Adulthood: Developmental psychology.

Abstract

The book begins with a definition of lifespan psychology, and further chapters include early and middle adulthood; the life events approach; marriage; parenting; divorce; and old age. Cross-cultural issues and examples have been included in every chapter, and various biases are identified and explained. The first chapter is an introduction which looks at what psychologists mean by 'lifespan' and 'adulthood', and also how this area of psychology has been researched. Chapter 2 deals with early and middle adulthood, and three important theories of human development during this time: the theories of Erikson, Levinson and Gould. Chapter 3 takes a fourth approach and looks at some of the main life events of adulthood, namely marriage and partnering, parenthood, and divorce from a psychological angle. Chapter 4 is about late adulthood, with sections on social psychological theories of ageing, the psychological effects of retirement and bereavement, cognitive changes in older adults, and some cross-cultural ageing studies. Chapter 5 has some alternative psychological perspectives on ageing, and Chapter 6 gives a senior examiner's comments on two student essays, showing where more marks could have been gained and therefore a higher grade obtained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)