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Invitation to the Life Span
Sixth Edition ©2025 Kathleen Stassen Berger Formats: Achieve, Read & Practice, E-book, Print
As low as $59.99
As low as $59.99
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Authors
-
Kathleen Berger
Kathleen Stassen Berger transferred from Stanford University to Radcliffe, earning a B.A. and M.A.T. from Harvard University, and then an M.S. and Ph.D. from Yeshiva University, all while teaching adolescents. Her broad experience as a learner and educator includes directing a preschool, chairing philosophy at the United Nations International School, and teaching human development to graduate students at Fordham University, undergraduates at Montclair State University, aspiring professionals at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and incarcerated individuals at Sing Sing Prison. For most of her professional career, Berger has been a professor at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York.
Berger is also the author of Invitation to the Life Span, The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, and A Topical Approach to the Developing Person Through the Life Span, as well as Grandmothering: Building Strong Ties with Every Generation. Berger’s research interests include adolescent identity, immigration, bullying, and grandparents, and she has published articles in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Psychology, Developmental Review , and Human Development, and in publications of the American Association for Higher Education and the National Education Association for Higher Education. She continues teaching and learning, not only from students and friends but also from four daughters and three grandsons.
Table of Contents
Product Updates
Summer 2026
The Summer 2026 update introduces new AI-powered learning tools that help students build understanding through guided practice and personalized feedback. With Guided Reading and Guided Quiz Review, instructors can provide more interactive learning experiences while supporting student success within their existing course workflow.
- Guided Reading: Transforms textbook reading into an assignable interactive learning experience. Students explain concepts in their own words and receive personalized, real-time feedback. By turning reading into a guided conversation, it builds deeper understanding and engagement without adding any instructor workload.
- Guided Quiz Review: In the current Multi-Take Quiz setting, this new AI-powered tool helps students master concepts. It reduces guessing and gives personalized formative feedback between quiz attempts. By guiding students through their learning journey, it strengthens understanding and improves performance—without adding extra work for instructors.
August 2025 Update - New Data Literacy Activities Launched
Prepare Students for Research, Careers, and Beyond with Data Literacy
In psychology and the social sciences, data literacy is no longer optional—it’s foundational. From APA standards to employer expectations, the ability to read, analyze, and interpret data—all with ethically-sound research processes—is a core competency for today’s students.
Our Data Literacy Activities are designed to support your curriculum by targeting the five essential skill areas identified in both educational and workplace research:
- Let’s Take a Look!: Visual Displays of Data – Helps students confidently interpret charts, tables, and visual data
- How’d You Do That?: Methods in Psychological Research – Teaches when and how to apply different research approaches
- Why, Why, Why?: Quantitative versus Qualitative Research – Clarifies these core concepts and their practical uses
- Chart It, Sort It, Spot It!: Descriptive Statistics – Reinforces statistical thinking in an accessible way
- They Did Not!: Ethics in Psychological Research – Emphasizes responsible data use, aligned with APA ethics codes
These skills not only support degree requirements and APA guidelines, but also help boost the basic data skills that employers expect from day one.
Integrate data literacy into your course with ready-to-use, targeted content that complements your teaching and promotes student readiness—for research, for graduate study, and for the job market. Support your students with the skills that matter. Let’s build data fluency—together.
Achieve Updates
For the new edition, Achieve offers additional video resources, revised and updated Instructor’s Resources, free iClicker integration, and new Concept Practice tutorials.
Critical Thinking Enhancements
This edition emphasizes distinguishing opinion from fact with “Think Critically” questions throughout the text, fostering deeper analytical skills essential for independent thinking and informed decision-making in real-world scenarios.
Enhanced Focus on Culture and Diversity
Expanded discussions and analyses on culture and diversity ensure students gain a broader understanding of the diverse contexts influencing human development.
Updated Visualizing Development Infographics
New infographics like "Different People in Different Environments" and "Media Use Among U.S. Adults" clarify complex concepts and promote engaging learning experiences.
Incorporation of Contemporary Topics and Research
Addressing subjects such as epigenetics, intersectionality, Covid-19, and neurocognitive disorders, this edition remains relevant and reflective of the latest advancements and societal issues, equipping students with current, comprehensive knowledge.
Authors
-
Kathleen Berger
Kathleen Stassen Berger transferred from Stanford University to Radcliffe, earning a B.A. and M.A.T. from Harvard University, and then an M.S. and Ph.D. from Yeshiva University, all while teaching adolescents. Her broad experience as a learner and educator includes directing a preschool, chairing philosophy at the United Nations International School, and teaching human development to graduate students at Fordham University, undergraduates at Montclair State University, aspiring professionals at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and incarcerated individuals at Sing Sing Prison. For most of her professional career, Berger has been a professor at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York.
