Watch “Seeing Behind the Visual Cortex”, a video about research on blindsight conducted by Dr. Tony Ro to learn more about brain plasticity in blind individuals. This source covers most of the essentials, including historically significant theory and concepts. However, it does not have the detail in newly published statistics, etc. that I am used to in the textbooks I have used for this course. It is especially weak in coverage of the physical aspects of development and factors related to them, except in certain age groups (i.e. infancy, puberty, late adulthood). It has a long section on gender covered in middle childhood, though I noticed few citiations of newly published research sources; did have some article links.

For the most part, this strange arrangement of topics under any particular stage heading seems to be consistent.What Is Lifespan Development? Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships. We refer to these domains throughout the chapter. Are we who we are because of nature (biology and genetics), or are we who we are because of nurture (our environment and culture)? This longstanding question is known in psychology as the nature versus nurture debate. It seeks to understand how our personalities and traits are the product of our genetic makeup and biological factors, and how they are shaped by our environment, including our guardians, peers, and culture. For instance, why do biological children sometimes act like their parents—is it because of genetics or because of early childhood environment and what the child has learned from the parents? What about children who are adopted—are they more like their biological families or more like their adoptive families? And how can siblings from the same family be so different? If the same child sees a horse during his first time visiting the zoo, the child might call it a dog, demonstrating assimilation. Assimilation is piecing new information into an old schema. In this case, the child puts the horse into the dog schema of an animal with four legs and a tail.

The reading level of this text is appropriate and undergraduate students should be able to understand the material as it is presented. The text offers clear explanations of theoretical concepts in a way that should promote understanding. Furthermore, the learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter are clear and easy to understand. Stages of Development As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, developmental psychologists often divide our development into three areas: physical development, cognitive development, and psychosocial development. Mirroring Erikson’s stages, lifespan development is divided into different stages that are based on age. We will discuss prenatal, infant, child, adolescent, and adult development. I thought the textbook was broken down in a sensible manner, with content being grouped in an appropriate manner. The chapters have a good amount of content, but are not overwhelming or too long.

Beyond Formal Operational Thought

I have not experienced into interface issues. Graphics are clear and video links are effective in opening and playing that video.