CDF: The Latest Reworking of the Adult Developmental Literature of the Harvard Kohlberg School

As time elapses, research findings get updated, consolidated, and what was originally left out or stayed unseen is clarified. An example of this historical process is CDF, the Constructive Developmental Framework created by Otto Laske between 1999 and 2000.

25 years after Kohlberg School research began, CDF brought together what this research separated or left standing in isolation. CDF is a synthesis that connects all that this research brought to light about the human self. So far, the CDF synthesis has been treated as separate from, and other than, Kegan’s, Basseches’ and Fowler’s research. The time has come to acknowledge that CDF transcends ideology, however well defended, and is a step beyond the original research of the Harvard School.

Convince yourself by reading the actual texts that constitute CDF, which has three components:

  1. a refined version of Kegan’s research on the social-emotional self
  2. a refined version of Basseches’ research on the cognitive self, with inclusion of Roy Bhaskar’s updating of the notion of adult cognitive development
  3. an integrated component regarding the psychological self as seen by Moris Aderman, student of Henry Murray’s, called ‘Need-Press’ (see www.needpress.com).

Texts on these components of CDF have been made available in pdf form found at , at very reasonable prices (US$20 or 30), in three sections:

A. Free publications found under Blogs ()

B. ‘Gateway’ (to CDF) Self Study Materials, in English (B1) and German & Spanish (B2)

C. Books on the social-emotional, psychological, and cognitive profiles of the human self, in five languages.

Laske CDF Publications