Developmental systems theory provides powerful tools for predicting complex, dynamic interactions among biological and environmental processes in human behavior and health. This groundbreaking handbook provides a roadmap for integrating key concepts of developmental systems theory (such as self-organization, reciprocal dynamic interaction, and probabilistic epigenesis) and simulation models (connectionist and agent-based models) with advanced dynamic modeling approaches for testing these theories and models. Internationally renowned developmental science scholars present innovations in research design, measurement, and analysis that offer new means of generating evidence-based decisions to optimize the course of health and positive functioning across the life span. Topics include epigenetic development and evolution; the relationship between neural systems growth and psychological development; the role of family environments in shaping children's cognitive skills and associated adult outcomes, and more.

Appropriate for use in developmental research methods or analysis of change courses, this is the first methods handbook specifically designed to meet the needs of those studying development. Leading developmental methodologists present cutting-edge analytic tools and describe how and when to use them, in accessible, nontechnical language. They also provide valuable guidance for strengthening developmental research with designs that anticipate potential sources of bias. Throughout the chapters, research examples demonstrate the procedures in action and give readers a better understanding of how to match research questions to developmental methods. The companion website (www.guilford.com/laursen-materials) supplies data and program syntax files for many of the chapter examples.

For decades there hasn't been an integrative theory of development, only theories about various developmental domains such as language acquisition, personality, and peer relations. Two leading developmentalists, Donald H. Ford and Richard M. Lemer, present the first integrative theory on human development. Through a synthesis of developmental contextualism and the Living Systems Framework, the authors develop a theory that examines how a person carries out transactions with their environment and through that transction how their biological, psychological, behavioral, and environmental elements change or remain constant. They also offer important implications of Developmental Systems Theory (DST) for research, implications for use in educational and clinical settings, and the usefulness of DST in the formulation of social policy. By intergrating the result from many research investigations into a larger framework, Developmental Systems Theory offer researchers, professionals, and students a better understanding of how multiple elements interact and shape a person's life.

Each chapter provides in-depth discussions and this volume serves as an invaluable resource for Developmental or educational psychology researchers, scholars, and students. Includes chapters that highlight some of the most recent research in the area of Positive Youth Development Each chapter provides in-depth discussions An invaluable resource for developmental or educational psychology researchers, scholars, and students

The essential reference for human development theory, updated and reconceptualized The Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, a four-volume reference, is the field-defining work to which all others are compared. First published in 1946, and now in its Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been considered the definitive guide to the field of developmental science. Volume 1, Theory and Method, presents a rich mix of classic and contemporary theoretical perspectives, but the dominant views throughout are marked by an emphasis on the dynamic interplay of all facets of the developmental system across the life span, incorporating the range of biological, cognitive, emotional, social, cultural, and ecological levels of analysis. Examples of the theoretical approaches discussed in the volume include those pertinent to human evolution, self regulation, the development of dynamic skills, and positive youth development. The research, methodological, and applied implications of the theoretical models discussed in the volume are presented. Understand the contributions of biology, person, and context to development within the embodied ecological system Discover the relations among individual, the social world, culture, and history that constitute human development Examine the methods of dynamic, developmental research Learn person-oriented methodological approaches to assessing developmental change The scholarship within this volume and, as well, across the four volumes of this edition, illustrate that developmental science is in the midst of a very exciting period. There is a paradigm shift that involves increasingly greater understanding of how to describe, explain, and optimize the course of human life for diverse individuals living within diverse contexts. This Handbook is the definitive reference for educators, policy-makers, researchers, students, and practitioners in human development, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and neuroscience.

The Handbook of Developmental Science, Behavior, and Genetics brings together the cutting-edge theory, research and methodology that contribute to our current scientific understanding of the role of genetics in the developmental system. • Commemorates the historically important contributions made by Gilbert Gottlieb in comparative psychology and developmental science • Includes an international group of contributors who are among the most respected behavioral and biological scientists working today • Examines the scientific basis for rejecting the reductionism and counterfactual approach to understanding the links between genes, behavior, and development • Documents the current status of comparative psychology and developmental science and provides the foundation for future scientific progress in the field

The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience is a seminal reference work in the burgeoning field of developmental behavioral neuroscience, which has emerged in recent years as an important sister discipline to developmental psychobiology. This handbook, part of the Oxford Library of Neuroscience, provides an introduction to recent advances in research at the intersection of developmental science and behavioral neuroscience, while emphasizing the central research perspectives of developmental psychobiology. Contributors to the Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience are drawn from a variety of fields, including developmental psychobiology, neuroscience, comparative psychology, and evolutionary biology, demonstrating the opportunities to advance our understanding of behavioral and neural development through enhanced interactions among parallel disciplines.In a field ripe for collaboration and integration, the Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience provides an unprecedented overview of conceptual and methodological issues pertaining to comparative and developmental neuroscience that can serve as a roadmap for researchers and a textbook for educators. Its broad reach will spur new insights and compel new collaborations in this rapidly growing field.

Families, communities and societies influence children's learning and development in many ways. This is the first handbook devoted to the understanding of the nature of environments in child development. Utilizing Urie Bronfenbrenner's idea of embedded environments, this volume looks at environments from the immediate environment of the family (including fathers, siblings, grandparents and day-care personnel) to the larger environment including schools, neighborhoods, geographic regions, countries and cultures. Understanding these embedded environments and the ways in which they interact is necessary to understand development.

`This is a beautifully written account of the most important ways in which developmental psychologists go about their business, illustrated with carefully chosen articles which are carefully described in order to make the designs, methodologies, analysis and interpretation of the results readily accessible to a non-expert readership. This will become the preferred textbook for those who want an up-to-date, interesting and accessible introduction to developmental psychology research′ - Alan Slater, University of Exeter A wide range of techniques is used to investigate children′s development. This book, which is aimed at advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students in psychology and related areas, provides a guide to key theories and methods used by researchers. Carefully chosen articles are accompanied by a commentary from the author that, among other things, helps students to understand the rationale for a study, the choice of design and assessment measures, use of statistics and the interpretation of results. A wide range of recent research papers is included to cover observational and experimental methods from infancy to adolescence. The research papers are introduced by two chapters that consider the relationship between theory and methods, explaining how models of development differ from one another and how they can be tested through experimental studies.

The essential reference on human development, updated and reconceptualized The Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, a four-volume reference, is the most comprehensive, authoritative text in the field. First published in 1946, and now in its Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been considered the definitive guide to the field of developmental science. The scholarship across the four volumes of this edition illustrate that developmental science in the midst of a very exciting period. Provides comprehensive coverage of developmental science, including detailed explanations of major theories and methods Completely revised to reflect significant advances in the field, including reconceptions of theory, cultural concerns, and applications Reflects the paradigm shift that involves increasingly greater understanding of how to describe, explain, and optimize the course of human life for diverse individuals living within diverse contexts 4 Volumes www.wiley.com/go/hcp7