read one chapter to understand the following one meaning the book could be taught any number of different ways to match with a variety of courses.

The book is organized into age periods, which is the way I think about the course information, though not the way I have always seen it presented in a text. So, the overall organization matched my thinking quite nicely. This organization also makes it easy to break the text into sections if the entire life span is separated over multiple classes (for example, if someone taught birth through adolescence only).

The text is pleasant to look at with calming colors and a variety of images and graphics that represent cultural diversity. There are no digital or navigational issues with the book.

I did not find any grammatical errors or issues.

The text is not offensive or insulting to any group and handles discussions of differences well. There are some representations of cultures and ages, though this book would benefit from a wider range of faces in images and of experimental studies conducted by / for nonwhite populations.

Reviewed by Francesca Kendris, Associate Professor, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania on 2/27/19

The book is quite comprehensive. It addresses all developmental milestones and the major theories that accompany them. It provides appropriate depth to each topic and offers a thorough explanation of the subject. The book does not possess an... read more

The book is accurate, error-free and unbiased. It is a straightforward presentation of Lifespan material in and objective and researched light. There are references at the end of each chapter to support the context of the text. There are no attempts to persuade the reader into to thinking that there is a correct or incorrect way to think about the material presented in each chapter. It is factual and the facts are supported by multiple references in most cases.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The content is currently up-to-date (as of 2/2019). There are a variety of references provided for the material presented. Some of the references are current and some are rather dated. In some cases the authors went to the original source for a theory or study, which is fine for most clearly presenting the idea; however, at other times the references for material in the text were from the 1980's or 1990's and could soon be or already be considered obsolete. On the bright side, the material is written in such a way that it should not be difficult to up-date this text with more modern references throughout the book.

The book is very clear and written in easily understandable terms. Everything is defined and explained in a thorough manner for most undergraduate readers. Yet, it is sophisticated enough that I am planning on adopting it for my graduate human development course. This is because while it defines most terms and explains most theories, it does so in such a way that it provides enough depth to substantiate the theory or term presented.

This book is presented in order of development from pre-birth to old age and dying, touching upon milestones and developmental considerations along the way. It is internally sound and all work is referenced and themes are carried from chapter to chapter. For example, Erikson's Psychosocial Stages are presented in each chapter, as well as physical aspects of development. As noted earlier, all terminology is supported by referenced material which addes to the structural integrity of this text.

The book is readily divided up into different modules. One chapter is not dependent upon the next for a thorough understanding of each stage of development. The book could be assigned in any order without difficulty or too much self-referencing.

The book is organized in the most logical fashion for a developmental textbook: from birth to old age. It breaks down into the following chapters: An introduction; Heredity, Prenatal Development, Birth; Infancy & Toddlerhood; Early Childhood; Middle & Late Childhood; Adolescence; Emerging and Early Adulthood; Middle Adulthood; Late Adulthood; Death & Dying. It is free from technical jargon and presents material in a logical and understandable manner.

The images and diagrams in the text represent diverse populations in terms of age, gender, race and LGBTQA populations. The images and diagrams enhance the text and are pleasing to look at.

The book has excellent grammar and is free from typographical errors.

The text is not culturally offensive and the pictures are very diverse. The text itself makes good references and is inclusive of the LGBTQA populations. There are not too many other diverse populations represented, apart from age and gender. There are some considerations given to racial and ethnic differences but not enough. The book would benefit from more multicultural references.

Reviewed by Dan Bacon, Lecturer, San Diego State University on 2/22/19

The courses I teach primarily cover birth through middle childhood, so my review focused most heavily on chapters 1-5. The text is comprehensive in that it covers a wide range of topics you would expect in such a book. However, it may be improved by providing more depth in many of the areas. Even for use in a broad survey course, it would be nice to have more examples to help students understand the basic concepts they are reading about. For example, when covering longitudinal research, I might expect the author to mention an example of landmark longitudinal research in the field. There are certainly some examples (e.g., mentions Piaget when discussing case studies), but not to the degree I'm accustomed to in other textbooks. This text would also benefit from a glossary. While an eText allows students to search for terms easily, for those students who print the pdf (for preference or issues of accessibility), a glossary would be helpful.

A few errors stood out, and makes me imagine there are others in areas outside my expertise that I did not catch. One small example is the author lacks accuracy in stating: "Although the behaviorists were incorrect in their beliefs that it was not possible to measure thoughts and feelings". This is a misunderstanding and oversimplification of Skinner's analysis of public versus private events. Skinner, and other subsequent radical behaviorists, welcomed the scientific analysis of private events, and noted each individual is the observer of their own thoughts. The view that private events have no place in science was that of Watson and the methodological behaviorists. Being a half century past the shift to radical behaviorism, it may be time to start representing the field of behaviorism more accurately.

Mostly relevant with many 2016 citations. As a 2017 publication however, I would have expected the author to use more up-to-date data in some areas. For example, the author referenced a 2012 CDC publication with autism prevalence data from 2008 (1 in 88 children in US). It would have been more relevant to use 2016 publications which showed CDC prevalence rates were then 1 in 68 children in the US. With that said, the text is written in a way that could be easily updated (2018 publication of CDC numbers estimate the prevalence of ASD to be 1 in 59 in US).

I believe students would enjoy the clarity of this text, in terms of its concise writing. This text does a nice job of avoiding jargon, or clearly explaining the terminology when it is used. Where I think it could improve is in providing some additional examples to illustrate some concepts. Additional figures or links to videos might really benefit readers in their ability to quickly digest material.

There seems to be a clear framework that is easy to follow across all chapters. The text is easy to navigate in terms of its internal consistency.

This text could be used in a modular fashion. I could easily see taking chapters 1, 4 & 5 to use in my course on early and middle childhood. One area that adversely impacts modularity, which I touch on in the organization section as well, is how the book covers individuals with disabilities. For example, discussion of ASD is self contained in the chapter on early childhood. While the author briefly touches on the ability of adults with autism to live and work independently, this would be missed if using a modular approach of only assigning the chapter on adulthood.

As is typical of many other human development texts, the author does a nice job of consistently referencing hallmark theories (e.g. Erikson's stages of development) across the chronological chapters. This allows for the reader to build upon prior knowledge, but is done in a way that doesn't limit modularity too much. One area for improvement would be looking at atypical development and individuals experiencing disabilities across all chapters. Discussions of lifelong disabilities, such as Down syndrome, tended to be concentrated in early chapters, without touching on how individual's lives might be impacted in adulthood. This tends to be a problem with other human development texts as well, where atypical development is treated more as a token issue, often as a standalone chapter.

Images and charts are all clearly displayed in the pdf. While navigation could be improved by including links to more outside sources, or the ability to easily jump between chapters and topics by clicking on the index, there are no significant interface issues. I think users of eTexts have come to expect them to be a little easier to navigate through internal links between chapters or to a glossary (if it had one).

Grammatical errors did not strike me as an issue when reading this text.

While no text is perfect, as described by some other reviewers, I found myself wanting a greater focus on diversity. It would have been nice to see a focus not only on issues of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, but also on topics like military culture, immigrant culture, and disability culture.

Overall, I found this to be one of the strongest OER options for human development I've come across, at least for an undergraduate survey course. It is easy to think about topics that could be enhanced, such as cultural perspectives, but I think it is worth remembering that there is a finite amount of content that can be covered in one semester. No one text can meet the needs for all courses in developmental psychology or human development, but I thank the authors for creating and sharing something that likely fits the needs for some course very well.

Reviewed by Jennifer Parta-Arno, Psychology Instructor, Minnesota State on 2/7/19

Overall I found this text to be very comprehensive in covering all of the developmental stages and topics that I have used in other textbooks. It has a good layout of information that is for the most part relevant and up to date. read more

Content Accuracy rating: 3

I found at least one instance of out of date information- in Chapter 2 it discusses the law that went into effect in Tennessee that women who use drugs while pregnant can be charged, however that bill was allowed to sunset in 2016 and that is no longer the case so this is outdated information. Hopefully this OER text will be reviewed regularly and updated.

I noticed that in discussing Children and The Media in Chapter 4 there is but a brief paragraph or two and it only pertains to tv not social media or any devices such as smartphones or tablets which are a huge topic of developmental discussion. Also, I do not see any mention of social media and it's influence on teens in the chapter on adolescence. Would need to provide up to date and supplementary materials.

Yes I found the text and writing to be very precise, clear and easy to comprehend for students. Didn't seem to be too much terminology and if used it was defined pretty well.

Yes the layout and structure in which material/theories were covered was consistent throughout the text. The reader knows what to expect in terms of presentation and formatting.

There are quite a few sub-headings and divisions or modulations within the chapters. It isn't the easiest to "pull out a chunk of material" because of the pdf formatting. Would prefer linking to different sections.

I found the text to be fairly well organized.

I just have to say I am not a fan of the pdf format. I have used several other OER texts and they all have the ability to link to different sections within the text or chapters and you can present by Chapter instead of directing someone just to a certain page/chapter. As a hardcover book that is fine, however, I think that online users are expecting more functionality. Also, there aren't any links to supplemental videos, articles or activities which is another aspect that needs improvement.

Grammar was fine.

I appreciated the section on cultural differences in end of life decisions in the final chapter. Also, the section on gay and lesbian elders was refreshing to see included and something that is not currently in a text I use. I liked that!

Overall it is an ok option if you just essentially want an ebook, however as I stated above I think other OER resources have a lot more functionality than this text which is in a pdf format. Not very user friendly and wouldn't be my first choice to use for my students.

Reviewed by Lori Waters, Lecturer - Adjunct Faculty, Leeward Community College on 1/24/19

The research and experiment chapter was easily readable, attractive and enticing. Good, solid, well rounded text. I will highly recommend this text. read more

The research and experiment chapter was easily readable, attractive and enticing. Good, solid, well rounded text. I will highly recommend this text.

The content is accurate. A bit of bias is felt. However, due to readers biases the authors did a good job of masking biases with good solid research that was sited and created unbiased accurate content.

Graphics and photos are helpful and are nicely relevant and certainly adds great clarity. The text easily blends the valid content and includes relevant updates that flow nicely. Organized to easily create new updates. Epigenetics could have been more thoroughly covered.

The text is written with excellent clarity with a simplification of jargon that makes material easy to grasp quickly.

The text is consistent, with topics flowing together and broken up into easily readable subheadings, and tables/graphs/charts/images all flowing nicely. Terminology is consistent.

Good modularity which is consistent throughout the text. Subheadings are clear, easy to read and flow nicely to the eye. Self-referential is not present. Text is easily divisible into smaller reading sections that make it easy to grab topics out of their context. Modularity is also well balanced with the flow, fluidity and relatedness of previous subunits. Especially good flow for online reading and easy page accessibility.

It is easy to page up and down and clearly see the logical organization, again especially as an online pdf. The organization is excellent!

The charts, images, photos and graphics are free of distractions regarding interface issues. They are nicely placed and spaced throughout the text and fall appealingly on the page. Easy for the eye to track and to organize.

The textbook is grammatically correct.

Love the picture on the cover! Great start. Excellent examples that are culturally relevant, especially in the “classroom” section of chapter 5 and remain consistently exceptional throughout the text.

I will use this textbook the next opportunity I have to teach Human Development with the option of choosing which text to use!!!!

Reviewed by Glinda Rawls, Associate Professor, Western Michigan University on 12/14/18

Much of the content presented in the chapters is standard for most lifespan development textbooks. read more

Much of the content presented in the chapters is standard for most lifespan development textbooks.

I did not notice many errors, however there were places in the the textbook where the authors clearly presented their bias. For example, in chapter 4 when discussing childhood disciplinary practices the authors only discussed the harmful affects of corporal punishment; however, there are other scholars who have highlighted the benefit of such disciplinary practices especially among different cultural groups. Both perspectives should have been presented.

In some areas, the content was not up to date. For example, in chapter 10 which contains information about death and dying the authors only mentioned that in 1997 Oregon had laws which facilitate dignity in dying where patients can choose to die on their own terms. However, since 1997 I believe there are three states (California, Colorado, and Hawaii) and Washington DC who all have passed these laws. This needs to be updated in the textbook. Also in chapter 8 the authors really did not discuss how women are delaying marriage and child-bearing along with the content related to marriage. And the information on marriage could have included more topics related to cultural diversity because African American women tend to have the highest rates of being single than other ethnic groups. This was left out of the textbook. Another omission was in discussing maternal mortality. The authors only cited PID as the cause for infertility but PCOS and endometriosis are two other conditions which could contribute to infertility in women. So the authors should update this too.

The textbook was written in clear and uncomplicated way. The information presented in this textbook is succinct and brief which may make undergraduate students more apt to read this textbook. It was very simple and easy to read.

I really liked how the authors used Erickson's lifespan development across several chapters. I have used other lifespan development textbooks that followed this same format. This consistency allowed the reader to have easy access to the theory so that they could apply it to various stages of development.

Each chapter had several subheadings and headings. The material was arranged in such a way that the content flowed very well. The subheadings made sense and were relevant to the larger headings.

The chapters followed the normal stages of development and were well organized.

I am not sure if this would be possible but it would be helpful if the reader could click onto the chapter and just pull it up. Since the document is in a pdf format, the reader has to scroll up and down if they wanted to move back and forth in the textbook. This was a bit cumbersome.

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

The authors made an effort to include cultural diversity and LGBT issues in the textbook. I certainly applaud their efforts, but in some ways things fell a little short in this area. For example, issues of adverse childhood experiences was not mentioned. Social issues like poverty, childhood homelessness and incarcerated parents were also omitted. It seems as though the book could also benefit from including some sociological perspectives to deepen their attempts to include diversity. They also did not include all types of families in chapter 5. They did not include trans-racial adoption or multicultural families where the parents are of different races. So the area of cultural diversity could be enhanced.

Overall this textbook would be useful in a undergraduate course. The instructor would definitely have to supplement the materials to include content that is not only up to date but also includes more sociological perspectives in understanding lifespan development.

Reviewed by Jamie Nordling, Assistant Professor, Augustana College on 11/18/18

The book content matches what I currently teach. read more

The book content matches what I currently teach.

I did not find any big errors. They do discuss how the Attachment Q-Sort is a solid, contemporary way to measure attachment, but there are issues with this method.

I did not notice any issues with relevance.

The prose is clear and easy to understand.

Consistency rating: 3

There are some topics that are not discussed enough (e.g., temperament), and some topics that are not even developmental in scope that are covered in too much detail (e.g., components of memory).

There are subheadings.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

There are several chapters that seem choppy (i.e., the sections stand alone and are not well connected).

I had no issues.

Nothing stood out.

Culture is covered, but I believe it could be covered even more.

Overall, I believe this textbook provides a good overview on human development. The writing is well-suited for introductory students.

Some of the concepts that were included that stand out in a positive way include: (a) a good description of how the field has changed from just looking at childhood to looking at the whole lifespan; (b) the use of the multidimensional, multidirectional, multidisciplinary, multicontextual, and plastic approach to development; (c) the inclusion of a description about archival data/secondary analysis, because a lot of developmental data is longitudinal; and (d) the theories of aging (i.e., why do we age).

Some of the more minor issues include: (a) There were some structure issues. I think some of this could be solved by including more clear headings or including an outline of the topics that would be covered in each chapter. It does feel a little like, “Here’s everything you need to know about this age,” without good transitions or an understanding of how topics are related to one another. Students may struggle with processing all of the information as it is presented. (b) There were some citation issues. I want students to have good models for their own writing. There were several sections of the book that made claims about research findings without a single citation. As examples, SES was linked to poor health and various other outcomes (p. 11) without a single citation. Also, the section on genetics (Ch. 2) does not have enough citations to support the claims stated. This citation issue was not found in every chapter – some sections were better than others—but it happened enough to where I took notice. (c) I would ideally like more discussions of culture; however, the book does talk about some aspect of culture in every chapter. (d) There were some topics that were discussed in too much detail given that the topics are not inherently developmental. For example, the authors go into a lot of detail about the different types of memory in chapter 4 (e.g., discusses rehearsal, different types of declarative memories) and into a lot of detail about sex in chapter 7 (e.g., phases in sexual response cycle, role of the hypothalamus, STIs). (e) And there are some topics that, while they may be developmental, are described in more detail than I have seen before in a developmental textbook. For example, (a) there was more detail than other books on prenatal development, pregnancy, and childbirth;(b) I have never seen as much detail about Piaget’s theory in any textbook (not even a child development book that has more time to focus on Piaget); (c) there was a lot of detail on sports and sports involvement, and (d) the sections on childhood issues (e.g., genetic disorders, childhood disabilities, communication disorders) were too detailed given that they seemed more biological or medical than psychological. Note that I am not saying that these issues do not have psychological components, but rather that that is not the way they are presented. They’re presented simply as biological/medical descriptions. (f) There were also some topics that were not detailed enough. My biggest area of complaint in this area relates to temperament. The authors spent too much time focusing on Thomas and Chess, which we know is an outdated view, and spent very little time talking about contemporary approaches to temperament or children’s personality.

