Thinking Deliberately
Dr Darren Stevens
View on Amazon ↗Institute for Adult Development
Publications
Read the work behind the ideas.
Books, research and presentations exploring Constructed Development Theory. Discover the work here, read the research on ResearchGate, and find the books on Amazon.
BooksBook · English Book · English Book · French / Français Book · French / Français Book · French / Français
Thinking, coaching and deliberate development.
English-language books by Dr Darren Stevens, alongside French-language titles co-authored with Patrick Stam. Follow each Amazon listing for edition, format and availability.
English
Coaching Deliberately
Dr Darren Stevens
View on Amazon ↗French / Français
Manuel TDC du Praticien CNS: Les Intentions Cognitives
Patrick Stam and Dr Darren Stevens
View on Amazon ↗DÉVELOPPEMENT DÉLIBÉRÉ: Vade Mecum
Patrick Stam and Dr Darren Stevens
View on Amazon ↗Développement Délibéré: Leadership, Coaching, Changement
Patrick Stam and Dr Darren Stevens
View on Amazon ↗Doctoral foundationDoctoral thesis · 2020
The research from which CDT developed.
Does Constructed Development Theory Exist as a Conceptual Measure of Self-Awareness in the moment?
Stevens, D. J. (2020). Does Constructed Development Theory Exist as a Conceptual Measure of Self-Awareness in the moment? [Doctoral thesis, Coventry University]. ResearchGate.
The original mixed-methods research programme: its methods, construct definitions, findings and limitations. It provides initial support for parts of CDT while leaving questions for independent validation.
Title follows the ResearchGate record. The later AQ/TQ distinction should not be projected back onto the thesis’s original measures.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Selected papersPreprint · August 2026 Preprint · August 2026 Preprint · July 2026 Preprint · April 2026 Preprint · April 2026 Preprint · December 2025 Preprint · November 2025 Preprint · November 2025 Preprint · November 2025 Preprint · July 2025 Preprint · July 2025 Preprint · January 2024 Preprint · June 2023
The theory in development and debate.
Conceptual papers and preprints, listed newest first. These entries follow the types and dates shown on ResearchGate; they are not presented as peer-reviewed journal articles.
Forty Years After Levinson: Six Persistent Problems in Adult Development
Stevens, D. J. (August 2026). Forty Years After Levinson: Six Persistent Problems in Adult Development [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Revisits six enduring questions about adult development.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Behaviour Begins Before Choice: IACR as a Trans-Contextual Architecture of Constructed Response
Stevens, D. J. (August 2026). Behaviour Begins Before Choice: IACR as a Trans-Contextual Architecture of Constructed Response [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Examines the construction preceding a response through IACR.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Why Self-Reflection Is Not Enough
Stevens, D. J. (July 2026). Why Self-Reflection Is Not Enough [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Explores the gap between reflection and developmental movement.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Reconstructing Laske through Constructed Development Theory: Toward an Operational and Moment-to-Moment Model of Adult Development
Stevens, D. J. (April 2026). Reconstructing Laske through Constructed Development Theory: Toward an Operational and Moment-to-Moment Model of Adult Development [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Reinterprets Laske’s developmental grids through CDT.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Constructed Development Theory as a Unifying Meta-Framework in Psychology: A Structural Analogy to M-Theory
Stevens, D. J. (April 2026). Constructed Development Theory as a Unifying Meta-Framework in Psychology: A Structural Analogy to M-Theory [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Proposes CDT as a framework for comparing psychological accounts of construction.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Adult Metacognition as a Developmental Capacity: A CDT Perspective
Stevens, D. J. (December 2025). Adult Metacognition as a Developmental Capacity: A CDT Perspective [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Considers metacognition as awareness of construction during adult cognition.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Teaching Styles as Levels of Awareness: A Developmental Typology Based on Constructed Development Theory
Stevens, D. J. (November 2025). Teaching Styles as Levels of Awareness: A Developmental Typology Based on Constructed Development Theory [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Proposes a developmental account of teaching through awareness and constructed practice.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Introducing the Emotional Awareness Scale
Stevens, D. J. (November 2025). Introducing the Emotional Awareness Scale [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Introduces a proposed model of awareness in the construction of emotional experience.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Introducing FRAME - a constructively grounded alternative to VUCA and BANI.
