Chapter Four – Emergence, self-organization and developmental science

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Authors
Greenberg, Gary
Callina, Kristina Schmid
Mueller, Megan Kiely
Advisors
Issue Date
2013
Type
Book chapter
Keywords
Embodiment , Emergence , Epigenesis , Evolution , Relational developmental systems , Self-organization
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
Greenberg, Gary; Callina, Kristina Schmid; Mueller, Megan Kiely. 2013. Chapter Four – Emergence, self-organization and developmental science. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, v.44 pp.95-126
Abstract

Our understanding is that psychology is a biopsychosocial science as well as a developmental science. Behavioral origins stem from ontogenetic processes, behavioral as well as biological. Biological factors are simply participating factors in behavioral origins and not causal factors. Psychology is not a biological science; it is a unique psychological science, a natural science consistent and compatible with the principles of the other sciences. Accordingly, we show in this chapter how principles and ideas from other sciences play important roles in psychology. While we focus on the concepts from physics of self-organization and emergence, we also address the cosmological and evolutionary biology idea of increased complexity over time, the organizing principle of integrative levels, and the epigenetic processes that are in part responsible for transgenerational trait transmission. Our discussion stresses the developmental science concepts of embodiment and contextualism and how they structure thinking about psychological processes. We conclude with a description of how these ideas support current postpositivist conceptions of relational processes and models in contemporary developmental science.

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Publisher
Elsevier
Journal
Book Title
Series
Advances in Child Development and Behavior;v.44
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
0065-2407
EISSN