Human Development in the Life Course Melodies of Living

Drawing on philosophy, the history of psychology and the natural sciences, this book proposes a new theoretical foundation for the psychology of the life course. It features the study of unique individual life courses in their social and cultural environment, combining the perspectives of developmental and sociocultural psychology, psychotherapy, learning sciences and geronto-psychology. In particular, the book highlights semiotic processes, specific to human development, that allow us to draw upon past experiences, to choose among alternatives and to plan our futures. Imagination is an important outcome of semiotic processes and enables us to deal with daily constraints and transitions, and promotes the transformation of social representation and symbolic systems - giving each person a unique style, or 'melody', of living. The book concludes by questioning the methodology and epistemology of current life course studies.

Preface: from dispute to collaboration; Introduction: melodies of living; Part I. Time for Development: 1. Solidity of science and fullness of living: a theoretical exposé; 2. Imagination and the life course; 3. Moving through time: imagination and memory as semiotic processes; 4. Models of time for the life course; Part II. Spaces for Development: 5. Social framing of lives: from phenomena to theories; 6. Stability and innovation in adults narrating their lives: insights from psychotherapy research; 7. Paradoxes of learning; Part III. Beyond Time and Space: Imagination: 8. We are migrants!; 9. Playing while being serious: the lifelong game of development - and its tools; 10. Playing under the influence: activity contexts in their social functions; 11. 'Old age' as living forward; 12. Epilogue: the course of life as a melody.

Tania Zittoun is a Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Jaan Valsiner is a Professor of Psychology at Clark University, Massachusetts.
Dankert Vedeler is Associate Professor Emeritus at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
João Salgado is Assistant Professor and the Head of the Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the Maia Institute of Higher Education (ISMAI), Portugal.
Miguel M. Gonçalves is a Professor of Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Minho, Portugal.
Dieter Ferring is Professor of Developmental Psychology and Psychogerontology at the University of Luxembourg.