Developmental frameworks, what have you done for me lately?

Frameworks are widespread in developmental psychology. They provide general ideas about what to study in human development: which concepts to focus on (e.g., systems, timescales), which processes to test (e.g., micro-macro, bidirectional), and which methods to use (e.g., interview, dynamical equations). However, despite their prominence, there exists very little consensus or guidance on how to use frameworks in research. As such, they have an obscure role, influencing our research questions, methods, and theory, but often in ways we cannot articulate for ourselves, let alone for others. This Views paper presents our perspective on how different frameworks can inform the assumptions, targets, goals, context, timing, and methods of a research project. As an illustrative example, we use Bronfenbrenner's bioecological framework to inform research investigating how parent-child relationships shape the development of executive self-regulation. We also show how different frameworks relevant to developmental psychopathology can inform a research project in distinct ways. Thus, this Views paper provides a practical guide for developmental researchers to more explicitly use and benefit from frameworks in their research.