Key Topics in Lifespan Development

Key Topics in Lifespan Development offers a compact, critical, and contemporary introduction to lifespan psychology, weaving theory into an evolving story that shows how human beings emerge, change, and grow across the lifespan through complex physical, neurological, motor, cognitive, emotional, social, and individual processes.

The book captures development for all of humanity, regardless of continent, social background, or ethnicity, with careful attention to research methodologies and emerging topics across cultures. Structured across five clear sections, it introduces key theories — including classic frameworks alongside new perspectives from indigenous, feminist, embodied, and evolutionary psychology — then explores development across five core domains: physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and individual differences. It examines how research is conducted, the real-world impacts of lifespan development on contemporary society — including media, technology, changing demographics, and neurodiversity — and where the field is heading next. Each section includes key terms, further reading, and bullet-point summaries of core content, supported by a complete online glossary.

Providing a clear, concise, and highly readable introduction to this fascinating discipline, this book equips readers with the concepts, findings, and resources to continue their learning journey. It is an essential course text for all introductory classes in developmental psychology and related disciplines at both undergraduate and master's levels.