Some of the more major issues include: (a) One of the things that bothers me about this textbook is that there are VERY few critical thinking questions that lead students to think deeply about the material. Of course, these questions can be addressed in the classroom, but the book does not include any real aspects of active learning. (b) I wish the textbook had more “science” built into it. The introduction sets up the field as scientific, but there is often little discussion about how the scientific method is essential to the findings presented. Chapter 3 stands out as doing this better – there is more incorporation of research methods, study findings, and some issues with measurement – but other chapters were deficient (c) Relatedly, given that I am teaching my lifespan course in a psychology department, we talk about how developmental psychology is much more than understanding the “whats” and the “whens” of development. We really are aiming to uncover the “hows,” “for whoms,” and “under what conditions”. Essentially, I want my students to better understand mechanisms. This book, compared to about five others that I have either used or previously reviewed, seems to talk more about the “whats” and “whens”, and in my opinion, these are less psychological. For example, topics like (a) when to introduce solid foods, (b) toilet training tips, (c) healthy eating, and (d) how to choose between preschool programs seem more suited to students who are taking a child development course in high school rather than students who are pursuing the scientific study of human development. I realize that this may have been the goal of the authors – perhaps they wanted their textbook to have flexibility for different types of courses. For me, this takes away from the messages that I tell my students.

Will I use this book in my course? In short, I have not decided yet. As noted above, the content that I normally expect my students to know (except for temperament!) is present within this textbook. However, students are not going to be asked to use their critical thinking or scientific literacy skills in this book as much as other books.

Reviewed by Lisa Dunkley, Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University on 10/23/18

The text is comparative to other texts in the field. However, disability inclusive issues across the lifespan would add for a more comprehensive outlook. read more

The text is comparative to other texts in the field. However, disability inclusive issues across the lifespan would add for a more comprehensive outlook.

Book has used prominent literature to support context.

Information included is relevant to each topic area and today's society.

Book is easy to follow and undergraduate level students will be able to comprehend the information included in the text.

Consistent with related texts.

Book is organized into sections that make it easy to break up reading the content.

The book has a good flow and is easy to understand. Flow is consistent with others in the field.

Images included are appropriate however more vibrant images would make for a more user-friendly book.

None observed.

Book is not culturally insensitive. However more references to other cultures would make for a more inclusive book.

The book is easy to follow and navigate. Information is consistent with for sale texts in the field.

Reviewed by Christopher Belser, Assistant Professor, University of New Orleans on 6/19/18

Overall, the text covers a wide array of topics within this subject, but the degree of depth to which these topics are covered varies. Career development isn’t introduced until the section on emerging adulthood. Research dating back 50+ years... read more

Overall, the text covers a wide array of topics within this subject, but the degree of depth to which these topics are covered varies.

Career development isn’t introduced until the section on emerging adulthood. Research dating back 50+ years discusses career development in the context of childhood and adolescence. Not including career development is a disservice to the career development programming that has been done and continues to be done in K-12 settings.

The textbook covers many of the theories of human development, but does not introduce all of them in the first chapter. Only a select few are covered in this introduction; other theories are introduced in later chapters in the point in the lifespan during which this theory becomes most salient. This is problematic, as the stages are not firmly restricted to these age bands. A review of all theories in the beginning would be helpful to the reader. The book does not cover some theories (e.g., Spiritual development).

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are not covered at all, and the research has been around for 20 years. Any discussion of human development that does not include this research is incomplete.

Other topics (e.g., sexuality, gender identity) are presented in greater detail than other texts I’ve seen. The discussion of grief models, especially refutations of the Kubler-Ross model, are excellent and represent modern research.

The information presented in the text appears to be accurate, with the exception of a few areas that need to be updated with contemporary research.

The text does not include contemporary research on Adverse Childhood Experiences, neuroimaging, and neuropsychology. This contemporary research has enhanced or refuted many long-held theories and must be represented in any discussion of human development

The information presented is written clearly and in a way that is easy to understand and comprehend.

The book appears to be presented in a consistent manner, with regard to terminology, framework, and layout. The authors were not consistent with the depth to which topics are covered; this may be an indication of the authors areas of interest and areas for development.

The book is chunked very well. The chapters are broken down in a rational manner and each chapter includes many smaller sections with headings.

The book is chunked very well. The chapters are broken down in a rational manner and each chapter includes many smaller sections with headings. The authors were not consistent with the depth to which topics are covered; this may be an indication of the authors areas of interest and areas for development.

The book has a very good look. The table of contents is navigable, and there are links to sources embedded within. The graphics, tables, and charts are clear and readable.

The authors use correct grammar and have edited the book well for mechanical and grammatical errors.

The book presents cultural information more completely in some areas and more incompletely in other areas. This is an area of the text that could use additional fine-tuning. Stereotype threat introduced in the section on age, although the research emerged from discussions of race and ethnicity. The book covers sexuality and gender identity in more depth than other texts I’ve used.

Based on the current edition of the text, I cannot say that I would use this book over a traditionally published text without having to provide many additional readings to supplement incomplete areas. At best, there are chapters from this text I could see assigning to supplement additional readings.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Lifespan Development
Chapter 2: Heredity, Prenatal Development, and Birth
Chapter 3: Infancy and Toddlerhood
Chapter 4: Early Childhood
Chapter 5: Middle and Late Childhood
Chapter 6: Adolescence
Chapter 7: Emerging and Established Adulthood
Chapter 8: Middle Adulthood
Chapter 9: Late Adulthood
Chapter 10: Death and Dying

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Developmental Psychology, also known as Human Development or Lifespan Development, is the scientific study of ways in which people change, as well as stay the same, from conception to death. You will no doubt discover in the course of studying that the field examines change across a broad range of topics. These include physical and other psychophysiological processes, cognition, language, and psychosocial development, including the impact of family and peers.

About the Contributors

Martha Lally is an Instructor in the Psychology department at the College of Lake County.

Suzanne Valentine-French is an Instructor in the Psychology department at the College of Lake County.

Contribute to this Page

Intro to Lifespan Development

Why study lifespan development.

Three generations of women in a family: young adult, middle-aged mother, and older grandmother.

Welcome to the study of lifespan development! This is the scientific study of how and why people change or remain the same over time.

Think about how you were five, ten, or even fifteen years ago. In what ways have you changed? In what ways have you remained the same? You have probably changed physically; perhaps you’ve grown taller and become heavier. But you may have also experienced changes in the way you think and solve problems. Cognitive change is noticeable when we compare how 6-year olds, 16-year olds, and 46-year olds think and reason, for example. Their thoughts about themselves, others, and the world are probably quite different. Consider friendship—a 6-year-old may think that a friend is someone with whom they can play and have fun. A 16-year old may seek friends who can help them gain status or popularity. And the 46-year old may have acquaintances, but rely more on family members to do things with and confide in. You may have also experienced psychosocial change. This refers to emotions and psychological issues as well as social roles and relationships. Psychologist Erik Erikson suggests that we struggle with issues of trust, independence, and intimacy at various points in our lives (we will explore this thoroughly throughout the course.)

This is a very interesting and meaningful course because it is about each of us and those with whom we live and work. One of the best ways to gain perspective on our own lives is to compare our experiences with those of others. In this course, we will strive to learn about each phase of human development and the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, all the while making cross-cultural and historical comparisons and connections to the world around us.

In addition, we will take a lifespan developmental approach to learn about human development. That means that we won’t just learn about one particular age period by itself; we will learn about each age period, recognizing how it is related to both previous developments and later developments. For instance, it helps us to understand what’s happening with the 16-year old by knowing about development in the infant, toddler, early childhood, and middle childhood years. In turn, learning about all of that development and development during adolescence and early adulthood will help us to more fully understand the person at age 46 (and so on throughout midlife and later adulthood).

Development does not stop at a certain age; development is a lifelong process. We may find individual and group differences in patterns of development, so examining the influences of gender, cohort/generation, race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, education level, and time in history is also important. With the lifespan developmental perspective, we will gain a more comprehensive view of the individual within the context of their own developmental journey and within social, cultural, and historical contexts. In this way, this course covers and crosses multiple disciplines, such as psychology, biology, sociology, anthropology, education, nutrition, economics, and healthcare.

Think It Over

Wherever you are in your own lifespan developmental journey, imagine yourself as an elderly person about to turn 100 years old (becoming a “centenarian”). If researchers want to understand you and your development, would they get the full picture if they just took a snapshot (so to speak) of you at that point in time? What else would you want them to know about you, your development, and your experiences to really understand you?

What you’ll learn to do: define human development and identify the stages of human development

Graphic of stages of human growth from infancy to adulthood

What aspects of ourselves change and develop as we journey through life? We move through significant physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes throughout our lives—do these changes happen in a systematic way, and to everyone? How much is due to genetics and how much is due to environmental influences and experiences (both within our personal control and beyond)? Is there just one course of development or are there many different courses of development? In this module, we’ll examine these questions and learn about the major stages of development and what kind of developmental tasks and transitions we might expect along the way.

Learning Outcomes

Describe human development and its three domains: physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development
Explain key human development issues about the nature of change: continuous/discontinuous, one course/multiple courses, and nature/nurture
Describe the basic periods of human development

Defining Human Development

Human development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of humans throughout the lifespan. What types of development are involved in each of these three domains, or areas, of life? Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Physical Domain

Many of us are familiar with the height and weight charts that pediatricians consult to estimate if babies, children, and teens are growing within normative ranges of physical development. We may also be aware of changes in children’s fine and gross motor skills, as well as their increasing coordination, particularly in terms of playing sports. But we may not realize that physical development also involves brain development, which not only enables childhood motor coordination but also greater coordination between emotions and planning in adulthood, as our brains are not done developing in infancy or childhood. Physical development also includes puberty, sexual health, fertility, menopause, changes in our senses, and primary versus secondary aging. Healthy habits with nutrition and exercise are also important at every age and stage across the lifespan.

Cognitive Domain

If we watch and listen to infants and toddlers, we can’t help but wonder how they learn so much so fast, particularly when it comes to language development. Then as we compare young children to those in middle childhood, there appear to be huge differences in their ability to think logically about the concrete world around them. Cognitive development includes mental processes, thinking, learning, and understanding, and it doesn’t stop in childhood. Adolescents develop the ability to think logically about the abstract world (and may like to debate matters with adults as they exercise their new cognitive skills!). Moral reasoning develops further, as does practical intelligence—wisdom may develop with experience over time. Memory abilities and different forms of intelligence tend to change with age. Brain development and the brain’s ability to change and compensate for losses is significant to cognitive functions across the lifespan, too.

Psychosocial Domain

Development in this domain involves what’s going on both psychologically and socially. Early on, the focus is on infants and caregivers, as temperament and attachment are significant. As the social world expands and the child grows psychologically, different types of play, and interactions with other children and teachers become important. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, self-esteem, and relationships. Peers become more important for adolescents, who are exploring new roles and forming their own identities. Dating, romance, cohabitation, marriage, having children, and finding work or a career are all parts of the transition into adulthood. Psychosocial development continues across adulthood with similar (and some different) developmental issues of family, friends, parenting, romance, divorce, remarriage, blended families, caregiving for elders, becoming grandparents and great grandparents, retirement, new careers, coping with losses, and death and dying.

As you may have already noticed, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development are often interrelated, as with the example of brain development. We will be examining human development in these three domains in detail throughout the modules in this course, as we learn about infancy/toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood development, as well as death and dying.

Who Studies Human Development and Why?

Many academic disciplines contribute to the study of development and this type is offered in some schools as psychology (particularly as developmental psychology); in other schools, it is taught under sociology, human development, or family studies. This multidisciplinary course is made up of contributions from researchers in the areas of health care, anthropology, nutrition, child development, biology, gerontology, psychology, and sociology, among others. Consequently, the stories provided are rich and well-rounded and the theories and findings can be part of a collaborative effort to understand human lives.

The main goals of those involved in studying human development are to describe and explain changes. Throughout this course, we will describe observations during development, then examine how theories provide explanations for why these changes occur. For example, you may observe two-year-old children be particularly temperamental, and researchers offer theories to explain why that is. We’ll learn a lot more about theories, especially developmental theories, in the next module.

What you’ll learn to do: describe the theories of lifespan development

Graphic of a brain filled with emojis and random objects

Learning outcomes

Describe theories as they relate to lifespan development
Explain Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model
Contrast the main psychological theories that apply to human development

Understanding Theories

In l ifespan development, we need to rely on a systematic approach to understanding behavior, based on observable events and the scientific method. There are so many different observations about childhood, adulthood, and development in general that we use theories to help organize all of the different observable events or variables. A theory is a simplified explanation of the world that attempts to explain how variables interact with each other. It can take complex, interconnected issues and narrow them down to the essentials. This enables developmental theorists and researchers to analyze the problem in greater depth.

flowchart showing that a theory is used to form a hypothesis, the hypothesis leads to research, research leads to observation, which leads to the creation or modification of a theory, then back around.

Two key concepts in the scientific approach are theory and hypothesis. A theory is a well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena that can be used to make predictions about future observations. A hypothesis is a testable prediction that is arrived at logically from a theory. It is often worded as an if-then statement (e.g., if I study all night, I will get a passing grade on the test). The hypothesis is extremely important because it bridges the gap between the realm of ideas and the real world. As specific hypotheses are tested, theories are modified and refined to reflect and incorporate the result of these tests. In essence, lifespan theories explain observable events in a meaningful way. They are not as specific as hypotheses, which are so specific that we use them to make predictions in research. Theories offer more general explanations about behavior and events.

Think of theories are guidelines much like directions that come with an appliance or other object that required assembly. The instructions can help one piece together smaller parts more easily than if trial and error are used.

Theories can be developed using induction, in which a number of single cases are observed and after patterns or similarities are noted, the theorist develops ideas based on these examples. Established theories are then tested through research; however, not all theories are equally suited to scientific investigation. Some theories are difficult to test but are still useful in stimulating debate or providing concepts that have practical application. Keep in mind that theories are not facts; they are guidelines for investigation and practice, and they gain credibility through research that fails to disprove them.

People who study lifespan development approach it from different perspectives. Each perspective encompasses one or more theories—the broad, organized explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest. Theories of development provide a framework for thinking about human growth, development, and learning. If you have ever wondered about what motivates human thought and behavior, understanding these theories can provide useful insight into individuals and society.

Throughout psychological history and still in the present day, three key issues remain among which developmental theorists often disagree. Particularly oft-disputed is the role of early experiences on later development in opposition to current behavior reflecting present experiences–namely the passive versus active issue . Likewise, whether or not development is best viewed as occurring in stages or rather as a gradual and cumulative process of change has traditionally been up for debate – a question of continuity versus discontinuity. Further, the role of heredity and the environment in shaping human development is a much-contested topic of discussion – also referred to as the nature/nurture debate .

Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?

Continuous development views development as a cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills (Figure 2). With this type of development, there is a gradual change. Consider, for example, a child’s physical growth: adding inches to their height year by year. In contrast, theorists who view development as discontinuous believe that development takes place in unique stages and that it occurs at specific times or ages. With this type of development, the change is more sudden, such as an infant’s ability to demonstrate awareness of object permanence (which is a cognitive skill that develops toward the end of infancy, according to Piaget’s cognitive theory—more on that theory in the next module).

Continuous and Discontinuous development are shown side by side using two separate pictures. The first picture is a triangle labeled “Continuous Development” which slopes upward from Infancy to Adulthood in a straight line. The second picture is 4 bars side by side labeled “Discontinuous Development” which get higher from Infancy to Adulthood. These bars resemble a staircase.

