Product Description

John Santrock’s A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development text continues with the themes of research, applications, and contexts that he is famous for. Students and instructors alike love it for its pedagogy and accessible writing. Building on these strengths, the fourth edition features more current research, more applications including new Careers in Life-Span Development profiles, and a new Visual Assets Database for Instructors.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76081 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 856 pages

About the Author
John W. Santrock received his Ph.D. from the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. He taught at the University of Charleston and the University of Georgia before joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has worked as a school psychologist and currently teaches educational psychology every year at the undergraduate level. In 2006, John received the University of Texas at Dallas Excellence in teaching award. His research has included publications in the Journal of Educational Psychology that focus on the contextual aspects of affectively-toned cognition and children's self-regulatory behavior as well as teachers' perceptions of children from divorced families. He has been a member of the editorial boards of Developmental Psychology and Child Development. His publications include these exceptional McGraw-Hill texts: Child Development, 12th Ed; Life-Span Development, 12th Edition; Adolescence, 12th Edition; Psychology, 7th Edition; and Educational Psychology, 4th Edition.

Customer Reviews

Succeeds in coverage, fails in objectivity
I enjoyed the readings for most chapters in this text. The information is generally well-presented and nicely segmented for quick reading. The author incorporates the little asides (mini research articles) to break things up and add some flavor and interest at different points in the book, which I also appreciated.

Unfortunately, the chapter on Intelligence is a train wreck. It's fine and expected to mention Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, but the author couches that theory as the intelligence theory of choice for psychologists. His fawning over Gardner's theory is irresponsible given the total lack of empirical support. Then the author proceeds to rake Jensen over the coals, despite the fact that Jensen's research is extensive and well-supported. The author, at times without citations, directs the student to ridiculous conclusions about intelligence research. For example, he downplays the importance of heritability in intelligence and states a hyperbolic case for the effects of environment. Being very familiar with the intelligence research, I was surprised, but shouldn't have been, that someone could selectively choose to ignore what the vast body of data shows. I can only hope that most grad students will look beyond this treatment of the subject of intelligence for something more substantial and less partisan.

Life Span Development
I was very happy with this book. It's nice and has a wealth of information. It's also a great buy for the price compared to buying it at the bookstore.

interesting book
I bought this at Amazon.com from an Awesome Deal I found on DailyTool.com. I enjoyed reading the book and it helped me get through the summer class.