50th anniversary special issue - celebrating a legacy of theory with new directions for research on human development

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With this anniversary issue we celebrate 50 years of the journal ‘Human Development. Human Development’ was founded in 1958 as ‘Vita Humana’ (‘human life’). From the beginning the journal was intended to serve as an interdisciplinary forum for research and theory on the full lifespan of human development. This anniversary issue presents three articles that appeared previously in the journal and marked significant points of departure for subsequent research and theory: Lawrence Kohlberg (introducing his theory of moral development), Jean Piaget (discussing formal operations and raising issues of cultural variations in cognitive development) and James Wertsch (clarifying Vygotsky’s theory). Following each of these classics are invited papers by leading contemporary researchers reflecting upon the importance of the classical pieces and bringing us up to date on the current state of developmental theory and pointing to future directions for the field. The issue ends with a Jerome Bruner interview. This issue places current developmental research into historical context and highlights the critical importance of theoretical and conceptual work. Researchers and graduates in all branches of developmental psychology and related fields such as education and anthropology will find invaluable information for their work.