Is There One Course of Development or Many?

Is development essentially the same, or universal, for all children (i.e., there is one course of development) or does development follow a different course for each child, depending on the child’s specific genetics and environment (i.e., there are many courses of development)? Do people across the world share more similarities or more differences in their development? How much do culture and genetics influence a child’s behavior?

Stage theories hold that the sequence of development is universal. For example, in cross-cultural studies of language development, children from around the world reach language milestones in a similar sequence (Gleitman & Newport, 1995). Infants in all cultures coo before they babble. They begin babbling at about the same age and utter their first word around 12 months old. Yet we live in diverse contexts that have a unique effect on each of us. For example, researchers once believed that motor development followed one course for all children regardless of culture. However, childcare practices vary by culture, and different practices have been found to accelerate or inhibit the achievement of developmental milestones such as sitting, crawling, and walking (Karasik, Adolph, Tamis-LeMonda, & Bornstein, 2010).

For instance, let’s look at the Aché society in Paraguay. They spend a significant amount of time foraging in forests. While foraging, Aché mothers carry their young children, rarely putting them down in order to protect them from getting hurt in the forest. Consequently, their children walk much later: They walk around 23–25 months old, in comparison to infants in Western cultures who begin to walk around 12 months old. However, as Aché children become older, they are allowed more freedom to move about, and by about age 9, their motor skills surpass those of U.S. children of the same age: Aché children are able to climb trees up to 25 feet tall and use machetes to chop their way through the forest (Kaplan & Dove, 1987). As you can see, our development is influenced by multiple contexts, so the timing of basic motor functions may vary across cultures. However, the functions are present in all societies.

Photograph A shows two children wearing inner tubes playing in the shallow water at the beach. Photograph B shows two children playing in the sand at a beach.

How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development?

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 parents, 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 their 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?

We are all born with specific genetic traits inherited from our parents, such as eye color, height, and certain personality traits. Beyond our basic genotype, however, there is a deep interaction between our genes and our environment. Our unique experiences in our environment influence whether and how particular traits are expressed, and at the same time, our genes influence how we interact with our environment (Diamond, 2009; Lobo, 2008). There is a reciprocal interaction between nature and nurture as they both shape who we become, but the debate continues as to the relative contributions of each.

History of Developmental Psychology

Photograph of early psychologists, including Freud and Hall.

The scientific study of children began in the late nineteenth century and blossomed in the early twentieth century as pioneering psychologists sought to uncover the secrets of human behavior by studying its development.

Early scholars John Locke and Charles Darwin proposed theories of human behavior that are the “direct ancestors of some major theoretical traditions” of developmental psychology today(Vasta et al., 1998, p. 10). Locke, a British empiricist, adhered to a strict environmentalist position. He saw the newborn’s mind as a tabula rasa (“blank slate”) on which knowledge is written through experience and learning. Finally, the work of Darwin, the British biologist famous for his theory of evolution, led others to suggest that development proceeds through evolutionary recapitulation, with many human behaviors having their origins in successful adaptations in the past.

John B. Watson

The 20th century marked the formation of qualitative distinctions between children and adults. When John Watson wrote the book Psychological Care of Infant and Child in 1928, he sought to add clarification surrounding behaviorists’ views on child care and development. Watson was the founder of the field of behaviorism, which emphasized the role of nurture, or the environment, in human development. He believed, based on Locke’s environmentalist position, that human behavior can be understood in terms of experiences and learning. He believed that all behaviors are learned, or conditioned, as evidenced by his famous “Little Albert” study, in which he conditioned an infant to fear a white rat. In Watson’s book on the care of the infant and child, Watson explained that children should be treated as a young adult—with respect, but also without emotional attachment. In the book, he warned against the inevitable dangers of a mother providing too much love and affection. Watson explained that love, along with everything else as the behaviorist saw the world, is conditioned. Watson supported his warnings by mentioning invalidism, saying that society does not overly comfort children as they become young adults in the real world, so parents should not set up these unrealistic expectations. His book became highly criticized but was still influential in promoting more research into early childhood behavior and development.

Sigmund Freud

Another name you are probably familiar with who was influential in the study of human development is Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud’s model of “psychosexual development” grew out of his psychoanalytic approach to human personality and psychopathology. In sharp contrast to the objective approach espoused by Watson, Freud based his model of child development on his own and his patients’ recollections of their childhood. He developed a stage model of development in which the libido, or sexual energy, of the child, focuses on different “zones” or areas of the body as the child grows to adulthood. Freud’s model is an “interactionist” one since he believed that although the sequence and timing of these stages are biologically determined, successful personality development depends on the experiences the child has during each stage. Although the details of Freud’s developmental theory have been widely criticized, his emphasis on the importance of early childhood experiences, prior to five years of age, has had a lasting impact.

Freud emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our personality and behavior. In our natural state, we are biological beings. We are driven primarily by instincts. During childhood, however, we begin to become social beings as we learn how to manage our instincts and transform them into socially acceptable behaviors. The type of parenting the child receives has a very powerful impact on the child’s personality development. We will explore this idea further in our discussion of psychosexual development, but first, we must identify the parts of the “self” in Freud’s model, or in other words, what constitutes a person’s personality and makes us who we are.

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is considered one of the most influential psychologists of the twentieth century, and his stage theory of cognitive development revolutionized our view of children’s thinking and learning. His work inspired more research than any other theorist, and many of his concepts are still foundational to developmental psychology. His interest lay in children’s knowledge, their thinking, and the qualitative differences in their thinking as it develops. Although he called his field “genetic epistemology,” stressing the role of biological determinism, he also assigned great importance to experience. In his view, children “construct” their knowledge through processes of “assimilation,” in which they evaluate and try to understand new information, based on their existing knowledge of the world, and “accommodation,” in which they expand and modify their cognitive structures based on new experiences.

Modern developmental psychology generally focuses on how and why certain modifications throughout an individual’s life-cycle (cognitive, social, intellectual, personality) and human growth change over time. There are many theorists that have made, and continue to make, a profound contribution to this area of psychology, amongst whom is Erik Erikson who developed a model of eight stages of psychological development. He believed that humans developed in stages throughout their lifetimes and this would affect their behaviors. In this module, we’ll examine some of these major theories and contributions made by prominent psychologists.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

Another psychologist who recognized the importance of the environment on development was American psychologist, Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005), who formulated the ecological systems theory to explain how the inherent qualities of a child and their environment interact to influence how they will grow and develop. The term “ecological” refers to a natural environment; human development is understood through this model as a long-lasting transformation in the way one perceives and deals with the environment. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory stresses the importance of studying children in the context of multiple environments because children typically find themselves enmeshed simultaneously in different ecosystems. Each of these systems inevitably interact with and influence each other in every aspect of the child’s life, from the most intimate level to the broadest. Furthermore, he eventually renamed his theory the bioecological model in order to recognize the importance of biological processes in development. However, he only recognized biology as producing a person’s potential, with this potential being realized or not via environmental and social forces.

An individual is impacted by microsystems such as parents or siblings; those who have direct, significant contact with the person. The input of those people is modified by the cognitive and biological state of the individual as well. These influence the person’s actions, which in turn influence systems operating on them. The mesosystem includes larger organizational structures such as school, the family, or religion. These institutions impact the microsystems just described. For example, the religious teachings and traditions of a family may create a climate that makes the family feel stigmatized and this indirectly impacts the child’s view of themselves and others. The philosophy of the school system, daily routine, assessment methods, and other characteristics can affect the child’s self-image, growth, sense of accomplishment, and schedule, thereby impacting the child physically, cognitively, and emotionally. These mesosystems both influence and are influenced by the larger contexts of the community, referred to as the exosystem . A community’s values, history, and economy can impact the organizational structures it houses. And the community is influenced by macrosystems , which are cultural elements such as global economic conditions, war, technological trends, values, philosophies, and a society’s responses to the global community. In sum, a child’s experiences are shaped by larger forces such as the family, school, religion, and culture. All of this occurs within the relevant historical context and timeframe, or chronosystem . The chronosystem is made up of the environmental events and transitions that occur throughout a child’s life, including any socio-historical events. This system consists of all the experiences that a person has had during their lifetime.

Image of Brofenbrenner's system, displayed as a target. In the center circle is an individual, then the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem.

Comparing and Evaluating Lifespan Theories

Developmental theories provide a set of guiding principles and concepts that describe and explain human development. Some developmental theories focus on the formation of a particular quality, such as Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Other developmental theories focus on growth that happens throughout the lifespan, such as Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. It would be natural to wonder which of the perspectives provides the most accurate account of human development, but clearly, each perspective is based on its own premises and focuses on different aspects of development. Many lifespan developmentalists use an eclectic approach, drawing on several perspectives at the same time because the same developmental phenomenon can be looked at from a number of perspectives.

In the table below, we’ll review some of the major theories that you learned about in your introductory course and others that we will cover throughout this text. Recall that three key issues considered in human development examine if development is continuous or discontinuous, if it is the same for everyone or distinct for individuals (one course of development or many), and if development is more influenced by nature or by nurture. The table below reviews how each of these major theories approaches each of these issues.



Psychosexual theory	Behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness and control. Emphasizes the unconscious, defense mechanisms, and influences of the id, ego, and superego.	Discontinuous; there are distinct stages of development	One course; stages are universal for everyone	Both; natural impulses combined with early childhood experiences impact development	Sigmund Freud
Psychosocial theory	A person negotiates biological and sociocultural influences as they move through eight stages, each characterized by a psychosocial crisis: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, ego integrity vs. despair.	Discontinuous; there are distinct stages of development	One course; stages are universal for everyone	Both; natural impulses combined with sociocultural experiences impact development	Erik Erikson
Classical conditioning	Learning by the association of a response with a stimulus; a person comes to respond in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response.	Continuous; learning is ongoing without distinct stages	Many courses; learned behaviors vary by person	Mostly nurture; behavior is conditioned	Ivan Pavlov, John Watson
Operant conditioning	Learning that occurs when a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by its association with positive or negative consequences. Rewards and punishments can strengthen or discourage behaviors.	Continuous; learning is ongoing without distinct stages	Many courses; learned behaviors vary by person	Mostly nurture; behavior is conditioned	B.F. Skinner
Social cognitive theory (social learning theory)	Learning occurs in a social context; considering the relationship between the environment and a person’s behavior. Learning can occur through observation.	Continuous; learning is gradual and ongoing without distinct stages	Many courses; learned behaviors vary by person	Mostly nurture; behavior is observed and learned	Albert Bandura
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development	A theory about how people come to gradually acquire, construct, and use knowledge and information. It describes cognitive development through four distinct stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal.	Discontinuous; there are distinct stages of development	One course; stages are universal for everyone	Both; natural impulses combined with experiences that challenge the existing schemas	Jean Piaget
Information processing	A theory that seeks to identify the ways individuals take in, use, and store information (sometimes compared to a computer). It is based on the idea that humans process the information they receive, rather than merely respond to stimuli.	Continuous; cognitive development is gradual and ongoing without distinct stages	One course; the model applies to everyone	Both; natural cognitive development combined with experiences of processing information in new and different ways	Richard Atkinson, Richard Shiffrin
Humanistic theories	Theories that emphasizes an individual’s inherent drive towards self-actualization and contend that people have a natural capacity to make decisions about their lives and control their own behavior. Key terms and concepts include unconditional positive regard, striving for “the good life,” and the hierarchy of needs.	Continuous; development is ongoing without distinct stages and can be multidirectional depending on environmental circumstances	Mostly one course; Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is universally applied, but there is an individual course for self-actualization	Mostly nurture; development is influenced by environmental circumstances and social interactions	Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow
Sociocultural theory	Vygotsky’s theory that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture. Key terms and concepts include the zone of proximal development and scaffolding.	Both, but mostly continuous as an individual learns and progresses	Many courses; there are variations between individuals and cultures	Both; development is influenced by biological preparation and social experiences	Lev Vygotsky
Bioecological systems model	Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory stressing the importance of studying a child in the context of multiple environments, or ecological systems. It is organized into five levels of external influence: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.	Both; the influence of each system can be continuous or discontinuous depending on the system in question	Many courses; the interaction of people and the environment varies	Both; a person’s biological potential and the environment interact to impact development	Urie Bronfenbrenner, Stephen Ceci
Evolutionary psychology theory	A theory that seeks to identify behavior that is a result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors.	Continuous; current behaviors have been shaped over multiple generations based on successful survival and reproduction	Both; behavioral genetics show similarities across the species, but our unique family history also plays a role in development	Both; our genetic history and biological impulses interact with life experiences to produce individual development and development across the history and future of the species	Charles Darwin, David Buss, Konrad Lorenz, Robert Sapolsky

Periods of Human Development

Think about the lifespan and make a list of what you would consider the basic periods of development. How many periods or stages are on your list? Perhaps you have three: childhood, adulthood, and old age. Or maybe four: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Developmentalists often break the lifespan into nine stages:

Prenatal Development
Infancy and Toddlerhood
Early Childhood
Middle Childhood
Adolescence
Emerging Adulthood
Early Adulthood
Middle Adulthood
Late Adulthood

In addition, the topic of “Death and Dying” is usually addressed after late adulthood since overall, the likelihood of dying increases in later life (though individual and group variations exist). Death and dying will be the topic of our second to last module, though it is not necessarily a stage of development that occurs at a particular age. Our last module will cover grief and bereavement.

The list of the periods of development reflects unique aspects of the various stages of childhood and adulthood that will be explored in this book, including physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes. So while both an 8-month-old and an 8-year-old are considered children, they have very different motor abilities, cognitive skills, and social relationships. Their nutritional needs are different, and their primary psychological concerns are also distinctive. The same is true of an 18-year-old and an 80-year-old, both considered adults. We will discover the distinctions between being 28 or 48 as well. But first, here is a brief overview of the stages.

Think about your own development. Which period or stage of development are you in right now? Are you dealing with similar issues and experiencing comparable physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development as described above? If not, why not? Are important aspects of development missing and if so, are they common for most of your cohort or unique to you?

What you’ll learn to do: explain the lifespan perspective

Several people walking down a street shown from above

As we have learned, human development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes and constancies in humans over time. There are various theories pertaining to each domain of development, and often theorists and researchers focus their attention on specific periods of development (with most traditionally focusing on infancy and childhood; some on adolescence). But isn’t it possible that development during one period affects development in other periods and that humans can grow and change across adulthood too? In this section, we’ll learn about development through the lifespan perspective, which emphasizes the multidimensional, interconnected, and ever-changing influences on development.

Describe Baltes’ lifespan perspective with its key principles about development
Explain what is meant by development being lifelong, multidimensional, and multidirectional
Explain contextual influences on development

The Lifespan Perspective

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.

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:

Development occurs across one’s entire life or is lifelong.
Development is multidimensional, meaning it involves the dynamic interaction of factors like physical, emotional, and psychosocial development
Development is multidirectional and results in gains and losses throughout life
Development is plastic , meaning that characteristics are malleable or changeable.
Development is influenced by contextual and socio-cultural influences.
Development is multidisciplinary.

Development is lifelong

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.

Many diverse patterns of change, such as direction, timing, and order, can vary among individuals and affect the ways in which they develop. For example, the developmental timing of events can affect individuals in different ways because of their current level of maturity and understanding. As individuals move through life, they are faced with many challenges, opportunities, and situations that impact their development. Remembering that development is a lifelong process helps us gain a wider perspective on the meaning and impact of each event.

Development is multidimensional

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.

For example, in adolescence, puberty consists of physiological and physical changes with changes in hormone levels, the development of primary and secondary sex characteristics, alterations in height and weight, and several other bodily changes. But these are not the only types of changes taking place; there are also cognitive changes, including the development of advanced cognitive faculties such as the ability to think abstractly. There are also emotional and social changes involving regulating emotions, interacting with peers, and possibly dating. The fact that the term puberty encompasses such a broad range of domains illustrates the multidimensionality component of development (think back to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial domains of human development we discussed earlier in this module).

Development is multidirectional

Baltes states that the development of a particular domain does not occur in a strictly linear fashion but that the 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.

