Conference Description and Theme

The Society for the Study of Human Development (SSHD) held its sixth biennial meeting on October 18-20, 2009 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  The general theme for the 2009 biennial meeting was:

Human Development: Earlier Influences on Later Life Outcomes

Conference Program 

The conference addressed current knowledge and future directions of research, interventions, and policy in understanding the contribution of earlier events/factors to later outcomes of human development - both positive and negative - over the life course. 

Keynote Addresses

·        Professor K. Warner Schaie is nationally and internationally recognized as a leading human development scholar. His pioneering research on cognitive change over the adult years has revolutionized the understanding of lifespan cognitive development and reoriented public policy toward older adults.

·        Keynote Plenary Session. The Society for the Study of Human Development (SSHD) and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR/NIH) was pleased to sponsor a plenary symposium that focused on Systems Science and its intersection with Human Development.  World experts in this field will offered insights on substantive, methodological and funding issues in this exciting newly emerging field.

·        Professor E. Jane Costello, a world renowned developmental scientist, discussed the developmental epidemiology of mental illness.  She drew on her interdisciplinary experience with the Great Smoky Mountains longitudinal study to address the conference theme of earlier influences on later life outcomes.

 

Unique Opportunities for Conference Attendees

·        LIFE Program. The 2009 biennial meeting will provided an opportunity to interact with international participants attending the co-occurring LIFE program, an international PhD program of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the Free University of Berlin, the Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia and the University of Zurich. The LIFE program focuses on an interdisciplinary and integrative approach to human development, including historical, ontogenetic, evolutionary and institutional factors.

• NIH Systems Science Plenary Session and Poster Session. The 2009 meeting also provided a unique opportunity for participants to learn about the NIH Systems Science effort, including the links between systems science and developmental science, systems science methodologies, and opportunities for NIH funding. The term systems science refers to bringing to problem-solving a perspective in which the problem space is conceptualized as a system of interrelated component parts (i.e., the “big picture”). OBSSR recognizes that problems in developmental science are dynamic and complex which makes them amenable to exploration via systems methodologies.