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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Jan 2016As a discipline, developmental psychology has a long history of relying on animal models and data collected among distinct cultural groups to enrich and inform theories... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
As a discipline, developmental psychology has a long history of relying on animal models and data collected among distinct cultural groups to enrich and inform theories of the ways social and cognitive processes unfold through the lifespan. However, approaches that draw together developmental, cross-cultural and comparative perspectives remain rare. The need for such an approach is reflected in the papers by Heyes (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150069. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0069)), Schmelz & Call (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150067. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0067)) and Keller (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150070. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0070)) in this theme issue. Here, we incorporate these papers into a review of recent research endeavours covering a range of core aspects of social cognition, including social learning, cooperation and collaboration, prosociality, and theory of mind. In so doing, we aim to highlight how input from comparative and cross-cultural empiricism has altered our perspectives of human development and, in particular, led to a deeper understanding of the evolution of the human cultural mind.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Biological Evolution; Cognition; Cooperative Behavior; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Humans; Learning; Psychology, Developmental; Social Behavior; Theory of Mind
PubMed: 26644590
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0071 -
The Journals of Gerontology. Series B,... Sep 2021The aims of this paper were to review theoretical and empirical research on motivation and healthy aging at work and to outline directions for future research and... (Review)
Review
The aims of this paper were to review theoretical and empirical research on motivation and healthy aging at work and to outline directions for future research and practical applications in this area. To achieve these goals, we first consider the World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of healthy aging in the context of paid employment and life-span development in the work domain. Second, we describe contemporary theoretical models and cumulative empirical findings on age, motivation, and health and well-being at work, and we critically discuss to what extent they are consistent with the WHO's definition of healthy aging. Finally, we propose several directions for future research in the work context that are aligned with the WHO's definition of healthy aging, and we describe a number of interventions related to the design of work environments and individual strategies to promote the motivation for healthy aging at work.
Topics: Aged; Behavioral Research; Employment; Healthy Aging; Humans; Mental Health; Motivation; Physical Functional Performance; Psychosocial Functioning; Psychosocial Support Systems; Social Environment; Work; Work Engagement
PubMed: 33891014
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbab042 -
The American Psychologist 2018Presents an obituary for Barbara Henker, who died January 24, 2017, at the age of 81. Henker was professor emerita and a pioneering female faculty member in the...
Presents an obituary for Barbara Henker, who died January 24, 2017, at the age of 81. Henker was professor emerita and a pioneering female faculty member in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Arriving in 1965, she served on the faculty in the clinical and developmental psychology areas at UCLA as the first woman faculty member hired by the department. Henker also worked in the areas of health-related behaviors, attributional styles, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and early use of electronic diaries to monitor the behavior and emotions of youth and parents. A beloved teacher and mentor, she developed the psychological assessment practicum for graduate students at UCLA and taught the course for many years. Its blend of theory, critical analysis, and practical application was lauded by students, many of whom said it was the best course they had ever taken. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: Faculty; Female; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Los Angeles; Psychology, Clinical; Psychology, Developmental
PubMed: 29481113
DOI: 10.1037/amp0000196 -
Development and Psychopathology Oct 2022Although variable-oriented analyses are dominant in developmental psychopathology, researchers have championed a person-oriented approach that focuses on the individual...
Although variable-oriented analyses are dominant in developmental psychopathology, researchers have championed a person-oriented approach that focuses on the individual as a totality. This view has methodological implications and various person-oriented methods have been developed to test person-oriented hypotheses. Configural frequency analysis (CFA) has been identified as a prime method for a person-oriented analysis of categorical data. CFA searches for configurations in cross-classifications and asks whether the number of observed cases is larger (CFA type) or smaller (CFA antitype) than expected under a probability model. The present study introduces a combination of CFA and model-based recursive partitioning (MOB) to test for type/antitype heterogeneity in the population. MOB CFA is well suited to detect complex moderation processes and can distinguish between subpopulation and population types/antitypes. Model specifications are discussed for first-order CFA and prediction CFA. Results from two simulation studies suggest that MOB CFA is able to detect moderation processes with high accuracy. Two empirical examples are given from school mental health research for illustrative purposes. The first example evaluates heterogeneity in student behavior types/antitypes, the second example focuses on the effect of a teacher classroom management intervention on student behavior. An implementation of the approach is provided in R.
Topics: Humans; Psychology, Developmental; Psychopathology
PubMed: 33750489
DOI: 10.1017/S0954579421000018 -
Advances in Child Development and... 2018
Topics: Attention; Child; Child Behavior; Child Development; Cognition; Humans; Neurosciences; Psychological Theory; Psychology, Developmental; Public Policy; Social Environment
PubMed: 29455868
DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2407(18)30009-0 -
The American Journal of Psychology Sep 2016Developmental psychology is not only a psychology of development from childhood to old age but a psychology of human development in world history. Eighty years of... (Review)
Review
Developmental psychology is not only a psychology of development from childhood to old age but a psychology of human development in world history. Eighty years of cross-cultural empirical research findings indicate that the adolescent stage of formal operations evolved late in history and is not a universal development of adult humans across cultures and history. Correspondingly, preoperational or concrete operational stages describe adult psychological stages in past or premodern cultures, as Jean Piaget and some of his followers have mentioned. Developmental psychology is likewise a historical or anthropological psychology capable of describing humans in premodern cultures. The article develops a general anthropological or psychological theory answering the many questions that arise from the correspondences between (modern) children and ancient adults. On this psychological basis, the new structural genetic theory program is capable of explaining, better than previous approaches, the history of humankind from prehistory through ancient to modern societies, the history of economy, society, culture, religion, philosophy, sciences, morals, and everyday life. The accomplishment of this task was once demanded of some classical founders of psychology, sociology, history, and ethnology but was largely avoided by the postwar generations of authors for political and ideological reasons.