If we use the example of puberty again, we can see that certain domains may improve or decline in effectiveness during this time. For example, self-regulation is one domain of puberty that undergoes profound multidirectional changes during the adolescent period. During childhood, individuals have difficulty effectively regulating their actions and impulsive behaviors. Scholars have noted that this lack of effective regulation often results in children engaging in behaviors without fully considering the consequences of their actions. Over the course of puberty, neuronal changes modify this unregulated behavior by increasing the ability to regulate emotions and impulses. Inversely, the ability for adolescents to engage in spontaneous activity and creativity, both domains commonly associated with impulse behavior, decrease over the adolescent period in response to changes in cognition. Neuronal changes to the limbic system and prefrontal cortex of the brain, which begin in puberty lead to the development of self-regulation, and the ability to consider the consequences of one’s actions (though recent brain research reveals that this connection will continue to develop into early adulthood).

Extending on the premise of multidirectionality, Baltes also argued that development is influenced by the “joint expression of features of growth (gain) and decline (loss)”. This relation between developmental gains and losses occurs in a direction to selectively optimize particular capacities. This requires the sacrificing of other functions, a process known as selective optimization with compensation. According to the process of selective optimization, individuals prioritize particular functions above others, reducing the adaptive capacity of particulars for specialization and improved efficacy of other modalities.

The acquisition of effective self-regulation in adolescents illustrates this gain/loss concept. As adolescents gain the ability to effectively regulate their actions, they may be forced to sacrifice other features to selectively optimize their reactions. For example, individuals may sacrifice their capacity to be spontaneous or creative if they are constantly required to make thoughtful decisions and regulate their emotions. Adolescents may also be forced to sacrifice their fast reaction times toward processing stimuli in favor of being able to fully consider the consequences of their actions.

Development is plastic

Plasticity denotes intrapersonal variability and focuses heavily on the potentials and limits of the nature of human development. The notion of plasticity emphasizes that there are many possible developmental outcomes and that the nature of human development is much more open and pluralistic than originally implied by traditional views; there is no single pathway that must be taken in an individual’s development across the lifespan. Plasticity is imperative to current research because the potential for intervention is derived from the notion of plasticity in development. Undesired development or behaviors could potentially be prevented or changed.

As an example, recently researchers have been analyzing how other senses compensate for the loss of vision in blind individuals. Without visual input, blind humans have demonstrated that tactile and auditory functions still fully develop and they can use tactile and auditory cues to perceive the world around them. One experiment designed by Röder and colleagues (1999) compared the auditory localization skills of people who are blind with people who are sighted by having participants locate sounds presented either centrally or peripherally (lateral) to them. Both congenitally blind adults and sighted adults could locate a sound presented in front of them with precision but people who are blind were clearly superior in locating sounds presented laterally. Currently, brain-imaging studies have revealed that the sensory cortices in the brain are reorganized after visual deprivation. These findings suggest that when vision is absent in development, the auditory cortices in the brain recruit areas that are normally devoted to vision, thus becoming further refined.

A significant aspect of the aging process is cognitive decline. The dimensions of cognitive decline are partially reversible, however, because the brain retains the lifelong capacity for plasticity and reorganization of cortical tissue. Mahncke and colleagues developed a brain plasticity-based training program that induced learning in mature adults experiencing an age-related decline. This training program focused intensively on aural language reception accuracy and cognitively demanding exercises that have been proven to partially reverse the age-related losses in memory. It included highly rewarding novel tasks that required attention control and became progressively more difficult to perform. In comparison to the control group, who received no training and showed no significant change in memory function, the experimental training group displayed a marked enhancement in memory that was sustained at the 3-month follow-up period. These findings suggest that cognitive function, particularly memory, can be significantly improved in mature adults with age-related cognitive decline by using brain plasticity-based training methods.

Development is contextual

In Baltes’ theory, the paradigm of contextualism refers to the idea that three systems of biological and environmental influences work together to influence development. Development occurs in context and varies from person to person, depending on factors such as a person’s biology, family, school, church, profession, nationality, and ethnicity. Baltes identified three types of influences that operate throughout the life course: normative age-graded influences, normative history-graded influences, and nonnormative influences. Baltes wrote that these three influences operate throughout the life course, their effects accumulate with time, and, as a dynamic package, they are responsible for how lives develop.

Normative age-graded influences are those biological and environmental factors that have a strong correlation with chronological age, such as puberty or menopause, or age-based social practices such as beginning school or entering retirement. Normative history-graded influences are associated with a specific time period that defines the broader environmental and cultural context in which an individual develops. For example, development and identity are influenced by historical events of the people who experience them, such as the Great Depression, WWII, Vietnam, the Cold War, the War on Terror, or advances in technology.

This has been exemplified in numerous studies, including Nesselroade and Baltes’, showing that the level and direction of change in adolescent personality development was influenced as strongly by the socio-cultural settings at the time (in this case, the Vietnam War) as age-related factors. The study involved individuals of four different adolescent age groups who all showed significant personality development in the same direction (a tendency to occupy themselves with ethical, moral, and political issues rather than cognitive achievement). Similarly, Elder showed that the Great Depression was a setting that significantly affected the development of adolescents and their corresponding adult personalities, by showing a similar common personality development across age groups. Baltes’ theory also states that the historical socio-cultural setting had an effect on the development of an individual’s intelligence. The areas of influence that Baltes thought most important to the development of intelligence were health, education, and work. The first two areas, health and education, significantly affect adolescent development because healthy children who are educated effectively will tend to develop a higher level of intelligence. The environmental factors, health and education, have been suggested by Neiss and Rowe to have as much effect on intelligence as inherited intelligence.

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.

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

What is meant by the word “context”? It means that we are influenced by when and where we live. Our actions, beliefs, and values are a response to the circumstances surrounding us. Sternberg describes contextual intelligence as the ability to understand what is called for in a situation (Sternberg, 1996). The key here is to understand that behaviors, motivations, emotions, and choices are all part of a bigger picture. Our concerns are such because of who we are socially, where we live, and when we live; they are part of a social climate and set of realities that surround us. Important social factors include cohort, social class, gender, race, ethnicity, and age. Let’s begin by exploring two of these: cohort and social class.

A cohort is a group of people who are born at roughly the same time period in a particular society. Cohorts share histories and contexts for living. Members of a cohort have experienced the same historical events and cultural climates which have an impact on the values, priorities, and goals that may guide their lives.

Another context that influences our lives is our social standing, socioeconomic status, or social class. Socioeconomic status is a way to identify families and households based on their shared levels of education, income, and occupation. While there is certainly individual variation, members of a social class tend to share similar lifestyles, patterns of consumption, parenting styles, stressors, religious preferences, and other aspects of daily life.

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.

Culture is learned from parents, schools, churches, media, friends, and others throughout a lifetime. The kinds of traditions and values that evolve in a particular culture serve to help members function in their own society and to value their own society. We tend to believe that our own culture’s practices and expectations are the right ones. This belief that our own culture is superior is called ethnocentrism and is a normal by-product of growing up in a culture. It becomes a roadblock, however, when it inhibits understanding of cultural practices from other societies. Cultural relativity is an appreciation for cultural differences and the understanding that cultural practices are best understood from the standpoint of that particular culture.

Culture is an extremely important context for human development and understanding development requires being able to identify which features of development are culturally based. This understanding is somewhat new and still being explored. So much of what developmental theorists have described in the past has been culturally bound and difficult to apply to various cultural contexts. For example, Erikson’s theory that teenagers struggle with identity assumes that all teenagers live in a society in which they have many options and must make an individual choice about their future. In many parts of the world, one’s identity is determined by family status or society’s dictates. In other words, there is no choice to make.

Even the most biological events can be viewed in cultural contexts that are extremely varied. Consider two very different cultural responses to menstruation in young girls. In the United States, girls in public school often receive information on menstruation around 5th grade, get a kit containing feminine hygiene products, and receive some sort of education about sexual health. Contrast this with some developing countries where menstruation is not publicly addressed, or where girls on their period are forced to miss school due to limited access to feminine products or unjust attitudes about menstruation.

Development is Multidisciplinary

Any single discipline’s account of development across the lifespan would not be able to express all aspects of this theoretical framework. That is why it is suggested explicitly by lifespan researchers that a combination of disciplines is necessary to understand development. Psychologists, sociologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, educators, economists, historians, medical researchers, and others may all be interested and involved in research related to the normative age-graded, normative history-graded, and nonnormative influences that help shape development. Many disciplines are able to contribute important concepts that integrate knowledge, which may ultimately result in the formation of a new and enriched understanding of development across the lifespan.

Consider your cohort. Can you identify it? Does it have a name and if so, what does the name imply? To what extent does your cohort shape your values, thoughts, and aspirations? (Some cohort labels popularized in the media for generations in the United States include Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z.)
Think of other ways culture may have affected your development. How might cultural differences influence interactions between teachers and students, nurses and patients, or other relationships?

Additional Supplemental Resources

Want to participate in a study? Click on a link that sounds interesting to you in order to participate in online research
U.S. Census Data is available and widely used to look at trends and changes taking place in the United States
KFF is an endowed, nonprofit organization filling the need for trusted, independent information on national health issues.
SRCD launched a project to increase the visibility of leading developmental scientists of color who have made critical research contributions and paved the way, through mentoring and advocacy, for younger scholars of color.
This video gives a summary of Piaget’s theory and his four stages of cognitive development.
This video summarizes Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development which identifies eight stages in which a healthy individual should pass through from birth to death.
This video on research methods covers the different categories of psychological research including observational studies and experiments. Closed captioning available.

How to Age Gracefully

People of all ages offer words of wisdom to their younger counterparts in this WireTap video, from CBC Radio One. It is a great overview of the journey we will take through the lifespan.

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50 What Is Lifespan Development?

[latexpage]

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Define and distinguish between the three domains of development: physical, cognitive and psychosocial
Discuss the normative approach to development
Understand the three major issues in development: continuity and discontinuity, one common course of development or many unique courses of development, and nature versus nurture

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. (Wordsworth, 1802)

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?

These are the types of questions developmental psychologists try to answer, by studying how humans change and grow from conception through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains—physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships. We refer to these domains throughout the chapter.

You’ve learned about a variety of research methods used by psychologists. Developmental psychologists use many of these approaches in order to better understand how individuals change mentally and physically over time. These methods include naturalistic observations, case studies, surveys, and experiments, among others.

Naturalistic observations involve observing behavior in its natural context. A developmental psychologist might observe how children behave on a playground, at a daycare center, or in the child’s own home. While this research approach provides a glimpse into how children behave in their natural settings, researchers have very little control over the types and/or frequencies of displayed behavior.

In a case study, developmental psychologists collect a great deal of information from one individual in order to better understand physical and psychological changes over the lifespan. This particular approach is an excellent way to better understand individuals, who are exceptional in some way, but it is especially prone to researcher bias in interpretation, and it is difficult to generalize conclusions to the larger population.

In one classic example of this research method being applied to a study of lifespan development Sigmund Freud analyzed the development of a child known as “Little Hans” (Freud, 1909/1949). Freud’s findings helped inform his theories of psychosexual development in children, which you will learn about later in this chapter. Little Genie, the subject of a case study discussed in the chapter on thinking and intelligence, provides another example of how psychologists examine developmental milestones through detailed research on a single individual. In Genie’s case, her neglectful and abusive upbringing led to her being unable to speak until, at age 13, she was removed from that harmful environment. As she learned to use language, psychologists were able to compare how her language acquisition abilities differed when occurring in her late-stage development compared to the typical acquisition of those skills during the ages of infancy through early childhood (Fromkin, Krashen, Curtiss, Rigler, & Rigler, 1974; Curtiss, 1981).

The survey method asks individuals to self-report important information about their thoughts, experiences, and beliefs. This particular method can provide large amounts of information in relatively short amounts of time; however, validity of data collected in this way relies on honest self-reporting, and the data is relatively shallow when compared to the depth of information collected in a case study.

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.

Later in this chapter, you will learn about several experiments in which toddlers and young children observe scenes or actions so that researchers can determine at what age specific cognitive abilities develop. For example, children may observe a quantity of liquid poured from a short, fat glass into a tall, skinny glass. As the experimenters question the children about what occurred, the subjects’ answers help psychologists understand at what age a child begins to comprehend that the volume of liquid remained the same although the shapes of the containers differs.

Across these three domains—physical, cognitive, and psychosocial—the normative approach to development is also discussed. This approach asks, “What is normal development?” In the early decades of the 20th century, normative psychologists studied large numbers of children at various ages to determine norms (i.e., average ages) of when most children reach specific developmental milestones in each of the three domains (Gesell, 1933, 1939, 1940; Gesell & Ilg, 1946; Hall, 1904). Although children develop at slightly different rates, we can use these age-related averages as general guidelines to compare children with same-age peers to determine the approximate ages they should reach specific normative events called developmental milestones (e.g., crawling, walking, writing, dressing, naming colors, speaking in sentences, and starting puberty).

Not all normative events are universal, meaning they are not experienced by all individuals across all cultures. Biological milestones, such as puberty, tend to be universal, but social milestones, such as the age when children begin formal schooling, are not necessarily universal; instead, they affect most individuals in a particular culture (Gesell & Ilg, 1946). For example, in developed countries children begin school around 5 or 6 years old, but in developing countries, like Nigeria, children often enter school at an advanced age, if at all (Huebler, 2005; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2013).

To better understand the normative approach, imagine two new mothers, Louisa and Kimberly, who are close friends and have children around the same age. Louisa’s daughter is 14 months old, and Kimberly’s son is 12 months old. According to the normative approach, the average age a child starts to walk is 12 months. However, at 14 months Louisa’s daughter still isn’t walking. She tells Kimberly she is worried that something might be wrong with her baby. Kimberly is surprised because her son started walking when he was only 10 months old. Should Louisa be worried? Should she be concerned if her daughter is not walking by 15 months or 18 months?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes the developmental milestones for children from 2 months through 5 years old. After reviewing the information, take this quiz to see how well you recall what you’ve learned. If you are a parent with concerns about your child’s development, contact your pediatrician.

ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

There are many different theoretical approaches regarding human development. As we evaluate them in this chapter, recall that developmental psychology focuses on how people change, and keep in mind that all the approaches that we present in this chapter address questions of change: Is the change smooth or uneven (continuous versus discontinuous)? Is this pattern of change the same for everyone, or are there many different patterns of change (one course of development versus many courses)? How do genetics and environment interact to influence development (nature versus nurture)?

Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?

Continuous development views development as a cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills ( [link] ). With this type of development, there is gradual change. Consider, for example, a child’s physical growth: adding inches to her height year by year. In contrast, theorists who view development as discontinuous believe that development takes place in unique stages: It occurs at specific times or ages. With this type of development, the change is more sudden, such as an infant’s ability to conceive object permanence.

Is There One Course of Development or Many?

Stage theories hold that the sequence of development is universal. For example, in cross-cultural studies of language development, children from around the world reach language milestones in a similar sequence (Gleitman & Newport, 1995). Infants in all cultures coo before they babble. They begin babbling at about the same age and utter their first word around 12 months old. Yet we live in diverse contexts that have a unique effect on each of us. For example, researchers once believed that motor development follows one course for all children regardless of culture. However, child care practices vary by culture, and different practices have been found to accelerate or inhibit achievement of developmental milestones such as sitting, crawling, and walking (Karasik, Adolph, Tamis-LeMonda, & Bornstein, 2010).

How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development?

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 parents, 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?

We are all born with specific genetic traits inherited from our parents, such as eye color, height, and certain personality traits. Beyond our basic genotype, however, there is a deep interaction between our genes and our environment: Our unique experiences in our environment influence whether and how particular traits are expressed, and at the same time, our genes influence how we interact with our environment (Diamond, 2009; Lobo, 2008). This chapter will show that there is a reciprocal interaction between nature and nurture as they both shape who we become, but the debate continues as to the relative contributions of each.

The achievement gap refers to the persistent difference in grades, test scores, and graduation rates that exist among students of different ethnicities, races, and—in certain subjects—sexes (Winerman, 2011). Research suggests that these achievement gaps are strongly influenced by differences in socioeconomic factors that exist among the families of these children. While the researchers acknowledge that programs aimed at reducing such socioeconomic discrepancies would likely aid in equalizing the aptitude and performance of children from different backgrounds, they recognize that such large-scale interventions would be difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is recommended that programs aimed at fostering aptitude and achievement among disadvantaged children may be the best option for dealing with issues related to academic achievement gaps (Duncan & Magnuson, 2005).

