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Development Across the Life Span
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832 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 11, 2021
As an introductory text for developmental psychology, this is one of the better ones I've read. It takes the approach of dividing its coverage of material into several broad age groupings (prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood), which allows the author to prevent the narrative of development roughly as we experience it as a linear progression through time.
This approach, however, is not without downsides. Because the topics are divided by age, someone looking to understand a particular topic within developmental psychology must trace that idea throughout the book's entire text rather than conveniently referencing a single discussion of the issue. This also makes the book somewhat repetitive as certain topics are introduced and reintroduced in each section rather than covered only once.
That format, then, is neither good nor bad but rather a matter of personal preference. However, it does introduce an actual flaw, which is that this book doesn't achieve the depth a book of its size really ought to. Perhaps partly because some of the material is repetitive, valuable page space that could have been spent tracking detailed descriptions of cutting edge literature is instead "wasted" on redundant content. That makes the book a mile wide, as the saying goes, but not particularly deep. The reader will come away from this book with a very strong understanding of the normal course of human development, but no particular expertise that would lend itself either to the practice of developmental psychology in the clinical or experimental settings.
In fact, if the student reading this book has taken even an introductory course in psychology (not even necessarily developmental psychology), much of the book's content will already be familiar. As a course text for an undergraduate developmental psych course, the more detailed treatments probably make this a suitable selection. However, for the reader trying to develop a more sophisticated understanding, a lot of information seems missing.
A particularly good point, though, is that the book treats potentially controversial issues with the appropriate scholarly detachment. Issues of race, gender, etc. are covered within the book's pages to the extent that the literature is resolved on the matters, and issues open to interpretation are largely left to the reader's own interpretation or for further research. In an educational climate in which we have seen far too many political influences over curricula, this is a welcome reprieve from many inferior books I've read in recent years. That reason alone ought to justify this book for serious consideration either for those choosing a book to assign their students or for curious readers seeking to develop a deeper understanding of developmental processes.
This approach, however, is not without downsides. Because the topics are divided by age, someone looking to understand a particular topic within developmental psychology must trace that idea throughout the book's entire text rather than conveniently referencing a single discussion of the issue. This also makes the book somewhat repetitive as certain topics are introduced and reintroduced in each section rather than covered only once.
That format, then, is neither good nor bad but rather a matter of personal preference. However, it does introduce an actual flaw, which is that this book doesn't achieve the depth a book of its size really ought to. Perhaps partly because some of the material is repetitive, valuable page space that could have been spent tracking detailed descriptions of cutting edge literature is instead "wasted" on redundant content. That makes the book a mile wide, as the saying goes, but not particularly deep. The reader will come away from this book with a very strong understanding of the normal course of human development, but no particular expertise that would lend itself either to the practice of developmental psychology in the clinical or experimental settings.
In fact, if the student reading this book has taken even an introductory course in psychology (not even necessarily developmental psychology), much of the book's content will already be familiar. As a course text for an undergraduate developmental psych course, the more detailed treatments probably make this a suitable selection. However, for the reader trying to develop a more sophisticated understanding, a lot of information seems missing.
A particularly good point, though, is that the book treats potentially controversial issues with the appropriate scholarly detachment. Issues of race, gender, etc. are covered within the book's pages to the extent that the literature is resolved on the matters, and issues open to interpretation are largely left to the reader's own interpretation or for further research. In an educational climate in which we have seen far too many political influences over curricula, this is a welcome reprieve from many inferior books I've read in recent years. That reason alone ought to justify this book for serious consideration either for those choosing a book to assign their students or for curious readers seeking to develop a deeper understanding of developmental processes.
May 6, 2019
This text’s poor use of tables and figures is exasperating. About one quarter of the figures have some sort of obvious editing error such as unlabeled axes or switching up the independent and dependent variables.
April 6, 2023
Good for helping students understand development. Would love to see an updated version, but of course, research takes time! For what it is, it’s generally informative and inclusive. Explains things well and uses a lot of diagrams to better explain things.
December 14, 2023
(I actually read the 9th edition of this for class, but I couldn’t find that edition on goodreads lol)
I found this textbook to be redundant, dry, and very narrow in its consideration. It’s always impressive when bad writing or teaching manages to make an interesting topic boring.
I found this textbook to be redundant, dry, and very narrow in its consideration. It’s always impressive when bad writing or teaching manages to make an interesting topic boring.
July 25, 2023
Just finished for my human growth and development class
August 15, 2024
Very easy to follow
June 16, 2016
Feldman's approach to the developmental study of psychology is well laid out with appropriate research and context. A no nonsense, common sense approach to life and development, as well as addressing many different global and culture practices. The inclusiveness of the writing helps individuals or all persuasions understand the unity of the human species, and how we can understand ourselves as we develop.
August 17, 2011
What can you say? It was a text book for a graduate level course. It contains a wealth of information and presents it somewhat better than the traditional lackluster, mundane approach textbooks commonly have. Will I read it again? Probably not, but I may reference back to it from time to time. Would I recommend it? Only if it is a course requirement for a course you are taking.
November 2, 2008
This really is one of the best textbooks I have read. I know it's not that exciting, but this is the reason I have over 20 books in the "to-read" section. Love school, but don't seem to have enough time to read other things as often as I would like.
July 21, 2012
I'm including this on my list, since it took up my reading time. And I don't know if I had ever finished reading a text book in undergrad. But, the last textbook that I had to read for grad school prerecs.
March 31, 2007
Didn't read the whole thing through but what I did read was pretty good for a textbook. Interesting subjects and good use of anecdotes.
January 5, 2009
This is a text book, but it was so fun to read! The writing is lively and interestig. Kudos to such great writers who made a mandatory topic of study absolutely fascinating!
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March 6, 2011This is for my HDFS 201 class, and I would recommend any girl to read it. I know it's a text book, but its got a lot of good knowledge I think every girl should know.
March 31, 2015
First time I've actually REALLY read an entire textbook from cover to cover. Probably one of the best and informational textbooks I've ever read as well.
September 27, 2008
Pretty good.
December 4, 2012
Surprisingly, this was a pretty good ( and Long) read for a textbook.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews