Nonuniversal theory is a theory of
cognitive development first created by David Henry Feldman, a professor at the Eliot-Pearson School of Child Development at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
. The theory proposes that development occurs in
domain-specific stages (versus the universal stages of
Piaget Piaget () may refer to:
People with the surname
* Édouard Piaget (18171910), a Swiss entomologist
* Jean Piaget (18961980), a Swiss developmental psychologist
* Paul Piaget (disambiguation), several people
* Solange Piaget Knowles (born 1986) ...
and others). The stages are: ''novice, apprentice, journeyman, craftsman, expert'' and ''master.''
The transition of one stage to the next is one of the core concepts of the theory. In it, development begins with the ''consolidation'' of a skill set. Outlying skills are brought closer together through integration of advanced skills or development of retarded skills. The next step is ''elaboration'', where new skills are added. This is followed by a period of ''stagnation'', followed by a phase in which a ''novel'' skill emerges which is more advanced than the others. This novel skill then pulls the other skills along with it in a phase called ''reversion''. Then the process repeats itself with another stage of ''consolidation''. This continues until the learner reaches the ''master'' level.
Note that the drive for personal skill development doesn't always cease at this particular point, it can cease at any phase and typically ceases during a protracted stagnation phase.
Sources
*Feldman, D. H. (ed.) (1994) ''Beyond Universals in Cognitive Development: Second Edition.'' Westport, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing. (first edition: 1980)
Developmental psychology
{{developmental-psych-stub