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Developmental Systems Theory
Developmental systems theory (DST) is an overarching theoretical perspective on biological development, heredity, and evolution. It emphasizes the shared contributions of genes, environment, and epigenetic factors on developmental processes. DST, unlike conventional scientific theories, is not directly used to help make predictions for testing experimental results; instead, it is seen as a collection of philosophical, psychological, and scientific models of development and evolution. As a whole, these models argue the inadequacy of the modern evolutionary synthesis on the roles of genes and natural selection as the principal explanation of living structures. Developmental systems theory embraces a large range of positions that expand biological explanations of organismal development and hold modern evolutionary theory as a misconception of the nature of living processes. Overview All versions of developmental systems theory espouse the view that: * All biological processes (includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Development
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and differentiation of stem cells in the adult organism. Perspectives The main processes involved in the embryonic development of animals are: tissue patterning (via regional specification and patterned cell differentiation); tissue growth; and tissue morphogenesis. * Regional specification refers to the processes that create the spatial patterns in a ball or sheet of initially similar cells. This generally involves the action of cytoplasmic determinants, located within parts of the fertilized egg, and of inductive signals emitted from signaling centers in the embryo. The early stages of regional specification do not generate functional differentiated cells, but cell populations committed to developing to a specific region or part of the organism. These are defined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phenotypic
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological properties, its behavior, and the products of behavior. An organism's phenotype results from two basic factors: the expression of an organism's genetic code, or its genotype, and the influence of environmental factors. Both factors may interact, further affecting phenotype. When two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species, the species is called polymorphic. A well-documented example of polymorphism is Labrador Retriever coloring; while the coat color depends on many genes, it is clearly seen in the environment as yellow, black, and brown. Richard Dawkins in 1978 and then again in his 1982 book ''The Extended Phenotype'' suggested that one can regard bird nests and other built structures such as caddis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Adaptive System
A complex adaptive system is a system that is ''complex'' in that it is a dynamic network of interactions, but the behavior of the ensemble may not be predictable according to the behavior of the components. It is ''adaptive'' in that the individual and collective behavior mutate and self-organize corresponding to the change-initiating micro-event or collection of events. It is a "complex macroscopic collection" of relatively "similar and partially connected micro-structures" formed in order to adapt to the changing environment and increase their survivability as a macro-structure. The Complex Adaptive Systems approach builds on replicator dynamics. The study of complex adaptive systems, a subset of nonlinear dynamical systems, is an interdisciplinary matter that attempts to blend insights from the natural and social sciences to develop system-level models and insights that allow for heterogeneous agents, phase transition, and emergent behavior. Overview The term ''complex a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Systems Theory
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structure, function and role, and expressed through its relations with other systems. A system is "more than the sum of its parts" by expressing synergy or emergent behavior. Changing one component of a system may affect other components or the whole system. It may be possible to predict these changes in patterns of behavior. For systems that learn and adapt, the growth and the degree of adaptation depend upon how well the system is engaged with its environment and other contexts influencing its organization. Some systems support other systems, maintaining the other system to prevent failure. The goals of systems theory are to model a system's dynamics, constraints, conditions, and relations; and to elucidate principles (such as purpose, measure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relational Developmental Systems
Relational developmental systems (RDS) is a developmental psychological metatheory and conceptual framework. It is an extension of developmental systems theory that is based on the view that relationism is a superior alternative to Cartesian mechanism. RDS is the leading framework in modern developmental science. According to RDS metatheory, interactions between individuals and their environments, rather than either entity acting separately, are the cause of all aspects of human development. The term "relational developmental systems paradigm" has been used to refer to the combination of the RDS metatheory and the relationist worldview. The RDS framework is also fundamentally distinct from that of quantitative behavioral genetics, in that the former focuses on the causes of individual development, while the latter focuses on individual differences. RDS theorists reject the dichotomies associated with Cartesian dualism, such as those between nature and nurture, and between basic and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Probabilistic Epigenesis
Probabilistic epigenesis is a way of understanding human behavior based on the relationship between experience and biology. It is a variant form of epigenetics, proposed by American psychologist Gilbert Gottlieb in 1991. Gottlieb’s model is based on Conrad H. Waddington's idea of developmental epigenesis. Both theories examine the complexity of the ways in which the brain develops and explore factors that occur outside the genome. However, probabilistic epigenesis differs from Waddington’s model as it relies much more heavily on the potential developmental impacts of experience and environment and how they interact with an individual’s genes. Probabilistic epigenesis takes into account developmental, hormonal, environmental, neuropsychological, and genetic factors in order to explain various forms of behavior. In developmental psychology In developmental psychology, probabilistic epigenesis is a theory of human behavior that assumes that different neural structures develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neural Darwinism