Berger is also the author of Invitation to the Life Span, The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, and A Topical Approach to the Developing Person Through the Life Span, as well as Grandmothering: Building Strong Ties with Every Generation. Berger’s research interests include adolescent identity, immigration, bullying, and grandparents, and she has published articles in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Psychology, Developmental Review , and Human Development, and in publications of the American Association for Higher Education and the National Education Association for Higher Education. She continues teaching and learning, not only from students and friends but also from four daughters and three grandsons.
Table of Contents
Product Updates
Summer 2026
The Summer 2026 update introduces new AI-powered learning tools that help students build understanding through guided practice and personalized feedback. With Guided Reading and Guided Quiz Review, instructors can provide more interactive learning experiences while supporting student success within their existing course workflow.
- Guided Reading: Transforms textbook reading into an assignable interactive learning experience. Students explain concepts in their own words and receive personalized, real-time feedback. By turning reading into a guided conversation, it builds deeper understanding and engagement without adding any instructor workload.
- Guided Quiz Review: In the current Multi-Take Quiz setting, this new AI-powered tool helps students master concepts. It reduces guessing and gives personalized formative feedback between quiz attempts. By guiding students through their learning journey, it strengthens understanding and improves performance—without adding extra work for instructors.
August 2025 Update - New Data Literacy Activities Launched
Prepare Students for Research, Careers, and Beyond with Data Literacy
In psychology and the social sciences, data literacy is no longer optional—it’s foundational. From APA standards to employer expectations, the ability to read, analyze, and interpret data—all with ethically-sound research processes—is a core competency for today’s students.
Our Data Literacy Activities are designed to support your curriculum by targeting the five essential skill areas identified in both educational and workplace research:
- Let’s Take a Look!: Visual Displays of Data – Helps students confidently interpret charts, tables, and visual data
- How’d You Do That?: Methods in Psychological Research – Teaches when and how to apply different research approaches
- Why, Why, Why?: Quantitative versus Qualitative Research – Clarifies these core concepts and their practical uses
- Chart It, Sort It, Spot It!: Descriptive Statistics – Reinforces statistical thinking in an accessible way
- They Did Not!: Ethics in Psychological Research – Emphasizes responsible data use, aligned with APA ethics codes
These skills not only support degree requirements and APA guidelines, but also help boost the basic data skills that employers expect from day one.
Integrate data literacy into your course with ready-to-use, targeted content that complements your teaching and promotes student readiness—for research, for graduate study, and for the job market. Support your students with the skills that matter. Let’s build data fluency—together.
Achieve Updates
For the new edition, Achieve offers additional video resources, revised and updated Instructor’s Resources, free iClicker integration, and new Concept Practice tutorials.
Critical Thinking Enhancements
This edition emphasizes distinguishing opinion from fact with “Think Critically” questions throughout the text, fostering deeper analytical skills essential for independent thinking and informed decision-making in real-world scenarios.
Enhanced Focus on Culture and Diversity
Expanded discussions and analyses on culture and diversity ensure students gain a broader understanding of the diverse contexts influencing human development.
Updated Visualizing Development Infographics
New infographics like "Different People in Different Environments" and "Media Use Among U.S. Adults" clarify complex concepts and promote engaging learning experiences.
Incorporation of Contemporary Topics and Research
Addressing subjects such as epigenetics, intersectionality, Covid-19, and neurocognitive disorders, this edition remains relevant and reflective of the latest advancements and societal issues, equipping students with current, comprehensive knowledge.
Defining the Lifespan Journey: Connecting lived experiences with the most current science
Invitation to the Life Span combines Kathleen Berger's engaging narrative style with an inclusive perspective on human development across cultures and life stages. Organized into 15 concise chapters and an epilogue, this edition features updated research on brain development, childhood psychopathology, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19, along with an expanded media-rich learning experience that helps students connect developmental science to real-world contexts.
Extend the learning experience with Achieve's integrated activities, assessments, and study tools for psychology.
Achieve – Learn Psychology. Build Skills for Life.
We’re reimagining how psychology is taught and learned—focusing on the skills students need to succeed. Achieve combines engaging content with AI-powered tools to help students apply psychological concepts, and build habits that last beyond the course.
