Continuity, Change, and Context in Human Development

Up to now, developmental psychology has had only limited success in predicting long-term development over the life span. True, longitudinal research in developmental psychology has confirmed our preconceptions favoring stability and continuity in human development to some extent (e.g., Eichorn et al. 1981): A person of less than average intelligence will seldom become a luminary of science; a person suffering from anxiety neurosis will seldom become a paragon of mental health; and an aggressive sociopath will seldom turn into an apostle of peace. However, the traditional hope of developmental psychology to be able to reliably relate developmental outcomes in adulthood to early childhood experiences has so far hardly been fulfilled (cf. Brim and Kagan 1980). The difficulties of long-term prognoses in the area of intelligence and personality development are notorious (Bloom 1964; Olweus 1979; Moss and Sussman 1980). The identification of personal or situational variables predictive of developmental and behavioral disorders in later life has equally proven to be problematic (Kohlberg, LaCrosse, and Ricks 1972; Robins 1972; Rutter and Giller 1983). There is, of course, no lack of general methodological advice of how to achieve greater predictive efficiency. For example, demands were raised that predictive strategies should account for possible interactions between situational and personal conditions

Archaeology · Business · Process management · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Early Childhood Education and Development · History

• Toward a Dialectical Theory of Development

  Open Access•Klaus F Riegel•Human Development•2009

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• Stability of aggressive reaction patterns in males

  Dan Olweus•Psychological Bulletin•1979

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