Outdoor adventure education (OAE) has a long history of being credited with the personal and social development (PSD) of its participants. PSD is notoriously difficult to measure quantitatively, yet stakeholders demand statistical evidence that given approaches to eliciting PSD are effective in their methods. Rightly or wrongly, many stakeholders…

Focuses on systems theory as the paradigm underlying family therapy and considers the implications of this framework for conceptions of the individual, the study of parent-child interaction, and new research formulations and areas of study. Considers trends in the developmental field that move toward such formulations. (RH)

The appropriateness of the metaphor of the purity of data is questioned, using a perspective based on L. S. Vygotsky's idea of the zone of proximal development and its emphasis on a genetic method in which development is mediated by cultural tools and signs. (SLD)

Challenges the typical treatment of causal effects in longitudinal data, arguing that models should be conceptualized and tested in ways that directly reflect prior assumptions as to the trait- or state-like nature of the variables. Examples demonstrate that meaningful longitudinal studies of state variables can be conducted without assuming their…

Identifies some sources of theoretical confusion in the field of human development and some ways to think about this confusion. Calls for a reorientation of researchers' perspectives toward themselves and those whom they study. (PCB)

Explores the degree to which individuals remain consistent within a framework of changing behavioral characteristics. Includes discussions of problems of measurement; correlational studies; and studies of changing levels under normal conditions, after major environmental shifts, and across generations. (RH)

Recognizes some of the limitations of the field of behavioral genetics, but argues that the methods employed in multivariate behavior genetics and developmental behavior genetics have become the dominant paradigms in the field. (MDM)

Supports Gottlieb's conclusion that developmental behavior genetics is unsuitable for analyzing developmental coactional processes because it does not concern itself with mechanisms through which genotypes are transformed into phenotypes. But maintains that modern behavior genetics provides an indispensable tool to analyze nonlinear epigenetic…

Asserts that this book, drawn from a 1993 conference on memory development, accurately reflects the contemporary status of the field in two ways: (1) its research is matured and specialized; and (2) there are no major theoretical disputes, nor a widely shared new approach, although using microgenetic designs to study cognitive strategy choice…

Criticizes the application of the statistical procedures of the population-genetic approach within evolutionary biology to the study of psychological development. Argues that the application of the statistical methods of population genetics--primarily the analysis of variance--to the causes of psychological development is bound to result in a…

Argues that Gottlieb rejects population sampling and statistical analyses of distributions as he proposes that his experimental brand of mechanistic science is the only legitimate approach to developmental research. Maintains that Gottlieb exaggerates developmental uncertainty, based on his own research with extreme environmental manipulations.…

Argues that a truly developmental behavior genetics will have to go beyond the traditional quantitative approach of population genetics in order to produce developmental explanatory content about differences and similarities in developmental outcomes. (MDM)

Two approaches to development are identified--ecological and cognitive. A comparison of the two approaches is made, and decisions are made favoring the ecological approach. A detailed description of the advantages of the ecological approach is provided by means of a systems theory model. (Author/DB)

Analyzes the logical basis of testing developmental order hypotheses with categorical measures. Argues that depending on whether saltatory or continuous developmental changes are being assessed, the observed relationship between categorical measures yields different types of information about developmental ordering. Maintains that when change is…

Examines the concept of utilization deficiency related to memory strategy development. Argues that problems with current definition obscure previous important theoretical distinctions and limit investigations of strategy inefficiencies that are likely to be important in understanding development of strategy use. Maintains that the developmental…