Life-Span Developmental Psychology

List of Contributors

Preface


1. Developmental Psychology and Society: Some Historical and Ethical Considerations

I. Social, Political, and Economic Bases of the Developmental Sciences

II. Phenomenal, Logical, and Existential Bases of Sciences and Knowledge


2. The Early Development of Parent-Young Interaction in Nature

I. Introduction

II. Incubation and Hatching

III. Conclusion


3. Methodological Issues of Cross-Cultural Research in Developmental Psychology

I. Introduction

II. Toward a Definition of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Cross-Cultural Research

III. The Contingency between Cross-Cultural Psychology and Life-Span Developmental Psychology

IV. Operationalization of the Culture Concept

V. The Problem of Data Comparability

VI. Requirements for a Cross-Cultural Research Strategy in Developmental Psychology


4. Models of Development: Methodological Implications

I Introduction

II. Models

III. Basic Categories in the Mechanistic and Organismic Models

IV. Corollary Model Issues

V. Functional Corollary Model Issues

VI. Summary and Conclusions


5. Research Strategies and Measurement Methods for Investigating Human Development

I. Change Scores

II. Experimental Designs for the Study of Age Functions

III. Some Major Problems in Psychometric Theory for Life-Span Research

IV. Summarizing Comments and Guesses about Future Developments


6. Unraveling Maturational and Learning Development by the Comparative MA VA and Structured Learning Approaches

I. Two Proposed Technical Innovations and Their Associated Models

II. The Convarkin and MA VA Methods of Genothreptic Analysis

III. Estimating Genetic and Threptic Parts of an Individual's Score through Regression on Real World Influences: Comparative MAVA

IV. Amalgamated and Divisive Source Trait Models: The Divisive Possibility of Directly Factoring Out Nature and Nurture Components

V. Assistance from Structured Learning Theory and the Successive Investment Theory

VI. The Maturation-Learning (or Volution-Threption) Contrast Method of Isolating Genetic and Environmental Influence Effects

VII. Summary


7. Assessment of Developmental Factor Change at the Individual and Group Level

I. Introduction

II. Methods of Analysis

III. Technical Considerations


8. Strategies for Analyzing Behavioral Change Over Time


9. The Control of Developmental Process: Why Wait?

I. Introduction

II. Developmental Research and Behavior Modification

III. Summary


10. Behavioral Ecology and Experimental Analysis: Courtship Is Not Enough

I. Introduction

II. Ecological-Experimental Polemics

III. Behavior in Ecological Perspective

IV. Experimental Analysis

V. More Than Courtship

VI. Concluding Comments


11. The Developmental Analysis of Individual Differences on Multiple Measures

I. Introduction

II. Basic Concepts and Methods

III. Comparative Factor Analytic Models and Developmental Change

IV. Sample Case: Ontogeny of Intelligence

V. Organism-Environment Interactions as a Source for Structural Change: A Simulation Experiment

VI. Concluding Commentary


12. Methodological Problems in Descriptive Developmental Research on Adulthood and Aging

I. Introduction

II. Some Questions Related to Sampling and Generalizability

III. Models of Aging and Resulting Research Strategies

IV. Within Cohort (Longitudinal) Studies of Adult Development

V. Between Cohort (Cross-Sectional) Studies of Adult Development

VI. Some Comments on Research Priorities in the Study of Adult Development


13. The Interfaces of Acquisition: Models and Methods for Studying the Active, Developing Organism

I. Introduction

II. Developmental Processes and the Specificity of Habits and Skills

III. Higher-Order Skills and Life-Span Processes

IV. The Development of Enactive and Inhibitory Skills over the Life Span

V. Methodological Implications for Developmental Research


14. Cognitive Assessment across the Life-Span: Methodological Implications of the Organismic Approach

I. Introduction

II. The Organismic View of Developmental Change

III. Qualitative Analysis

IV. Research Related to the Stage Construct

V. Implications for Future Research

VI. The Role of Training-Intervention Research

References

Author Index

Subject Index