Research Methodology for a Concrete Psychology: The Fifth Dimension Research

Abstract

"This paper illustrates how the Fifth Dimension (5thD) after-school program exemplifies a mode of psychological inquiry that rejects standard experimental methods because of their artificiality and consequent removal from everyday life. It enables carefully documented descriptions of behavior in cultural practices that have been organized in such a way that significant psychological tasks occur routinely. In this way, the 5thD makes possible the analysis of processes of learning and development. Our data are drawn from two 5thD Dimension programs at two stages of development in two very different sociocultural and economic contexts. The first is a fully mature program, the other a program in the process of formation. The data from the first program illustrate the consequences when children with developmental disabilities can be included in activities with children whose developmental trajectories fall close to local norms. The data from the second program illustrate how a new program makes visible the children’s sensitivity to the rights and responsibilities of their participation."