The Child Psychology Series: The Study of Behavioral Development concerns the formulation of general laws of development, transcending the realm of the development of the individual from infancy to maturity.This book provides a systematic treatment of problems of research design, strategy, and data analysis that relate specifically to the study of developmental changes in behavior. The topics discussed include developmental psychology in the 1970s, age variable in psychological research, and programmatic view of the task of developmental psychology. The problems of measurement and quantification in developmental psychology, correlational methods in the study of developmental change, and experimental manipulation of developmental change are also elaborated.This publication is recommended for psychologists, specialists, and students learning the nature of behavioral change.

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsPart I Introduction Chapter I. Developmental Psychology, Past and Present A Brief Historical Sketch Developmental Psychology in the 1970s Developmental Psychology: Experimental or Differential? Chapter II. The Age Variable in Psychological Research The Focus on Change and Its Implications Change as an Inherent Aspect of Behavior Some Further Objections to the Use of Age as a Variable in Psychology Age as a Neutral Variable: Vice or Virtue? The Age Variable and the Problem of Control in Differential Studies The Concept of the Developmental Function Chapter III. Beyond Age-Group Comparison: A Programmatic View of the Task of Developmental Psychology A Hierarchical Model for the Study of Developmental ProblemsPart II Quantification, Dimensionalization, and Design Chapter IV. Problems of Measurement and Quantification in Developmental Psychology Four Prototype Cases in the Measurement of Developmental Change The Qualitative Versus Quantitative Character of Developmental Change Major Obstacles in the Way of Quantitative Analysis of Developmental Change Units in the Measurement of Developmental Change Chapter V. The Dimensionalization of Development: The Discovery and Definition of Developmental Dimensions The Dimensionalization of Development Illustrated for Three Response Variables The Search for Developmental Dimensions Conclusion Chapter VI. The Dimensionalization of Development (Continued): The Construction of Developmental Scales Four Steps in the Construction of Developmental Scales The Dimensionalization of Qualitative Changes The Two Models of Scalogram Analysis: Cumulative and Disjunctive The Use of Scalogram Analysis for the Study of Developmental Sequences (Case III Data)Part III Major Paradigms of Developmental Research Chapter VII. Longitudinal versus Cross-Sectional Methodology Cross-Sectional Designs: Shortcut or Short-Change? Two-Versus Three-Factor Models in the Design of Developmental Research Purposes of Longitudinal Data Major Drawbacks of the Longitudinal Method Shortcuts to Longitudinal Data Chapter VIII. The Descriptive Study of Developmental Change Charting the Course of Developmental Change Along Scalar Dimensions Descriptive Analysis with Respect to Qualitative Change Chapter IX The Study of Developmental Stages Stage as a Horizontal-Structure Concept Models for the Analysis of Developmental-Stage Data Prototype Response Matrices and Illustrative Examples for Each Model Approaches to Data Analysis in the Study of Stages Conclusion: Stages-Mirage or Reality? Chapter X. Correlational Methods in the Study of Developmental Change Five Levels of Elaboration in the Multivariate Study of Age Changes Conclusion: The Place of Correlation Analysis in the Study of the Patterning of Developmental Change Chapter XI. The Experimental Manipulation of Developmental Change Four Paradigms of Experimental-Developmental Research Major Problems in the Design of Research on the Effects of Controlled Experience Problems of Control and Behavior Monitoring in Early Experience Research The Problem of Causal Inference in Experimental Studies of Development The Acquisition of Conservation: The Acceleration Approach to the Interpretation of a Developmental Phenomenon Conclusion: The Dilemma of the Conservation-Training Study Chapter XII. Individual Differences in Development The Development of Cognitive Styles: Developmental or Differential? Individual Differences as an Aspect of Developmental Functions The Developmental Aspect of Individual Differences The Study of Stability and Continuity in Behavior Stability in the Multivariate Sense Concluding CommentsConclusionReferencesAuthor IndexSubject Index