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Look Inside Human Development in the Life Course

Human Development in the Life Course
Melodies of Living

Authors:
Tania Zittoun, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Jaan Valsiner, Clark University, Massachusetts
Dankert Vedeler, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
João Salgado, Instituto Superior da Maia, Portugal
Miguel M. Gonçalves, Universidad de Minho, Portugal
Dieter Ferring, Université du Luxembourg

Date Published: October 2015
availability: Available
format: Paperback
isbn: 9781107562387

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About the Authors

Drawing on philosophy, the history of psychology and the natural sciences, this book proposes a new theoretical foundation for the psychology of the life course. It features the study of unique individual life courses in their social and cultural environment, combining the perspectives of developmental and sociocultural psychology, psychotherapy, learning sciences and geronto-psychology. In particular, the book highlights semiotic processes, specific to human development, that allow us to draw upon past experiences, to choose among alternatives and to plan our futures. Imagination is an important outcome of semiotic processes and enables us to deal with daily constraints and transitions, and promotes the transformation of social representation and symbolic systems - giving each person a unique style, or 'melody', of living. The book concludes by questioning the methodology and epistemology of current life course studies.
- Proposes a new view of the psychology of the life course
- Features the role of imagination and play in developmental processes and shows that their core mechanisms extend beyond childhood
- Applies developmental science to real-life situations, demonstrating how theoretical and philosophical elaborations about development illuminate our understanding of daily life
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Reviews & endorsements
'A landmark in the development of developmental science. Dense, rich, personal and abstract by turns, it provides a synthetic foundation for a future, genuinely integrative, developmental science.' Michael Cole, Distinguished Professor, Communication, Psychology, and Human Development, University of California, San Diego
'An exceptionally interesting book about the uniqueness of each human being. The volume centres on human development and its trajectories, meaning-making and imagination. This highly original collection of essays will attract cultural scholars and those who search for new ways of doing human and social science.' Ivana Markova, University of Stirling
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Product details
- Date Published: October 2015
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781107562387
- length: 446 pages
- dimensions: 230 x 153 x 24 mm
- weight: 0.65kg
- contains: 47 b/w illus.
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Preface: from dispute to collaboration
Introduction: melodies of living
Part I. Time for Development:
1. Solidity of science and fullness of living: a theoretical exposé
2. Imagination and the life course
3. Moving through time: imagination and memory as semiotic processes
4. Models of time for the life course
Part II. Spaces for Development:
5. Social framing of lives: from phenomena to theories
6. Stability and innovation in adults narrating their lives: insights from psychotherapy research
7. Paradoxes of learning
Part III. Beyond Time and Space: Imagination:
8. We are migrants!
9. Playing while being serious: the lifelong game of development - and its tools
10. Playing under the influence: activity contexts in their social functions
11. 'Old age' as living forward
12. Epilogue: the course of life as a melody.
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Authors
Tania Zittoun, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Tania Zittoun is a Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Jaan Valsiner, Clark University, Massachusetts
Jaan Valsiner is a Professor of Psychology at Clark University, Massachusetts.
Dankert Vedeler, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
Dankert Vedeler is Associate Professor Emeritus at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
João Salgado, Instituto Superior da Maia, Portugal
João Salgado is Assistant Professor and the Head of the Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the Maia Institute of Higher Education (ISMAI), Portugal.
Miguel M. Gonçalves, Universidad de Minho, Portugal
Miguel M. Gonçalves is a Professor of Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Minho, Portugal.
Dieter Ferring, Université du Luxembourg
Dieter Ferring is Professor of Developmental Psychology and Psychogerontology at the University of Luxembourg.