Neural Darwinism is a biological, and more specifically Darwinian and selectionist, approach to understanding global brain function, originally proposed by American biologist, researcher and Nobel-Prize recipient Gerald Maurice Edelman (July 1, 1929 – May 17, 2014). Edelman's 1987 book ''Neural Darwinism'' introduced the public to the ''theory of neuronal group selection'' (TNGS) – which is the core theory underlying Edelman's explanation of global brain function. Owing to the book title, TNGS is most commonly referred to as the ''theory of neural Darwinism'', although TNGS has roots going back to Edelman and Mountcastle's 1978 book, ''The Mindful Brain – Cortical Organization and the Group-selective Theory of Higher Brain Function'' – where Edelman's colleague, the American neurophysiologist and anatomist Vernon B. Mountcastle (July 15, 1918 – January 11, 2015), describes the columnar structure of the cortical groups within the neocortex, while Edelman develops his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Evolutionary developmental biology (informally, evo-devo) is a field of biological research that compares the developmental processes of different organisms to infer how developmental processes evolved. The field grew from 19th-century beginnings, where embryology faced a mystery: zoologists did not know how embryonic development was controlled at the molecular level. Charles Darwin noted that having similar embryos implied common ancestry, but little progress was made until the 1970s. Then, recombinant DNA technology at last brought embryology together with molecular genetics. A key early discovery was of homeotic genes that regulate development in a wide range of eukaryotes. The field is composed of multiple core evolutionary concepts. One is deep homology, the finding that dissimilar organs such as the eyes of insects, vertebrates and cephalopod molluscs, long thought to have evolved separately, are controlled by similar genes such as ''pax-6'', from the evo-devo gene toolk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baldwin Effect
In evolutionary biology, the Baldwin effect, a phenotype-first theory of evolution, describes the effect of learned behaviour on evolution. James Mark Baldwin and others suggested during the eclipse of Darwinism in the late 19th century that an organism's ''ability to learn'' new behaviours (e.g. to acclimatise to a new stressor) will affect its reproductive success and will therefore have an effect on the genetic makeup of its species through natural selection. Though this process appears similar to Lamarckism, that view proposes that living things ''inherited'' their parents' acquired characteristics. The Baldwin effect has been independently proposed several times, and today it is generally recognized as part of the modern synthesis. "A New Factor in Evolution" The effect, then unnamed, was put forward in 1896 in a paper "A New Factor in Evolution" by the American psychologist James Mark Baldwin, with a second paper in 1897. The paper proposed a mechanism for specific selecti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linda Gottfredson
Linda Susanne Gottfredson (née Howarth; born 1947) is an American psychologist and writer. She is professor emeritus of educational psychology at the University of Delaware and co-director of the Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of Intelligence and Society. She is best known for writing the 1994 letter "Mainstream Science on Intelligence", which was published in the ''Wall Street Journal'' in defense of Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's controversial book ''The Bell Curve'' (1994). She is on the boards of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences, the International Society for Intelligence Research, and the editorial boards of the academic journals ''Intelligence'', '' Learning and Individual Differences'', and ''Society''. Life and education Gottfredson was born in San Francisco in 1947. She is a third generation university faculty member. Her father, Jack A. Howarth (died 2006), was a faculty member at U.C. Davis School of Veterinary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hereditarian
Hereditarianism is the doctrine or school of thought that heredity plays a significant role in determining human nature and character traits, such as intelligence and personality. Hereditarians believe in the power of genetics to explain human character traits and solve human social and political problems. Hereditarians adopt the view that an understanding of human evolution can extend the understanding of human nature. Overview Social scientist Barry Mehler defines hereditarianism as "the belief that a substantial part of both group and individual differences in human behavioral traits are caused by genetic differences". Hereditarianism is sometimes used as a synonym for biological or genetic determinism, though some scholars distinguish the two terms. When distinguished, biological determinism is used to mean that heredity is the only factor. Supporters of hereditarianism reject this sense of biological determinism for most cases. However, in some cases genetic determinis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neven Sesardić
Neven Sesardić (born 30 July 1949) is a Croatian philosopher known for his writings on heritability and race who worked most of his career as a professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Life and career He grew up in communist Yugoslavia. From 1977 to 1983 he worked as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb, and, from then, until 1989 he was assistant professor at the same university. In the 1980s he was listed as an "internal enemy" of the Yugoslav regime. From 1989 to 1991 he was fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of Giessen. From 1991 to 1992 he worked as a Fellow of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Bielefeld. The following two years (1992–94) he spent as an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Zagreb. The following academic year, 1994–1995, he worked as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame, while the following year (1995–96) he became an NSF Research Fellow at the Uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
