Understanding Lifespan Development is an excellent selection for college courses such as Lifespan Development, Developmental Psychology, and Human Behavior in the Social Environment. Some unique features make this book particularly attractive for instructors and students.

Drawing on many years teaching lifespan courses at the university level in Psychology and Social Work programs, the authors have created a textbook which covers critical theory, issues, and concepts in terms of physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development across the lifespan. In doing so, the authors have maintained a smooth and proficient narrative style of writing, creating a concise textbook which fits neatly into an undergraduate course semester. The narrative style steers away from the overly dense texts which often infiltrate undergraduate courses. Another advantage of this philosophy of proficiency relates to the cost: A new version of Understanding Lifespan Development is a fraction of the cost of many other lifespan textbooks.

With the third edition of Understanding Lifespan Development, updates have been made with research findings in a variety of areas, as well as policy updates which impact human development. Moreover, an ecological perspective on human development is introduced early in the text and interwoven throughout the subsequent chapters for specific phenomena, helping illustrate the complex and interactive nature of many aspects of human development. Beginning with the third edition of Understanding Lifespan Development, a supplemental site accompanying the book contains quiz material and other resources, including lecture slides. Together, all textbook features combine to generate a clear and coherent text which engages the student and aligns nicely with an undergraduate course and semester objectives and length.