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Human Development: A Life-Span View, 8th Edition

Robert V. Kail, John C. Cavanaugh

Copyright 2019
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Human Development: A Life-Span View 8th Edition by Robert V. Kail/John C. Cavanaugh

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Overview
Meet the Authors
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
Pricing

Overview

Comprehensive, succinct, and applied, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: A LIFE-SPAN VIEW has proven its ability to capture students' interest while introducing them to the issues, forces, and outcomes that make us who we are. Robert Kail and John Cavanaugh's combined expertise in childhood, adolescence, and gerontology result in a rich description of all life-span stages and important topics. A modified chronological approach traces development from conception through late life, with several chapters dedicated to key topics -- an organization that allows the book to be briefer than other texts. Students gain theoretical and empirical foundations that enable them to become educated, critical interpreters of developmental information. The eighth edition blends basic and applied research with coverage of controversial topics and emergent trends to demonstrate connections between the laboratory and life.

Meet the Authors

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Robert V. Kail

Robert V. Kail is visiting professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and distinguished professor emeritus of psychological sciences at Purdue University. His undergraduate degree is from Ohio Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. is from the University of Michigan. Dr. Kail served as editor of both Child Development Perspectives and Psychological Science. He received the McCandless Young Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association, was named the Distinguished Sesquicentennial Alumnus in Psychology by Ohio Wesleyan University and is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Dr. Kail has also written CHILDREN AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT and SCIENTIFIC WRITING FOR PSYCHOLOGY.

John C. Cavanaugh

John C. Cavanaugh is Senior Consultant at Pathseekers II, Inc. He is former president and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, Chancellor Emeritus of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and former president of the University of West Florida. A researcher and teacher of adult development and aging for more four decades, he has published about 100 articles and chapters and authored, coauthored, or coedited 24 books on aging, information technology, and higher education policy. He is a past president of Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and is a fellow of APA (Divisions 1, 2, 3, and 20) and the Gerontological Society of America, and a charter fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. He has held numerous leadership positions in these associations, including chair of the Committee on Aging for APA. He has served on numerous state and national committees for aging-related and higher education organizations. He also serves on the Yellowstone Forever National Advisory Council. John is a devoted fan of “Star Trek” and a serious traveler, photographer, backpacker, cook, and chocoholic. He is married to Dr. Christine K. Cavanaugh, with whom he writes, co-teaches, and learns something new each day.

What's New

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New profiles in the "Real People" feature cover Muhammad Ali, James Obergefell and John Arthur's fight for gay marriage, the Angelina Jolie effect on breast cancer screening, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, the politics of unemployment, and Randy Pausch's last lecture.
New topics in the "Spotlight on Research" feature include infant reaching, preschool children's essentialist thinking, impaired reading comprehension, electronic media, adolescent depression, and the long-term health effects of leisure activities.
Chapters on prenatal development through early childhood include new or revised material on the period of the fetus, nutrition during pregnancy, non-invasive prenatal testing, co-sleeping, breast feeding, handedness, young children's naïve theories of biology, infants' number skills, infant-directed speech, touchscreen devices for children's word learning, pretend play and solitary play, father-infant relationships, the impact of child care, and emotion regulation.

Features

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The authors' modified chronological treatment reduces redundancy and emphasizes the integrated biopsychosocial model of human development over the course of the life span. This organization also allows the book to be briefer (just 16 chapters) and more manageable for a one-semester course.
Pedagogy in each section includes learning objectives, a vignette, typically one or more "Think About It" questions in the margin to encourage critical thinking, and end-of-section "Test Yourself" questions that reinforce key messages. For easy assignment and to help readers visually organize the material, major units within each chapter are numbered.
Chapter pedagogy includes a bulleted chapter-ending summary, organized by learning objective within each major section; and a list of key terms (with page references).
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Adolescent development is covered in two chapters -- physical/cognitive development and socioemotional development -- to give each topic the coverage appropriate for most courses.
The book's three special features -- "Spotlight on Research", "Real People", and "What Do You Think?" -- are a significant reason why this textbook is unique. To help students stay focused on the content, these features are woven seamlessly yet distinctively into the narrative rather than being boxed off from the flow of the chapters.
Each "Spotlight on Research" feature highlights a specific study discussed in the text, helping students understand the science and scope of life-span development.
"Real People: Applying Human Development" features illustrate how a development issue is manifested in the life of a real person.
"What Do You Think?" features ask students to think critically about social and developmental issues.

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1. The Study of Human Development.
Part I: PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT, INFANCY, AND EARLY CHILDHOOD.
2. Biological Foundations: Heredity, Prenatal Development, and Birth.
3. Tools for Exploring the World: Physical, Perceptual, and Motor Development.
4. The Emergence of Thought and Language: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Early Childhood.
5. Entering the Social World: Socioemotional Development in Infancy and Early Childhood.
Part II: SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.
6. Off to School: Cognitive and Physical Development in Middle Childhood.
7. Expanding Social Horizons: Socioemotional Development in Middle Childhood.
8. Rites of Passage: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence.
9. Moving Into the Adult Social World: Socioemotional Development in Adolescence.
Part III: YOUNG AND MIDDLE ADULTHOOD.
10. Becoming an Adult: Physical, Cognitive, and Personality Development in Young Adulthood.
11. Being With Others: Forming Relationships in Young and Middle Adulthood.
12. Work, Leisure, and Retirement.
13. Making It in Midlife: The Biopsychosocial Challenges of Middle Adulthood.
Part IV: LATE ADULTHOOD.
14. The Personal Context of Later Life: Physical, Cognitive, and Mental Health Issues.
15. Social Aspects of Later Life: Psychosocial, Retirement, Relationship, and Societal Issues.
16. The Final Passage: Dying and Bereavement.
Glossary.
References.