Preface
1. INTRODUCTION
What Is a Theory?
What Is a Developmental Theory?
Of What Value Is a Developmental Theory?
Organizing Information / Guiding Research
What Main Issues of Developmental Psychology Do Theories Address?
What Is the Basic Nature of Humans? / Is Development Qualitative or Quantitative? / How Do Nature and Nurture Contribute to Development? / What Is It That Develops?
Summary
Organization of This Book
Suggested Readings
2. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS
Biographical Sketch
General Orientation to the Theory
Genetic Epistemology / Biological Approach / Structuralism / Stage Approach / Methodology
Description of the Stages
Sensorimotor Period / Preoperational Period / Concrete Operational Period / Formal Operational Period /An Overview
Memory
Mechanisms of Development
Cognitive Organization / Cognitive Adaptation / Cognitive
Equilibration / Section Overview
Position on Developmental Issues
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development /
Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths / Weaknesses
Piaget’s Own Modifications of His Theory
The Neo-Piagetians
Robbie Case / Kurt Fischer / Neo-Piagetian Themes
* Contemporary Research
Infants’ Advanced Competencies/Domain-Specific Concepts/Mechanisms of Development/Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Summary
Suggested Readings
3. FREUD'S AND ERIKSON'S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES
FREUD
Biographical Sketch
General Orientation to the Theory
Dynamic Approach / Structural Approach / Topographic Approach / Stage Approach / Normal–Abnormal Continuum / Methodology
Description of the Stages
Oral Stage / Anal Stage / Phallic Stage / Period of Latency / Genital Stage / Case Study of “Little Hans”
Mechanisms of Development
Position on Developmental Issues
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development / Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths / Weaknesses
* Contemporary Research
ERIKSON
Biographical Sketch
General Orientation to the Theory
Psychosocial Stages / Emphasis on Identity / Expansion of Psychoanalytic Methodology
Description of the Stages
Stage 1: Basic Trust Versus Basic Mistrust /
Stage 2: Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt /
Stage 3: Initiative Versus Guilt /
Stage 4: Industry Versus Inferiority /
Stage 5: Identity and Repudiation Versus Identity Diffusion /
Stage 6: Intimacy and Solidarity Versus Isolation /
Stage 7: Generativity Versus Stagnation and Self-Absorption /
Stage 8: Integrity Versus Despair
Mechanisms of Development
Position on Developmental Issues
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths / Weaknesses
* Contemporary Research
Summary
Suggested Readings
4. VYGOTSKY AND THE SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH
Biographical Sketch
General Orientation to the Theory
Child-in-Activity-in-Cultural-Context Is the Unit of Study / Zone of Proximal Development / The Sociocultural Origins of Individual Mental Functioning / Tools Provided by a Culture Mediate Intellectual Functioning / Methodology
Examples of Vygotskian and Other Sociocultural Research
Private Speech and Inner Speech / Development of Concepts
Mechanisms of Development
Position on Developmental Issues
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development / Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths/Weaknesses
* A Related Approach: Developing Person in Context
* Contemporary Research
* Collaborative Problem Solving / Research Across Cultures / Development Through Narratives and Conversations / Concluding Comment about Contemporary Vygotskian-Sociocultural Research
Summary
Suggested Readings
5. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
History of the Theory
* Learning Theory / Social Learning Theory
General Orientation to the Theory
Observational Learning / Causal Model Includes Environment–Person–Behavior System / Cognitive Contributions to Learning / Self-Efficacy and Agency
Examples of Developmental Research: Moral Judgments and Gender Roles
Moral Judgments and Behavior / Gender-Role Development
Mechanisms of Development
Position on Developmental Issues
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development /Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths / Weaknesses
* Contemporary Research
Summary
Suggested Readings
6. INFORMATION-PROCESSING THEORY
History of the Theory
General Orientation to the Theory
Humans as Information-Processing Systems / Development as Self-Modification / Task Analysis / Methodology
Major Developmental Approaches
Memory / Strategies: Acquisition, Variability, and Choice / Rules for Problem Solving / Production and Connectionist Simulations of Problem Solving and Learning / Intelligence
Mechanisms of Development
Position on Developmental Issues
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development / Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths / Weaknesses
* Contemporary Research
Summary
Suggested Readings
7. ETHOLOGY AND OTHER EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES
History of the Theory
General Orientation to the Theory
Species-Specific Innate Behavior / Evolutionary Perspective / Learning Predispositions / Methodology
Contributions to Human Developmental Psychology
Infant–Caretaker Attachment / Peer Interaction / Problem Solving
Mechanisms of Development
Position on Developmental Issues
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development /
Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths / Weaknesses
* Contemporary Research
Summary
Suggested Readings
8. GIBSON'S ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Biographical Sketch
General Orientation to the Theory
Ecological Approach: Affordances / Information Is Specified in Stimulation / Humans as Active Perceivers / Methodology
Developmental Trends
Increasing Specificity and Economy in the Perception of Affordances/ Optimization of Attention
What Infants Learn About
Communication / Interaction with Objects / Locomotion in the Spatial Layout
Mechanisms of Development
Position on Developmental Issues
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development /
Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
Applications
Evaluation of the Theory
Strengths / Weaknesses
* Contemporary Research
Summary
Suggested Readings
9. CONTEMPORARY MINITHEORIES AND EMERGING APPROACHES
The Theory Theory
Modularity Nativism
Dynamic-Systems Theory
Critical Psychology: Are Theories of Development Gendered?
Position on Developmental Issues
Summary
Suggested Readings
10. REFLECTIONS
Developmental Issues Revisited
Human Nature / Qualitative Versus Quantitative Development / Nature Versus Nurture / What Develops
A Need for Better Theoretical Accounts of Mechanisms of Development
Historical Progress of Developmental Theories
* The Future of Developmental Theories
Conclusions
REFERENCES
NAME INDEX
SUBJECT INDEX