The significance of developmental sequences for investigating the what and how of development

✍ Scribed by Bennett I. Bertenthal

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1981
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 690 KB
• Volume: 1981
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1520-3247
• DOI: 10.1002/cd.23219811206

✦ Synopsis

There are two related, yet different, questions that are addressed by develop mental psychologists. The first refers to the what of development, while the second refers to the how. Most developmental research is designed to answer one or both of these questions. In order to accomplish this goal, the researcher must recognize that the two questions are different, that different data are necessary for answering each. Developmental psychologists use a variety of models and techniques for answering these questions, yet few of these approaches am able to contribute as much to our understanding of development as the construction of a multistep developmental sequence. This particular approach allows the experimenter to establish both what a child can and cannot do at different ages as well as identifying component skills that are related to the later development of more complex skills.

Preparation of this chapter

was supported in part by NIMH grant MH-34187 and also by a faculty research grant from the University of Virginia.