There are a few development theories discussed in Child and Adolescent Development by Gary Novak and Martha Pelaez. Development is defined by Novak and Pelaez as a change over time (Novak & Pelaez, 2004). These theories suggest ideas on how children and adolescents develop, including changes in interactions across the life span. Development looks at the behaviors of an individual. the events of the environment around them, and how they affect each other. This paper will look at the behavioral systems approach and synthesize it with the dynamical systems principles. It will look at each principle of dynamical systems and discuss the crossover between them and the behavioral systems approach.
This first of the dynamical systems principles includes multiple determination. This describes how behaviors result from multiple factors. Each behavior is subject to behavior concepts as well as environmental factors or genetics. The development of an individual is based on the relationship between the person’s behavior, outside contingencies, and environmental factors. The relationship often changes based on each of the factors and builds upon them. Other factors include societal, genetic, and biological. The ideal is that each of these factors play a role in shaping the behavior of an individual.
The second of these principles includes equifinity, which discusses how situations with very similar outcomes are products of the result of two very different sets of interactions. This relates to the behavioral systems approach because it compares the paths that everyone takes and suggests that those with very different paths can and will reach a common point, even though the paths were different. An example of this may be that a child with special needs who requires a lot of assistance, can reach the same place and a child with average skills who has no familial support or encouragement. Both children could get the same grade on an assignment, even though they have very different traits, characteristics, and paths.
The third principle states that nonlinearity is the current belief within behavior systems. It was once believed that development was linear and was a simple straight line. The belief now represents a transactional model where behavior A affects behavior B, which in turn affects behavior A. The behaviors are reciprocal, where the environmental factors affect the person’s behaviors and then the person’s behavior affects the environmental factors. This fits within the behavioral systems approach because this approach is based on the idea that one behavior has an impact on another. This approach states that a mother who holds her child when the child cries, reinforcers the child crying, which impacts the mother continuing to hold that child. There is a clear relation between the dynamical principles and behavior systems approach.
The next principle discusses emergent properties, which are characteristics that suddenly appear and although there was a precursor foundation, the behaviors do not look the same. From behavior systems approach, the behavior of walking emerges when motor skills increase and physiological factors or environmental factors change. This applies to the behavioral approach within child development as a child learns to walk. The precursor to walking is crawling. Although it is a typical precursor, the subsequent skill of walking does not look the same as the skill of crawling. This example shows the connection between the principle and the behavior systems approach.
The fifth principle talks about phase shifts. This means that development does not happen at a continual pace. There are shifts in which development occurs. The most relatable way to compare this to the behavior approach is using the example above when a child is learning to walk. The child goes to the phase of rolling over, then getting on all four limbs, before crawling, and then eventually walking. There are not clear continuous steps in between each phase, but they appear suddenly from one phase to the next.
The next principle is coalescent organization. This is where factors come together to produce coherent patterns of behavior, where all things fall into place. Continuing with the example of walking, there are necessary skills or events that must happen together. Such as growing stronger and help learning from the parents. The coalescent organization includes individuals having all the necessary skills and abilities at the right time for that behavior to occur. In the example of walking, they must have the legs, strength, practice, and security to be able to start walking. For example, one could not assume that a child could start to walk just because they have the necessary limbs, if they haven’t been able to develop the gross motor skills yet.
The last principle is selectionism, There are two types of selectionism, one being phylogenic which involves physical changes over time in evolution. The second is ontogenic, which looks at the changes in learning. The type of selectionism that most relates to the behavior approach would be ontogenic. The phylogenic has played a role over a long period of time to identify the necessary physical traits for an individual to function, the ontogentic plays a large role in learning and progress by identifying unconditioned stimuli. These are the selections that affect a single individual over their own lifetime as opposed to generations. This relates to the behavior systems approach because of the connection of motivation for new behaviors to form. The example given by Novak and Pelaez discusses how a mother interacts with her baby’s babbling using baby talk. In response ot the baby talk, the child beings to use real words. This is an example of an ontogenic exchange (Novak & Pelaez, 2004). The motivation to communicate with her child and for the child to be reinforced by the mother encourages interaction.
This paper has discussed the merging of two different approaches to behavioral development. By analyzing the seven main principles of dynamical systems, it is clear how these two different approaches have a similar base and fit together to explain child and adolescent development. The behavioral systems approach combined with the dynamical systems principles created a scientific approach to behaviors that looks at the interactions and the connection between behavior and environmental factors.