A Sociocultural Psychology of the Life Course to Study Human Development
This paper presents one line of sociocultural psychology aiming at a better understanding of people ’s development in their courses of life, unfolding in changing social and cultural environments. Adopting such a position leads me to three core questions: first, if development occurs at the junction of the social and the psychological, how can we theoretically account for the guidance of the soc iocultural world upon people’s learning and development, and people’s unique capacities to create and transform these environments? Second, if one adopts such a perspective, how do we account for what it is that people develo...
Source: Human Development - August 10, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
A sociocultural psychology of the lifecourse to study human development
This paper presents one line of sociocultural psychology aiming at a better understanding of people ’s development in their courses of life, unfolding in changing social and cultural environment. Adopting such a position leads me to three core questions: First, if development occurs at the junction of the social and the psychological, how can we theoretically account for the guidance of the soci ocultural world upon people’s learning and development, and people’s unique capacities to create and transform these environments? Second, if one adopts such perspective, how do we account for what it that people develop thro...
Source: Human Development - August 10, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Early Learning in Autism as an Atypical Balance between Assimilation and Accommodation Processes
Many children on the autism spectrum are capable of learning large amounts of material in specific areas – yet, they often show learning delays across multiple domains. Additionally, they typically show the ability and motivation to learn from practice and from the outcomes of their own actions, while having difficulties learning from novel situations and from others’ actions and communications. We propose that these and other phenomena reflect, in part, an atypical balance between cognitive assimilation and accommodation processes during early childhood. Adopting a constructivist perspective that connects Piaget’s h...
Source: Human Development - August 9, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Early learning in autism as an atypical balance between assimilation and accommodation processes
Many children on the autism spectrum are capable of learning large amounts of material in specific areas - yet, they often show learning delays across multiple domains. Additionally, they typically show the ability and motivation to learn from practice and from the outcomes of their own actions while having difficulties learning from novel situations and from others ’ actions and communications. We propose that these and other phenomena reflect, in part, an atypical balance between cognitive assimilation and accommodation processes during early childhood. Adopting a constructivist perspective that connects Piaget’s heu...
Source: Human Development - August 9, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
The Construction of Executive Function in Early Development: The Pragmatics of Action and Gestures
The position I take in this paper is that investigation of the construction and development of executive function (EF) and cognitive self-regulation must give children the opportunity to behave with initiative, as the agents they are. It must be based on children ’s goal-directed behaviours and the challenges they face to achieve their own goals from the last third of the first year of life. It must consider children’s interests, the ecological validity of the situations, and the social context. Investigation into the origin and early development of cogn itive self-regulation must be firmly anchored within a developmen...
Source: Human Development - August 4, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
The construction of Executive Function in Early Development: The Pragmatics of Action and Gestures
The position I take in this paper is that investigation of the construction and development of executive function (EF) and cognitive self-regulation must give children the opportunity to behave with initiative, as the agents they are. It must be based on children ’s goal-directed behaviours and the challenges they face to achieve their own goals from the last third of the first year of life. It must consider children’s interests, the ecological validity of the situations, and the social context. Investigation into the origin and early development of cogn itive self-regulation must be firmly anchored within a developmen...
Source: Human Development - August 4, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Developmental Perspectives on Social Inequalities and Human Rights
Social inequalities and human rights are inevitably linked to children ’s and adolescents’ healthy development. Children who experience structural and interpersonal inequalities in access to resources and opportunities based on their gender, race, ethnicity, or other group categories are denied the right to fair treatment. We assert that investigating the psycholog ical perspectives that children hold regarding inequalities and human rights is necessary for creating fair and just societies. We take a constructivist approach to this topic which seeks to understand how individuals interpret and evaluate observed and expe...
Source: Human Development - August 2, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
The Future of Constructivist Education
We make the case that there is an urgent need to revitalize the reach of constructivist education into both K-12 public schools and higher education. After considering the current state of the theory and practice of constructivist education, we argue that disparities between theory and practice arise from the divergent conceptual frameworks constructivist theorists and educators hold. To examine this, core aspects of the approach centering on process, agency, and holism are examined, juxtaposing constructivist theory to ostensibly constructivist classroom practices. Disparities between theory and practice arise from the co...
Source: Human Development - August 2, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Emergent Constructivism: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations
Nativist and empiricist approaches require foundationalism because they cannot account for the emergence of representation. Foundationalism is the assumption of an innate representational base. In turn, foundationalism places limits on the nature of learning as a constructivist process. In contrast, action-based approaches can account for the emergence of representation through (inter)action. In so doing, action-based approaches can pursue an emergent constructivism for learning and development. Despite the theoretical symmetry between nativism and empiricism with respect to foundationalism, there is an asymmetry in nativi...
Source: Human Development - July 29, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Vocabulary and Early Executive Function during Early Childhood: Revisiting Questions on the Nature of Thought and Language – Commentary on Bruce & Bell
Bruce and Bell (2022) address an important issue in their review relevant to classic questions contemplating the nature of the relationship between thought and language. Their work examining the unidirectional and bidirectional associations between executive function (EF) and vocabulary brings a contemporary approach to the question. The multifaceted and developmental scoping review narrows the question to EF, an area of cognitive development research that has grown tremendously since the original posing of this question. Their work suggests the answer to the question regarding the relationship between thought and language...
Source: Human Development - June 3, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Supporting Families: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted so many aspects of family life in unprecedented ways. Some of these changes might necessitate a reexamining of how we can best research and support families as we move forward. In this editorial, we propose ways that we might examine families differently in research and approach families differently as a result of COVID-19. (Source: Human Development)
Source: Human Development - May 30, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Emotional Availability: Clinical Populations and Clinical Applications
Emotional availability (EA) is the ability to share an emotional connection within a dyad. The observational EA System includes the EA Scales and the EA Zones. The EA Scales consist of four adult dimensions (sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, nonhostility) and two child dimensions (responsiveness, involvement). Based on the EA Scales, EA Zones refer to “emotional attachment styles” and are patterned after traditional attachment categories (Ainsworth et al., 1978). Since the review on EA by Biringen et al. (2014), extensive research on EA has utilized the EA Scales or the EA Zones, especially with respect to cl...
Source: Human Development - May 30, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Emotional Availability (EA): Clinical Populations and Clinical Applications
Emotional Availability (EA) is the ability to share an emotional connection within a dyad. The observational EA System includes the EA Scales and the EA Zones. The EA Scales consist of four adult dimensions (sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, nonhostility) and two child dimensions (responsiveness, involvement). Based on the EA Scales, EA Zones refers to “emotional attachment styles” and are patterned after traditional attachment categories (Ainsworth et al., 1978). Since the review on EA by Biringen et al. (2014), extensive research on EA has utilized the EA Scales or the EA Zones, especially with respect to c...
Source: Human Development - May 30, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
