Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I The foundation -- The people and the field -- Prenatal development, pregnancy, and birth // Part II Infancy -- Infancy: Physical and cognitive development -- Infancy: Socioemotional development // Part III Childhood -- Physical and cognitive development -- Socioemotional development -- Settings for development: home and school // Part IV Adolescence -- Physical development -- Cognitive and socioemotional development // Part V Early and middle adulthood -- Constructing an adult life -- Relationships and roles -- Midlife // Part VI Later life -- Later life: cognitive and socioemtional development -- The physical challenges of old age // Part VII Epilogue -- Death and dying.

Exceptionally well-loved by instructors and students who've used it, Janet Belsky's text 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. .