Module 5: Life Span Development

You may be wondering why life span development is studied in psychology. People change significantly over their lifetimes, and developmental psychology explores what changes and what stays the same. Physical, intellectual, social, and emotional growth all contribute to your life span development. This module will delve into how humans develop from birth until death.
Getting Started
Take a trip down memory lane. How much have you changed since you were a child? Reflect on what you were like at age three, five, seven, nine, eleven, and thirteen. Now think about how much you have changed since you were in middle school.
Shift gears for a moment, and visualize your future. How much do you think you will change as you enter and pass through adulthood? Everyone has difficulty imagining becoming elderly, but what do you think your life will be like during late adulthood?
Key Vocabulary
To view the definitions for those key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.
Age 30 Transition
Alzheimer's Disease
attachment
childhood
chromosomes
clique
concrete operational stage
conservation
conventional level
cross-sectional method
dementia
developmental psychology
DNA
egocentric
embryo
emerging adulthood
empty nest syndrome
fetus
formal operational stage
gerontologist
identical twins separated at birth
infancy
Jean Piaget
longitudinal method
maturation
menopause
mid-life crisis
nature
nurture
object permanence
postconventional level
preconventional level
preoperational stage
rooting reflex
Sandwich Generation
sensorimotor stage
stranger anxiety
temperament
teratogens
toddler
zygote