After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- Explain the importance of the terms interdisciplinary and applied as they help to define the field of human development. (pp. 4–5)
- Explain the role of theories in understanding human development, and describe three basic issues on which major theories take a stand. (pp. 5–6)
- Describe factors that sparked the emergence of the lifespan perspective, and explain the four assumptions that make up this point of view. (pp. 6–10)
- Discuss the beginnings of scientific study of development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (p. 11)
- Describe theoretical perspectives that influenced human development research in the mid-twentieth century, and cite the contributions and limitations of each. (pp. 11–16)
- Describe recent theoretical perspectives on human development, noting the contributions of major theorists. (pp. 16–21)
- Identify the stand that each contemporary theory takes on the three basic issues presented earlier in this chapter. (p. 22)
- Describe the research methods commonly used to study human development, citing the strengths and limitations of each. (pp. 21, 23–25)
- Distinguish correlational and experimental research designs, and cite the strengths and limitations of each. (pp. 25–28)
- Describe three research designs for studying development, noting the strengths and limitations of each. (pp. 29–31)
- Discuss ethical issues related to lifespan research. (pp. 31–32)
