Research on the development of social relations has been largely fragmented along role-specific lines and dominated conceptually by attachment theory. The Convoy Model is presented as an alternative to traditional approaches that fail to capture the complexity of social relationships across time and context. Research based on the model converges…

Compares differential and developmental approaches to clinical and developmental problems such as suicide. Contends that abstract model variables (such as suicidal tendency), whose meaning depends on the model in which they function, need a translation between the variable and empirical data. Maintains that practitioners need a model allowing for…

Comments on Lewis's ideas about reconciling stage and specificity in neo-Piagetian theory in this issue. Focuses on whether general stages, domain specificity, and individual diversity are compatible from a nonlinear, dynamic perspective. Suggests that, by using catastrophe theory, intra- and interindividual diversity and domain specificity can be…

To resolve tension between general stages and conceptual specificity in neo-Piagetian theory, R. Case introduced the idea of central conceptual structures. To resolve difficulties of separating developmental level and conceptual diversity, this article reconceptualizes central conceptual structures as self-organizing systems that stabilize in…

Comments on Lewis's ideas about reconciling stage and specificity in neo-Piagetian theory in this issue. Summarizes R. Case's central conceptual structure and its relation to other neo-Piagetian theories. Notes similarities between Lewis and Piaget, suggesting that differences adhere to a limited number of general laws instead of being…

Analyzes suicide in terms of a dynamic model of changes in suicidal tendencies over time. Suggests that minor fluctuations may incite rapid development toward suicide or inhabit suicidality. Notes that this method of analysis and developmental modeling is applicable to other phenomena involving development in complex human behaviors in an open…

Discusses Mishara's use of phrase space analysis to chart the developmental dynamics of suicide. Contends that developmentalists should concern themselves with mental ontology, especially epistemic questions, in order to advance understanding of the development of the human mind. Considers the affinity of interactivism with a dynamic systems…

Five symposium papers evaluate the usefulness of ideas associated with the life-span view for enriching, highlighting, or expanding issues, theory, and research pertinent to change processes during infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and for intervention programs during these periods. (Author/MP)

Reviews a book which describes the Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form. Compares the test to that of Lawrence Kohlberg, pointing out benefits and drawbacks of the test, and concludes the test represents a notable advance in the measurement of Kohlberg's first four stages of moral development. (TM)