Low-income children perform significantly more poorly than their middle- and high-income peers on a number of educational variables: They have significantly lower standardized test scores, graduation rates, and college entrance rates, and they have much higher school dropout rates. There have been attempts to correct the achievement gap through state and federal legislation, but what if the problems start before the children even enter school?

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).

There are solutions to this problem. At the University of Chicago, experts are working with low-income families, visiting them at their homes, and encouraging them to speak more to their children on a daily and hourly basis. Other experts are designing preschools in which students from diverse economic backgrounds are placed in the same classroom. In this research, low-income children made significant gains in their language development, likely as a result of attending the specialized preschool (Schechter & Byeb, 2007). What other methods or interventions could be used to decrease the achievement gap? What types of activities could be implemented to help the children of your community or a neighboring community?

Lifespan development explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial. There are several theories of development that focus on the following issues: whether development is continuous or discontinuous, whether development follows one course or many, and the relative influence of nature versus nurture on development.

Review Questions

The view that development is a cumulative process, gradually adding to the same type of skills is known as ________.

continuous development
discontinuous development

Developmental psychologists study human growth and development across three domains. Which of the following is not one of these domains?

psychological
psychosocial

How is lifespan development defined?

The study of how we grow and change from conception to death.
The study of how we grow and change in infancy and childhood.
The study of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial growth in children.
The study of emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Critical Thinking Questions

Describe the nature versus nurture controversy, and give an example of a trait and how it might be influenced by each?

The nature versus nurture controversy seeks to understand whether our personalities and traits are the product of our genetic makeup and biological factors, or whether they are shaped by our environment, which includes such things as our parents, peers, and culture. Today, psychologists agree that both nature and nurture interact to shape who we become, but the debate over the relative contributions of each continues. An example would be a child learning to walk: Nature influences when the physical ability occurs, but culture can influence when a child masters this skill, as in Aché culture.

Compare and contrast continuous and discontinuous development.

Continuous development sees our development as a cumulative process: Changes are gradual. On the other hand, discontinuous development sees our development as taking place in specific steps or stages: Changes are sudden.

Why should developmental milestones only be used as a general guideline for normal child development?

Children develop at different rates. For example, some children may walk and talk as early as 8 months old, while others may not do so until well after their first birthday. Each child’s unique contexts will influence when he reaches these milestones.

Personal Application Questions

How are you different today from the person you were at 6 years old? What about at 16 years old? How are you the same as the person you were at those ages?

Your 3-year-old daughter is not yet potty trained. Based on what you know about the normative approach, should you be concerned? Why or why not?

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Your Guide to IELTS Band 7

IELTS Model Essay: Increased Life Expectancy

In this post, I’m going to write an IELTS Writing Task 2 model essay in response to this question about increased life expectancy from Test 2 of The Official Cambridge Guide To IELTS :

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

One of the consequences of improved medical care is that people are living longer and life expectancy is increasing.

Do you think the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Let’s go through my 4 Step Approach to essay planning:

Analyse The Question
Decide My Position
Generate My Ideas
Develop My Ideas

I’ll write these 4 steps out in full, so you can see my thinking. Obviously, you won’t have time to write all this down when you plan your essay, but you will have time to think the 4 steps through in your head. In fact, Steps 2 to 4 might happen together, if you think deeply enough about your views.

Step 1: Analyse The Question

The first thing to do is analyse the question.

TWO things are mentioned here: (1) “people are living longer” and (2) “life expectancy is increasing”. However, these are not two separate issues; I think life expectancy is mentioned to emphasise the fact that this will continue into the future, so it’s a long-term issue.

Now, I don’t want to die, so living longer only has advantages to me, but the question isn’t about ME, it’s about people in general; society.

So let’s reword the question , so it’s clearer: do the advantages of living longer outweigh the disadvantages for society?

Step 2: Decide My Position (What Do I Think?)

So, what do I REALLY think about this issue? In other words, what’s my position on this issue?

Clearly – if you REALLY think about this issue – there are BOTH advantages AND disadvantages to living longer for society, so you should discuss both advantages and disadvantages of you want to write a well-developed response (and have a chance of getting a Band 8 for TR).

On the whole, I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages , because we can do more with our lives, BUT only if living longer means being healthier for longer, and being able to pay for retirement.

Step 3: Generate My Ideas (Why Do I Think This?)

Now let’s expand my position – why do I take this position? This is really just an expansion of the position I outlined above, into 4 main ideas .

Advantages:

A longer retirement means more opportunities for recreational pursuits – (assuming they have the health and money to pay for it.)
Grandparents can help to look after and offer advice to their grandchildren, making life easier for parents.

Disadvantages:

Older people are more likely to suffer from health problems, especially chronic health problems such as diabetes and back pain.
If older people don’t work, they need a larger pension to pay for their longer retirement.

Step 4: Develop My Ideas

Next, I’m going to develop my ideas using a logical structure. This will give me a clear essay plan.

Introduction :

people are living longer, and can expect to live longer, because of improved health care. Seems like a good thing, but are there any disadvantages of this trend?

Body Paragraph 1: Advantages

Main Idea 1: more time to be active and useful
Explanation 1 : opportunities for activities, hobbies
Explanation 2 : more people to look after our younger generation

Body Paragraph 2: Disadvantages

Main Idea: Both these advantages depend on good health and money.
Explanation 1 : older people more likely to have poor health; health care costs
Example : chronic health problems (diabetes, muscle pain)
Explanation 2 : pension funds may be limited. Who will pay?
advantages greater, but they depend on health and wealth.

So, all I need to do now is expand these notes into full sentences and link them together!

So here’s my essay:

My Model Essay

Over the last half century, life expectancy across the world has been rising as a result of better quality healthcare. This means that today we have an ageing population. On the face of it, living longer seems to be a good thing – after all, nobody really want to die! – but a decent old age depends on health and wealth.

Many people in their seventies and eighties, and even older, are able to enjoy a long and fulfilling retirement. They can travel to new destinations and get involved in a wide range of hobbies and activities that were impossible while working and bringing up a family. Those with grandchildren may also be able to help young, busy parents with such tasks as collecting children from school; moreover, they could share their life experiences with the younger generation.

But while there are tremendous benefits to increased life expectancy, they depend, to an extent, on being healthy and having money. Older people are more likely to suffer from medical problems, especially chronic illnesses like diabetes and muscle pain, which can seriously restrict the kinds of activities they do. This also means increased health care costs, for both individuals and society. In addition, if older people aren’t working, they will have to rely on savings and pensions to pay for their lifestyle, but many older people simply won’t have been able to save enough for a long old age.

Overall then, I feel that the benefits of living older are clear, but these must be balanced against the implications for health and money. If living longer simply means chronic health complaints and grinding poverty for a longer time, it is questionable as to whether it is an advantage at all.

I hope my model essay helps to show you how to write at a Band 8 or Band 9 level. If you think others will find this essay useful, please share it.

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The Lifespan Mosaic: The Portrait of Human Development

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Introduction

Characteristics of lifespan perspective.

Developmental Domains in Lifespan Perspective

Developmental periods in human life, contemporary concerns in lifespan development, similar topics:.

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Differences Between Human Life Span and Expectancy

The human lifespan is the maximum number of years an individual from the human species can live based on observed examples. Though this definition of lifespan may seem simple enough, it is often confused with other common concepts in the study of the aging , life, and death of living organisms.

In order to better understand the human lifespan, let's dive a little deeper into the concept and its important distinctions from other commonly used terms.

Human Life Span vs. Human Life Expectancy

The term lifespan is most commonly confused with another important concept: life expectancy . While both terms relate to the number of living years, they actually define very different concepts. While the term lifespan refers to the maximum number of years an individual can live, life expectancy refers to an estimate or an average number of years a person can expect to live. Most simply put, life expectancy can be attributed to and impacted by an individual and their personal health history, genetics, and lifestyle, whereas lifespan holds for all living humans.

For example, a person's life expectancy is affected by personal factors like family history, environment, diet, and even age and sex. One person's life expectancy might be different from your life expectancy and it may even change over time. Your life spans, however, are one in the same. We all share it as members of the same species. So what is the human life span?

What Is the Human Life Span?

Given that the human lifespan is defined by the longest observed human life from birth to death, it is a figure that has changed over the years . For humans, the current accepted maximum lifespan is 122 years. This age was achieved by Jeane Louise Calment of France. Calment lived from February 21, 1875, to August 4, 1997, until she was exactly 122 years and 164 days old. Remarkably, Calment remained relatively healthy and mentally intact until her 122nd birthday.

Though there have certainly been claims of longer lives, none of the claims were acceptably documented and verified.

Closing the Gap Between Life Expectancy and Life Span

With the United State's average life expectancy currently hovering at around 79 years, the age to which most Americans can expect to live is still forty-four years younger than the human lifespan . So how do we close that gap and elongate our lives? There will always be factors that are out of our individual control like our inherited genes, but we shouldn't discount the impact of those that we can control. It is generally understood that closing the gap between life expectancy and lifespan can be done through healthier living, less exposure to toxins, the prevention of chronic illnesses, and a little bit of luck.

Wilhelm P. Jeanne Calment: Validation of the Duration of Her Life . Validation of Exceptional Longevity. Odense University Press. ISBN 87-7838-466-4

United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 2019 (PDF). 10 December 2019.

By Mark Stibich, PhD Mark Stibich, PhD, FIDSA, is a behavior change expert with experience helping individuals make lasting lifestyle improvements.

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Teaching Students About Lassi: A Refreshing Cultural Experience

Teaching students about the origin of the word “meme”, teaching students about land mines: an important lesson in global awareness, teaching students about how the atmosphere acquires most of its energy from the sun, teaching students about tim minchin: a multidisciplinary approach, teaching students about the antoinette perry award for excellence, teaching students about the jean seberg’s legacy, teaching students about the volkswagen thing: an unconventional approach, teaching students about the american renaissance, simple & easy lifespan development essay topics.

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Module 2: Developmental Theories

Comparing and evaluating lifespan theories, learning outcomes.

Contrast the main psychological theories that apply to human development

In the table below, we’ll review some of the major theories that you learned about in this module. Recall that three key issues considered in human development examine if development is continuous or discontinuous, if it is the same for everyone or distinct for individuals (one course of development or many), and if development is more influenced by nature or by nurture. The table below reviews how each of these major theories approaches each of these issues.

Table 1. Major Theories in Human Development [1]


Psychosexual theory	Behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness and control. Emphasizes the unconscious, defense mechanisms, and influences of the id, ego, and superego.	Discontinuous; there are distinct stages of development	One course; stages are universal for everyone	Both; natural impulses combined with early childhood experiences impact development	Sigmund Freud
Psychosocial theory	A person negotiates biological and sociocultural influences as they move through eight stages, each characterized by a psychosocial crisis: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, ego integrity vs. despair.	Discontinuous; there are distinct stages of development	One course; stages are universal for everyone	Both; natural impulses combined with sociocultural experiences impact development	Erik Erikson
Classical conditioning	Learning by the association of a response with a stimulus; a person comes to respond in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response.	Continuous; learning is ongoing without distinct stages	Many courses; learned behaviors vary by person	Mostly nurture; behavior is conditioned	Ivan Pavlov, John Watson
Operant conditioning	Learning that occurs when a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by its association with positive or negative consequences. Rewards and punishments can strengthen or discourage behaviors.	Continuous; learning is ongoing without distinct stages	Many courses; learned behaviors vary by person	Mostly nurture; behavior is conditioned	B.F. Skinner
Social cognitive theory (social learning theory)	Learning occurs in a social context; considering the relationship between the environment and a person’s behavior. Learning can occur through observation.	Continuous; learning is gradual and ongoing without distinct stages	Many courses; learned behaviors vary by person	Mostly nurture; behavior is observed and learned	Albert Bandura
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development	A theory about how people come to gradually acquire, construct, and use knowledge and information. It describes cognitive development through four distinct stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal.	Discontinuous; there are distinct stages of development	One course; stages are universal for everyone	Both; natural impulses combined with experiences that challenge the existing schemas	Jean Piaget
Information processing	A theory that seeks to identify the ways individuals take in, use, and store information (sometimes compared to a computer). It is based on the idea that humans process the information they receive, rather than merely respond to stimuli.	Continuous; cognitive development is gradual and ongoing without distinct stages	One course; the model applies to everyone	Both; natural cognitive development combined with experiences of processing information in new and different ways	Richard Atkinson, Richard Shiffrin
Humanistic theories	Theories that emphasizes an individual’s inherent drive towards self-actualization and contend that people have a natural capacity to make decisions about their lives and control their own behavior. Key terms and concepts include unconditional positive regard, striving for “the good life,” and the hierarchy of needs.	Continuous; development is ongoing without distinct stages and can be multidirectional depending on environmental circumstances	Mostly one course; Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is universally applied, but there is an individual course for self-actualization	Mostly nurture; development is influenced by environmental circumstances and social interactions	Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow
Sociocultural theory	Vygotsky’s theory that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture. Key terms and concepts include the zone of proximal development and scaffolding.	Both, but mostly continuous as an individual learns and progresses	Many courses; there are variations between individuals and cultures	Both; development is influenced by biological preparation and social experiences	Lev Vygotsky
Bioecological systems model	Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory stressing the importance of studying a child in the context of multiple environments, or ecological systems. It is organized into five levels of external influence: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.	Both; the influence of each system can be continuous or discontinuous depending on the system in question	Many courses; the interaction of people and the environment varies	Both; a person’s biological potential and the environment interact to impact development	Urie Bronfenbrenner, Stephen Ceci
Evolutionary psychology theory	A theory that seeks to identify behavior that is a result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors.	Continuous; current behaviors have been shaped over multiple generations based on successful survival and reproduction	Both; behavioral genetics show similarities across the species, but our unique family history also plays a role in development	Both; our genetic history and biological impulses interact with life experiences to produce individual development and development across the history and future of the species	Charles Darwin, David Buss, Konrad Lorenz, Robert Sapolsky

Berk, L. E. (1998). "Stances of Major Theories on Basic Issues in Human Development."Development through the lifespan. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. p. 26. ↵
Comparing and Evaluating Lifespan Theories. Authored by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
v.117(10); 2020 Mar 10

Dynamics of life expectancy and life span equality

José manuel aburto.

a Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense, Denmark;

b Lifespan Inequalities Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, 18057 Rostock, Germany;

Francisco Villavicencio

c Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205;

Ugofilippo Basellini

d Laboratory of Digital and Computational Demography, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, 18057 Rostock, Germany;

e Mortality, Health and Epidemiology Unit, Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED), 93322 Aubervilliers, France;

Søren Kjærgaard

f Center for Research in Econometric Analysis of Time Series (CREATES), Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark;

James W. Vaupel

g Duke University Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708;

h Emeritus Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, 18057 Rostock, Germany

Author contributions: J.M.A. and J.W.V. designed research; J.M.A., F.V., U.B., and S.K. performed research; J.M.A., F.V., U.B., and S.K. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; J.M.A., U.B., and S.K. analyzed data; and J.M.A., F.V., U.B., and J.W.V. wrote the paper.

Reviewers: C.M., University of Oxford; M.M., London School of Economics; and C.R., University of Oxford.

Associated Data

Description to access the data and the code to reproduce results are in a permanent repository, accessible via the following link: https://zenodo.org/record/3571095 . All data are publicly available.

Significance

Why life expectancy and life span equality have increased together is a question of scientific interest. Both measures are calculated for a calendar year and might not describe a cohort’s actual life course. Nonetheless, life expectancy provides a useful measure of average life spans, and life span equality gives insights into uncertainty about age at death. We show how patterns of change in life expectancy and life span equality are described by trajectories of mortality improvements over age and time. The strength of the relationship between life expectancy and life span equality is not coincidental but rather a result of progress in saving lives at specific ages: the more lives saved at the youngest ages, the stronger the relationship is.

