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Human Development from Early Childhood to Early Adulthood

Findings from a 20 Year Longitudinal Study

• Edited by Wolfgang Schneider, Merry Bullock

• Price: $90.00
• Binding: Hardback (also available in Paperback)
• Pages: 296
• Published by: Psychology Press
• Publication Date: 20th November 2008
• ISBN: 978-0-8058-6107-5

About the Book

Data generated from longitudinal studies paint a rich and varied picture of development and allow researchers to understand more deeply how context and experience interact with stable characteristics of the developing person over time. This book represents an overview, description, and summary of a landmark longitudinal study of approximately 200 children, from the ages 3 to 23. The Munich Longitudinal study on the Ontogenesis of Individual Competencies (LOGIC) traced developmental pathways in cognitive, social, and motor domains from preschool to young adulthood in a sample of children who grew up during the 1980s and 1990s in and around Munich, Germany. This valuable study has generated a tremendous amount of data that have been reported in more than 150 empirical articles. This book is the second volume to provide a comprehensive look at the developmental issues in these domains examined in the study. The first volume traced development from ages 3 to 12. This volume continues the story, integrating these early findings with results from the next two developmental phases – adolescence (measurements at ages 13 and 18) and young adulthood (measurements at age 23).

Each of the chapters provides a summary of the literature and answers the questions was development stable and was it possible to predict later variables from earlier ones. The topics covered include core variables reflecting basic cognitive and motor skills (intelligence, memory, motor skills), social-cognitive competencies (moral thinking, personality, self-concept), and school-related competencies (scientific reasoning, spelling, mathematics). Each author summarizes developmental trends within their specific domain, and addresses issues of individual development – its stability over time, and the extent to which earlier performance predicts later competencies. The size of the LOGIC sample allows comparison of subgroups and subgroup analyses, defined by early personality characteristics or educational track or adult socio-cognitive variables.

This book will appeal to advanced students and researchers in developmental, educational, personality, and cognitive psychology as well as researchers in education since several chapters focus on topics relevant for these scholars (i.e., literacy development, educational context, mathematical reasoning).

Reviews

"This book will be of great interest to many scholars, educators and research scientists…What is very important is that the editors provide a very general and accessible ‘map’ for the reader…Dr. Bullock is an excellent writer and scholar. She is an editor, and she knows how to write for a broad audience. Her position at APA has been one in which she translates research into practice, thus she is very well qualified to ensure that this project is written in an accessible and open manner…Educators, developmental psychologists, and developmental scientists will purchase this book. It will provide an important resource about longitudinal studies. I would buy it and I would order it for my library…The editors are very well known. In particular, Dr. Bullock has wide visibility and she is a strong scholar. The contributors are also excellent and top-notch." – Dr. Melanie Killen, University of Maryland

Table of Contents

M. Bullock, W. Schneider, Introduction and Overview: Goals and Structure of LOGIC. W, Schneider, J. Stefanek, F. Niklas, Development of Intelligence and Thinking. J. Ahnert, W. Schneider, K. Bos Developmental Changes and Individual Stability of Motor Abilities from Preschool to Young Adulthood. W. Schneider, M. Knopf, B. Sodian, Verbal Memory Development from Early Childhood to Early Adulthood. G. Nunner-Winkler, Moral Motivation from Childhood to Early Adulthood. J.B. Asendorpf, J.J.A. Denissen, M.A.G. van Aken, Personality Trajectories from Early Childhood through Emerging Adulthood. F. W. Schrader, A. Helmke, Development of Self-confidence from Adolescence to Early Adulthood. M. Bullock, B. Sodian, S. Koerber, Doing Experiments and Understanding Science: Development of Scientific Reasoning from Childhood to Adulthood. W. Schneider, The Development of Reading and Spelling: Relevant Precursors, Developmental Changes and Individual Differences. E. Stern, The Development of Mathematical Competencies: Sources of Individual Differences and their Developmental Trajectories. W. Schneider, M. Bullock, Epilogue: Problems and Potentials of the Munich Longitudinal Study. Bibliography of Publication Stemming from the LOGIC Project.

About the Author(s)

Dr. Wolfgang Schneider is Vice-President of the Julius-Maximilians-University Wuerzburg and Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. He was an original member of the research group assembled by the Founding Director of the Max-Plank-Institute for Psychological Research in 1982 and has been involved in the study for the entire length of the project.

Dr. Merry Bullock is Senior Director for International Affairs at the American Psychological Association. She received her PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. She is presently deputy secretary-general for the International Union of Psychological Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on International Science Organizations.