An argument is presented showing that the postulation of psychological capabilities that are jointly necessary to and specific to other capabilities involves strong theoretical commitments that have not generally been recognized. Examples are drawn from language development and evolution. (SS)

To bring out Giyoo Hatano's contributions to the understanding of culture and cognitive development, we note first his special style--thoughtful, inventive, and always focused on central issues and on combining theory with data--and then, for three areas, some of the conceptual advances he proposed. The areas have to do with ties between cognitive…

Examines Vygotsky's notion of two main lines of psychosocial development--the natural and the cultural--in light of contemporary Marxist debates concerning the relationship between the "material" and the "social." Argues that an adequate account of Vygotsky's theory must ground the social construction of cognition in a…

Questions Moll's assumption, in this issue, of a parallel between processes in Vygotsky's natural line and the "material" processes in Marxist theories. Disputes Moll's characterization of the natural line providing a kind of constraining framework within which the cultural line can operate, suggesting that the two enter into a…

Proposes a phase model describing the course of first pregnancy, while outlining an extended view of pregnancy as both a biological and psychosocial process. Four ideal phase types are distinguished: a disruption phase of radical change, an adaptation phase of readjustment, a centering phase focused on production, and a final phase of anticipation…

Agrees with Levenson and Crumpler's critique of ontogenetic theories as overly stressing biological determinism. Disagrees with their proposal, in discussing sociogenic and liberative models, that social influences be confined to a weak determinism. Suggests that a problem for developmental theories is to understand ways of increasing individuals'…

Sees Levenson and Crumpler's liberative model as idealistic, and critiques apparently anti-materialistic implications of the model. Maintains that Levenson and Crumpler's suggestion that the goal of adult development is to free the individual from environmental and biological influences is bad science but constitutes a valuable sermon. (BC)

A discussion of the dynamic interaction of nature and nurture variables in the development of an organism. A dialectical approach is used to integrate the possible interactions between these variables. (BD)

Focuses on some apparently evolved features of human adolescence and their possible functions, including the pubertal growth spurt, sexual size dimorphism and bimaturism, the greater aggressiveness of males, heightened concern with one's social standing and the factors affecting it, intergenerational friction, same-sex aggregations and solidarity,…

Compares ontogenetic models, which stress development through a series of stages; sociogenic models, which stress the influence of social context on adult behavior; and liberative models. Liberative models do not treat adult development as entirely dependent on biological or social determinism, and do stress individuals' conscious efforts at…

Reviews J. R. Kantor's reactional biography concept in the context of published literature in the psychology of aging. Kantor's perspective is seen to be compatible with recent views and empirical findings in the psychology of aging. (Author/SS)

A dialectical approach is used to explore the relationship between individual specialization, collective adaptation, and rate of environmental change for both higher and lower organisms. The nature-nurture controversy and the "generation gap" are discussed in terms of this interrelationship. (BD)

This paper presents a critique of recent attempts to explain psychological differences between the sexes in terms of biology. (BD)

Examines the evidence for sex differences in cognitive functioning, and evaluates the evidence for hormonal, genetic, neuroanatomical, and cultural determinants of such differences. Inadequacies in research methodology are noted. (Author/SS)