Chapter 7 uses a set of criteria developed by Ford’s living systems approach and Sameroff’s developmental science of the nature–nurture issue to evaluate ECT with respect to whether ECT satisfies these criteria for addressing various aspects of high-level functioning and developmental underpinnings of excellence. Using these criteria, ECT can be viewed as a person-centered theory of talent development and human excellence that is quite versatile in its explanatory power vis-à-vis a wide range of talent achievement phenomena. In comparison with existing component and process models of TD, ECT goes beyond the nature–nurture dichotomy in addressing a deeper issue often neglected in the mainstream scientific discourse, the role of evolving individuality through culture. Looking into the future, the main challenge for ECT is how to align with developmental science, and how to form intertheoretical dialogues with other branches of research on developmental diversity (e.g., developmental psychopathology and developmental criminology) as branches of developmental sciences, all concerned with improving human conditions (i.e., use-inspired).

4-H, which is the largest youth organization in the country, has evolved over time. Historically, there has been a disconnect between university-based researchers and practitioners who implement 4-H programs in the field. In part because of this mismatch and because there has been a focus on subject matter content, 4-H as an organization has struggled with articulating the theory of change that underlies its programming. Recent developments in understanding the science of learning and development and recent efforts to translate positive youth development research into practice are promising. Based at land-grant universities, 4-H is well positioned to capitalize on these developments and intentionally apply them in practice. This chapter highlights 4-H programming examples to illustrate developmental principles and concludes with next steps to address challenges and increase alignment with developmental science.

Two stories of brain development are described. The first is from the perspective of developmental neuroscience, describing the core story of developing neurons, synapses, and neural networks, and showing how these create the brain’s developing capacities for memory, language, self-regulation, and other abilities. The second story is from the perspective of developmental science, summarizing the large literature on developing concepts and reasoning skills and the influence of early relationships in their growth. The two stories are then compared to reveal how complementary they are (as we should expect, since they both concern the developing child), but how their integration is still a work in progress, especially because the stories of brain and mind have somewhat different perspectives on development deriving from different research methods, levels of analysis, vocabulary, and concepts. The last section describes overlooked topics in the brain development story that was publicly messaged: the effects of poverty, fetal brain “programming,” and adolescence as a period of renewed brain plasticity and growth. The chapter shows how the science of brain development is constantly evolving, how the interaction of mind and brain is only slowly becoming understood, and the selectivity of the public communication of developmental brain science.

This chapter on “Creativity across the Lifespan” proceeds to address several overarching issues in creativity from a lifespan developmental perspective, making contact with the developmental, creativity, and development of creativity literatures. It makes no claims to be exhaustive as each of these literatures is now extensive. The chapter proceeds, in the first part, to overview definitions and history, stages, and principles of lifespan developmental science, including general developmental approaches, designs, consistency and change, and domains, as well as theories. The second part of the chapter reviews work in creativity from a lifespan developmental perspective, evaluating conceptual definitions; measurement in adults, children, and infants; and psychological associations of creativity with attention, cognition, language, and intelligence as well as personality and emotions. The third part of the chapter takes up the main moderators of creativity across the lifespan, viz. age, domain, gender, sources in nature and nurture, and culture. Before concluding, the fourth part of the chapter forecasts future directions in a lifespan development approach to creativity, asking if creativity can be promoted and looking toward new work in interdisciplinarity and neuroscience. Understanding creativity is inherently an interdisciplinary effort as is the study of the lifespan. Disciplines from anthropology to zoology have much to say about both; in all, however, this chapter adopts a psychological orientation to treating creativity across the lifespan.

In this introduction to The Development of Children’s Memory: The Scientific Contributions of Peter A. Ornstein, we provide biographical information for Professor Ornstein and identify some contextual influences on his work. We then examine the four distinct but interrelated programs of research he conducted that form the structure for this volume. Next, we briefly describe the chapters that are included in the review of each research program and introduce the authors. Ornstein’s scientific development over his 50 years in research is depicted as moving from the study of age-related changes in memory performance to an increasing emphasis on the developmental processes that result in skilled remembering in children. This transition both reflected and contributed to the emergence of a developmental science of memory.

Philosophers through the ages have stressed time as a critical variable in life, and developmentalists today pretend to a lifespan framework. Paradoxically, many construals of time are still neglected in developmental science. This chapter focuses on time and fleshes out three developmental perspectives on time: the chronosystem from the bioecological systems framework, transaction, and specificity.

Bioecological systems theory characterizes development as a joint function of process, person, context, and time. The principle of transaction in development asserts that characteristics of individuals shape their experiences, and reciprocally experiences shape the characteristics of individuals, through time. Finally, the specificity principle contends that understanding lifespan development depends critically on what is studied in whom, how, and when. Time fits integrally into each prevailing developmental perspective.

Philosophers through the ages have stressed time as a critical variable in life, and developmentalists today pretend to a lifespan framework. Paradoxically, many construals of time are still neglected in developmental science. This chapter focuses on time and fleshes out three developmental perspectives on time: the chronosystem from the bioecological systems framework, transaction, and specificity.

Bioecological systems theory characterizes development as a joint function of process, person, context, and time. The principle of transaction in development asserts that characteristics of individuals shape their experiences, and reciprocally experiences shape the characteristics of individuals, through time. Finally, the specificity principle contends that understanding lifespan development depends critically on what is studied in whom, how, and when. Time fits integrally into each prevailing developmental perspective.