Stevens, D. J. (November 2025). Introducing FRAME - a constructively grounded alternative to VUCA and BANI. [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Presents FRAME as a conceptual approach to organisational complexity and uncertainty.
Read on ResearchGate ↗In the Shadow of Jung
Stevens, D. J. (July 2025). In the Shadow of Jung [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Offers a CDT interpretation of the shadow through habituated cognitive construction.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Reconstructing Thought: A Formal Rebuttal to Laske's Critique of Constructed Development Theory
Stevens, D. J. (July 2025). Reconstructing Thought: A Formal Rebuttal to Laske's Critique of Constructed Development Theory [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Responds to Laske’s critique by examining the relationship between thought and intention.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Stage Transition - A New Approach to Adult Development Growth
Stevens, D. J. (January 2024). Stage Transition - A New Approach to Adult Development Growth [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Sets out a proposed account of developmental transition through Cognitive Intentions.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Making the Complex Simple: Mapping Kegan to Cognitive Heuristics for a Deeper Dive into complexity
Stevens, D. J. (June 2023). Making the Complex Simple: Mapping Kegan to Cognitive Heuristics for a Deeper Dive into complexity [Preprint]. ResearchGate.
Explores relationships between developmental complexity and cognitive heuristics.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Presentations & discussionConference paper · July 2025 Presentation · June 2023 Conference paper · April 2023 Poster · March 2021 Presentation · March 2021 Poster · October 2019
Sharing the questions and the emerging work.
Conference papers, presentations and posters document different stages of the work. Read each in its original context.
Rethinking Spiral Dynamics: A Constructed Development Theory Perspective
Stevens, D. J. (July 2025). Rethinking Spiral Dynamics: A Constructed Development Theory Perspective [Conference paper]. ResearchGate.
Reconsiders stage descriptions in Spiral Dynamics through CDT.
Read on ResearchGate ↗What is Constructed Development Theory?
Stevens, D. J. (June 2023). What is Constructed Development Theory? [Presentation]. ResearchGate.
Introduces Cognitive Intentions and the Intention–Awareness–Choice–Response framework.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Title How does Constructed Development Theory (Stevens, 2020) deal with Stage Transition?
Stevens, D. J. (April 2023). Title How does Constructed Development Theory (Stevens, 2020) deal with Stage Transition? [Conference paper]. ResearchGate.
Outlines Cognitive Intentions as a proposed mechanism of developmental change.
Read on ResearchGate ↗What is Dynamic Intelligence?
Stevens, D. J. (March 2021). What is Dynamic Intelligence? [Poster]. ResearchGate.
Introduces Dynamic Intelligence and its relationship to awareness in the moment.
Read on ResearchGate ↗What is Constructed Development Theory?
Stevens, D. J. (March 2021). What is Constructed Development Theory? [Presentation]. ResearchGate.
An earlier introduction to CDT and its research foundations.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Poster on the research behind Constructed Development Theory
Stevens, D. J. (October 2019). Poster on the research behind Constructed Development Theory [Poster]. ResearchGate.
A historical snapshot of the doctoral research as it developed.
Read on ResearchGate ↗Working manuscriptAuthorial manuscript · 2026
The current practical account.
Constructed Development Theory: A Vade Mecum
The Portable Field Guide to Awareness, Choice, and Deliberate Construction.
The practical source used by the Knowledge library for current terminology, the AQ/TQ distinction and the ten-layer Development Onion. It represents later conceptual development alongside the earlier academic foundation.
No public edition or download is linked here. Manuscript status should not be confused with a published or independently validated research finding.
Enquire about availability →Connected reading
From the sources to the ideas.
IAD Knowledge →
Explore the concepts, frameworks and proposed measures, with their relationships and evidence boundaries.
IAD Research →
See the questions guiding the Institute’s developing research programmes.
Citing the work
Use the specific source and version you read. The entries above give author, date, title and source type; follow the ResearchGate record for available citation exports and version details. Distinguish original findings from subsequent conceptual developments.