Laura Rader
Initial Investigations into the development of self-concept have been largely descriptive and focused primarily on the concept of self-representation, namely, how the me-self evolves across childhood and adolescence. Investigators sought to document developmental differences in self-representation through coding of spontaneously generated descriptions of the self. These efforts identified broad, discontinuous, qualitative skills in how the self was described. However, there was little analysis of the structural organization of self-concept. Interest in self-processes has burgeoned in the past decade within many branches of psychology. Riding on the bandwagon of the cognitive revolution, selftheorists reconceptualized the self as a cognitive construction that is quite functional in bringing organization and meaning to one’s experiences. In addition to psychologists’ emphasis on selfconcept, educators have become interested in the implications of self-concept among special populations within the school setting. Thus, this paper explores the common principles across these newer frameworks.
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