This volume is an exploration of the idea that how we describe and explain human development will be closely tied to an understanding of what contexts are, how individuals and contexts become influential for one another, and what contexts do to, and with, individuals.

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 quite surprising to note that compared to the effort devoted to individuals, relatively little attention has been paid to the study of...