Timing is everything: Developmental psychopathology from a dynamic systems perspective☆
Introduction
From the inception of the field, developmental psychopathologists have adopted an organismic, holistic, transactional framework for conceptualizing individual differences in normal and atypical development (e.g., Cicchetti, 1993, Cicchetti and Cohen, 1995, Cummings et al., 2000, Garmezy and Rutter, 1983, Sameroff, 1983, Sameroff, 1995, Sroufe and Rutter, 1984). These scholars often frame their models in terms of organizational principles and systems language which resonate strongly with dynamic systems (DS) principles in general and principles of self-organization in particular. The systems theories that inform models in developmental psychopathology include: General Systems Theory (Sameroff, 1983, Sameroff, 1995, von Bertalanffy, 1968), Developmental Systems Theory (Ford & Lerner, 1992), the ecological framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), contextualism (Dixon & Lerner, 1988), the transactional perspective (Dumas, LaFrenier, & Serketich, 1995), the organizational approach (Cicchetti and Schneider-Rosen, 1986, Garmezy, 1974, Sroufe and Rutter, 1984), the holistic-interactionistic view (Bergman & Magnusson, 1997), and the epigenetic view (Gottlieb, 1991, Gottlieb, 1992). As a class of models, these approaches focus on process-level accounts of human behavior and on the context dependence and heterogeneity of developmental phenomena. They are concerned with the equi- and multifinality of development, the hierarchically embedded nature of intrapersonal (e.g., neurochemical activity, cognitive, and emotional processes), interpersonal (e.g., parent–child relationships; peer networks), and higher order social systems (e.g., communities, cultures). They are also fundamentally concerned with the mechanisms that underlie change and novelty (as well as stability) in normal and clinically significant trajectories.
Because of their long-standing familiarity with systems concepts in general, many developmental psychopathologists are already familiar with at least some DS concepts. For the sake of clarity, however, it is important to delineate the DS framework from the systems approaches mentioned previously (Lewis, 2000). Formally, a dynamical system is a set of mathematical equations that specify how a system changes over time. The various patterns and processes that emerge from this set of equations rely on a technical language originally developed in the fields of mathematics and physics. The concepts derived from this mathematical framework comprise the principles of DS. Thus, what I refer to as dynamic systems principles is a meta-theoretical framework that encompasses a set of abstract concepts that have been applied in different disciplines (e.g., physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology) and to various phenomena (e.g., lasers, ant colonies, and brain dynamics) at vastly different scales of analysis (from cells to economic trends and from milliseconds to millenia).
DS principles provide a framework for describing how novel forms emerge and stabilize through a system’s own internal feedback activities (Prigogine and Stengers, 1984, von Bertalanffy, 1968). This process is known as self-organization and refers to the spontaneously generated (i.e., emergent) order in complex, adaptive systems. I follow other developmentalists (e.g., Fogel and Thelen, 1987, Keating, 1990, Lewis, 1995, Thelen and Smith, 1994, van Geert, 1991) who find that DS concepts—especially notions of self-organization, attractors on a state space, feedback, and phase transitions—carry compelling explanatory power that can help us model the processes that give rise to, and maintain, normative and idiosyncratic developmental pathways.
Section snippets
Distinguishing the DS approach from other systems views
Many DS concepts seem to overlap with systems views that have already been appropriated by developmental psychopathologists. Do we really need the DS approach to be added to this cadre of systems views? I suggest that indeed we do and propose five main distinctions that carry critical implications for theory and methodological development in developmental psychopathology. First, the DS framework is primarily concerned with the emergence of novelty through the process of self-organization,
The application of DS principles to core concerns in developmental psychopathology
First, DS principles are compatible with, and may help extend, the developmental psychopathology framework by providing a scaffold through which diverse scientific disciplines may become integrated. Developmental psychopathologists emphasize the need to integrate scientific perspectives including those of biology, neurology, physiology, psychology, and sociology. Although a grand unified theory is well beyond our grasp, a “broad-based, multi- and interdisplinary approach” to developmental
The application of relevant DS concepts to research in developmental psychopathology
Perhaps the most important insight to be gained from the DS perspective is the importance of studying real-time (moment-to-moment) processes. Along with many DS researchers (e.g., Fogel, 1993; Smith, this volume; Thelen and Smith, 1994, van Geert, 1991), I argue that real-time behaviors (e.g., peer and family interactions, babies smiling, toddlers talking, and so on) are the raw material of development. Individuals live in the here and now and it is moment-to-moment, day-to-day direct
Conclusion
For over a decade, developmental psychopathologists have incorporated general systems views in much of their thinking. However, this work has been largely metaphorical and has generally remained at the theoretical modeling stage. The DS framework may provide a more rigorous set of principles that can be applied to the diverse disciplines and multiple levels of analyses that are well represented in developmental psychopathology. In addition, the DS approach offers a wide array of methodological
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I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Grant 1 R21 MH 67357 from the National Institute of Mental Health and Grant MOP-62930 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.