This unique reference work will be hugely influential for anyone needing or wishing for a broad, yet enriched understanding of this fascinating subject. It will be a particularly invaluable resource for academics and researchers in the fields of developmental psychology, education, parenting, cultural and biological psychology and anthropology. The insightful contributions from world-leading developmental psychologists successfully and usefully integrate different perspectives to studying the subject, following a systematic life-span structure, from pre-natal development through to old age in human beings. The Handbook then concludes with a substantive section on the methodological approaches to the study of development, focusing on both qualitative and quantitative techniques.