Summarize the major research findings of "Toward an experimental ecology of human development."
Based on findings of prior research, the author, Bronfenbrenner proposes that methods for natural observation research have been applied in a manner that fails to consider the changing environments that affect human behavior. Observation in one natural setting is not enough to fully understand human behavior. The examples the author offers relate to observation studies of child behavior and development. Bronfenbrenner suggests that researchers cannot fully understand child development within the context of a single setting, with a single set of adults. The child may behave one way at home with both parents but display different behavior and react differently to each of his/her parents in a setting outside the home, such as at school, at a medical appointment, or in another setting outside the home. The author suggests that age, socioeconomic status, and other demographics may influence how the child responds to the father and to the mother. Bronfenbrenner gives an example of a child fr...