As people live longer, ages at death are becoming more similar. This dual advance over the last two centuries, a central aim of public health policies, is a major achievement of modern civilization. Some recent exceptions to the joint rise of life expectancy and life span equality, however, make it difficult to determine the underlying causes of this relationship. Here, we develop a unifying framework to study life expectancy and life span equality over time, relying on concepts about the pace and shape of aging. We study the dynamic relationship between life expectancy and life span equality with reliable data from the Human Mortality Database for 49 countries and regions with emphasis on the long time series from Sweden. Our results demonstrate that both changes in life expectancy and life span equality are weighted totals of rates of progress in reducing mortality. This finding holds for three different measures of the variability of life spans. The weights evolve over time and indicate the ages at which reductions in mortality increase life expectancy and life span equality: the more progress at the youngest ages, the tighter the relationship. The link between life expectancy and life span equality is especially strong when life expectancy is less than 70 y. In recent decades, life expectancy and life span equality have occasionally moved in opposite directions due to larger improvements in mortality at older ages or a slowdown in declines in midlife mortality. Saving lives at ages below life expectancy is the key to increasing both life expectancy and life span equality.

The rise in human life expectancy over the past two centuries is a remarkable accomplishment of modern civilization ( 1 , 2 ). This progress was achieved during the demographic transition of societies from regimes of high mortality and fertility to regimes of low mortality and fertility ( 3 , 4 ). At present, among the world’s nations, Japanese women have the highest life expectancy at birth, above 87 y. In 1840, the record was held by Swedish women, with an average life span of 46 y ( 5 ). This advance has been accompanied by an increase in life span equality: In low mortality populations today, most individuals survive to similar ages ( 6 – 11 ).

Life span equality matters because it captures a fundamental type of inequality: variation in length of life. This variation is not revealed by life expectancy and other measures of average mortality levels ( 12 ). Two populations that share the same level of life expectancy could experience substantial differences in the timing of death, e.g., deaths could be more evenly spread over age in one population than another. Although life expectancy is monitored in every country in the world, few countries have begun to monitor and acknowledge the importance of disparities in age at death.

For values of life expectancy at birth from under 20 to above 85 y, life span equality rises linearly ( Fig. 1 ). This relationship between life expectancy and life span equality has been found to hold in a life span continuum over millions of years of primate evolution, in many countries and among subgroups in a population ( 6 – 11 , 13 – 15 ). The dual advance, however, might be coincidental rather than causal. Even though both life expectancy and life span equality are computed from the same information, namely age-specific death rates, doubt about a common causal link is sown by messier and sometimes negative relationships between them in various datasets and using alternative indicators of life span equality ( 16 ). The United States, for example, has relatively low equality in life spans in comparison with other countries that have similar levels of life expectancy ( 17 ). Scotland reached similar levels of life expectancy with 10% higher life span inequality than England and Wales since 1980 ( 18 ). Finnish females from lower educational levels experienced increases in life expectancy, while life span equality decreased at age 30 since the 1970s ( 12 ). In Denmark, life span equality decreased among the lowest income subgroup over the period of 1986 to 2014 despite the increase in life expectancy ( 19 ). In some countries in Eastern Europe and Latin America, life expectancy and life span equality moved independently over periods of slow improvements in life expectancy ( 20 – 22 ). Indeed, in many countries and subgroups within a country in recent decades, life span equality declined, although the average life span rose or vice versa (as indicated by the points in the second and fourth quadrants of Fig. 2 A and B ). In addition, causes of death that contributed to increasing life expectancy somewhat differ from those that increased equality in life spans in developed countries after 1970 ( 23 , 24 ). Nonetheless, despite these exceptions and discrepancies, life expectancy and life span equality generally move in the same direction ( 11 ).

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Association between life expectancy at birth e o and life span equality h .

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( A ) Association between changes in life expectancy at birth e o and life span equality h . ( B ) Association between changes over 10-y rolling periods.

In this article, we develop a mathematical framework to explore how life expectancy at birth and life span equality relate to each other and evolve over time. We rely on two dimensions of aging: the average length of life (pace) and the relative variation in length of life (shape) ( 25 ). The former refers to how fast aging occurs, while the latter describes how sharply populations age. The shape of mortality pertains to the distribution of life spans. Statisticians and demographers, based on both theoretical and practical considerations, have developed different indicators to summarize the distribution of life spans ( 26 , 27 ). Here, we measure average length of life by life expectancy, and we analyze the distribution of life spans with three different indicators of life span equality. These indicators are variants of 1) the life table entropy, 2) the Gini coefficient, and 3) the coefficient of variation of the age-at-death distribution ( 28 , 29 ). Other indicators of absolute dispersion in life spans exist, such as the variance of the age-at-death distribution, its SD, or life years lost due to death ( 30 , 31 ). However, these are pace indicators measured in units of time and do not capture the dimensionless shape of aging ( 26 ).

We focus on how age-specific mortality improvements change life span equality and life expectancy at birth. We analyze changes over time in these two longevity measures for Swedish females since the 18th century, and 48 additional populations from the Human Mortality Database with reliable data, in many cases since the beginning of the 20th century, for females and males separately ( 5 ). Mortality risks implied by a period life table generally differ from the risks individuals will experience over their lifetimes. Nonetheless, life table information on life expectancy and life span equality may provide information individuals use to make life course decisions, and information policymakers use to assess population health and well-being ( 32 – 34 ).

Trends in Life Expectancy and Life Span Equality

Life expectancy at birth for both men and women increased throughout the 20th century ( 5 , 35 ). Paralleling the rise of life expectancy, all countries included in our study became more equal in life spans ( Fig. 1 ). This is a significant advance in giving people more equitable opportunities. Furthermore, the rise in life span equality has influenced the decisions individuals make over their life course, such as when to have children, study, work, or retire, and how much to save for retirement, because such decisions are based not only on expected lifetime but also on uncertainty about age at death ( 14 ). Analysis of the relationship between life expectancy at birth e o and life span equality, as measured by h , a log-transformation of life table entropy H ¯ ( Materials and Methods and Box 1 ), indicates a strong correlation (Pearson coefficient of 0.985 for the data in Fig. 1 ). We also analyzed the relationship between average life span and two other measures of life span equality based on the Gini coefficient and the coefficient of variation, and found similarly high correlations, 0.981 and 0.975, respectively ( SI Appendix , Fig. S1 ). Although life expectancy and life span equality have been positively correlated, it is apparent that the relationship is less strong and often reversed in recent decades, resulting in negative correlations in some countries in yearly and 10-y changes ( Fig. 2 ).

Box 1. The Threshold Age and the Life Expectancy at Birth

Life span equality measured by h refers to an indicator closely related to the life table entropy, which was first developed by Leser ( 29 ) and further explored by Demetrius ( 62 ), Keyfitz ( 42 ), and Keyfitz and Golini ( 63 ). The life table entropy is a dimensionless indicator of the relative variation in the length of life compared to life expectancy at birth, and can be expressed as follows:

Function ℓ ( x ) denotes the probability of surviving from birth to age x , whereas e † refers to life disparity—the average remaining life expectancy at ages of death ( 31 , 45 , 46 )—and e o is the life expectancy at birth.

Life span equality measured by h = − ln H ¯ has previously been used as an indicator of life span equality ( 11 ). If mortality improvements over time occur at all ages, there exists a unique threshold age that separates positive from negative contributions to H ¯ as a result of those improvements ( 52 ). Because h is a logarithmic transformation of H ¯ , it has the same threshold age, which we denote by a h (vertical dashed lines in Fig. 3 ). This threshold is reached when

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Weights for the changes in life expectancy w ( x ) ( A and B ) and life span equality w ( x ) W h ( x ) ( C and D ). Each line refers to a given period and represents how life expectancy and life span equality react to age-specific mortality improvements for Swedish women in selected periods.

where H ( a h ) is the cumulative hazard to age a h and H ¯ ( a h ) is the life table entropy conditional on surviving to age a h ( 52 ).

Box 1, Fig. 1 shows the evolution of life expectancy at birth e o , the threshold age a h , and the most common age at death after infancy, M , for Swedish females since 1900 ( A ). The figure highlights how the three measures move together. The threshold age in A is the age that separates “early” from “late” deaths in terms of the effect on life span equality. Averting deaths before a h increases equality, while averting deaths after this age has the opposite effect. It is a population-specific measure that depends on the observed mortality pattern. The threshold age and the life expectancy at birth move in the same direction, either increasing or decreasing together; note that they are very close in recent decades. The modal age at death M was fairly constant before 1950 and rose in tandem with e o and a h thereafter. More than 40% of deaths occur below e o and a h , whereas more than 60% of deaths occur below M ( B ). C and D show that mortality improvements below e o and a h were responsible for around 80% of gains in life expectancy at birth and life span equality in the beginning of the 20th century, while they are responsible for around 60% in contemporary Sweden.

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Box 1, Fig. 1. ( A ) Life expectancy at birth e o , threshold age a h , and modal age at death M . ( B ) Proportion of deaths below life expectancy at birth e o , threshold age a h , and modal age at death M . ( C ) Percentage of changes in life span equality due to changes in death rates below life expectancy at birth e o , threshold age a h , and modal age at death M . ( D ) Percentage of changes in life expectancy at birth due to changes in death rates below life expectancy at birth e o , threshold age a h , and modal age at death M .

How Strong Is the Relationship Between Life Expectancy and Life Span Equality over Time?

To study how strongly life expectancy and life span equality are related over time and whether they respond in the same direction to age-specific mortality changes, we complement demographic analysis with time series analysis (see SI Appendix , section A for details). This framework is designed to integrate the stochastic properties of dynamics over time ( 8 , 9 ). Focusing on changes over time improves our analysis by avoiding misleading inferences from correlations, such as confounding due to unobserved or unmeasured variables ( 36 ). Econometric time series theory indicates that life expectancy and life span equality have a long-run relationship if there exists a single process that drives both indicators toward a long-term equilibrium, even if temporary departures from it occur (as observed more often in recent decades). If this equilibrium exists, changes over time in life span equality are proportional to changes in life expectancy in the long term. In other words, while life expectancy and life span equality increase over time, a linear combination of both leads to a residual time series consistent with stationarity (i.e., with stable mean and variance), referred to as cointegration in time series analysis ( SI Appendix , section A.2 ).

The results reveal that, in most populations, life expectancy and life span equality are linked by a long-run relationship for both sexes ( SI Appendix , Fig. S2 ). In 91% of the populations we investigated (males and females from 45 countries and regions by sex), this relationship holds under the same model specifications ( SI Appendix , section A.2 ); similar results are exhibited for all three indicators of life span equality ( SI Appendix , Fig. S2 ). At the 5% significance level, negative results are expected for 5% of the cases due to random variations. We got negative results in 9% cases. So, the importance of negative results in specific populations should not be overly emphasized ( SI Appendix , section A.3 ). These results hold for countries that have experienced substantially different mortality patterns, including women in Japan; men in the United States with life expectancy of about 77 y and relatively high life span inequality ( 17 ); and men in Russia and Ukraine with the lowest levels in life expectancy in this study (about 65 and 66 y in 2013, respectively) and high inequality ( 21 ). Importantly, for every population in our study, females’ lives tend to be longer and more equal compared to males’ lives in a given year, consistent with previous research ( 11 , 37 ). This underscores the advantage of females over males not only in average life span but also in lower uncertainty about age at death.

Age-Specific Dynamics of Mortality.

The field of demography has long been known within the social sciences for its innovations in decomposition analysis ( 38 ). Decomposition analysis is based on the principle of separating demographic measures, e.g., life expectancy or life span equality, into components that contribute to their dynamics, such as age-specific mortality. Several methods to analyze change in life expectancy over time have been developed. Pollard ( 39 ), Arriaga ( 40 ), and Andreev et al. ( 41 ), among others, focused on discrete differences in life expectancy, while other authors considered continuous change ( 42 – 46 ). Some of these methods have been extensively used in population health studies to disentangle age- and cause-specific effects because they are easy to implement ( 40 , 47 , 48 ). Here, we relate changes in both life expectancy and life span equality to the average pace of improvement of mortality and the average number of years lost at death ( 31 ). We are able to describe specific properties of both indicators.

Changes in life expectancy and in life span equality over time are weighted averages of rates of progress in reducing age-specific mortality, ρ ( x ) , albeit with different weights ( Materials and Methods ). These weights— w ( x ) for life expectancy at birth and the product w ( x ) W h ( x ) for life span equality—evolve over time and vary by age. They indicate the potential gain (loss) in life expectancy and life span equality if lives are saved at a specific age and in a given period. Fig. 3 A and B shows the weights for life expectancy at birth and from age 5 for Swedish women. From the 18th to the first part of 20th century, the largest potential increases in life expectancy were concentrated in infancy. The effect on life expectancy improvements due to saving lives in midlife was higher than at older ages. This changed dramatically after 1950, when the effect of infant mortality decreased significantly. By 2010, the effect of reducing mortality by 1% at birth was the same as reducing mortality by 1% at age 71. In the 21st century, saving lives between ages 5 and 40 y had a negligible effect on life expectancy, as opposed to the relatively high impact of these ages before 1900. A shift over time toward the importance of older ages is clear. This ongoing wave toward older ages is in line with recent evidence documenting an advancing front of old-age survival that has driven recent increases in average life span ( 49 ). Indeed, the postponement of old-age mortality is an ongoing process that started more than 50 y ago ( 50 , 51 ). Fig. 3 A and B shows that whenever mortality improvements occur life expectancy increases. The size of the increase depends on the ages at which lives are saved. These improvements ρ ( x ) and the weights w ( x ) are the drivers of life expectancy at birth over time ( 31 ). Fig. 3 C and D shows the weights w ( x ) W h ( x ) for life span equality h . As in A and B , each value represents the effect on life span equality of reducing mortality at a given age. Saving lives at very young ages had the largest effect on increasing equality of life spans throughout the 18th, 19th, and first half of the 20th centuries. In contemporary Sweden, the impact of reducing mortality at birth on life span equality is the same as saving lives at all ages between 76 and 80 y.

As with life expectancy, there is an ongoing shift toward older ages, but with an important difference. At older ages, there is a threshold age above which saving lives decreases life span equality ( Box 1 ). This age is depicted with the dashed lines colored according to the respective period: An increase of this age over time clearly appears in the graphs. The threshold age gives valuable information for understanding of the relationship between life expectancy at birth and life span equality: To the extent that improvements at ages below the threshold age outpace those above it, life expectancy will move in the same direction as life span equality ( 52 ). The shift from positive to negative effects has previously been explored using other indicators ( 53 , 54 ). The three life span equality indicators that we analyze behave similarly ( SI Appendix , Fig. S3 ); their sensitivity to changes in age-specific mortality resembles that of other indices of life span variation ( 27 ).

Fig. 4 A shows the contributions, in years, of mortality fluctuations below the threshold age (early component), and Fig. 4 B shows contributions above the threshold age (late component) to changes in life expectancy and life span equality in 10-y rolling periods for all countries included in our study. The points in the first and third quadrants in Fig. 4 A and the second and fourth quadrants in Fig. 4 B reflect a mix of reductions in death rates at some ages below and above the threshold and increases at other ages. Because the weights for specific ages differ for life expectancy and life span equality, the aggregate effect of such a mix of mortality changes can be positive (negative) for life expectancy and negative (positive) for life span equality. The sum of the early and late components gives the total change in each indicator ( Fig. 2 A ). We report similar results for the two other indicators of life span equality in SI Appendix , Fig. S4 . There is a strong positive association between changes in life expectancy and life span equality below the threshold age, while the relationship is negative above that threshold. Since the two effects oppose each other, as shown by the regression lines, the relationship is driven by the component that makes the larger contribution. Reductions in death rates below the threshold age were significantly larger than reductions above it before 1960, resulting in a strong positive association between life expectancy and life span equality. Since 1960, mortality reductions above the threshold age have become more comparable in magnitude to the early-life component, with more increases in life expectancy coinciding with decreases in life span equality. Until now, the absolute change in both indicators per decade is mainly driven by mortality changes below the threshold age (83.7% and 82.0% on average per decade for life span equality and life expectancy, respectively [ Fig. 4 and Box 1, Fig. 1 B and C ]).

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( A ) Association between 10-y changes in life expectancy at birth e o and life span equality h because of mortality changes below the threshold age. ( B ) Association between 10-y changes in e o and h because of mortality changes above the threshold age. The dotted lines show the directions of the relationship below and above the threshold age.

