Introduction : the nature of development : the continuing dialogue of processes and outcomes / Jaan Valsiner and Kevin J. Connelly -- pt. 1. Fundamental approaches and principles of development. Probabilistic epigenesis of development / Gilbert Gottlieb -- Genetics and the development of brain and behavior / Douglas Wahlsten -- Developmental psychology and the neurosciences / Sidney J. Segalowitz and Louis A. Schmidt -- Historical contexts for development / Hideo Kojima -- pt. 2. Prenatal and infant development. Prenatal psychological and behavioural development / Peter Hepper -- On the development of perception and action / Claes von Hofsten -- Early cognitive development : ontogeny and phylogeny / Jonas Langer ... [et al.] -- Tool use and tool making : a developmental action perspective / Ad W. Smitsman and Raoul M. Bongers -- Social relations and affective development in the first two years in family contexts / Kurt Kreppner -- pt. 3. Development in early childhood. The role of language in human development / Nancy Budwig -- Social development in cultural context : cooperative and competitive interaction patterns in peer relations / Angela Branco -- Strengths and weaknesses of cognition over the preschool years / Eduardo Marti -- Development of play / Anthony D. Pellegrini and Peter Smith -- Developmental disorders : an action-based account / Brian Hopkins -- pt. 4. Development in middle childhood. Contemporary families as contexts for development / Peter Stratton -- Schooling and the development of literacy / David Olson and Janette Pelletier -- Memory and knowledge development / Wolfgang Schneider and David Bjorklund -- pt. 5. Development in pre-adolescence and adolescence. Children's relationships and development of person-context relations / Thomas Kindermann -- Morality and context : a study of Hindu understandings / Usha Menon -- From early attachment relations to the adolescent and adult organization of self / Harke Bosma and Coby Gerlsma -- pt. 6. Development in adulthood. Adult cognitive development : dynamics in the developmental web / Kurt Fischer, Zheng Yan, and Jeffrey Stewart -- Goal-directed activities and life-span development / Jeanette A. Lawrence and Agnes E. Dodds -- Dialogical processes and development of the self / Hubert J. Hermans and Els Hermans-Jansen -- Cognitive processes in ageing / Patrick Rabbitt ... [et al.] -- Wisdom : its social nature and lifespan development / Ursula M. Staudinger and Ines Werner -- pt. 7. Methodology in the study of development. Qualitative methodology / Jonathan Smith and Fraser Dunworth -- Quantitative models for developmental processes / John R. Nesselroade and Peter C. M. Molenaar -- Dynamic systems approaches and modeling of developmental processes / Paul van Geert.