With roughly 800 new references
just from 2010-2012, I’ve been striving to make this version of
Experiencing the Lifespan reflect the most cutting edge research in the field.
Click below for my personal top pick summary text
themes (shortened a bit from a new 3rd edition “final thoughts”
epilogue) then turn to the comments below each chapter slot to see specifically
whats new.
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5 summary themes:
ReplyDelete1:WE EVOLVE AS WE AGE (and are evolving as a species!).I’ve always wanted to tell my classes that people grow emotionally during adult life. But, until recently, developmental scientists haven’t had research to back up that claim. Now, we do. Recall from chapters 12 and 13, that studies suggest we do tend to get better—happier, more positive and wiser—with age. Just as important, we now have a grasp on the qualities predicting personal growth: Living in a generative society, being open to experience, having prosocial priorities, experiencing a medium amount of stress. Take this positive message about development to heart. And keep in mind the Flynn effect. The steady cohort rise in IQ shows that, due to advances in society, human “nature” is changing in a positive way!
2: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUNG FAMILIES. This does not mean that everything is rosy. A second research message is that the roots of our adult pathway emerge early in life. From the fetal programming findings, to the fact that infant weight-gain predicts adult obesity, to the impact of childhood poverty on high school graduation rates, events before birth and during our earliest years affect development in far-ranging ways. Now combine this with the reality that young children are the poorest segment of the U.S population and stress is common among mothers-to-be (see chapters 2 and 4). Recall how hard it is to find good day care and balance family and work (Chapter 11). Can’t the United States do more to support young families and parents-to-be?
3: SMOOTH THE TRANSITION TO ADULT LIFE. Because puberty to “full adulthood” is such an extended, unstructured stage, these coming-of-age years need attention, too. At puberty, it is tempting for adults to disengage. The rise in depression and popularity pressures spelled out in Chapter 9 suggests preteens need more guidance, not less. Let’s focus on middle school, when puberty is in bloom, social sensitivities can be acute, and young people are vulnerable to getting on the wrong path. Let’s understand that, while most contemporary teens are doing well, some adolescent risk-taking is normal and stop punishing young people as adults (thereby undercutting their ability to succeed at adult life). And, let’s work to improve the school-to-work transition, so that twenty somethings don’t have to negotiate becoming adults totally on their own. Bottom line: The decades from the preteens through emerging adulthood need a better person-environment fit.
4: LOOK OLD AGE IN THE EYE: We also need to face the facts about life’s final stage. Yes, more of us are living close to the limits of human life. But baby boomers are reaching these years less healthy and disabilities are often the price of living to our eighties and beyond (see Chapter 14). From making the driving environment more user-friendly, to constructing communities that don’t depend on cars, we need to redesign the world to make it more user-friendly for people with physical frailties. We need creative living alternatives—perhaps, intergenerational housing- that can put off the need for a nursing home. And we don’t have time to spare. Can’t we put these structures in place before the very-old age boom hits a decade from now?
5: HUMAN PRIORITIES ARE SIMPLE! Throughout this text, I’ve been spelling out the complex forces that shape development. But, amidst the diversity, three core values run through this book. When developmentalists discuss executive functions, emotion regulation, or post formal thought, they are really saying successful living depends on reflecting on our own and others’ actions and emotions. Terms like “identity” or “industry” or “self-efficacy,” at bottom, refer to our need to feel competent and productive. And whether we use the words prosocial behavior, generativity, or attachment, we need to be connected to others in a nurturing way—which brings us back to that genius, Sigmund Freud (see chapter 1). Freud summed up mental health as self-understanding, work, and love.