As life expectancy increases, the threshold age also increases ( Box 1 and SI Appendix , Fig. S5 ). There is then more scope to save early lives below the threshold age and maintain the positive relationship between life expectancy and life span equality. This is an essential characteristic of the long-run equilibrium. Progress, however, after the threshold age has been increasing. For example, in Sweden the most common age at death at older ages was stagnant up until the 1950s when it started rising with life expectancy ( Box 1, Fig. 1 A ), and contributions to changes in life expectancy and life span equality increased above the threshold age ( Box 1, Fig. 1 C ). These results underscore the effect of mortality improvements at advanced ages (i.e., above the threshold age) in recent years and shed light on recent interruptions in the relationship between changes in life expectancy and life span equality. This process follows a redistribution of mortality over age and causes of death ( 23 , 55 , 56 ). In the past, deaths were concentrated at young and working ages, mainly due to infectious diseases and to some extent wars and famines that resulted in high inequality of life spans ( 57 ). In recent decades, because of major improvements in health services and medical treatment, living standards, sanitation, and various social determinants of health ( 58 – 61 ), lifesaving is concentrated at older ages, sometimes above the threshold age.

The dynamics of life expectancy and of life span equality are driven by changes in age-specific death rates. The impact of the change at some age differs somewhat for the two measures. At younger ages, the impacts are similar. After a threshold age late in life, a reduction in age-specific death rates increases life expectancy but decreases life span equality. Because of progress in recent decades in reducing death rates above the threshold age, rises in life expectancy more often coincide with declines in life span equality. For the populations we analyzed, in the period 1900 to 1950 less than 16% of the annual changes in average life span coincided with opposite changes in life span equality. In the 1960s, this discrepancy rose to 47%; and thereafter the average has been around 32%. These trends were driven by Eastern and Central European countries and by Nordic countries, which experienced divergent patterns in mortality at different ages ( 21 , 24 ). Since 1960, life span inequality was high and fluctuated strongly in Central and Eastern Europe. A recent study shows that in the decades 1960 to 1980, life expectancy and life span equality changed in opposite directions in half the years and populations analyzed, largely because trends in age-specific death rates were positive at some ages and negative at other ages ( 21 ). This is consistent with our findings. Previous evidence suggests that alcohol-related and cardiovascular diseases might have been important in driving the observed trends in Central and Eastern Europe ( 21 , 64 – 66 ). Danish males experienced deterioration caused by smoking-related and cardiovascular mortality between ages 35 and 80, while negative trends in Norway and Sweden were mostly caused by an increase in cardiovascular mortality ( 24 ).

Are there paths other than the joint, linear rise in Fig. 1 that might have been followed if social conditions and public policies had been different? This is an intriguing question that can be examined in our framework. Fig. 5 shows the relationship between life expectancy and life span equality for Swedish women from 1751 to 2017 under three different scenarios. Blue points refer to observed life expectancy from values below 20 y in 1773 to 84.1 y in 2017. The process of increasing life expectancy with greater equality in individual life spans has been referred to as the compression of mortality or the rectangularization of survivorship, and has been studied from various perspectives over the last couple of decades ( 7 – 11 , 21 , 67 ). Understanding the dynamics of the compression of mortality is important for forecasting heterogeneity in future age patterns of population health as well as for assessments of the timing of individual mortality ( 12 ).

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Life expectancy at birth e o and life span equality h for three different scenarios: 1) observed points: Swedish females, 1751 to 2017; 2) youngest equality: life span equality derived by matching observed life expectancy levels by reducing the youngest age; and 3) constant change over age: death rates in each year at all ages are reduced at the rate ρ to achieve the observed change in life expectancy at birth.

Consider the difference of life expectancy and life span equality between two consecutive years. The regression line in Fig. 5 indicates that the average change in life expectancy is about 25.4 times the life span equality change, a value close to the 27 reported elsewhere ( 11 ). Here, we demonstrate that each of these first differences, as an approximation to the time derivative ( Materials and Methods ), is a weighted total of mortality improvements in a given year ( Fig. 3 ). Our main motivation lies on the remarkably tight relationship between life expectancy and life span equality through time illustrated by the regression line (slope, 0.04; P < 0.001). For example, in 1773 Sweden underwent the last major famine that caused starvation across the country ( 68 ). Approximately 50% of excess deaths were due to dysentery, and most deaths (20%) were concentrated in infancy ( 57 ). Even under periods of such mortality stress, observed life expectancy and life span equality fall on the linear trend that holds in more favorable years. Is this tight connection coincidental or a result of fundamental social and physiological forces? We have shown that the connection is largely due to change in death rates at younger ages. Can more be said?

The observed path (blue points, Fig. 5 ) is a combination of age-specific mortality improvements and the weights shown in Fig. 3 . Improvements in mortality are uneven across ages ( 31 ). Hence, we explored an alternative scenario in which the same rate of mortality reduction (or increase) occurred at all ages, the “constant scenario,” with the rate chosen to be consistent with observed levels of life expectancy over time. The red rhombuses in Fig. 5 illustrate the resulting trajectory for Sweden. When the average life span rises above 40 y, levels of life span equality start to diverge and become lower than the observed ones. The relationship between life expectancy becomes nonlinear and levels off at around a life expectancy at birth of 70 y.

Another hypothetical scenario is represented by the purple squares labeled “youngest equality.” This curve refers to the case when all progress in reducing death rates is concentrated at the youngest ages. For example, to get the 1752 life expectancy level from 1751, only deaths at age zero are reduced. Then when deaths at birth are zero, deaths are reduced at age 1, then age 2, and so on, to match the observed life expectancy in the following years. That is, all lifesaving is concentrated at the youngest age(s) at which deaths still occur. Results yield a steeper slope (0.051; P < 0.001), which translates into larger equality in individual life spans at levels of life expectancy after age 50.

Consider now another scenario, the “potential scenario.” From the level of life expectancy in 1950 to contemporary Sweden, age-specific rates of improvement are chosen such that 1) life expectancy increases continuously match the observed levels every decade, and 2) life span equality increases optimally. That is, when life expectancy increases, progress is concentrated at the ages when change in death rates most increases life span equality. Also consider the “constant scenario” in which the life expectancy improvement every decade was achieved by reducing mortality at the same rate for every age. Table 1 shows life span equality under these scenarios for Swedish females from 1960 as well as the actual observed trajectory of life span equality. The potential scenario leads to the highest attained life span equality, while the constant scenario shows the lowest equality in life spans. Interestingly, what was observed in Sweden is close to 50% on average of the difference between the potential and constant scenarios. Hence, the observed trajectory might be called the “semioptimal scenario.” These alternative scenarios show that the narrow passageway that describes the relationship between life expectancy at birth and life span equality is not a coincidence. The transition from low levels of average life span and high variation in length of life to longer and more equal life spans is a result of saving lives at ages that matter—but semioptimally. The tight link between life expectancy and life span equality has been shaped by improvements in mortality at the most important ages for life expectancy and for life span equality: early ages in the 18th century and adult ages today.

Life expectancy at birth e o and life span equality h for three different scenarios

Year		Life span equality by scenario			(Observed − Constant)/(Potential − Constant), %
Year		Observed	Potential	Constant	(Observed − Constant)/(Potential − Constant), %
1960	74.88	1,84	1,90	1,76	57
1970	77.21	1,87	1,99	1,86	8
1980	78.86	1,93	1,98	1,88	50
1990	80.39	1,98	2,03	1,94	44
2000	82.01	2,05	2,09	1,99	60
2010	83.47	2,11	2,15	2,05	60
2017	84.12	2,13	2,16	2,11	40

The three different scenarios are as follows: 1) observed points: Swedish females, 1960 to 2017; 2) potential equality: life span equality derived by matching observed life expectancy levels by reducing death rates that increase life span equality the most; and 3) constant change in mortality improvements ρ ( x ) over age matching observed life expectancy levels every decade.

In recent years, more instances of a temporary reversal of the relationship between life expectancy and life span equality have been observed in several countries and subgroups of populations ( 12 , 20 – 22 ). Often these cases were due to midlife mortality deterioration or to major improvements in old-age mortality above the threshold age. In Sweden, death rates among octogenarians and nonagenarians have fallen since 1950 ( 69 ). For other developed countries, the pattern has been similar ( 70 ). If improvements at advanced ages continue and if they outpace those made at younger ages, the pattern of the relationship between life expectancy and life span equality could reverse in the future. It is, however, unlikely that rates of improvement above the threshold age will outpace progress at younger ages in the long term. Furthermore, as life expectancy increases, the threshold age will increase.

Across primate species, there is a rough association of life expectancy and life span equality. Several instances, however, where a relationship between the pace and shape of aging is not found have been documented in other species. Across the tree of life, 46 diverse species did not show a strong correlation between life expectancy and life span equality ( 71 ), and among plants a nonlinear, but weak, positive association has been reported ( 72 ). These findings compare different species, whereas our results are for a single species in a changing environment. Two studies, one of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and the other of Drosophila melanogaster , of individuals held under different conditions, found that life span equality appeared to be independent of life expectancy ( 73 , 74 ).

For humans, a sharp worsening of conditions tends to lead to substantial increases in infant and child mortality ( 57 ), and in some cases mortality at young adult ages, e.g., as experienced in the former Soviet Union after the end of the anti-alcohol campaign and the dissolution of the USSR ( 21 ), lowering both life expectancy and life span equality. On the other hand, improvements in standards of living, nutrition, education, public health, and other environmental conditions tend, at least when life expectancy is less than 70, to predominately affect life expectancy—and life span equality—through reductions in death rates at young ages ( 2 ).

A key question is whether changes in environmental conditions have their biggest effects on mortality in infancy and childhood because of human agency or because of human physiology. Do societies act to focus mortality improvements at the ages that matter the most, or is human mortality for physiological reasons most sensitive at younger ages to environmental changes? Study of the impact of environmental change on life expectancy and life span equality in nonhuman primate species, being undertaken by Fernando Colchero, Susan Alberts, and colleagues, could shed light on the role of agency versus physiology. More generally, our findings—coupled with the mathematical relationships we derived to analyze how changes in age-specific death rates affect life expectancy and life span equality—suggest that a link may be found for species in which environmental change affects life expectancy largely because of changes in death rates at young ages.

Materials and Methods

We used death rates by age and sex from the Human Mortality Database ( 5 ) for 49 countries and regions by single age and year, with data available from the beginning of the 20th century for some of the countries and regions and later in the 20th century for others and with data up to the most recent year available (see SI Appendix , Table S1 for detailed information). We constructed life tables following standard demographic procedures (7,717 life tables) ( 75 ). For each population, we investigated life expectancy at birth and life span equality by sex. The analysis is restricted to countries with data available for consecutive years (without gaps in the information over time) in order to study age-specific mortality patterns on a yearly basis. We decided not to analyze dispersion at death conditional on survival to any older age because of major improvements made in early ages during the 20th century ( 76 ). In addition, we did not include Chile, South Korea, and Croatia in the cointegration analysis due to limited data availability, spanning less than 20 y. All of the analyses were carried out with R software ( 77 ) and are fully reproducible, including data handling, from the public repository at https://zenodo.org/record/3571095 .

Contributions to Mathematical Demography.

Changes over time in life expectancy..

Changes over time in life expectancy at birth are a weighted average of rates of progress in reducing mortality ( 31 ). Letting ℓ ( x , t ) be the period life table probability at time t of surviving from birth to age x , life expectancy at birth can be expressed as follows:

Because ℓ ( x , t ) = exp [ − ∫ 0 x μ ( a , t ) d a ] , where μ ( a , t ) is the force of mortality (hazard rate) at age a at time t , changes over time in e o ( t ) are given by the following:

A dot over a function denotes its partial derivative with respect to time. For simplicity, variable t will be omitted as an argument in the following. We define the following:

as the age-specific rates of mortality improvement over time and the remaining life expectancy at age x , respectively. Then, Eq. 1 can be expressed in terms of these two functions as follows:

This last result shows that changes over time in life expectancy at birth are a weighted total of rates of progress in reducing mortality, with weights given by the function w ( x ) = μ ( x ) ℓ ( x ) e ( x ) , as shown by Vaupel and Canudas-Romo ( 31 ).

Measures of life span equality and their change over time.

Several indicators have been proposed to measure variation in age at death ( 27 , 78 , 79 ). Selecting the best measure when comparing aging patterns among populations that differ in length of life is of great importance, since indicators vary in their sensitivity to mortality fluctuations and in their mathematical interpretation ( 27 ). In this study, we use three indicators based on the pace and shape of aging framework ( 25 ), which suggests a set of properties that indicators should satisfy ( 26 , 80 ).

A variant of the life table entropy: h .

A measure of life span inequality is the life table entropy H ¯ ( 29 , 62 , 63 ), which can be defined as follows:

where c ( x ) = ℓ ( x ) / ∫ x ∞ ℓ ( a ) d a is the life table age composition, and H ( x ) = ∫ 0 x μ ( a ) d a is the cumulative hazard to age x . Hence, H ¯ can be interpreted as an average value of the cumulative hazard. It can also be expressed as follows:

where e † = − ∫ 0 ∞ ℓ ( x ) ln ⁡ ℓ ( x ) d x accounts for “life disparity,” the average number of life-years lost as a result of death or the average remaining life expectancy at ages of death ( 9 ). For instance, an individual dying at age 50 in a population with remaining life expectancy at age 50 of 20 y would have lost those 20 y of life.

This definition of entropy provides a dimensionless indicator of relative variation in the length of life compared to life expectancy at birth, permitting comparison of populations with different age-at-death distributions ( 26 ). An alternative measure to H ¯ is the following:

which has previously been used to study life span equality across different primate populations, including humans ( 11 ). Note that H ¯ can be interpreted as an indicator of “life span inequality,” given that higher values represent more variation in life spans, whereas h (the logarithm of the inverse) is a measure of “life span equality.” From Eq. 3 , the variation over time in h is given by the following:

An equivalent expression to Eq. 4 was previously derived using calculus of variation by Fernandez and Beltrán-Sánchez ( 81 ), who found that

This shows that changes over time in h are equal to minus the relative change in the life table entropy H ¯ . Similarly to life expectancy at birth, Aburto et al. ( 52 ) proved that

where w ( x ) = μ ( x ) ℓ ( x ) e ( x ) are the same weights for changes over time in e o defined in Eq. 2 , and

Function H ¯ ( x ) = e † ( x ) / e ( x ) is the entropy conditional on surviving to age x , where e † ( x ) refers to life disparity above age x , and e ( x ) is the remaining life expectancy at age x ( 52 ). Because h ˙ = − H ¯ ˙ / H ¯ , it follows that

with W h ( x ) = − W ( x ) . This result shows that changes in life span equality over time are weighted totals of rates of progress in reducing mortality ρ ( x ) , with weights given by the product w ( x ) W h ( x ) .

A variant of the Gini coefficient: g .

The Gini coefficient is a popular index in social science used to measure distributions of positive variables, such as income ( 82 ). It has also been used to describe inequality in life spans as a measure of population health and in survival analysis as an indicator of concentration in survival times ( 26 , 28 , 64 , 83 , 84 ). In life table notation, the Gini coefficient G is given by the following:

Function ϑ = ∫ 0 ∞ ℓ ( x ) 2 d x relates to perturbation theory as it measures life expectancy from doubling the risk of death at all ages. From Eq. 6 , G can also be expressed in terms of the life table age distribution,

Note that ℓ ¯ = ϑ / e o = ∫ 0 ∞ c ( x ) ℓ ( x ) d x is a dimensionless indicator of life span equality, bounded between 0 and 1. If life spans are completely concentrated, all individuals die at the same age, the indicator equals 1; if they are equally spread the indicator tends to 0. In addition, if two babies are born at the same time in a population, then ℓ ¯ measures their shared life span as a proportion of life expectancy ( 85 ). An alternative indicator to the Gini coefficient is the logarithm of its inverse:

which is also a measure of equality rather than inequality.

Note that the derivative of ℓ ¯ with respect to time is as follows:

Hence, changes over time in g are given by the following:

Similar to h , the time derivative of g can be reexpressed as follows:

where w ( x ) = μ ( x ) ℓ ( x ) e ( x ) are the same weights for changes over time in e o , and

Function ℓ ¯ ( x ) is defined as follows:

and can be interpreted as life span equality above age x . A detailed proof of Eq. 9 can be found in SI Appendix , section B . This result shows that changes in life span equality over time, measured by g , are a weighted total of the rates of progress in reducing mortality ρ ( x ) , with weights given by the product w ( x ) W g ( x ) .

