Experiencing the LifeSpan

Exceptionally well-loved by instructors and students who've used it, Janet Belsky's text, written in her signature engaging style and voice, offers a fresh, remarkably brief way to understand the experience of human development throughout the lifespan. It gives students an immediate and practical grounding in the field’s basic concepts, guiding them from underlying research to practical applications, in a highly conversational style, with pedagogy that reinforces learning, and with examples drawn from an extraordinarily broad range of cultures throughout the world. And with its dedicated version of Worth’s online course space, LaunchPad, this edition becomes a fully integrated print/interactive resource. Visit Janet Belsky's site for updates from her blog, as well as teaching and research tips.

Born in New York City, Janet Belsky always wanted to be a writer but was also very interested in people. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, she deferred to her more practical and people-loving side and got her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Chicago. Janet spent her thirties in New York City teaching at Lehman College, CUNY, and doing clinical work in hospitals and nursing homes. During this time, she wrote one trade book, Here Tomorrow, Making the Most of Life After 50, got married, adopted a child and, with the publication of the first undergraduate textbook in the psychology of aging, began what turned into a lifelong developmental science textbook writing career. In 1991, Janet moved to Tennessee with her family to write and teach undergraduate courses in psychology at Middle Tennessee State University. After her husband died in 2012, Janet returned to Chicago to construct a new life. Following her optimally-aging plan to get a rigorous classical education, Janet enrolled in the Master’s Program in Liberal Arts at the University of Chicago (a beginning graduate student again at the U of C, after 45-plus years!). Still, she remains committed to her life passion—exciting readers in the marvelous human lifespan through this book.

Part I. The Foundation
1. The People and the Field
2. Prenatal Development, Pregnancy, and Birth

Part II. Infancy
3. Infancy: Physical and Cognitive Development
4. Infancy: Socioemotional Development

Part III. Childhood
5. Physical and Cognitive Development
6. Socioemotional Development
7. Settings for Development. Home and School

Part IV. Adolescence
8. Physical Development
9. Cognitive and Socioemotional Development

Part V. Early and Middle Adulthood
10. Constructing an Adult Life
11. Relationships and Roles
12. Midlife

Part VI. Later Life
13. Later Life: Cognitive and Socioemotional Development
14. The Physical Challenges of Aging

Part VII. Epilogue
15. Death and Dying

Final Thoughts