Recent Trends in Theoretical Psychology pp 209-224 | Cite as
Understanding the Complex Dynamics of Human Stability and Change
Summary
Faced with the inherent complexity of changes in human development over time, psychologists have sought relatively simple laws and theories to try to make sense out of the flux of human behavior in a changing world. The search for simple laws may be based upon their desire to emulate the physical sciences, as exemplified in the orderly domain of Newtonian physics. However, such a desire for simple universal laws ‘as in physics’ may be outmoded; the physical sciences have changed in recent years. Physics has gone beyond Newtonian laws for the study of equilibrium in closed systems to explore the complex dynamics of irreversible phenomena in open systems where linear explanations break down and complex structural changes can occur. This paper presents a model for conceptualizing the processes of complex changes over time based upon the theory of irreversible phenomena in the physical sciences developed by Ilya Prigogine, Grégoire Nicolis and their colleagues. The reader is invited to suspend traditional ways of viewing change and development and embark on an exploration of the usefulness of some alternative mathematical and theoretical perspectives which are based upon recent theory and research in the physical sciences. The overall goal is to present a way of conceptualizing and exploring highly complex developmental phenomena without oversimplifying the complex nature of the processes of behavioral changes over time in the real world.
Keywords
Phase Space Chaotic Dynamic Physical Science Chaotic Attractor Convection CellPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
- Allen, P. M (1985). Ecology, thermodynamics and self-organization: toward a new understanding of complexity. Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 213, 3–26.Google Scholar
- Eckmann, J. -P. (1981). Roads to turbulence in dissipative dynamical systems. Review of Modern Physics, 53, 643–654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Feigenbaum, M. (1980). Universal behavior in nonlinear systems. Los Alamos Science, 1, 4–27.Google Scholar
- Flavell, J. H., & Wohlwill, J. F. (1969). Formal and functional aspects of cognitive development. In D. Elkind & J. H. Flavell (Eds.), Studies in cognitive development: essays in honor of Jean Piaget (pp. 67–120 ). London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
- Gaspard, P., & Nicolis, G. (1985). Chaotic Dynamics. Brussels: Faculté des Sciences de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles.Google Scholar
- Grassberger, P., Procaccia, I. (1983a). Measuring the strangeness of strange attractors. Physica, 9, 189–208.Google Scholar
- Grassberger, P., & Procaccia, I. (1983b). Characterization of strange attractors. Physical Review Letters, 50(5), 346–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Mandelbrot, B. B. (1983). The fractal geometry of nature. (revised ed.). San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
- Nicolis, C., & Nicolis, G. (1984). Is there a climatic attractor? Nature, 311, 529–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Nicolis, G., & Prigogine, I. (1977). Self organization in non-equilibrium systems, from dissipative structures to order through fluctuations. New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
- Nicolis, J. S. (1985). Chaotic dynamics of information processing with relevance to cognitive brain functions. Cybernetics, 14, 167–172.Google Scholar
- Prigogine, I. (1980). From being to becoming: Time and complexity in the physical sciences. New York: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
- Riegel, K. F. (1979). Foundations of dialectical psychology. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
- Sussman, H. J., & Zahler, R. S. (1978). Catastrophe theory as applied to the social and biological sciences: a critique. Synthese, 37, 117–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Thom, R. (1981). Modèles mathématiques de la morphogenèse. Paris: Christian Bourgois.Google Scholar
- Thom, R. (1985). Paraboles et catastrophes. Paris: Flammarion.Google Scholar
- Werner, H. (1948). Comparative psychology of mental development. New York: Science Editions.Google Scholar
- Wohlwill, F. F. (1973). The study of behavioral development. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar