The articles in this collection consider one very interesting puzzle of development: U-shaped developmental functions. At some point during development, an organism might exhibit what seems like a regression from its expected developmental trajectory and, according to continuity models of development, this is aberrant. In this special issue,…

Background: Face processing in Williams syndrome (WS) has been a topic of heated debate over the past decade. Initial claims about a normally developing ("intact") face-processing module were challenged by data suggesting that individuals with WS used a different balance of cognitive processes from controls, even when their behavioural scores fell…

In this article, the Creative Technology Education Project (CTEP) is presented, and phases of problem-solving processes in which the participating primary school student teachers generate alternatives and evaluate ideas are analyzed. The aims of this project were to introduce technology education goals and contents to these students, as well as to…

This article uses a sociocultural approach to analyze how trajectories of identity development and learning intersect in actions carried out in a community of learners. The approach utilizes a framework for analysis with 5 aspects: the action, the agents, the goals, the cultural tools, and the scene. The study posits a distinction between mastery…

Researchers suggest that psycho-social mentoring may represent a way for instructors to provide emotional support and personal insight to students. Given the nationwide rise in academic stress among university students, the present study examines the kinds of negative emotions associated with failing an exam and how such emotions are linked to…

This cross-sectional study examined the relationship among maternal HIV, pubertal development, gender, ethnicity, and spirituality and adolescent participation in sexual possibility situations (SPSs) and in sexual activity. SPSs are social encounters with cross-gender peers that afford the opportunity to engage in sexual activity. Heterosexual…

The journey into middle childhood frequently involves a journey into the community of an after-school program, weekend club, or summer camp. Although out-of-school-time settings are less formal than school in academic requirements, they have the potential to provide key developmental experiences: relationship building, learning, and self- and…

Is it effective or even possible to teach an introductory course in religious studies that not only provides first-year university students with the fundamental vocabulary, concepts, and critical tools of religious inquiry but also invites and stimulates the transformation of the religious imagination? In what kind of teaching and learning method…

While much attention has been paid to how CBT can address symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, less is known about how it might be applied to target psychosocial dysfunction. This case study describes the treatment of a man with schizophrenia over a 6-month period using the Indianapolis Vocational Intervention Protocol (IVIP). The IVIP…

This paper is about therapeutic work with David, a 13-year-old boy who, at the age of 5, was the victim of a hit-and-run road traffic accident resulting in quadriplegia. The circumstances leading to the accident and its sequelae reveal a particularly complex picture, which combines early emotional deprivation and trauma. Although cognitively…

A population of 12-19 year-old adolescents (n = 994) was selected from a pool of 7264 students in order to study adolescent's perception of autonomy. Eleven behavioural autonomy items were elected by the adolescents and used to evaluate the frequency of desire, achievement and disobeying parents in early (12-13 year-old) and late (18-19 year-old)…

For over a decade, practice-based research degrees in art and design have formed part of the United Kingdom research degree education portfolio, with a relatively rapid expansion in recent years. This route to the PhD still constitutes an innovative, and on occasion a disputed, form of research study and students embarking upon the practice-based…

Extrapolating from current developmental theory and using practice-to-theory/theory-to-practice methods, the authors propose a framework for individual diversity development among faculty, staff, and students. The model offers individuals in-depth cognitive, affective and behavioral frameworks of development toward consciously valuing complex and…

In this article, the authors talk about the state of boyhood in education and explain the idea that not all elements of the brain--especially not gender--are plastic. They discuss the mismatch between boys and conventional education and how gender "really" happens in the brain and describe the three biological stages in which human nature…

This study examined the cultural and developmental significance of maternal and paternal parenting processes (closeness, support, monitoring, communication, conflict, and peer approval) for measures of anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents from Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States (N = 6,935). Across all cultural…