Sheldon White’s research while affiliated with Harvard University and other places

Contends that in this postpositivist era, developmental psychology, no less than other areas of psychology and the other social sciences, shows signs of becoming aware of its social, cultural, and historical contexts—signs of seeking to understand its particular place in social space and historical time. The authors attempt to stimulate scholarly debate that will deepen such understanding and enhance the analytical, self-critical quality of such historical awareness. Among the issues explored are the necessity and function of critical social history, the problematic notion of progressive development with regard to both ontogenesis and scientific knowledge itself, the fragmentation of the field of developmental psychology, and the relations between scientific theory and research and sociopolitical circumstances. (69 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

In this postpositivist era, developmental psychology, no less than other areas of psychology and the other social sciences, shows signs of becoming aware of its social, cultural, and historical contexts—signs of seeking to understand its particular place in social space and historical time. This discussion seeks to stimulate scholarly debate that will deepen such understanding and enhance the analytical, self-critical quality of such historical awareness. Among the issues explored are the necessity and function of critical social history; the problematic notion of progressive development, vis-à-vis both ontogenesis and scientific knowledge itself; the fragmentation of the field of developmental psychology; and the relations between scientific theory and research and sociopolitical circumstances.