1)evelopmental scientists have always been receptive to d!naniic systems because they come face to face with complexity, nonlinearity, and context dependency every la!^. The works o f scientists froni Werner and von Bertnlanffy through Piaget, Lerner, Sameroff, and Gottlieb kittest t o this receptivity. It still seems that the broad scholarly environment became interested only recently in the very general principles o f process and change. The enthusiasm for this approach expressed by the participants o f the workshop “Dynamic Systems in Development” held in Kansas City in 1989 convinced Linda R. Smith and Esther Thelen that the papers from the workshop and some invited papers would find a large audience. This book intends to be a pioneering attempt to bridge the general principles with applications to developmental issues that span domains, levels, and time scales. The chapters o f the book are organized into two major parts. Part I is introduced with a tutorial on the general principles o f dynamic systems by Kelso, Ding, and Schiiner. This chapter presents dynamic principles in a generic form applicable to questions of pattern formation in any biological organisms over many time scales. The remainder of the first part contains chapters whose focus is primarily on the motor performance of developing infants and children. In Part I1 the authors cast their nets more broadly into various domains o f inquiry, inclucling perception and its relation to action, infant state, cognition and language, and behavior. Thus, they move within the largest social and ecological spheres. Finally, Kicharcl kslin provides a witty concluding commentary :inti critique. Experts in system theories will tind an excellent overview of dynamic system applications in this book. Those who are pursuing works in developmental sciences but are not familiar with the terms used in the book ma!. initially doubt that this book is accessible t o them. Fortunately, the logic, definitions, and clear explanations help the reader negotiate some of the topics presentccl here that might otherwise be perplexing. By the end o f the book the reader is convinced that dynamic systems theory can provide us with rich metaphors in our :ittempts to understand behavior and development. Yet, despite the best efforts o f the authors t o go beyond metaphors and actually provide new insights into application, the result is not completely successful. Most of the work presented here is based on data obtained independent of the dynamic systems approach. In addition, the term ”development” covers a much broader ontogenetic range than postpartum human development. Thus, it might have been helphil if the chapters presented here had been expanded to incorporate studies on the dynamic approach to morphological changes during prcnatal maturation. Summing up, this is a pioneering volume. I t proviclcs new insight into the rather complex and important tield of developmental sciences. The well-written, clear text, and the clever structure of the book offer a valuahle resource for those familiar with dynamic systems Lipproach. It is also accessible to those working in related areas who might regard themselves as largely ignorant of system theories.
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A 1994 study studied this question.