title: [Individual significance and growing complexity: contributions of Sigmund Freud and René Spitz to developmental psychology].
abstract: Contributions of Sigmund Freud and René Spitz to developmental psychology are presented in terms of today's research. The work of each of these pioneers draws our attention to the need for increasing our knowledge about the meaning of individual experience and increasing complexity in the course of development. Freud's contribution to today's developmental thinking is reviewed in terms of his observations of play, his schematic perspectives on developmental processes, and his innovative theoretical approaches involving nonconscious mental activity in the context of constructivism. Spitz's contribution to today's thinking is reviewed according to a similar array of topics. These include his observational assessments of infants, his schematic perspectives on developmental processes, and his innovative theoretical approaches involving affective communications in the context of caregiving.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center, Denver, USA.
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Emde
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D005619:Freudian Theory; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010553:Personality Development; D002666:Psychology, Child / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States
vernacular_title: Individuelle Bedeutung und wachsende Komplexität: Die Beiträge Sigmund Freuds und René Spitz' zur Entwicklungspsychologie.