Toward an experimental ecology of human development.
1977/07/01 by Urie Bronfenbrenner · 10,300 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Biology #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Child and Animal Learning Development #Early Childhood Education and Development #Ecology #Human development (humanity) #Human ecology #Political science #Psychology
paper · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.32.7.513
published in American Psychologist 32(7), 513-531 (American Psychological Association)
openalex publication_date 1977/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
A broader approach to research in hu- j man development is proposed that focuses on the pro- gressive accommodation, throughout the life span, between the growing human organism and the changing environments in which it actually lives and grows. The latter include not only the immediate settings containing the developing person but also the larger social contexts, both formal and informal, in which these settings are embedded. In terms of method, the approach emphasizes the use of rigorousjdigned experjments, both naturalistic and contrived, beginning in the early stages of the research process. The chang- ing relation between person and environment is con- ceived in systems terms. These systems properties are set forth in a series of propositions, each illus- trated by concrete research examples.
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