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Lifespan Development

What Does Psychology Say?

Lifespan DevelopmentWhat Does Psychology Say?
Photo of large hall in Grand Central Station filled with people walking around.
Figure 1.1 Where are each of these travelers in Grand Central Station headed? What hopes and dreams fuel their day? What experiences and responsibilities shape that day? The underpinnings of those answers lie in the study of lifespan development. (credit: modification of work “Grand Central Terminal, Midtown, Manhattan” by Jeffrey Zeldman/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Chapter Outline

1.1 Psychology and Human Development
1.2 Themes of Development
1.3 Major Theories and Theorists
1.4 Contexts and Settings of Development
1.5 Lifespan Development as a Science: Research Methods

You’ve been looking forward to your trip to New York City. Upon landing at JFK airport, you take the subway to reach Midtown Manhattan. The train accelerates and you watch the platform disappear as you find a seat and take your first look around the car. There is life here, rocketing through the underground tunnels, and a broad cross-section of human experience. You steal glimpses of your fellow riders’ physical appearance, belongings, interactions, and facial expressions. You wonder where each of them is going and what they hope to accomplish today. At each station, the train stops, and some people exit and even more board, the crowd growing as it nears Manhattan.

Like many students studying lifespan development, you likely share a curiosity about the people around you. You may wonder:

  • What are the ideal environments for people to develop and flourish in? How and why are these different for different people?
  • How straightforward is the path through life’s journey? Are there twists and turns, detours, and backtracking?
  • What kinds of changes can we typically expect across the lifespan?
  • Are there particular points in time during the lifespan where certain experiences are essential to development?
  • How does an individual perceive and respond to expectations from their social and cultural environments at different points in their life?
  • How much variation should we expect to see—from person to person, group to group, culture to culture—as we attempt to uncover patterns of development across the lifespan?

In this course, you can explore questions like these, contemplate what answers can be found through psychological research, and learn more about your own life journey.

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