This research details the changing ways in which young people of different ages differently warrant the conviction that, notwithstanding evidence of good and bad behaviours, selves can be understood as unified across the various roles and contexts that they occupy. Canadian adolescents and young adults were asked to explain the apparent disunity…

In his 1979 "Human Development" article reprinted in this anniversary issue, James Wertsch presented an approach to genetic analysis of the shifting regulation of problem-solving behavior in early childhood. In my reflections on Wertsch's seminal contribution, I discuss ways that subsequent inquiry built upon ideas he elaborated in the…

The psycho-philosophical issues involved in the shift to a dialectical perspective in early Soviet psychology are reviewed in order to clarify the implications of the dialectical method for contemporary Western cognitive psychology. (JMB)

In this article, we trace the development of Hatano's research, focusing on the core of his research interest, namely, expertise, conceptual development, and classroom learning. He held both Piagetian constructivist views and Vygotskian sociocultural perspectives in balance, and preferred to study human cognition executed in everyday life. This…

Reviews the research methods, design, and main findings of the Austin-Mexico City cross-cultural study of personality and intellectual development using an overlapping longitudinal design. A span of 12 years of development was extrapolated from six years of repeated testing with children ages 6, 9, and 12 years. (SS)

Examines two different types of human motivation, pragmatic and nonpragmatic. Experimental studies in preschool-age children in both the former Soviet Union and Western cultures are presented. Suggests that the two contrasting conceptions of human motivation lead to totally different practical strategies for transforming human motivation in…

Reports an evaluation of the perceived visibility and quality of human development journals in France, Great Britain, and West Germany. Overall, the dominance of English-language journals (and especially American journals) is notable. Achieving particular international prominence were "Child Development,""Developmental…

The influence of language and familiarity with clay upon performance of traditional tasks involving conservation of quantity and weight was examined. Children from a village in which all the women are potters did not perform differently from their peers in a neighboring village on any task. (MS)

The low predictive validity of infant tests is discussed in light of current issues in developmental psychology. Considers continuity and discontinuity in the development of early cognitive competence, intellectual heterogeneity problems, and individual-environment transactions. Provides suggestions for increasing predictive validity and indicates…

This paper describes the design of the interdisciplinary study of the growth and development of Dutch children in progress at the University of Nymegen, The Netherlands. Schaie's design is based on a trifactorial model which isolates the contributions to developmental data of the factors age, cohort and time of measurement. (Author/MS)

Analyzed two sets of Japanese children's artworks, one in the graphic narrative style, the other, school art in the "high" art tradition. Argues that art derived from popular models provides children with important ways to investigate meaningful dimensions of the world and to experiment with life's major themes, dimensions of meaning…

Summarizes the major forms of cross-cultural research on personality development and discusses their contribution to developmental research. Also discusses some major issues in research on acculturation. (Author/SS)

Discusses the meaning of coping style and reviews research tasks which appear to be particularly sensitive measures of cross-cultural differences in active-passive coping style. (SS)

Reports on the findings of a comparative study of mental abilities of Mexican and American children. Discusses age, sex, social class, and urban-rural differences, as well as cultural differences. (SS)

Proposes causal field theory as a model of causal reasoning. Suggests that anomaly detection through comparison with natural events triggers causal reasoning. This anomaly is interpreted in terms of agency; therefore, natural phenomena can be understood through an appeal to agency. The mechanism proposed never changes with development, whereas…