wobbles, humps and sudden jumps 1

Wobbles, humps and sudden jumps.Views and methods in the

study of developmental transitions and variability

Paul van GeertUniversity of Groningen

Wobbles, humps and sudden jumps.Views and methods in the

study of developmental transitions and variability

Paul van GeertUniversity of Groningen

wobbles, humps and sudden jumps 2

Wobbles, humps and sudden jumps …Wobbles, humps and sudden jumps …

• Exploring developmental transitions …• In the context of a personal and somewhat

unorthodox view on• The nature of psychological variables• The phenomena that we should pay attention to

• Based on the belief that• Behavior must be explained by contextualist and

dynamic theory• The individual person should be the focus of our

analyses

• Exploring developmental transitions …• In the context of a personal and somewhat

unorthodox view on• The nature of psychological variables• The phenomena that we should pay attention to

• Based on the belief that• Behavior must be explained by contextualist and

dynamic theory• The individual person should be the focus of our

analyses

wobbles, humps and sudden jumps 3

Wobbles, humps and sudden jumps …Wobbles, humps and sudden jumps …

• We will have to address fundamental theoretical and methodological issues

• I shall discuss transitions over time but also transitions over descriptive dimensions (categorization)

• And will occasionally address issues such as the color of socks, the nature of our data sets, curve fitting and why we should not always be afraid of disagreement among observers…

• We will have to address fundamental theoretical and methodological issues

• I shall discuss transitions over time but also transitions over descriptive dimensions (categorization)

• And will occasionally address issues such as the color of socks, the nature of our data sets, curve fitting and why we should not always be afraid of disagreement among observers…

wobbles, humps and sudden jumps 4

Transitions …Transitions …

wobbles, humps and sudden jumps - transitions 5

Transitions (1 of 3)Transitions (1 of 3)

• A passage from one state, stage or place to another …

• A movement, development or evolution from one form, stage or style to another…

• Assumptions• The passage lasts shorter than the stages (…)

themselves• The stages are stable …

• A passage from one state, stage or place to another …

• A movement, development or evolution from one form, stage or style to another…

• Assumptions• The passage lasts shorter than the stages (…)

themselves• The stages are stable …

wobbles, humps and sudden jumps - transitions 6

Transitions (2 of 3)Transitions (2 of 3)

• Classical stage theories (Piaget)• Stage transitions• Are stages real?• Piaget was more interested in the problem of the construction

of novelty

• Novelty: transition from old to new• How can something new arise from something old in

development?• 1970ies: It cannot: it must be there in advance (Chomsky, Fodor)• 1990ies: Dynamic systems theory: self-organization and

spontaneous increase in complexity

• Classical stage theories (Piaget)• Stage transitions• Are stages real?• Piaget was more interested in the problem of the construction

of novelty

• Novelty: transition from old to new• How can something new arise from something old in

development?• 1970ies: It cannot: it must be there in advance (Chomsky, Fodor)• 1990ies: Dynamic systems theory: self-organization and

spontaneous increase in complexity

wobbles, humps and sudden jumps - transitions 7

Transitions (3 of 3)Transitions (3 of 3)

• The basic form of transitions• Catastrophy theory: elementary discontinuities (van

der Maas and Molenaar)

• Mechanisms to explain transitions• Vygotsky• Microgenetic studies (Siegler, Kuhn, Granott,

Fischer, …)• Dynamic systems theory (Thelen & Smith, vG)• Dynamic skill theory (Fischer)• Distributed and situated cognition

• The basic form of transitions• Catastrophy theory: elementary discontinuities (van

der Maas and Molenaar)

• Mechanisms to explain transitions• Vygotsky• Microgenetic studies (Siegler, Kuhn, Granott,

Fischer, …)• Dynamic systems theory (Thelen & Smith, vG)• Dynamic skill theory (Fischer)• Distributed and situated cognition

Common themeDynamic, time-based, process-oriented nature of psychological phenomena

Common themeDynamic, time-based, process-oriented nature of psychological phenomena