PSY-4660: Theories of Development

Hamilton, S. & Luster, T. (2005). Bronfenbrenner, urie. In C. Fisher & R. Lerner (Eds.), Encyclopedia of applied developmental science (Vol. 1, pp. 184-188). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
This resource provides a biographical sketch of Urie Bronfenbrenner and an overview of his theory. Having an understanding of who Bronfenbrenner was and what his life was like will help you to better understand his theory.

Elliot M. & Leventhal &. (2018). Contexts of development. In M. Borenstein (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of lifespan human development (pp. 450-454). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
This resource describes the various contexts of development (e.g., family, peers, school, neighborhoods, culture, etc.) that are the focus of Bronfenbrenner’s theory.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1995). The bioecological model from a life course perspective: Reflections of a participant observer. In P. Moen, G. H. ElderJr., & K. Lüscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development (pp. 599–618). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
In this chapter Bronfenbrenner reflected on his own life and how his experiences shaped his perspectives and influenced his research and theory development. This chapter will give you a good sense of who Urie Bronfenbrenner was and an understanding of the underpinnings of his theory.

Brendtro, L. K. (2006). The vision of Urie Bronfenbrenner: Adults who are crazy about kids. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 15(3), 162 – 166.
This article explains how those who work with youth can use Bronfenbrenner’s theory while supporting and advocating for children and adolescents.

Velez-Agosto, N. M. et al. (2017). Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory revision: Moving culture from the macro into the micro. Perspective on Psychological Science, 12(5), 900 – 910.
This author proposed a revision to Bronfenbrenner’s theory focusing on culture. Culture has a very strong impact on development and this proposed revision posits that culture should play a more central role in Bronfenbrenner’s theory.

Nielsen, M. et al. (2017). The persistent sampling bias in development psychology: A call to action. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 162, 31 – 38.
This article does not focus on Bronfenbrenner’s theory specifically, but instead focuses on research on development more broadly. Specifically, the authors suggest developmental psychologists typically do not use representative samples when conducting research and therefore the findings and the theories that are developed from this research are culturally specific and should not be considered universal. The ideas in this article have implications for how developmental research and theory should be interpreted.