Top Developmental Psychology Textbooks

The 10th Edition of The Developing Person Through the Life Span exhibits the clear, engaging voice of Kathleen Berger, revealing the connections between the study of development across all stages of life and lives that students actually live.

Human Development: A Cultural Approach, Second Edition, leads students to examine all stages of development through the engaging lens of culture. The first author to take a wholly cultural approach to human development, Jeffrey Arnett integrates cross-cultural examples throughout the narrative to reveal the impact of cultural factors both in the US and around the world. Arnett’s emphasis on culture fosters a thorough, balanced view of development that prepares students to face challenges in our diverse and globalized world – whether they travel the globe or remain in their hometowns.

Known for its clear, straightforward writing style, grounding in current research, and well-chosen visuals and examples, Life-Span Human Development combines a topical organization at the chapter level and an age/stage organization within each chapter. Each chapter focuses on a domain of development such as physical growth, cognition, or personality and traces developmental trends and influences in that domain from infancy to old age. Each chapter also includes sections on infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The organization helps you grasp key transformations that occur in each period of the life span. Other staples of the text are its emphasis on theories and their application to different aspects of development and its focus on the interplay of nature and nurture in development. This edition includes new research on biological and sociocultural influences on life-span development and offers new media resources that help you engage more actively with the content.

With its seamless integration of up-to-date research, strong multicultural and cross-cultural focus, and clear, engaging narrative, Development Through the Lifespan has established itself as the market’s leading text. The dramatically revised Seventh Edition presents the newest, most relevant research and applications in the field of human development today. Featuring compelling topics, rich examples, and author Laura Berk’s signature storytelling style, this new edition is the most current and engaging text available.

Lifespan Development provides a thorough overview of developmental science, with a focus on helping students apply their understanding of development to their own lives. With a down-to-earth writing style and an emphasis on how concepts connect to research, authors Denise Boyd and Helen Bee make abstract theoretical material understandable to students. In addition to updated content and the latest research, the 8th Edition includes revised themed essays, each with accompanying journaling activities, that offer opportunities to engage deeply with concepts.