Implications of an Interactional Paradigm for Research on Human Development

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Abstract
This paper consists of three main parts. First, a brief review of an interactional perspective for research on individual functioning is given. The need for integrated models, taking into consideration both psychological and biological factors on the person side in studying the person-environment interaction is emphasized. Second, empirical studies from a longitudinal program are presented. These studies are used as a basis for a discussion of methodological problems connected with interindividual differences in biological maturation. Thirdly, major implications for further development research in an interactional perspective are suggested, including (a) a need for well planned longitudinal research, (b) careful systematic observation and description of psychological phenomena, (c) integration of psychological and biological variables, (d) more interest devoted to the person as an integrated totality than to variables per se, (e) more interest devoted to lawfulness of processes in human functioning than to prediction of behavior, and (f) systematic analyses of environments and situations. Finally, it is argued that an interactional perspective can serve as a general frame of reference for planning, carrying through and interpreting empirical research, in order to overcome the fragmentation that now impedes real progress.