Author Profile

James Steele, Professor of Psychology, Ph.D., Yale University. He teaches different cognitive processes like perception, attention, learning, and memory and the underlying brain systems that support them. He is an environmental and developmental psychologist interested in how the physical environment affects human health and wellbeing among children. His specific areas of expertise include the environment of childhood poverty, children's environments (housing, schools, playgrounds, toys), cumulative risk and child development, environmental stressors, and the development of children's environmental attitudes and behaviors. A pioneer in the study of human development, his program focuses on the development of psychological processes in societal and cultural contexts. With faculty expertise across the lifespan, faculty unite in studying the links between intra-individual and inter-individual change over time. How do interactions between individuals, ecological contexts, and cultural patterning result in new ways of being in the world? Currently, faculty examine areas such as bilingualism, pretend play, racial experiences, narrative, and malleable factors influencing learning and subsequent academic achievement in schooling and college populations.

About The Book

Developmental psychology focuses on life-span changes, bridging cognitive (Piaget), psychosocial (Erikson), and attachment (Bowlby) theories to understand human growth. The future involves integrating neuroscience, positive psychology, and ecological systems to create holistic, culturally sensitive approaches that address development from infancy through old age. The field of developmental psychology has experienced much growth and change over the last century. Expanding from the study of individual psyche and perception, research in this area now includes the study of all aspects of the developing organism from cellular development of gametes to the last breath of the elderly. Developmental psychologists explore social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development for individuals as well as collectives across the life span. Heated debates of how individuals and groups develop have emerged over the years, however, few developmental psychologists embrace the extremes of these discourses. While the field has not reached consensus on definitive explanations of development, findings from developmental psychology research have significant implications for parenting, education, and policy. This is the ideal book for anyone interested in an insightful, in-depth look at developmental theories. The book is designed to embrace the emergence of new areas and developments in the field from a global perspective, providing state-of-the-art, higher-level introductions to major topic areas. This book attempts to convey not only the content of the theories but also the excitement and passion that developmentalists have felt as they constructed their theories or adopted those of others. In some cases, certain observations, such as those described above, have captured the imagination of researchers and created a sense of excitement and progress in the field. They saw these intriguing behaviors as mysteries to be solved. Developmental Psychological Theories and Future can be used as a primary or as a resource book for instructors. In addition, it can provide perspectives on children's behavior for those who interact with children in any capacity. Both developmental psychologists and readers from other disciplines will find something of interest in these pages.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. INTRODUCTION
2. PIAGET’S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS
3. FREUD’S AND ERIKSON’S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES
4. VYGOTSKY AND THE SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH
5. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
6. INFORMATION-PROCESSING THEORY
7. ETHOLOGY AND OTHER EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES
8. GIBSON’S ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
9. CONTEMPORARY MINITHEORIES AND EMERGING APPROACHES
10. REFLECTIONS
Bibliography
Index