Psychologia rozwoju jako nauka o genezie życia psychicznego: przełomowe dokonania i kierunki przyszłych badań

In the paper a state of art in contemporary psychology of human development is presented. Considerations are concentrated on two issues: the nature and mechanisms of developmental changes. Regarding the nature, we show a shift in research from a study on stable and universal changes to not regular and unique changes. Regarding the developmental mechanism, we try to describe a shift from research concentrated on reactivity to research on own activity of individual in relation with environments. The main thesis of the paper is statement, that psychology of development belongs to the sciences of life, and according to it, should to search for specific rules of change in human functioning and development. The holistic-interactive, functional and relative approaches are indicated as a most effective in this kind of studies.