Written for a non-specialist audience, From Birth to Late Adulthood: An Introduction to Lifespan Development explores human psychological development from conception to late adulthood. The book opens with a discussion of the discipline itself, in order to prepare students to appropriately contextualize and interpret the material. It then moves on to discuss the cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of psychological development, and to consider all of these in conjunction with issues of diversity.

From Birth to Late Adulthood: An Introduction to Lifespan Development provides students with essential information without being overwhelming or inaccessible to introductory students. Of particular note is a preface to the text that reviews methods for studying and learning successfully. The book can be used in undergraduate psychology courses, and is also well-suited to professional courses in nursing, social work, and education.

Claire W. Lyons earned her Ph.D. in psychology at The Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dr. Lyons is currently a professor of psychology at James Madison University, where she teaches lifespan human development and maintains a research lab. Her current research focuses on teaching and learning in the large classroom. Her work has been published in Research in Education and Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties, and her most recent article, I Don't Really Have Time to Think, Do I feel Happy or Sad? , was featured in Mindfulness for Educational Practice.