New in Achieve
- Foundational Skills Modules - (AI ethics, AI basics, note-taking, time management, using APA style and reading research)
- Data Literacy Activities - (visual data, ethics, methods, statistics)
- AI-Enabled Guided Reading - makes reading truly assignable
- AI-Enabled Guided Quiz Review - builds in practice between attempts
- Short-Form Writing Tool with rubric-aligned prompts and auto-scoring feedback
- Developing Lives 2.1 - Interactive Parenting Simulation: Students raise a virtual child from pregnancy through adolescence, making critical lifestyle and parenting choices that shape development.
Each activity is designed to build skills, increase engagement, and support student success.
Success Stories
Here are a few examples of how Achieve has helped instructors like you improve student preparedness, enhance their sense of belonging, and achieve course goals they set for themselves.
Prof. Kiandra Johnson, Spelman College
See how the resources in Achieve help you engage students before, during, and after class.
Prof. Jennifer Duncan
Use diagnostics in Achieve for a snapshot into cognitive and non-cognitive factors that may impact your students’ preparedness.
Prof. Ryan Elsenpeter
Here’s why educators who use Achieve would recommend it to their peers.
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Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth Edition | ©2025 | ISBN:9781319564766
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Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
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We can help! Contact your representative to discuss your specific needs for your course. If our off-the-shelf course materials don’t quite hit the mark, we also offer custom solutions made to fit your needs.
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ISBN:9781319564575
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ISBN:9781319564551
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ISBN:9781319596767
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FAQs
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-
Are you a campus bookstore looking for ordering information?
MPS Order Search Tool (MOST) is a web-based purchase order tracking program that allows customers to view and track their purchases. No registration or special codes needed! Just enter your BILL-TO ACCT # and your ZIP CODE to track orders.
Canadian Stores: Please use only the first five digits/letters in your zip code on MOST.
Visit MOST, our online ordering system for booksellers: https://tracking.mpsvirginia.com/Login.aspx
Learn more about our Bookstore programs here: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/contact-us/booksellers
-
-
-
Our courses currently integrate with Canvas, Blackboard (Learn and Ultra), Brightspace, D2L, and Moodle. Click on the support documentation below to find out more details about the integration with each LMS.
Integrate Macmillan courses with Blackboard
Integrate Macmillan courses with Canvas
-
-
-
If you’re a verified instructor, you can request a free sample of our courseware, e-book, or print textbook to consider for use in your courses. Only registered and verified instructors can receive free print and digital samples, and they should not be sold to bookstores or book resellers. If you don't yet have an existing account with Macmillan Learning, it can take up to two business days to verify your status as an instructor. You can request a free sample from the right side of this product page by clicking on the "Request Instructor Sample" button or by contacting your rep. Learn more.
-
-
-
Sometimes also referred to as a spiral-bound or binder-ready textbook, loose-leaf textbooks are available to purchase. This three-hole punched, unbound version of the book costs less than a hardcover or paperback book.
-
-
-
Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Most Achieve Essentials courses do not include our e-books and adaptive quizzing.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
-
-
-
Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Achieve Read & Practice only includes our e-book and adaptive quizzing, and does not include instructor resources and assignable assessments. Read & Practice does integrate with LMS.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
-
-
-
We can help! Contact your representative to discuss your specific needs for your course. If our off-the-shelf course materials don’t quite hit the mark, we also offer custom solutions made to fit your needs.
-
Invitation to the Life Span
Invitation to the Life Span combines Kathleen Berger's engaging narrative style with an inclusive perspective on human development across cultures and life stages. Organized into 15 concise chapters and an epilogue, this edition features updated research on brain development, childhood psychopathology, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19, along with an expanded media-rich learning experience that helps students connect developmental science to real-world contexts.
Extend the learning experience with Achieve's integrated activities, assessments, and study tools for psychology.
Achieve – Learn Psychology. Build Skills for Life.
We’re reimagining how psychology is taught and learned—focusing on the skills students need to succeed. Achieve combines engaging content with AI-powered tools to help students apply psychological concepts, and build habits that last beyond the course.
New in Achieve
- Foundational Skills Modules - (AI ethics, AI basics, note-taking, time management, using APA style and reading research)
- Data Literacy Activities - (visual data, ethics, methods, statistics)
- AI-Enabled Guided Reading - makes reading truly assignable
- AI-Enabled Guided Quiz Review - builds in practice between attempts
- Short-Form Writing Tool with rubric-aligned prompts and auto-scoring feedback
- Developing Lives 2.1 - Interactive Parenting Simulation: Students raise a virtual child from pregnancy through adolescence, making critical lifestyle and parenting choices that shape development.
Each activity is designed to build skills, increase engagement, and support student success.
Select a demo to view:
Sample Achieve