Probabilistic Epigenesis, Experience, and Psychological Development in Infancy (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.

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.

A causal interpretation of Piaget's theory of cognitive development: Reflections on the relationship between epigenesis and nonlinear dynamics

New Ideas in Psychology, 2000

It is shown that the Piagetian model of stagewise cognitive development can be assigned a powerful causal interpretation in terms of self-organizing epigenetic processes. A detailed heuristic explanation is given of self-organizing epigenetics. In addition, the relationships between selforganizing epigenetics on the one hand, and traditional genetical and environmental accounts of cognitive development on the other hand, are scrutinized. Special emphasis is given to fundamental limitations of causal accounts of cognitive development in terms of the now popular arti"cial neural networks. To further study these limitations, a paradigm based on Kant's transcendental psychology is proposed.

The Biological Implausibility of the Nature–Nurture Dichotomy and What It Means for the Study of Infancy

Infancy, 2011

Since the time of the Greeks, philosophers and scientists have wondered about the origins of structure and function. Plato proposed that the origins of structure and function lie in the organism's nature whereas Aristotle proposed that they lie in its nurture. This nature-nurture dichotomy and the emphasis on the origins question has had a powerful effect on our thinking about development right into modern times. Despite this, empirical findings from various branches of developmental science have made a compelling case that the nature-nurture dichotomy is biologically implausible and, thus, that a search for developmental origins must be replaced by research into developmental processes. This change in focus recognizes that development is an immensely complex, dynamic, embedded, interdependent, and probabilistic process and, therefore, renders simplistic questions such as whether a particular behavioral capacity is innate or acquired scientifically uninteresting.

Rethinking Developmental Science

Research in Human Development, 2014

The articles in this issue are all based on the invited addresses given by the authors at the 2013 biennial meeting of the Society for the Study of Human Development. All of the authors address the unfolding paradigm shift in developmental sciences, from reductionism to relational developmental system theories. This theoretical stance involves the recognition of Individual ↔ context transactions, with multiple co-acting partners existing in dynamic relationships across the lifespan and life course. The articles address not only theoretical issues, but also methodological advances and their applications. While acknowledging the importance of new data collection and analytical techniques that permit the testing of more complex theoretical models, the articles demonstrate that well-designed questions from this theoretical perspective can also yield novel findings which are highly relevant to current real-world problems and social policy issues. This issue of Research in Human Development (RHD) is special for two reasons. First, it is composed of invited addresses from the 2013 biannual meeting of the Society for the Study of Human Development (SSHD), in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As such, I cannot really take credit for the compilation of this issue-that honor rightfully belongs to Willis (Bill) Overton, who organized the conference as President-Elect of the SSHD and invited this group of luminaries in the field of developmental science, and who is providing the commentary to this issue. Nonetheless, it has been a privilege to work with these authors, who have been highly instrumental in spearheading cutting edge issues in developmental science and who have contributed really terrific articles. Second, this is my last issue as Editor of RHD. I started in the summer of 2009, taking over from Erin Phelps, who ably shepherded this journal for several years. It has really been a tremendous amount of fun (and work). RHD is an unusual journal in several ways. It is one of the few journals which is lifespan, multidisciplinary, and embraces multi-method approaches. Further, we publish only special issues. Thus, we welcome proposals which have articles representing all stages of life, and from several disciplines, including psychological, sociology, philosophy, and biology. The topics of our issues in the past five years have ranged from epigenetics and evolutionary biology (Greenberg, 2014; Wanke & Spittle, 2011) and systems science (Urban, Osgood, & Mabry, 2011) to the life course effects of military service (Spiro & Settersten, 2012

Individual Differences in developmental plasticity may result from stochastic sampling

2011

Abstract The ability to adjust developmental trajectories based on experience is widespread in nature, including in humans. This plasticity is often adaptive, tailoring individuals to their local environment. However, it is less clear why some individuals are more sensitive to environmental influences than others. Explanations include differences in genes and differences in prior experiences. In this article, we present a novel hypothesis in the latter category.