"Discovering the Lifespan, Second Canadian Edition, provides a broad overview of the field of human development, covering the entire range of the human life, from the moment of conception through death. The text furnishes students with a broad, comprehensive introduction to the field, covering basic theories and research findings, as well as highlighting current applications outside the laboratory. It covers the lifespan chronologically, encompassing the prenatal period, infancy and toddlerhood, the preschool years, middle childhood, adolescence, early and middle adulthood, and late adulthood. Within these periods, it focuses on physical, cognitive, and social and personality development. In a unique departure from traditional lifespan development texts, each chapter integrates the physical, cognitive, and social and personality domains within each chronological period. Chapters begin with a compelling story about an individual representing the age period covered by the chapter, and the chapter ends by refocusing on that individual and integrating the three domains. At the same time, chapters drive students to MyDevelopmentLab through marginal queries and reminders about the rich media content available to them. The book also blends and integrates theory, research, and applications, focusing on the breadth of human development. Furthermore, rather than attempting to provide a detailed historical record of the field, it focuses on the here-and-now, drawing on the past where appropriate, with a view toward delineating the field as it now stands and the directions toward which it is evolving. Similarly, while providing descriptions of classic studies, the emphasis is more on current research findings and trends. The book strives to be user-friendly. Written in a direct, conversational voice, it replicates as much as possible a dialogue between authors and student. The text is meant to be understood and mastered on its own by students of every level of interest and motivation. To that end, it includes a variety of pedagogical features that promote mastery of the material and encourage critical thinking."--