This textbook begins with a comprehensive review of the major theoretical approaches that shape our understanding of development from conception to death. What is the difference between chronological age and social age? What is the difference between a generation and a life stage? How do differences in life experiences with respect to cultural and economic resources shape development? How do genes and environments interact to influence development? Do people change or remain the same across the life course? The theoretical approaches that address these big picture questions carry through the textbook as themes that guide empirical research on processes of development. In each chapter, up-to-date research findings describe and explain biological, psychological, and social development across the life course. Research is presented in an accessible and engaging manner that allows students to situate their own experience within the lifespan view of psychology.

Acknowledgements

This open textbook has been adapted by Kristian Rodriguez Weihs and Amanda Baker Robinson, in partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. This work is made available through a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence unless otherwise noted.

Humber is located within the traditional and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit. Known as Adoobiigok, the “Place of the Alders” in Michi Saagiig language, the region is uniquely situated along Humber River watershed, which historically provided an integral connection for Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Wendat peoples between the Ontario Lakeshore and the Lake Simcoe/Georgian Bay regions. Now home to people of numerous nations, Adoobiigok continues to provide a vital source of interconnection for all.

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Collaborators

Bhavika Bhutani, Instructional Designer
Gurpreet Kaur, Instructional Designer