Publisher's Synopsis
The contributions in this volume reflect the high level of research currently under way in many parts of the world in the area of developmental psychology, with ten countries from five continents represented in the book. The volume shows the extent to which theorizing and research is currently focused on different portions of the life span. The 40 chapters in this book provide a broad and complementary coverage of many domains of contemporary psychological development from infancy to senescence. Results of several major longitudinal studies complement the cross-sectional ones. Consistent with the field, much of the book pertains to social, cognitive and emotional development during the beginning of the life span. The remaining chapters demonstrate that development continues well beyond childhood where Havighurst's notion of life tasks provides cohesion on such topics as: Adolescent identity, inter-generational relations, options in early adulthood concerning career and family development, cognitive ageing and its interface with everyday functioning. Life span themes of the contextual, multidimensional, multidirectional and plastic nature of development are pervasive.
