Abstract:
In current developmental psychology, there is a movement attempting to overcome the existing theoretical fragmentation through a convergent explanatory framework based on a number of general principles shared by different theories. The purpose of this article is, firstly, to present certain milestone events about the historical transformations that the concept of development has suffered in the last three centuries. Some epistemological considerations that retrieve and renew fertile ideas from the past, such as the conceptions of the nature of change and the way in which it takes place are also analyzed. Finally, reference is made to some of the most novel contributions to the field, from the perspective of the model of systemic and relational development.