title: Development as a dynamic system.
abstract: Development is about creating something more from something less, for example, a walking and talking toddler from a helpless infant. One current theoretical framework views the developmental process as a change within a complex dynamic system. Development is seen as the emergent product of many decentralized and local interactions that occur in real time. We examine how studying the multicausality of real-time processes could be the key to understanding change over developmental time. We specifically consider recent research and theory on perseverative reaching by infants as a case study that demonstrates this approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive Science, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, 47405, Bloomington, IN, USA
authors.forename: Linda B.
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thelen