A variant of the coefficient of variation: v .

The coefficient of variation of the age-at-death distribution is the quotient of its SD σ and the life expectancy at birth:

This indicator has been previously used to measure life span inequality ( 24 , 26 ). Here, we define a measure of life span equality as the logarithm of the inverse of the coefficient of variation,

Similar to life table entropy and the Gini coefficient, changes over time in v are given by the following:

which can be reexpressed as follows:

As before, w ( x ) are the weights for e o , whereas W v ( x ) are weights defined as follows:

Note that C V ( x ) is a weighted average of deviations from life expectancy at age x , which can be expressed as the difference between the average age of the population above age x ( a ¯ x ) and the life expectancy at birth. A detailed proof of Eq. 12 can be found in SI Appendix , section C . This result shows that changes over time in the alternative measure v of the coefficient of variation are a weighted total of the rates of progress in reducing mortality ρ ( x ) , with weights given by the product w ( x ) W v ( x ) .

Demographic Methods to Calculate Threshold Ages and Age-Specific Contributions.

From life tables, we calculated for each of the three indicators the threshold age below which averting deaths increases life span equality, and above which equality decreases. Eqs. 5 , 9 , and 12 indicate that the age-specific contribution to changes over time in life span equality can be expressed as the product ρ ( x ) w ( x ) W k ( x ) , for k ∈ { h , g , v } . Note that w ( x ) is a strictly positive function, whereas the indicator-specific weights W k ( x ) are strictly decreasing. Hence, under the assumption that death rates remain constant or decline at all ages [i.e., ρ ( x ) ≥ 0 for all x ] or remain constant or increase at all ages [i.e., ρ ( x ) ≤ 0 for all x ], for each indicator there is unique threshold age that we denote by a h , a g , and a v , respectively. These threshold ages are reached when the corresponding weights equal 0; that is, when W h ( x ) = 0 , W g ( x ) = 0 or W v ( x ) = 0 . The assumption that death rates need to decline (or increase) at all ages is necessary to have a unique threshold age. If death rates increase for some ages and decline for others, there may be several threshold ages that separate positive from negative contributions to life span equality, since the product ρ ( x ) w ( x ) W k ( x ) may switch from positive to negative several times across ages. For instance, whenever ρ ( x ) and W ( x ) are both positive (or both negative), contributions will be positive; on the contrary, whenever W ( x ) > 0 and ρ ( x ) < 0 , or W ( x ) < 0 and ρ ( x ) > 0 , contributions will be negative. We quantified age-specific contributions to yearly changes in life expectancy and life span equality for all of the data available and estimated contributions above and below those thresholds. We used a model defined on a continuous framework that assumes gradual change in mortality over time ( 86 ) used in previous studies of life span inequality ( 13 , 20 , 21 , 24 ).

Stochastic Properties of Life Expectancy and Life Span Equality.

We analyzed the stochastic properties of e o and life span equality over time to determine whether they are stationary processes (for further details, see SI Appendix , section A ). In case of nonstationarity, we also find the order of integration. We performed the Kwiatkowski–Phillips–Schmidt–Shin test ( 87 ) for e o and the three measures of life span equality, and the augmented Dickey–Fuller test ( 88 ) in their levels and first differences, respectively (we also perform tests against higher orders of integration but could not reject the hypothesis that the variables were integrated at a lower level). Using the 95% critical values, the null hypothesis of stationarity can be rejected in 94.9% of the cases for life expectancy and 93.9% for life span equality h . Moreover, at the same level, the null hypothesis of a unit root in their first differences is rejected in 97% of the cases for e o and h . These analyses suggest that the variables are nonstationary processes and achieve stationarity after differencing once for both females and males. In the statistical analysis, we treat both variables as integrated of order one. The concept of cointegration was developed to avoid misleading interpretations regarding the relationship between two integrated variables ( 89 ). It refers to the case of a model that can adjust for stochastic trends to produce stationary residuals, and it permits detection of stable long-run relationships among integrated variables. Formally, two cointegrated variables can be expressed using a two-dimensional vector autoregressive model in its error correction form, defined as follows:

Operator Δ denotes the first differences; z t is a 2 × 1 vector of stochastic variables ( e o and life span equality in our case) at time t ; Γ contains the cumulative long-run impacts; α and β are two 2 × 1 vectors of full rank; μ is a vector of constants; and ε t is a vector of normally, independently, and identically distributed errors with zero means and constant variances ( 90 ). We specify the model with an unrestricted constant in the cointegration space and dummy variables in contexts where life expectancy experienced historical shocks, such as world wars and epidemics (see SI Appendix , Table S2 and section A , for additional details and sensitivity analyses).

Data Availability.

Supplementary material, supplementary file, acknowledgments.

The research was funded by the Max Planck Society and the University of Southern Denmark. J.M.A. was partially supported by the Lifespan Inequalities research group at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (European Research Council Grant 716323). J.M.A., U.B., and S.K. acknowledge support from the European Doctoral School of Demography when it was hosted at Sapienza University of Rome. Researchers at the Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, and Alyson van Raalte provided helpful input.

The authors declare no competing interest.

Database deposition: A description to access the data and the code to reproduce results have been deposited on Zenodo ( https://zenodo.org/record/3571095 ).

This article contains supporting information online at https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1915884117/-/DCSupplemental .

Monmouth County
Ocean County
NJ Politics

Live longer in the Garden State: Top NJ counties for longevity revealed

Even though the fountain of youth has yet to be discovered, Americans have still found longevity.

According to the Center for Disease and Control, back in 1970 the average American life span was 70.8 and in 2022 it jumped up to 77.5. That's almost a seven year increase over 50 years.

Aside from genetics, factors such as diets, lifestyles and environments can determine how long you live and also where you live.

A new study conducted by stacker.com, a news and entertainment site, findings revealed that out of 21 counties in the state there are eight counties with the longest life expectancy in New Jersey .

Editors from stacker.com say life expectancy measures the average number of years from birth a person can expect to live calculated by the number of deaths and the average number of people at risk of dying during a specific time frame.

By using data from two sources — the 2024 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System — the site found the following:

Longest life expectancy in New Jersey

Some counties that had unreliable or insufficient data were not included in this research according to stacker.com.

Hunterdon County: No. 1

Life expectancy: 82.9 years
3.7 years higher than the state average

Bergen County: No. 2

Life expectancy: 81.9 years
2.7 years higher than the state average

Somerset County: No. 3

Life expectancy: 81.8 years
2.6 years higher than the state average

Morris County: No. 4

Life expectancy: 81.7 years
2.5 years higher than the state average

Middlesex County: No. 5

Life expectancy: 80.3 years
1.1 years higher than the state average

Hudson County: No. 6

Life expectancy: 80.0 years
0.8 years higher than the state average

Monmouth County: No. 7

Life expectancy: 79.8 years
0.6 years higher than the state average

Union County No. 8

Life expectancy: 79.4 years
0.2 years higher than the state average

Shortest life expectancy in New Jersey

Salem county: no. 1.

Life expectancy: 73.5 years
5.7 years lower than the state average

Cumberland County: No. 2

Life expectancy: 74.0 years
5.2 years lower than the state average

Atlantic County: No. 3

Life expectancy: 75.9 years
3.3 years lower than the state average

Camden County: No. 4

Life expectancy: 76.2 years
3.0 years lower than the state average

Cape May County: No. 5

Life expectancy: 76.8 years
2.4 years lower than the state average

Gloucester County: No. 6

Life expectancy: 77.0 years
2.2 years lower than the state average

Essex County: No. 7

Life expectancy: 77.8 years
1.4 years lower than the state average

Ocean County: No. 8

Life expectancy: 78.1 years
1.1 years lower than the state average

Sussex County: No. 9

Life expectancy: 78.4 years
0.8 years lower than the state average

Passaic County: No. 10

Life expectancy: 78.6 years
0.6 years lower than the state average

According to the CDC , the average life expectancy in New Jersey (2023) is 77.5 years for both sexes, 74.8 years for males and 80.2 years for females.

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An artwork of three photos of Diddy woven together.

I Knew Diddy for Years. What I Now Remember Haunts Me.

Looking back on my life as a woman in the music industry, I’m unsettled by the inescapable sexism perpetrated by Sean Combs and others.

Credit... Artwork by David Samuel Stern

Supported by

By Danyel Smith

July 12, 2024

A thing happened between Sean Combs and me. Unlike what he has been accused of over the last eight months, what occurred between us was not sexual. It was professional — demonstrative of the way dynamic and domineering men moved in our heyday. Combs and I worked together a lot. Competed, in our way. So often I thought I came out on top. I was mistaken. I had reason to fear for my life. What happened was insidious. It broke my brain. I forgot the worst of it for 27 years.

It was July 1997. In the fading smoke of the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., I was named editor in chief of a music magazine called Vibe. Started by Quincy Jones and Time Inc. in 1992, the magazine chronicled Black music and culture with rigor and beauty, 10 issues a year, for an audience that was relentlessly underserved. When I took over, we thought hip-hop might have died with our heroes, and we were determined not only to keep it alive but also to give it the cultural credit it was due.

Hip-hop was both in mourning and in marketing meetings. Combs, Biggie’s creative partner and label boss, was the personification of this dichotomy. His Bad Boy Records was having a $100 million year — much due to the work of Biggie and Mase, as well as Combs’s own debut album, “No Way Out,” which was anchored by the blockbuster Biggie tribute “I’ll Be Missing You” featuring Faith Evans. Other singles, “It’s All About the Benjamins” and “Been Around the World,” functioned as a score for hip-hop’s megawatt moment — its commercial evolution and international expansion. (“No Way Out” would go on to sell over seven million copies.) So I wanted Combs on the cover of Vibe’s December 1997/January 1998 double issue. And I wanted him to wear white feathered wings.

My point of reference was the poster for “Heaven Can Wait,” a 1978 film starring Warren Beatty. The movie is about a quarterback who dies before his time and is reincarnated as an idiosyncratic and callous billionaire. Vibe’s working cover line for Sacha Jenkins’s article was “The Good, the Bad and the Puffy.” Not so elegant, but it would work if the fashion director Emil Wilbekin and I got Combs (then known as Puffy, or Puff Daddy) to put on the angel wings. And if we also got a shot that looked even slightly mischievous, we could do a split run of the cover — one with heavenly signifiers and another with hellish ones. Possible cover line: “Bad Boy, Bad Boy, Whatcha Gonna Do?”

The photo shoot took place in Manhattan in September 1997. I had probably said hello to Combs at an event, but the shoot was the first time I was around him for an extended period. Either it was a crowded set or I just felt claustrophobic. I wore yoga pants and an oversize T-shirt. I remember wanting to minimize my bust more than my bra was already doing. I remember cajoling. And I remember knowing that as a Black woman, I was in a no-win situation: to fail was to live up to my male bosses’ low expectations, and to succeed was to invite their resentment. That day, Combs was begrudgingly compliant. We finally got him to shrug on the white feathered wings.

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What is Life Expectancy? Term Paper

To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
As a template for you assignment

Mathematics of life expectancy

Factors and their correlation, works cited.

Life expectancy may be defined as the possible number of years remaining at a given age. It is denoted by e x, which means the average number of complete years of life remaining. It is calculated from the analysis of life tables. The global blueprint of life expectancy differs with the expansion prowess and socio-economic conditions of various nations. For example, the life expectancy at birth in the USA is 79 years. The mortality rate during the years of life span determines the life expectancy. There is a high mortality rate during the early years of life as compared to the later years because of lesser immune competence in infants and children. The problem is more applicable in poorer nations. There is the Gompertz-Makeham law of mortality which states that the death rate is the sum of an age-independent component and an age-dependent component. So accordingly, there is an exponential increase in death rates with age. The factors affecting life expectancy are diet, lifestyle, medical care, stress and injuries, pollution, genetic disorders, obesity, exercise, smoking, drug use, and alcohol abuse. Life span differs from life expectancy in the fact that it represents the maximum years of life that an individual survives, while life expectancy is an average. The goal of this essay is to understand the mathematics of life expectancy and its correlation with factors.

Life expectancies are usually calculated from a life table. A life table shows for each age, the probability that a person of that age will die before the next birthday. Life tables are constructed using projections of future mortality rates. A hypothetical simplified example of life expectancy is given below.

A (Age)	B (No. of people beginning each age.)	C (Death rate during that age.)	D (Number dying) (B*C)	E (Contribution to an average life.) ((A+1/2)*D)
0	1000	0.30	300	150
1	700	0.20	140	210
2	560	0.10	56	140
3	504	0	0	0
…	…	…	…	…
69	504	0	0	0
70	504	0	0	0
71	504	1	504	36036
72	0	0	0	0
			Total	36536

So the average life expectancy, e x =Total/No. of people=36536/1000= 36.536 years

For the sake of simplicity, we began with 1000 individuals. The numbers that determine the outcome are in column C, the death rates. In this hypothetical example, 1000 people are born, marked age 0. 30% die in the first year, so only 700 appear in the second line at age 1. 20% of these die in the second year, or 140 deaths between age 1 and 2. 560 appear on the third line at age 2 and 10% die in the third year, so only 504 for the next line. All the rest live up to age 71. The calculations in columns D and E are done as mentioned in the table above, and life expectancy is calculated by dividing the total obtained in Column E by a total number of persons, here 1000.

Scientists have been trying to find prospective ways to human longevity (Olshansky 1491). Economist Julian Simon had mentioned that scientific progress was constantly improving human life but Olshansky argued that USA life expectancy would level off by 2050 (Olshansky 1138). The lifestyle disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension would just level off the increasing life expectancy curve in the future. Even Leonard Hayflick had mentioned that the life expectancy of individuals would level off at around 85 years, with 82 years for males and 88 years for females. Age-specific mortality causes a major change in life expectancy. Consider a case where there are more deaths in 0-10 years span, there would be more loss in life expectancy than the deaths reported in 60-70 years span. But if one has to reduce the death rate by 1%, then the elderly life span would be the best. The correlation of how mortality can reduce life expectancy has been explained (Vaupel 147).

Thus life expectancy can improve due to specific policies adopted at individual and at state levels, and there would be an upper limit to it despite the innovations in public health and medical care. The crux is to lower the mortality rates at all age spans, infants, children, and the elderly alike. The mathematical calculation to points to counter mortality rates to bolster the life expectancy of individuals. For this, a collective approach needs to be adopted in sustained collaboration between the family and the nation.

Olshansky Jay, Carnes Bruce, and Desesquelles Aline. “Prospects for Human Longevity.” Science 291.5508 (2001): 1491-1492. Print.

Olshansky, Jay et al. “A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21 st Century.” The New England Journal of Medicine 352 (2005): 1138-1145. Print.

Vaupel, J. W. “How Change in Age-specific Mortality Affects Life Expectancy.” Population Studies 40 (1986): 147-157. Print.

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Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective - Fourth Edition

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Table of Contents

Ancillary Material

About the Contributors

Contribute to this Page

Intro to Lifespan Development

Think It Over

What you’ll learn to do: define human development and identify the stages of human development

Learning Outcomes

Defining Human Development

Physical Domain

Cognitive Domain

Psychosocial Domain

Who Studies Human Development and Why?

What you’ll learn to do: describe the theories of lifespan development

Learning outcomes

Understanding Theories

Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?

Is There One Course of Development or Many?

How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development?

History of Developmental Psychology

John B. Watson

Sigmund Freud

Jean Piaget

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

Comparing and Evaluating Lifespan Theories

Periods of Human Development

What you’ll learn to do: explain the lifespan perspective

The Lifespan Perspective

Development is lifelong

Development is multidimensional

Development is multidirectional

Development is plastic

Development is contextual

Other Contextual Influences on Development: Cohort, Socioeconomic Status, and Culture

Development is Multidisciplinary

Additional Supplemental Resources

How to Age Gracefully

Share This Book

50 What Is Lifespan Development?

Learning Objectives

ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?

Is There One Course of Development or Many?

How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development?

Review Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

Personal Application Questions

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IELTS Model Essay: Increased Life Expectancy

Step 1: Analyse The Question

Step 2: Decide My Position (What Do I Think?)

Step 3: Generate My Ideas (Why Do I Think This?)

Step 4: Develop My Ideas

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Associated Data

Significance