Dynamic Development of Action and Thought

Fischer, Kurt W.; Bidell, Thomas R.

doi:10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0107

Cited by 359 publications

(601 citation statements)

References 187 publications

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“…These include connectionist models [10], catastrophe theories of structural change from a neo-Piagetian perspective [11] and models based on prey -predator relationships in which skills are envisioned as arising from recursive interacting 'growers' [6,12]. Moreover, dynamic views of development have encompassed many different content domains, including mother-infant relationships, imitation, language, social relationships, perception and action, and atypical patterns of developmental change [13 -18].…”

Section: Development As a Dynamic Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monotone dynamical systems

Smith¹

2008

Mathematical Surveys and Monographs

144

241

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Development is about creating something more from something less, for example, a walking and talking toddler from a helpless infant. One current theoretical framework views the developmental process as a change within a complex dynamic system. Development is seen as the emergent product of many decentralized and local interactions that occur in real time. We examine how studying the multicausality of real-time processes could be the key to understanding change over developmental time. We specifically consider recent research and theory on perseverative reaching by infants as a case study that demonstrates this approach.Contemporary developmental psychologists are still asking the same question that has intrigued philosophers and scientists since ancient times. How does the human mind, with all its power and imagination, emerge from the human infant, a creature so unformed and helpless? Some see the transformation as so remarkable that they endow infants with genetically programmed and pre-existing mental structures trapped in an immature body: latent capabilities for language, number, and physical and social reasoning that await revelation as infants mature. We also see the transformation as remarkable, but suggest that development is better understood as the emergent product of many decentralized and local interactions that occur in real time. That is, the developmental process is viewed as change within a complex dynamic system. There are several good introductions available to the concepts and mathematics of dynamic systems theory for cognitive scientists [1,2]. Development as a dynamic systemThe idea of emergence -the coming into existence of new forms through ongoing processes intrinsic to the systemare not new to developmental psychology. Developmental theorists such as Kuo, Oyama and Gottlieb have long emphasized the probabilistic, epigenetic nature of ontogenetic processes. Biologists and psychologists such as Waddington, von Bertalanffy, Lewin and Gesell have envisioned behaviour and development as morphogenetic fields that unify multiple, underlying components. But only in the past decade or so have the concepts and models of non-linear dynamic systems made in-roads into traditional developmental psychology, becoming a contender for a new developmental theory [3 -9] and fundamentally changing the way development is studied (see Box 1).Developmental psychologists have used dynamic systems ideas both as a conceptual theory [3,7,9] and in various formal mathematical treatments of developmental change. These include connectionist models [10], catastrophe theories of structural change from a neo-Piagetian perspective [11] and models based on prey -predator relationships in which skills are envisioned as arising from recursive interacting 'growers' [6,12]. Moreover, dynamic views of development have encompassed many different content domains, including mother-infant relationships, imitation, language, social relationships, perception and action, and atypical patterns of developmental change [13 -18].What u...

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Section: Development As a Dynamic Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monotone dynamical systems

Smith¹

2008

Mathematical Surveys and Monographs

144

241

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“…Evolved attachment and learning processes maintain this intergenerational, interdependent pattern (Fischer & Bidell, 2006), which is the basis of culture and its transmission . In this context, some ideas stand the test of time and some ideas fall by the wayside.…”

Section: Einstein the World As I See Itmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, much like William James assumed, the mathematics describing human functioning -and the functioning of living systems generally -has turned out to be less orderly and harmonious, more dynamic, variable, and complex than are the mathematics describing concrete physical systems (Bertalanffy, 1968;Fischer & Bidell, 2006 Certainly, when it comes to behaving like a scientist, sentiment and formal logic are inextricably bound (Warfield, 2003(Warfield, , 2004, for example, by reference to the facts and relations a thinker (or group of thinkers) select for inclusion in models describing the phenomena of our world.…”

Section: Modest Systems Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, much like William James assumed, the mathematics describing human functioning -and the functioning of living systems generally -has turned out to be less orderly and harmonious, more dynamic, variable, and complex than are the mathematics describing concrete physical systems (Bertalanffy, 1968;Fischer & Bidell, 2006). For example, by virtue of the fact that living systems are open systems, in exchange of matter-energy with their environment, a whole new set of elements and relations enter into the description, explanation, prediction, and control of these systems (J. G. Miller, 1978).…”

Section: Einstein the World As I See Itmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, positive psychologists have not yet adopted the analytical stance necessary to predict and influence positive outcomes by reference to rules or theories that describe functional interactions between people and their environment (M.J. Hogan, 2005aHogan, , 2005bHogan, , 2007b. Most positive psychologists are far removed from systems science and integrative systems theories of human development (Fischer & Bidell, 2006;Labouvie-Vief & Márquez González, 2004). …”

Section: Understanding the Laws Of Optimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modest systems psychology: A neutral complement to positive psychological thinking

Hogan

2008

Syst. Res.

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Publication InformationHogan, M. J (2008) The positive psychology movement has recently reconfigured the thinking of psychologists by bringing to the forefront of enquiry a scientific focus on positive emotions, character strengths, and human virtue, the ultimate aim of which is to further our understanding of human nature and optimize our potential for a good life.This paper proposes a modest systems psychology as a neutral complement to positive psychological thinking in an effort to facilitate a systems view on action optimization. Modest Systems Psychology 3The challenge of modesty to joy "Some men and women, indeed, there are who can live on smiles and the word 'yes' forever. But for others (indeed for most), this is too tepid and relaxed a moral climate.Passive happiness is slack and insipid, and soon grows mawkish and intolerable.Some austerity and wintry negativity, some roughness, danger, stringency, and effort, some 'no! no!' must be mixed in, to produce the sense of an existence with character and texture and power. The range of individual differences in this respect is enormous; but whatever the mixture of yeses and noes may be, the person is infallibly aware when he has struck it in the right proportion for him. This, he feels, is my 1 A reviewer has asked me to substantiate the claim that William James was in fact a modest psychologist. A reading of his private correspondence suggests to me that he was (James & James, 1920). Other modest psychologists might wish to contest this claim.Modest Systems Psychology 4 proper vocation, this is the optimum, the law, the life for me to live. Here I find the degree of equilibrium, safety, calm, and leisure which I need, or here I find the challenge, passion, fight, and hardship without which my soul's energy expire".(James, 1902, p 299, original italics).Ultimately, William James is talking about the range of individual differences in human personality associated with optimization of positive experiences, and his own sentiment and experience leads him to believe that the laws describing the optimization of positive experiences will be different for everyone.Our vigorous pursuit after truth, our desire to understand the 'harmony' of the universe has spurred many thinkers on to discover and do great things 2 . For example, one byproduct of scientific discovery has been an exponential growth in novel technological developments (Pettersson, 1996) --and without sufficient interindividual variation no new niches would be carved and technology development at a population level would stagnate (Basalla, 1988;Odling-Smee, Laland, & Feldman, 2003).However, much like William James assumed, the mathematics describing human functioning -and the functioning of living systems generally -has turned out to be less orderly and harmonious, more dynamic, variable, and complex than are the mathematics describing concrete physical systems (Bertalanffy, 1968;Fischer & Bidell, 2006 Certainly, when it comes to behaving like a scientist, sentiment and formal logic are inextricably bou...

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