Supporting youth in their joining of society is a lofty goal that seems more than worthy and timely to pursue. Support for that pursuit can be found in a number of different research areas of developmental and life span psychology. For instance, Erikson's notion of generativity, an aspect of personality functioning that may develop at around midlife, highlights the importance of the transmission of knowledge and insight between generations for the young and the old, as well as for society (e.g., Erikson, Erikson, & Kivnick, 1986). Roger Säljö's chapter refers to another strong tradition in developmental research that has focused on the critical role of social interaction in learning. This research is building on a long tradition that includes the seminal works of scholars such as Baldwin, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Luria. However, although it is one of the fundamental tenets of the social and behavioral sciences that human behavior and development are at least partly a creation of social forces, social interaction, and social transmission, it is also true that theory and method do not always coincide in developmental work. Thus, there is a continuing search for the role of the social-interactive in developmental theory and research.

One persuasive example is the enrichment and transformation of social-learning theory by cognitive dimensions to better understand the social and collective foundation of action and thought (e.g., Bandura, 1998).