Proximal processes as the primary engines of development.
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to discuss proximal process as a key concept for the understanding of the bioecological paradigm, as well as to answer the comments regarding the use of the Bioecological Theory of Human Development as a theoretical framework for the field of sport psychology. In a similar vein with Gibson, who created the term affordance to explain environmental properties taken in reference with the person, Bronfenbrenner created the term proximal processes to describe the interaction between the person's attributes, the characteristics of the environment, and the properties of time, as the primary engines of development. The order of the answer follows the sequence in which the comments were presented. In this reaction paper we try to clarify some weakness pointed in our major paper, related to the four components of Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory: proximal processes, biopsychological characteristics of a developing person, the parameters of the ecological context, and the dimension of time.
Authors: Ruy Jornada Krebs, Duarte Araújo
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W251978947