Topics: Adult; Child; History, 15th Century; History, 16th Century; History, 17th Century; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; History, Ancient; History, Medieval; Human Development; Humans; Psychological Theory; Psychology, Developmental
PubMed: 29558593
DOI: 10.5406/amerjpsyc.129.3.0295 -
Developmental Psychology Oct 2022Theory and research have described developmental processes leading to damaged parent-child relationships, such as those that occur during a divorce. However, scholars... (Review)
Review
Theory and research have described developmental processes leading to damaged parent-child relationships, such as those that occur during a divorce. However, scholars dispute the scientific status of the literature on children who form unhealthy alliances with one parent against the other-termed parental alienation (PA). This comprehensive literature review tests competing descriptions of the PA literature. Accessing four electronic databases, we identified 213 documents with empirical data on PA published in 10 languages through December 2020. The results confirmed that the current state of PA scholarship meets three criteria of a maturing field of scientific inquiry: an expanding literature, a shift toward quantitative studies, and a growing body of research that tests theory-generated hypotheses. Nearly 40% of the PA literature has been published since 2016, establishing that PA research has moved beyond an early stage of scientific development and has produced a scientifically trustworthy knowledge base. This literature review documents the value of multiple research methodologies to this knowledge base. In addition, the growing body of research described in this review enhances our understanding of the association between interparental conflict and the breakdown of parent-child relationships in families where conflict differentially affects children's relationship with and behavior toward each parent. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Divorce; Family Conflict; Humans; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Psychology, Developmental
PubMed: 35653764
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001404 -
Pediatric Exercise Science May 2016Exercise has long been reputed to have beneficial effects on cognitive processes and emotional stability, with obvious applications to lifespan developmental issues in... (Review)
Review
Exercise has long been reputed to have beneficial effects on cognitive processes and emotional stability, with obvious applications to lifespan developmental issues in mental health. Over the last 20 years, animal studies have provided potential mechanisms for this link in neurophysiological terms. Only a very small number of studies have applied this model to well-controlled child and adolescent studies of psychological development, with such studies necessarily requiring collaboration across the fields of exercise science and developmental psychology. In this paper, I outline why the field is now well positioned to increase this effort. Core to this argument is an outline of historical reasons for a (somewhat still active) resistance to this integrative perspective within developmental psychology and a brief synopsis of the countering evidence, followed by a summary of how advances in electrophysiology now make such studies highly accessible and reasonable in terms of cost and convenience.
Topics: Brain; Child; Evoked Potentials; Exercise; Humans; Pediatrics; Psychology, Developmental
PubMed: 27137168
DOI: 10.1123/pes.2016-0028 -
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews.... Jan 2017The field of psychology has done a remarkable job discovering the ways people differ from one another in their abilities and talents, but has long neglected the diverse... (Review)
Review
The field of psychology has done a remarkable job discovering the ways people differ from one another in their abilities and talents, but has long neglected the diverse ways people can unleash those capacities. There is no plausible mechanism by which our genes directly encode skills like how to dribble a basketball, play the violin, or solve an algebraic equation. We are not born knowing how to write a sonnet or flip an omelet. On the contrary, all human expertise-even at the far-right tail of the distribution-depends on experience and training. A more accurate understanding of the development of high achievement should inspire people to push beyond their perceived and often self-imposed limits to reach heights they never would have imagined possible. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1365. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1365 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Topics: Achievement; Humans; Motor Skills; Professional Competence; Psychology, Developmental
PubMed: 26372618
DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1365 -
Developmental Science Sep 2020We review the support for, and criticisms of, the teleological stance theory, often described as a foundation for goal-directed action understanding early in life. A... (Review)
Review
We review the support for, and criticisms of, the teleological stance theory, often described as a foundation for goal-directed action understanding early in life. A major point of contention in the literature has been how teleological processes and assumptions of rationality are represented and understood in infancy, and this debate has been largely centered on three paradigms. Visual habituation studies assess infant's abilities to retrospectively assess teleological processes; the presence of such processes is supported by the literature. Rational imitation is a phenomenon that has been questioned both theoretically and empirically, and there is currently little support for this concept in the literature. The involvement of teleological processes in action prediction is unclear. To date, the ontology of teleological processes remains unspecified. To remedy this, we present a new action-based theory of teleological processes (here referred to as the embodied account of teleological processes), based on the development of goal-directed reaching with its origin during the fetal period and continuous development over the first few months of life.
Topics: Goals; Habits; Humans; Imitative Behavior; Infant; Male; Perception; Psychology, Child; Psychology, Developmental; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 32304172
DOI: 10.1111/desc.12970