ABSTRACT
Traditionally, developmental psychology has its focus on individuals. Developmentalists aim to describe regularities in individuals’ change and development across time, to explain the processes and mechanisms that are involved in producing change and regularity, and, eventually, to design strategies for optimization and modification of developmental pathways. Although the role of contexts has always been of central concern for these purposes, it is nevertheless surprising to note that, compared to the effort devoted to individuals, relatively little attention has been paid to the study of the nature and organization of their contexts.
