Culture and human development blossomed as a research enterprise in the last quarter of the 20th century; the energy and innovation of that enterprise are less evident now. Where did it go, and where is it going? In this essay, we examine the shifting fields of cross-cultural psychology, psychological anthropology, cultural psychology, indigenous…

In this introductory chapter, I place Bertram J. Cohler's ([Cohler, B. J., 1982]) seminal essay "Personal Narrative and Life Course" in the context of the history of narrative psychology and developmental theory. I describe four theses from "Personal Narrative and Life Course," which impacted developmental theory and…

Very little is known about outcomes of sexual behavior for sexual minority youth. In this chapter, I review relevant literature and draw on findings from my own research to initiate an inquiry into this important topic. I begin with a brief overview of the range of sexual behaviors of sexual minority adolescents and young adults. Next, I describe…

This chapter reviews the research on environmental exemplars, or activists. General themes that have been identified in the literature include early experiences in nature, the influence of other people and organizations, opportunities for environmental education, environmental self and identity formation, and generativity. With these themes in…

Guided by an ecological framework, we explore how siblings' and parents' roles, relationships, and activities are intertwined in everyday life, providing unique and combined contributions to development. In a departure from past research that emphasized the separate contributions of siblings and parents to individual development, we find that…

This volume is an eclectic group of chapters that use vastly different methodologies, focus on distinct content areas, and examine diverse conceptual issues. Yet, the five studies on social network presented in this article share a common center as each is aimed at elucidating its structural features and their contributions to development. In this…

How do children and adults learn to use computers? What developmental processes are involved in learning to use computers? This chapter reviews current understanding of these issues and presents empirical studies demonstrating how to advance that understanding. (Contains 2 figures.)