Psychobiological systems theory is a relational approach to development that challenges the longstanding views that (1) genetic and environmental influences on the phenotype can be meaningfully partitioned and that (2) genes are capable of directly specifying phenotypes. Gilbert Gottlieb's theoretical innovations including the notion of…

The fields of psychology and human development are experiencing a resurgence of scientific inquiries about phenomena that unfold at the level of the individual. This article addresses the issues of analyzing intraindividual psychological/developmental phenomena using standard analytical techniques for interindividual variation. When phenomena are…

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the revival of Heinz Werner's organismic-developmental theory by considering some of its key claims in relation to contemporary developmental theory and research. The organismic-developmental definition of development in terms of differentiation and integration is first discussed in relation to…

Hunger, thirst and satiety have an enormous influence on cognition, behavior and development, yet we often take for granted that they are simply inborn or innate. Converging data and theory from both comparative and human domains, however, supports the conclusion that the phenomena hunger, thirst and satiety are not innate but rather emerge…

The dynamic systems perspective has been touted as an integrative metatheoretical framework for the study of stability and change in development. However, two dynamic systems camps exist with respect to the role higher-order form, once emergent, plays in the process of development. This paper evaluates these two camps in terms of the overarching…

Gottlieb's (1991/2007) target article represents a milestone in our understanding of the impact of social experience on developmental malleability. Interactions across the species-typical and operant behavior categories are increasingly understood to exist. The social contingencies present in the normal species-typical developmental manifold are…

Reviews Thelen and Smith's book and its account of "how knowing develops from doing." Concentrates on the nature of dynamic systems. (DR)

Focuses on systems theory as the paradigm underlying family therapy and considers the implications of this framework for conceptions of the individual, the study of parent-child interaction, and new research formulations and areas of study. Considers trends in the developmental field that move toward such formulations. (RH)

Argues that dynamic systems approaches may provide an explanatory framework based on general scientific principles for developmental psychology, using principles of self-organization to explain how novel forms emerge without predetermination and become increasingly complex with development. Contends that self-organization provides a single…

Discusses Adolph's research on locomotion with regard to the requirements of an ecological psychology, especially the use of control laws; her examination of individual styles and normative patterns as it reflects a dynamic systems perspective; and her use of cognitive processes of decision making in explaining why infants approach or avoid a…

For the field of human development, the synthesis of older theories of the environment, newer context theories, biological theories, and systems theories permit the generation of new models for the developmental process. This paper reviews, compares, and contrasts recent theories of development and presents a synthesis that can guide future…

This paper discusses the utility of a general systems theory paradigm for psychology. The paradigm can be used for conceptualizing such complex phenomena as change over time in living systems, person-society interactions, and the epistemology of multiply determined changes. Consideration is also given to applications of the approach to…

Presents self organization theory, which explains change in human development and behavior and which views choices and changes as being created in a state of disequilibrium. Includes background in previous developmental theory and in systems theory and explains first- and second-order change within the theory. (Author/KS)

In contrast to earlier notions, a systems view of an organism's development sees genes as only one component in a hierarchy of influences that produces finished traits and differentiation. Developmental canalization proceeds from genes, behavior, and environment as well as from the coaction of these factors. (BC)

To a greater extent than any other species, human beings create the environments that, in turn, shape their own development. This book endeavors to demonstrate that human beings can also develop those environments to optimize their most constructive genetic potentials. What makes human beings human, therefore, is both the potential to shape their…