Integrating developmental psychology, dynamic systems theory and evolutionary theory

Prof. dr. L.J. van der Maas

Results 2006

By adding evolutionary developmental biology and dynamic systems theory to the framework of evolutionary psychology, it has become interesting addressing the basic issues in developmental psychology from an evolutionary perspective, and a more complementary view of the origins of psychological disorders is possible.

Evolutionary developmental biology and dynamic systems theory lead to different predictions regarding the basic issues in developmental psychology from the predictions of the standard neo-Darwinian approach. The new predictions are more consistent with empirical findings than the neo-Darwinian predictions.
Evolutionary developmental biology provides a new view on the origins of psychological disorders.

Because the theoretical contributions of evolutionary developmental biology and dynamic systems theory are much greater than we expected in advance, the focus of the project has turned more towards theoretical integration than towards simulation research.