Kevin J Connolly & Jaan Valsiner 
Handbook of Developmental Psychology 

`This is an impressive work… and will provide the advanced reader with a rich source of theory and evidence. There is a huge amount to be got from the book and I suspect it will become a key work′ –
J Gavin Bremner, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University

The Handbook of Developmental Psychology is a comprehensive, authoritative yet frontier-pushing overview of the study of human development presented in a single-volume format. It is ideal for experienced individuals wishing for an up-to-date survey of the central themes prevalent to developmental psychology, both past and present, and for those seeking a reference work to help appreciate the subject for the first time.

The insightful contributions from world-leading developmental psychologists successfully and usefully integrate different perspectives to studying the subject, following a systematic life-span structure, from pre-natal development through to old age in human beings. The Handbook then concludes with a substantive section on the methodological approaches to the study of development, focusing on both qualitative and quantitative techniques.

This unique reference work will be hugely influential for anyone needing or wishing for a broad, yet enriched understanding of this fascinating subject. It will be a particularly invaluable resource for academics and researchers in the fields of developmental psychology, education, parenting, cultural and biological psychology and anthropology.

Table of Content

Introduction – Jaan Valsiner and Kevin J Connolly

The Nature of Development

The Continuing Dialogue of Processes and Outcomes

PART ONE: FUNDAMENTAL APPROACHES AND PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT

Probabilistic Epigenesis of Development – Gilbert Gottlieb

Genetics and the Development of Brain and Behavior – Douglas Wahlsten

Developmental Psychology and the Neurosciences – Sidney J Segalowitz and Louis A Schmidt

Historical Contexts for Development – Hideo Kojima

PART TWO: PRENATAL AND INFANT DEVELOPMENT

Prenatal Psychological and Behavioral Development – Peter Hepper

On the Development of Perception and Action – Claes von Hofsten

Early Cognitive Development – Jonas Langer et al

Ontogeny and Phylogeny

Tool Use and Tool Making – Ad W Smitsman and Raoul M Bongers

A Developmental Action Perspective

Social Relations and Affective Development in the First Two Years in Family Contexts – Kurt Kreppner

PART THREE: DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

The Role of Language in Human Development – Nancy Budwig

Social Development in Cultural Contexts – Angela Branco

Cooperative and Competitive Interation Patterns in Peer Relations

Strengths and Weaknesses of Cognition over Preschool Years – Eduardo Mart[ac]i

Development of Play – Anthony D Pellegrini and Peter Smith

Developmental Disorders – Brian Hopkins

An Action-Based Account

PART FOUR: DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

Contemporary Families as Context for Development – Peter Stratton

Schooling and the Development of Literacy – David Olson and Janette Pelletier

Memory and Knowledge Development – Wolfgang Schneider and David Bjorklund

PART FIVE: DEVELOPMENT IN PRE-ADOLESCENCE AND ADOLESCENCE

Children′s Relationships and Development of Person-Context Relations – Thomas Kindermann

Morality and Context – Usha Menon

A Study of Hindu Understandings

From Early Attachment Relations to Adolescent and Adult Organization of Self – Harke Bosma and Coby Gerlsma

PART SIX: DEVELOPMENT IN ADULTHOOD

Adult Cognitive Development – Kurt Fischer, Zheng Yan and Jeffrey Stewart

Dynamics in the Development Web

Goal-Directed Activities and Life-Span Development – Jeanette A Lawrence and Agnes E Dodds

Dialogical Processes and Development of the Self – Hubert J Hermans and Els Hermans-Jansen

Cognitive Processes in Ageing – Patrick Rabbitt et al

Wisdom – Ursula M Staudinger and Ines Werner

Its Social Nature and Lifespan Development

PART SEVEN: METHODOLOGY IN THE STUDY OF DEVELOPMENT

Qualitative Methodology – Jonathan Smith and Fraser Dunworth

Quantitative Models for Developmental Processes – John R Nesselroade and Peter C M Molenaar

Dynamic Systems Approaches and Modeling of Developmental Processes – Paul van Geert

About the author

Jaan Valsiner is Niels Bohr Professor of Cultural Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark. He is the founding editor (1995) of the Sage journal, Culture & Psychology.  And of The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology (2012). He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Sciences  (Springer, from 2007). In 1995 he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize in Germany for his interdisciplinary work on human development, and Senior Fulbright Lecturing Award in Brazil 1995-1997. He has been a visiting professor in Brazil, Japan, Australia, Estonia. Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.