Cover: Experiencing the Lifespan, 7th Edition by Janet Belsky; Vanessa Rainey

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Experiencing the Lifespan

Seventh  Edition©2027  Janet Belsky; Vanessa Rainey

About

Explore Human Development Across the Life Span

An award-winning text that will take you on an engaging journey to understanding human development.

Experiencing the Lifespan helps you understand how people grow and change through engaging stories, global perspectives, and research-based insights. Written in a clear, conversational style, the text connects developmental psychology concepts to real-life experiences across every stage of life. Belsky and Rainey weave in perspectives from cultures around the globe to tell the story of human development, delivering both scientific insight and human impact.

Table of Contents

PART I THE FOUNDATION

Chapter 1 The People and the Field

Chapter 2 Prenatal Development, Pregnancy, and Birth

PART II INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD

Chapter 3 Physical and Cognitive Development in Infants and Toddlers

Chapter 4 Emotional and Social Development in Infants and Toddlers

PART III CHILDHOOD

Chapter 5 Early Childhood

Chapter 6 Middle Childhood

Chapter 7 Settings for Development: Home, School, and Community

PART IV ADOLESCENCE

Chapter 8 Physical Development in Adolescents

Chapter 9 Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Development in Adolescents

PART V EARLY AND MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

Chapter 10 Constructing an Adult Life

Chapter 11 Social Development: Relationships and Roles

Chapter 12 Midlife

PART VI LATER LIFE

Chapter 13 Later Life: Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Development

Chapter 14 The Physical Challenges of Old Age

PART VII ENDINGS

Chapter 15 Death and Dying

Final Thoughts

Janet Belsky

Born in New York City, Janet Belsky always wanted to be a writer but was also very interested in people. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, she deferred to her more practical and people-loving side and earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Chicago. Janet spent her thirties in New York City teaching at Lehman College, CUNY, and doing clinical work in hospitals and nursing homes. During this time, she wrote one trade book, Here Tomorrow: Making the Most of Life After 50, got married, adopted a child, and, with the publication of the first undergraduate textbook in the psychology of aging, began what turned into a lifelong developmental science textbook writing career. In 1991, Janet moved to Tennessee with her family to write and teach undergraduate courses in psychology at Middle Tennessee State University. After her husband died in 2012, Janet moved to Chicago and developed new passions: enrolling in the Master’s Program in Liberal Arts at the University of Chicago, volunteering to teach older adults. Still, she remains committed to her enduring mission—exciting readers in the marvelous human lifespan through writing Experiencing the Lifespan.

Vanessa Rainey

Vanessa Rainey grew up in a small town in Illinois and was the first in her family to attend college. She has long been fascinated by what makes people “tick.” Why are some children shy while others are bold? Why do people raised in similar circumstances sometimes turn out so differently? These questions guided her journey, eventually leading her to earn a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Loyola University Chicago. While in graduate school, Vanessa discovered that her curiosity about human development was matched by an equally strong passion for teaching. She found joy in breaking down complex research into accessible messages for students and quickly realized that the classroom was where she felt most at home. In 2014, Vanessa joined the psychology department at the University of West Florida, where she teaches and continues to explore and research how students learn best. She regularly presents at teaching conferences and is always exploring new ways to get students excited about developmental psychology. Vanessa’s excitement about making developmental science engaging and relatable is what drew her to Janet and Experiencing the Lifespan! Through this seventh edition, she hopes to help readers develop an appreciation for and curiosity about the many paths human lives – both their own and others – can take.