Individual Development and Social Change: Explanatory Analysis represents a convergence of three lines of emphasis now visible in developmental research and theory building. The three are (1) the life course as a focus for the study of development and social change, and their interrelationships; (2) the life-span orientation to the study of individual development, with its acknowledgment of the salience of contextual features for understanding development; and (3) the growth of methodological innovations that provide more appropriate and powerful ways of exploiting data gathered to describe and explain developmental change processes.
The book opens with a study on how major cultural change originates and unfolds over time. This is followed by separate chapters on the use of sequential designs for explanatory analyses; evolutionary aspects of social and individual development; the concepts of the theory of causal and weak causal regressive dependence; and the concepts of age, period, and cohort from the perspective of developmental psychology. Subsequent chapters examine development and aging as lifelong processes of historical populations; the methodological integration of natural and cultural science perspectives in developmental psychology; and application of the multifaceted methodology to the mutuality of constraint between sociocultural group and individual dynamics.

ContributorsPreface1. Evolution and Innovation in Sociocultural Systems: A Punctuated Equilibria Model I. Introduction II. The Contributions and Limitations of a Darwinian Approach to Culture Change III. Paradigm Shift: The Punctuated Equilibria Model IV. A New Paradigm of Sociocultural Innovation V. Examples of Punctuated Equilibria in Techno-economic Change VI. Conclusion References2. Sequential Strategies as Quasi-experimental Designs: Possibilities and Limitations in Explanatory Analysis I. Introduction II. Models of Individual Development and Social Change in the Context of Sequential Strategies III. Empirical Applications of Sequential Strategies IV. Conclusions References3. Evolutionary Aspects of Social and Individual Development: Comments and Illustrations from the World System Perspective I. The Context of Development and the Development of Context II. Toward Worldwide Institutionalized Individualism: The Trend at the State Level III. The Institutionalization of Individualism at the World System Level IV. Conclusions References4. Causal Regressive Dependencies: An Introduction I. Introduction II. Introductory Examples III. Causal and Weak Causal Regressive Dependence IV. Illustrative Applications V. Conclusion Appendix References5. Structure Identification Using Nonparametric Models I. Structures II. Relations in Structures: A Formal Approach III. On the Detection of Structures IV. Application to the Study of Development and Change V. Summary References6. Individual and Context in Developmental Psychology: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues I. Introduction II. Key Questions of Human Development III. The Concepts of Time and Timing in the Contextual Perspective IV. Limits and Problems of a Contextual Perspective V. Conclusions References7. Age, Period, and Cohort Analysis and the Study of Individual Development and Social Change I. Introduction II. Historical Perspectives III. Age, Period, and Cohort Effects IV. Interpretation of Effects V. A Substantive Illustration of Concepts VI. Conclusion References8. Individual Development and Aging as a Population Process I. Introduction II. Statement of the Thesis III. Evolution, Development, and Aging: A Synergistic Relationship in Human Society IV. Individual Development: A Critique of Personological Thinking V. A Conceptual Schema of Development as a Population Process VI. Developmental Change Functions in Historical Populations VII. Strategies for Analyzing Human Development as a Population Process VIII. Conclusion References9. Individual Development in Social Action Contexts: Problems of Explanation I. Introduction II. Laws and Quasi Laws, Plasticity and Universality of Development III. Structural Implications and "Pseudoempirical" Research in Developmental Psychology IV. Developmental Psychology as a Natural and Cultural Science: Problems of Integration V. Conclusion References10. Multifaceted Systems Modeling: Structure and Behavior at a Multiplicity of Levels I. Introduction II. A Brief Review of Multifaceted Systems Modeling III. Multifaceted Model Framework for Issues in Mutuality of Constraint IV. Conclusions References11. Analysis of Qualitative Data in Developmental Psychology I. In Search of Appropriate Methods within the Framework of Qualitative Developmental Theories and Models II. Illustrations from Different Fields of Developmental Psychology III. Statistical Methodology References12. The Generalized Group Effect Model I. Introduction II. Hierarchically Nested Design III. Generations Design IV. Group Polarization V. Conclusion ReferencesAuthor IndexSubject Index