An action theoretic account of skill learning and skill use is offered as a useful heuristic for life-span developmental psychology. The version presented is one that is particularly prominent in industrial psychology in the German-speaking countries. (Author/RH)

By way of providing a framework for discussion, defines intentional action as a basic unit of analysis that includes being future-oriented, a free choice of means, potential consciousness of goals and means, and responsibility.(RH)

Argues that linguistic communication allows the incorporation of individual, microsociological, and macrosociological levels of analysis into a general theory of action. (RH)

Compares the personal channel of training and the impersonal channel of publication for recruitment to scientific theories considers both number of recruits and degree of affiliation. Examines social effects of training as seen through associates' perceptions of traits and attitudes of theorists. Analyzes correlations between perceptions and…

Discusses the legitimacy of the use of multiple definitions of epigenesis in developmental psychology, and of the modification of biological models to suit developmental psychology. (Author/SS)

Critically discusses the premise of Piagetian theory that cognition is based developmentally on sensorimotor coordination, exemplified in circular reactions. (Author/SS)

Discusses the work of S. H. White, W. F. Overton and D. M. Baer. (MS)

Piaget's and Marx's cognitive theories of development are briefly compared and contrasted. This provides background for a critical look at Buck-Morss' interpretation of cross-cultural differences in performance on Piagetian abstract formal reasoning tests. (MS)

Reviews the history of the several editions of the "Handbook of Child Psychology" from 1931 to the present. Identifies continuing themes and alterations in theoretical orientation within the field of human development that are found in the handbook's editions. Discusses the strategy behind and the contents of the 1997 edition. (BC)

Developmentalists have overlooked the problem of the real impermanence of things. Though the metaphor of impermanence is central to Piagetian and neo-nativist accounts of representation, the development of the understanding of impermanence is unstudied. This article proposes that the development of the concept of impermanence is distinct from the…

Reviews research which demonstrates that responses from different behavior systems to a given stimulus situation may be far from perfectly correlated with each other. Discusses the phylogenetic and ontogenetic development of these systems and the roles of both the species and the individual in bringing the systems into mutual correspondence.…

This paper defines the concept of the dialectic and places it within the context of a well-defined methodology, i.e. that of organicism, which contrasts markedly with the logical empiricism of much contemporary psychology. The paper then points out the relevance of a dialectical perspective for developmental psychology. (Author/CS)

Analyzes the relationship between the development of formal operations and the development of the adolescent personality, as hypothesized by Inhelder and Piaget. It is suggested that the concepts of possibility and reflectivity have a variety of meanings, and that once these meanings are examined, the logical foundation for the…

The child's development of productive control over the adults language system is seen as an outcome of the dynamic social discourse of parent and child. Traditional approaches to child language are reviewed and a dialectical analysis is developed using concepts from information theory and a general systems approach. (JMB)

An examination of the concept of external validity from two theoretical perspectives: a traditional mechanistic approach and a dialectical organismic approach. Examines the theoretical and methodological implications of these perspectives. (BD)