Presents a nine-celled matrix to explain psychological stability and change. Considers the relationship between various levels of analysis and internal forces, external forces, and interactive theories. (PCB)

Explores different attempts to specify the supraindividual unit of analysis in terms of which culture's contributions to human development are to be understood. Traces the history and current usage of terms such as practice, activity, situation, and context. (BAC)

Religious development is considered from a psychoanalytic point of view. Discussion focuses on the representation of a personal, living God that a child forms in the first five years of life. (BB)

Explains that cultural practices appeals to developmental researchers as a construct that contextualizes development and provides a way of bringing together thinking, doing, feeling, and becoming. Describes five propositions in general terms and offers an indication of how the concept of practice has been translated into research. (BAC)

A social development theory of self is introduced as a framework for developmental psychopathology. Built on some of Piaget's principles, the theory is taken into the social domain and used to define the movements of self and important others throughout life. (PCB)

Examines negotiation of children's construction of autonomy and the personal domain within the context of parent-child and teacher-child interaction. Provides a model for examining the emergence of autonomy out of adult-child negotiation. Describes several studies documenting how adults negotiate with children over personal issues about which a…

Provides background on Schweder et al. article in this issue (PS 523 069), noting that its general concern is with the ways in which cultural practices and principles are interrelated. Notes that developmental questions are not in the foreground of the paper mentioned; the study covers instead adults' accounts as a way to articulate the principles…

Pairs of friends were identified in a sample of 147 seventh and 161 tenth graders. A problem-solving task completed by friends was used to identify friendship types, and individual students were interviewed about their views concerning friendship and their reaction to a friendship dilemma. Found age-related differences in types of friendship and…

Uses results of laboratory and natural language analyses of 2- to 4-year olds' explanations of human behavior to argue for a theory-type view of biological, psychological, and physical domains of thought. Concludes that children as young as 2 years show three different reasoning systems in their explanations of everyday phenomena, especially human…

Emphasizes that culture should be defined to incorporate family, familial and community environments, and social norms. Discusses the way in which environmental norms enter into processes of individual development, and the application of the norms to the school achievements of African-American children. (RJC)

Proposes that the self is constituted in narrative and that development can be seen as the self's effort at rewriting its account of the world. (LB)

Critiques studies of moral development and culture in light of key assumptions of cultural psychology with regard to culturally mediated contexts, the coherence and complexity of cultures, and agency in a culturally grounded self. Argues that the challenge remains to retain concern with agency and context sensitivity, while giving weight to the…

Provides an overview of the following article by Rogoff (PS523071) in terms of its focus and contribution. Notes the article's focus on the proposition that development is a process of transformation through participation in cultural practices, and that changes must be considered at three levels: personal, interpersonal, and community. (BAC)

Presents the theoretical position that as people participate in sociocultural activities, they contribute to the development of community practices that simultaneously contribute to the individuals' own development. Illustrates this argument using observations of the developmental processes of individual Girl Scouts and of community traditions of…

Seven stages in the development of faith are examined from a constructivist-developmental approach. A table depicts structural aspects of faith development by stage. (BB)