Читать книгу Lifespan Development - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 13

Lifespan Development: Lives in Context is organized into 19 chronological chapters that depict the natural unfolding of development over the lifespan from genetic foundations, conception, and birth to older adulthood and the end of life. Chapters are grouped into nine thematic units that represent the major periods in the lifespan.

Part I, Foundations of Lifespan Human Development, includes Chapters 1, 2, and 3. Chapter 1 combines lifespan theory and research design within a single chapter. I chose this streamlined approach because, given limited class time, many instructors (including myself) do not cover stand-alone research chapters. The streamlined approach combines comprehensive coverage of methods of data collection, research design, developmental designs (such as sequential designs), and ethical issues in research with full coverage of the major theories in developmental psychology. Chapter 2 presents the biological foundations of development, including patterns of genetic inheritance, gene–environment interactions, and epigenetics. Chapter 3 describes prenatal development and birth.

Part II, Infancy and Toddlerhood, comprises three chapters because the rapid and dramatic transformations over the first years of life merit comprehensive discussion of the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional changes in stand-alone chapters (Chapters 4, 5, and 6).

Parts III through VIII contain two chapters each: physical and cognitive development as well as socioemotional development. Part III covers early childhood; Part IV, middle childhood; Part V, adolescence; Part VI, early adulthood; Part VII, middle adulthood; and Part VIII, late adulthood. Finally, Part IX (Chapter 19) presents death and dying, including the processes of death, how children and adults understand death, and coping with bereavement.