ABSTRACT
Theories accounting for personal development are mainly grounded in psychology which, in its formative years, gained respectability as a science through the adoption of rigorous procedural standards from the ‘harder’ sciences. While infants and young children develop through experiences of acculturation, shaping, superego development, social reproduction, cultural production, novice and older adults experience more varied and sophisticated versions of the aforementioned processes. Extraction of meaning involves choosing how new perspective might be incorporated into advantageous extension of individual construing. While infants and young children develop through experiences of acculturation, shaping, superego development, social reproduction, cultural production, novice and older adults experience more varied and sophisticated versions of the aforementioned processes. Articulation and analysis of personal theories of self-development were novel experiences for all participants. Reflections which clearly corresponded to examination of personal and professional paradigms included evidence of belief and epistemological systems.
