In this article, we contrast evolutionary and psychobiological models of individual development to address the idea that individual development occurring in prototypically risky and unsupportive environments can be understood as adaptation. We question traditional evolutionary explanations of individual development, calling on the principle of…

This article had four goals. First, the authors identified a set of general challenges and questions that a life-span theory of development should address. Second, they presented a comprehensive account of their Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development. They integrated the model of optimization in primary and secondary control and the…

This report presents the rationale, methods, and results of research that was planned to develop a way of identifying relatively effective children. The report contains the conceptual bases and development of the Hypothetical Situation Questionnaire (HSQ) as the means for distinguishing effective children. The HSQ contains three subscales that…

The importance of developing positive, reciprocal interaction has been well documented. If affective education for young handicapped children is to become a reality, additional research is necessary to identify those response patterns that set the occasion for positive reciprocal interaction. (Author)

Examined whether children who vary in their behavioral responses to ambiguous provocation but have similar attributional processes differ in their social goals and self- efficacy perceptions. Subjects were 781 4th and 5th graders. Found that aggressive, withdrawn, and problem-solving responders differed in the social goals and self-efficacy…

This study tested the association between mother's early age at first birth and various life outcomes for her children in later adolescence and early adulthood. Data were analyzed from the Rochester Youth Development Study, an ongoing panel study of adolescents enrolled in seventh or eighth grade in Rochester Public Schools in 1988 ("N"=729). Boys…

This paper reports the first results of a three-year longitudinal study of the social maps of children beginning the transition to adolescence. This exploratory study is guided by Bronfenbrenner's conception of the ecology of human development stressing the importance of a phenomenological orientation to development in the context of ecological…

This document describes research which examined the principles of reward and punishment applied to certain types of behavior portrayed by characters illustrated in 30 school readers. It was hypothesized that certain portrayed values, which have political connotations, are being transmitted to young people through the indirect method of…