In this commentary on the special issue on emotional development, I focus on the papers by Holodynski and Seeger (2019) and by Hoemann, Xu, and Barrett (2019). I suggest that although understanding our emotions is an important part of emotional development; emotional development cannot be reduced to concept development, even when such concepts…

This commentary critically assesses the importance and limitations of bioconstructionist research on emotional development within the discipline of psychology, broadly conceived, finding that it depends upon theories and methodologies concerning the study of culture that the humanities can provide. The established field of the history of emotions…

Emotions remain something of a mystery for most of us even when we accept their centrality to development in general and to infancy in particular. I make 2 arguments in this paper. One: that the most crucial thing about emotions is that they allow mutuality of engagement with other emotional beings--not only evoking responses, but also provoking…

Developmental and life course studies of young adult identities have focused on 2 dimensions: subjective age and psychosocial maturity. This study examines the developmental synchrony of these 2 processes. In a longitudinal sample of young adults from Add Health (ages 18-22), a person-centered analysis of indicators of these dimensions identified…

P. Hegarty (2009) offered several critiques of the articles by G. Rieger, J. A. W. Linsenmeier, L. Gygax, and J. M. Bailey (2008) and K. D. Drummond, S. J. Bradley, M. Peterson-Badali, and K. J. Zucker (2008) that were published in a "Developmental Psychology" special section entitled "Sexual Orientation Across the Lifespan," guest-edited by C. J.…

Describes the interdisciplinary research of Myrtle B. McGraw; examines the controversy about McGraw's concept of critical period; and assesses her impact on current research. McGraw contended that the overlapping phases involved in neuromuscular integration demonstrate that learning and maturation interact during development. (BC)

Since the mid-1960s, longitudinal surveys specifically designed to be publicly available to the research community have been carried out. Some recent surveys contain measurements of children's development and present opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration involving developmental psychologists. Benefits of collaborative research are…

Discusses the history of the hierarchical epigenetic systems view as applied to human development and offers examples of its implementation. Notes the agreement by many authors that the multilevel systems view is the right model for developmental psychology in both human and animal studies. (BC)

Secondary data analysis and interdisciplinary collaboration have a great deal to offer developmentalists. The research traditions of economists and sociologists have produced longitudinal studies that use national samples, develop useful statistical techniques for approximating experimental conditions, and result in theoretical insights into…

Discusses three themes important for the future progress of developmental psychology: (1) a focus on not only individuals, but also individuals in networks of relationships; (2) description as the first, but not the only, stage in the analysis of developmental processes; and (3) a multidisciplinary approach. (BC)

Maintains that (1) research questions must address intra- and extraorganism contextual relations and must be multidisciplinary in scope; (2) research must be sensitive to contextual variability and individual differences; and (3) scholars must develop empirically generative models linking the development of human beings with changing contexts. (BC)