ABSTRACT
This chapter presents brief introduction on the role of developmental theories in the history of the scientific study of adolescence, a series of classical theories of adolescence. It discusses latest generation of developmental theories, collectively referred to as contextualist theories with particular emphasis on applications of these theories to the study of adolescent development. Many theories about adolescence, including social-learning theory, hold that adolescent behavior is shaped to a certain extent by the reactions from their immediate social environment, that is, by reactions from their parents and peers. The implication was that adolescence would be less troublesome for young people in America if they were less pressured into taking important decisions and if the general nature of the American culture were to be more casual. Cognitive theories of adolescence state, in essence, that adolescent behaviors that are of some concern to adults have their origins in the cognitive changes that take place at the onset of adolescence.
