Contextualizing the Investigator: The Case of Developmental Psychology

Abstract

This article examines some of the ways in which sociohistorical contexts influence the formulation of issues in developmental psychology. It is essential to examine social, political, and historical forces when trying to understand the discipline. Two examples are provided, the first having to do with child care and the origins of developmental psychology in the USA, the second having to do with formal schooling and the Vygotskian approach to developmental psychology in the USSR. Both these cases may be viewed as part of the general problem of how nation-building is related to the formulation of issues in social science.