Handbook of Integrative Developmental Science

Although integrative conceptions of development have been gaining increasing interest, there have been few attempts to bring together the various threads of this emerging trend. The Handbook of Integrative Developmental Science seeks ways to bring together classic and contemporary theory and research in developmental psychology with an eye toward building increasingly integrated theoretical and empirical frameworks. It does so in the form of a festschrift for Kurt Fischer, whose life and work have both inspired and exemplified integrative approaches to development. Building upon and inspired by the comprehensive scope of Fischer's Dynamic Skill Theory, this book examines what an integrated theory of psychological development might look like. Bringing together the work of prominent integrative thinkers, the volume begins with an examination of philosophical presuppositions of integrative approaches to development. It then shows how Dynamic Skill Theory provides an example of an integrative model of development. After examining the question of the nature of integrative developmental methodology, the volume examines the nature of developmental change processes as well as pathways and processes in the development of psychological structures both within and between psychological domains. The team of expert contributors cover a range of psychological domains, including the macro- and micro-development of thought, feeling, motivation, self, intersubjectivity, social relations, personality, and other integrative processes. It ends with a set of prescriptions for the further elaboration of integrative developmental theory, and a tribute to Kurt Fischer and his influence on developmental psychology. This book will be essential reading for graduate students and researchers of developmental psychology and human development, specifically developmental science.

Michael F. Mascolo is Professor of Psychology at Merrimack College, US. Thomas R. Bidell is an independent scholar who formerly taught at Boston College.

List of Contributors What is an Integrative Theory of Development - And Why Do We Need One? FOUNDATIONS - Philosophical Background to Integrative Theories of Human Development - Between the Natural and the Normative: The Concept of Development in Integrative Theories of Human Development - Equilibration, Development, and Epistemic Adequacy - Dynamic Skill Theory: An Integrative Model of Psychological Development METHODS FOR AN INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT - Methodology without the Method: Re-building Psychology into a Developmental Science - Education and Development as Complex Dynamic Agent Systems: How Theory Informs Methodology CHANGE PROCESSES: HOW DEVELOPMENT HAPPENS - Epigenesis without Preformationism: Taking Development Seriously - Motor Experience and Action Understanding: A Developmental Systems Perspective - Of Interest and Engagement: The Emotional Force of Learning and Development - From Reflex to Meaning via Shared Routines - The Puzzle of Microdevelopment: Variability, Fractals, and Why Developmental Change is So Different and Still the Same - The Cultural Framing of Development PATHWAYS AND PROCESSES WITHIN AND BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL DOMAINS - One Person, Many Selves: A Relational-Developmental Conception of Self and Personality - The Landscape of Identity: Integrating Commitment Strength and Quality within a Developmental Framework - The Developmental Integration of Self in Relationships - The Relational Origins of Morality and Its Development - Rethinking Educational Assessment in Light of Strong Theory of Development MOVING FORWARD - Looking Forward: Contributions of the Neurocognitive Sciences on Teaching and Learning in the Digital Environment - Steps Toward an Integrative Theory of Psychological Development - Kurt W. Fischer: Developmental Scientist Extraordinaire! - Kurt W. FIscher's Insight Index