Concepts and Theories of Human Development - Softcover

Lerner, Richard M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138012459 ISBN 13: 9781138012455

Publisher: Routledge, 2015

Synopsis

A classic in the field, this third edition will continue to be the book of choice for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses in theories of human development in departments of psychology and human development.

This volume has been substantially revised with an eye toward supporting applied developmental science and the developmental systems perspectives. Since the publication of the second edition, developmental systems theories have taken center stage in contemporary developmental science and have provided compelling alternatives to reductionist theoretical accounts having either a nature or nurture emphasis. As a consequence, a developmental systems orientation frames the presentation in this edition.

This new edition has been expanded substantially in comparison to the second edition. Special features include:

• A separate chapter focuses on the historical roots of concepts and theories of human development, on philosophical models of development, and on developmental contextualism.
• Two new chapters surrounding the discussion of developmental contextualism--one on developmental systems theories wherein several exemplars of such models are discussed and a corresponding chapter wherein key instances of such theories--life span, life course, bioecological, and action theoretical ones--are presented.
• A new chapter on cognition and development is included, contrasting systems' approaches to cognitive development with neo-nativist perspectives.
• A more differentiated treatment of nature-oriented theories of development is provided. There are separate chapters on behavior genetics, the controversy surrounding the study of the heritability of intelligence, work on the instinctual theory of Konrad Lorenz, and a new chapter on sociobiology.
• A new chapter concentrates on applied developmental science.

About this title

Review

"Richard M. Lerner presents a totally up-to-date picture of the contemporary tenets of Developmental Science; including its metatheoretical, theoretical, methodological, empirical, and applied dimensions. This is an enormously important contribution that represents a sea change in our thinking about and investigating human development. Lerner is perfectly positioned to present this sea change as his work has been at its leading edge. This is a must-read book for anyone interested in developmental processes. It will be of particular value to psychologists, philosophers, biologists, sociologists, economists, and the medical and educational communities." - Willis F. Overton, Temple University, USA

"In this masterful fourth edition of his Concepts and Theories of Human Development, Lerner continues to set the bar for ‘what every good developmentalist should know’ about the field. More than other ‘concepts and theories’ types, Lerner not only understands and appreciates the role of methods in developmental research, he relentlessly promotes it." - John R. Nesselroade, University of Virginia, USA

"In his seminal book Lerner discusses and evaluates crucial theoretical approaches to developmental science and their conceptual history, and analyzes examples of theoretically well-taken and ill-fated studies. The advice for gaining better insights in the complex dynamics of development is a must for every young and seasoned researcher and interventionist in the field." - Rainer K. Silbereisen, University of Jena, Germany

About the Author

Richard M. Lerner is the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science and the Director of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, in the Eliot Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, at Tufts University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1138012459
• ISBN 13: 9781138012455
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 642