Toward a Unified Theory of Development Connectionism and Dynamic System Theory Re-Considered

From William James to Sigmund Freud to Jean Piaget to B.F. Skinner, scholars (and parents!) have wondered how children move from the blooming, buzzing confusion of infancy, through the tumult of childhood and adolescence, into adulthood. Does development occur continuously over time or in a series of dramatic stages? Is development driven by learning or by biological maturational processes? What is the nature of experience, and how does it generate change? The study of development has always been organized around these big questions. And answers to these questions have a profound influence on daily life, forming a framework for how parents think about their own children, and influencing both national policy and educational curricula. This book defines and refines two major theoretical approaches within developmental science that address the central issues of development-connectionism and dynamical systems theory. Spencer, Thomas, and McClelland have brought together chapters that provide an introduction, overview, and critical evaluation of each approach, including three sets of case studies that illustrate how both approaches have been used to study topics ranging from early motor development to the acquisition of grammar. They also present a collection of commentaries by leading scholars, which offer a critical view from both an "outsiders" and an "insiders" perspective. The book is unique in the range of its treatment-it begins to delineate how developmental science can incorporate advances within neuroscience and computational modeling, and brings the new ideas of connectionism and dynamic systems theory into sharper focus, clarifying their usefulness and explanatory power.

1 - Connectionist Models of Development: Mechanistic Dynamical Models with Emergent Dynamical Properties James L. McClelland and Gautam Vallabha
2 - Development as Change of System Dynamics: Stability, Instability, and Emergence Gregor Schoner
3 - Brain, Body, and Mind: Lessons from Infant Motor Development Daniela Corbetta
4 - Dynamic Systems, Sensory-motor Processes, and the Origins of Stability and Flexibility Linda B. Smith
5 - Dynamic Field Theory and Embodied Cognitive Dynamics John P. Spencer, Sammy Perone, and Jeff Johnson
6 - Time Scales in Connectionist and Dynamical Systems Approaches to Learning and Development Karl M. Newell, Yeou-Teh Liu, and Gottfried Mayer-Kress
7 - Connectionist Approaches to Perservation: Understanding Universal and Task-Specific Aspects of Children's Behavior J. Bruce Morton and Yuko Munakata
8 - Dynamical Insight into Structure in Connectionist Models Whitney Tabor
9 - The Robot as a New Frontier for Connectionism and Dynamic Systems Theory Matthew Schlesinger
10 - Combining Connectionist and Dynamic Systems Principles in Models of Development: The Case of Analogical Completion Denis Mareschal, Robert Leech, and Richard P. Cooper
11 - Integrating Connectionist Learning and Dynamical Systems Processing: Case Studies in Speech and Lexical Development Bob McMurray, Jessica S. Horst, Joseph C. Toscano, and Larissa K. Samuelson
12 - Soft-Assembled Mechanisms for the Grand Theory Heidi Kloos and Guy C. Van Orden
13 - Are Dynamic Systems and Connectionist Approaches an Alternative to "Good Old Fashioned Cognitive Development"? Lisa M. Oakes, Nora S. Newcombe, and Jodie M. Plumert
14 - A Developmental Systems Theory Perspective on Psychological Change Timothy D. Johnston and Robert Lickliter
15 - Transitions in Cognitive Development: Prospects and Limitations of a Neural Dynamic Approach Han L. J. van der Maas and Maartje E. J. Raijmakers
16 - Dynamic Systems and the Quest for Individual-Based Models of Change and Development Paul van Geert and Kurt Fischer
17 - Dynamic and Connectionist Approaches to Development: Toward a Future of Mutually Beneficial Co-evolution Michael S. C. Thomas, James L. McClelland, Fiona M. Richardson, Anna C. Shapiro, and Frank Baughman
18 - Moving Toward a New Grand Theory While Valuing the Importance of the Initial Conditions John P. Spencer, Evelina Dineva, and Gregor Schoner