Table Of ContentExperiencing
The Lifespan
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 1 9/19/12 4:43 PM
this page left intentionally blank
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 2 9/19/12 4:43 PM
Experiencing
The Lifespan
THIRD EDITION
Janet Belsky
Middle Tennessee sTaTe UniversiTy
WORTH PUBLISHERS
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 3 9/19/12 4:43 PM
For David
A world-class intellectual and the world’s best possible husband.
Vice President, Editorial and Production: Catherine Woods
Publisher: Kevin Feyen
Senior Acquisitions Editor: Christine M. Cardone
Marketing Manager: Lindsay Johnson
Marketing Development Assistant: Stephanie Ellis
Developmental Editor: Elaine Epstein
Director of Print and Digital Development: Tracey Kuehn
Senior Media Editor: Christine Burak
Editorial Assistant and Supplements Editor: Eric Dorger
Photo Editor: Bianca Moscatelli
Photo Researcher: Deborah Anderson
Art Director: Babs Reingold
Cover Designer: Lyndall Culbertson
Interior Designers: Charles Yuen and Lyndall Culbertson
Chapter-opening Layouts: Lyndall Culbertson
Associate Managing Editor: Lisa Kinne
Project Editor: Julio Espin
Illustrations: cMPreparé, Dragonfly Media Group, Christy Krames
Production Manager: Sarah Segal
Composition: cMPreparé
Printing and Binding: RR Donnelley
Credit is given to the following sources for permission to use the part- and chapter-opening
photos: cover, p. xxxii, BLOOM WORKS Inc./age fotostock; pp. 2, 454, Ali Johnson Photography/
Getty Images, George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images, Purestock/Alamy, Blend Images/Getty
Images, APlights/Design Pics/Corbis, Ronnie Kaufman/Larry Hirshowitz/Blend Images/Corbis,
i love images/Alamy, Rubberball/Rubberball/Corbis, Stockbyte/Getty Images, Dimitri Vervitsiotis/
Getty Images, Jon Feingersh/Blend Images/Corbis, Radius/SuperStock p. 36, Ali Johnson
Photography/Getty Images; p. 74, Blend Images/Getty Images; p. 76, George Doyle/Stockbyte/
Getty Images; p. 110, Purestock/Alamy; p. 138, Rob Lewine/ Tetra Images/Corbis; p. 140, Blend
Images/Getty Images; p. 172, APlights/ Design Pics/Corbis; p. 202, Ronnie Kaufman/Larry
Hirshowitz/Blend Images/Corbis; p. 234, Gabriela Medina/Blend Images/Corbis; p. 236,
i love images/Alamy; p. 264, Rubberball/Rubberball/Corbis; p. 296, Radius Images/Alamy; p. 298,
Stockbyte/Getty Images; p. 330, Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty Images; p. 362; Jon Feingersh/Blend
Images/Corbis; p. 392, David Sacks/Digital Vision/Getty Images; p. 394, Westend61 GmbH/Alamy;
p. 422, Radius/SuperStock; p. 452, Image Source/Alamy
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945704
ISBN-13: 978-14292-9922-0
ISBN-10: 1-4292-9922-3
© 2013, 2010, 2007 by Worth Publishers
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
First printing
Worth Publishers
41 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 4 9/25/12 11:26 AM
B
orn in new york, JaneT Belsky always wanted to be a writer but was
p
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 got her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Chicago. After years in
New York teaching at Lehman College and doing clinical work in nursing homes and
city hospitals, she moved to Tennessee in 1991 to teach full time. In between teaching
several sections of lifespan development every semester, Janet found the time to write a few
textbooks in adult development and aging and one trade book, Here Tomorrow: Making the
aBout the author
Most of Life After 50. Her son Thomas is now an “emerged” adult working in Key West,
Florida. Janet lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with her husband, David, to whom she has
been married for more than 35 years. In writing Experiencing the Lifespan, she has been
able to merge her three enduring life passions—writing, teaching undergraduates about the
lifespan, and interviewing people from age 3 to 103. Following her own personal optimally
aging (and, hopefully, stimulating neurogenesis!) program, Janet has now developed a new
later life passion—acting in community theater.
U Photographic Services
MTS
vv
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 5 9/19/12 4:43 PM
p
Brief
Contents
Preface xvii
The Foundation
ParT i ............................................................1
.Chapter.1.. The People and the Field.3
.
