Developmental psychobiology special issue: “Gilbert gottlieb's legacy: Probabilistic epigenesis and the development of individuals and species” (original) (raw)

Gilbert Gottlieb's theory of probabilistic epigenesis: probabilities and realities in development

Developmental psychobiology, 2007

Gilbert Gottlieb's theory of probabilistic epigenesis is a fertile ground for further theoretical construction in developmental science. It fills in the gap in the domineering empiricism and honoring of inductive generalization that dominates psychology in the beginning of the 21st century, by offering a basic deductive framework for guiding the efforts of developmental science. It was based on a program of careful experimental investigations of the early avian ontogenieslater to be generalized to the developmental processes as a generic phenomenon. Further development of his theory takes the form of (a) explicating the different meanings of probabilism in his model, and (b) extending his multi-level system to include psychological and social levels of organization. Gottlieb's contribution allows for a new synthesis of contemporary epigenetics and developmental science, and sets up major challenges for the methodology of research on development. ß 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 49: 832-840, 2007.

Probabilistic Epigenesis, Experience, and Psychological Development in Infancy

2000

The commentators on our target article have raised some excellent points relative to our article, and we are gratified to see the generally positive tone of the replies. All of the commentators have offered overall support for our framework, although there are differences of opinion with us on some issues. Because the commentaries raised questions in common, we do not try to address each commentary in turn.

Cognitive developmental biology: History, process and fortune’s wheel

Cognition, 2006

Biological contributions to cognitive development continue to be conceived predominantly along deterministic lines, with proponents of diVerent positions arguing about the preponderance of gene-based versus experience-based inXuences that organize brain circuits irreversibly during prenatal or early postnatal life, and evolutionary inXuences acting through selection on small numbers of genes. This article discusses evolutionary, mechanistic and probabilistic aspects of developmental processes that cognitive scientists need to better integrate. Developmental processes inseparably fuse experience-dependent and experience-independent components, have important stochastic contributions, and exhibit a greater degree of mechanistic continuity between developing and adult nervous systems than previously thought. Their balanced integration leads to new models for "critical or sensitive" period phenomena and behavioral biases. A general understanding of behavioral development-cognitive developmental biology-will require better coordination between comparative animal and human developmental research programs.

The developmental construction of heredity

Developmental Psychobiology, 2007

Through his empirical and theoretical work, Gottlieb advanced a sophisticated and integrated view of development, which he saw as a probabilistic process of construction involving bidirectional interactions between structures and functions, and the phenotypic accommodation of the organism to changing environmental conditions. Gottlieb developed these ideas within a broad framework that went beyond the lifecycle of the individual. From his perspective as a developmental psychologist, he contributed to a way of thinking about evolutionary processes that stresses the importance and primacy of the modifications that occur during development. Through their long-term effects on physiology and behavior, environmentally induced, developmental modifications may contribute to the reconstruction of an animal's developmental and ecological niches, and therefore affect the conditions in which it and its offspring are selected. Gottlieb stressed in particular the effects of prenatal and early postnatal conditions on the development of behavior, and their long-term effects on the individual and its descendants. In this essay, I consider how the development-oriented focus that was central to Gottlieb's perspective affects evolutionary theorizing, and, more specifically, I discuss the special status of behaviorally driven evolution. ß 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 49: 808-817, 2007.

A biological window on psychological development

Developmental Psychobiology, 2008

The articles in this special issue of Developmental Psychobiology were presented in May 2005 at an international institute on developmental science hosted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Conducted annually at one of the participating universities, these meetings are intended to foster collaboration and build consensus on specific theoretical, methodological, and analytical issues faced by developmentally oriented researchers. The overall goal of the 2005 meeting, titled ''Integrating Biology and Developmental Science,'' was to identify different ways by which a developmental study of psychological phenomena in their joint biological and behavioral aspects may shed new light on their organization in the individual. The six contributions to this special issue illustrate how a biological window on developmental processes can further this scientific endeavor. ß 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 1-3, 2008.

Session 5: Development, Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology

2002

This document is available as a preprint from http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu Copyright remains with the individual authors. ... Session 5: Development, Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology • Steven Quartz (Caltech) Toward a Developmental Evolutionary ... Psychology: Genes, ...