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42 BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL UNIVERSALSoperate to foster adaptation under high-risk and adverse conditions, as well as servingmany other adaptive functions over the course of development (Masten, 2001,2004; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998; Masten & Reed, 2002; Wright & Masten, 2004;Yates & Masten, 2004). These adaptive systems have been extensively investigatedfor many years in the social sciences and other fields, and more recently, have gainedthe attention of neuroscience researchers. Examples include the following: attachmentsystems and relationships that provide emotional security and a host of regulatoryfunctions in development; a functional family that serves many roles in thecaregiving, socialization, emotional or physical security, and regulation of familymembers; a central nervous system in good working order that is operating to processinformation, learn and solve problems, regulate stress, and perform many otherroles; a mastery motivational system that motivates efforts to adapt and rewardssuccess; meaning-making systems of belief that provide emotional security, hope,and a sense of coherence in life; community and school organizations that provideopportunities for learning, socialization, contexts for mastery experiences, and soon; and many other cultural and societal systems that nurture and support basicadaptive systems for development. Presumably, these systems have evolved in biologicalevolution and human cultural evolution because of their adaptive value.Moreover, the development of these systems is itself adaptive in ontogeny, withindividual development influenced at multiple levels by experience, including thecentral nervous system and all the systems regulated by the brain, such as stressregulation. Many chapters in this volume illustrate the burgeoning interest in developmentalneuroscience and brain plasticity and the profound implications for preventiveinterventions of the adaptability of primary adaptive systems duringdevelopment, discussed further at later points in this chapter.Prevention and Intervention to Promote PositiveDevelopment and to Test Resilience TheoryThe significance of the short list and potential adaptive systems that this list mayrepresent are still largely matters of speculation in regard to the causes and processesof resilience. However, randomized experiments to prevent and ameliorateproblems among children and youth at risk afford one of the best strategiesfor testing causal models of resilience (Luthar & Cicchetti, 2000; Masten, 1994;Masten & Coatsworth, 1998; Masten & Powell, 2003). Youth cannot be randomlyassigned to the hazards of life, but it is possible to provide assets and protectiveresources designed to promote better development or to mobilize adaptive systemson their behalf, and study whether and how these interventions work. Resiliencebasedmodels offer guidance for designing and evaluating interventions (Luthar& Cicchetti, 2000; Masten, 2001, 2006b; Masten & Gewirtz, 2006; Masten &Powell, 2003; Yates & Masten, 2004).A compelling case can be made for the transformative influence of resiliencestudies on practice and the prevention field (Masten, 2001; Masten & Gewirtz,