.Chapter.2. Prenatal Development, Pregnancy, and Birth.37
Infancy
ParT ii .................................................................................75
.Chapter.3. Infancy: Physical and Cognitive Development.77
.Chapter.4.. Infancy: Socioemotional Development.111
Childhood
ParT iii .......................................................................139
.Chapter.5.. Physical and Cognitive Development.141
.Chapter.6.. Socioemotional Development.173
.Chapter.7.. Settings for Development: Home and School.203
Adolescence
ParT iv .................................................................235
.Chapter.8.. Physical Development.237
.Chapter.9.. Cognitive and Socioemotional Development.265
Early and Middle Adulthood
ParT v .........................297
.Chapter.10.. Constructing an Adult Life.299
.Chapter.11.. Relationships and Roles.331
.Chapter.12. Midlife.363
vvii
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 6 9/19/12 4:43 PM
Later Life
ParT vi ........................................................................393
.Chapter.13.. Later Life: Cognitive and
Socioemotional Development.395
.Chapter.14.. The Physical Challenges of Old Age.423
Epilogue
ParT vii ..........................................................................453
.Chapter.15. Death and Dying.455
. . Final Thoughts.479
Glossary G-1
references R-1
name index NI-1
subject index SI-1
vviiii
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 7 9/19/12 4:43 PM
p
Contents
Preface.. xvii
The Foundation
ParT i ...................................................................1
The People and the Field
Chapter.1. ..........................................................3
Who We are and What We study 4
setting the Context 5
The Impact of Cohort 5
The Impact of Socioeconomic Status 9
The Impact of Culture and Ethnicity 10
The Impact of Gender 11
theories: lenses for looking at the lifespan 12
Behaviorism: The Original Blockbuster “Nurture” Theory 13
Attachment Theory: Focus on Nurture, Nature, and Love 15
Evolutionary Psychology: Theorizing About the “Nature” of Human Similarities 16
Behavioral Genetics: Scientifically Exploring the “Nature” of Human Differences 16
How do we know . . . That Our Nature Affects Our Upbringing? 18
Nature and Nurture Combined 18
Emphasis on Age-Linked Theories 20
in FoCUs: Freud: A Twentieth-Century Culture Shaper 20
The Developmental Systems Perspective 24
research Methods: the tools of the trade 26
Two Standard Research Strategies: Correlations and Experiments 26
Designs for Studying Development: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Studies 28
Critiquing the Research 30
Emerging Research Trends 31
Some Concluding Introductory Thoughts 31
Prenatal Development, Pregnancy, and Birth
Chapter.2. .....................37
setting the Context 38
the first step: fertilization 38
The Reproductive Systems 38
The Process of Fertilization 39
The Genetics of Fertilization 40
Prenatal Development 41
First Two Weeks: The Germinal Stage 41
Week 3 to Week 8: The Embryonic Stage 42
Principles of Prenatal Development 43
Week 9 to Birth: The Fetal Stage 44
vviiiiii
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 8 9/19/12 4:43 PM
Contents z ix
Pregnancy 45
Scanning the Trimesters 45
Pregnancy Is Not a Solo Act 47
What About Dads? 48
threats to the Developing Baby 49
Threats from Outside: Teratogens 49
in FoCUs: Pregnancy as a Programmer of Adult Life 54
Threats from Within: Chromosomal and Genetic Disorders 55
How do we know . . . About the Gene for Huntington’s Disease? 58
Interventions 59
Infertility 60
inTervenTions: Assisted Reproductive Technology 61
Birth 62
Stage 1: Dilation and Effacement 63
Stage 2: Birth 63
Stage 3: The Expulsion of the Placenta 63
Threats at Birth 63
Birth Options, Past and Present 63
the newborn 66
Tools of Discovery: Testing Newborns 66
Threats to Development Just After Birth 67
eXPerienCinG THe liFesPan: Marcia’s Story 68
A Few Final Thoughts on Biological Determinism and Biological Parents 69
Infancy
ParT ii ....................................................................................... .75
Infancy: Physical and Cognitive Development
Chapter.3. ..................77
setting the Context 78
The Expanding Brain 78
Neural Pruning and Brain Plasticity 78
Basic newborn states 80
Eating: The Basis of Living 80
eXPerienCinG THe liFesPan: A Passion to Eradicate Malnutrition: A Career
in Public Health 84
Crying: The First Communication Signal 84
inTervenTions: What Quiets a Young Baby? 86
Sleeping: The Main Newborn State 87
inTervenTions: What Helps a Baby Self-Soothe? 88
in FoCUs: When Sleep Is Lethal 90
sensory and Motor Development 92
What Do Newborns See? 93
Expanding Body Size 95
Mastering Motor Milestones 95
inTervenTions: Baby-Proofing, the First Person–Environment Fit 97
Cognition 98
Belsky_FM_i-xxxv-hr.indd 9 9/19/12 4:43 PM
