Ambulatory Assessment in Lifespan Psychology
An Overview of Current Status and New Trends
Abstract
Ambulatory assessment represents a powerful research tool in lifespan psychology because it allows assessing the within-person variability of developmental processes as it occurs within context-specific influences of people’s natural environments. Following a discussion of historical origins, we review four current research themes in developmentally relevant ambulatory assessment studies that use electronic devices as assessment instruments: (a) affective-motivational development, (b) social contexts of development, (c) age-related challenges and everyday functioning, and (d) cognitive development. Overall, the reviewed research demonstrates that ambulatory assessment complements traditional developmental study designs and laboratory assessments in important ways. Acknowledging the strengths and limitations of ambulatory assessment approaches, we propose that ambulatory assessment will benefit lifespan psychology most if it becomes an integral part of multimethod investigations of developmental phenomena that balance the external and internal validity of findings. Future research should strengthen the lifespan perspective in ambulatory assessment approaches, combine multiple indicators (subjective and objective) of successful development, and attend to the fact that individual development often interacts with significant others.
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