The final volume in this significant series, this publication mirrors the broad scientific attention given to ideas and issues associated with the life-span perspective: constancy and change in human development; opportunities for and constraints on plasticity in structure and function across life; the potential for intervention across the entire life course (and thus for the creation of an applied developmental science); individual differences (diversity) in life paths, in contexts (or the ecology) of human development, and in changing relations between people and contexts; interconnections and discontinuities across age levels and developmental periods; and the importance of integrating biological, psychological, social, cultural, and historical levels of organization in order to understand human development.

"This 12th volume in the series is an impressive collection of some of the very best empirical and theoretical work in the area....this poignant ending to the series is marked by an excellent collection of works, each of which addresses life span development from a different vantage point. The editor's planfulness about the volume is reflected in the thoughtful complementarity and diversity of perspectives represented in the book."
—Contemporary Gerontology