Department of Philosophy, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Adv Child Dev Behav. 2013;44:65-94. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-397947-6.00003-9.
We examine developmental systems theory (DST) with two questions in mind: What does DST explain? How does DST explain it? To answer these questions, we start by reviewing major contributions to the origins of DST: the introduction of the idea of a "developmental system", the idea of probabilistic epigenesis, the attention to the role of information in the developmental system, and finally the explicit identification of a DST. We then consider what DST is not, contrasting it with two approaches that have been foils for DST: behavioral genetics and nativist cognitive psychology. Third, we distill out two core concepts that have defined DSTthroughout its history: epigenesis and developmental dynamics. Finally, we turn to how DST explains, arguing that it explains by elucidating mechanisms.
我们带着两个问题来考察发展系统理论（DST）：DST 解释了什么？DST 是如何解释的？为了回答这些问题，我们首先回顾了对 DST 起源的主要贡献：引入“发展系统”的概念，概率发生论的思想，关注信息在发展系统中的作用，以及最终明确确定 DST。然后，我们考虑 DST 不是什么，将其与两种一直以来与 DST 形成对比的方法进行对比：行为遗传学和先天认知心理学。第三，我们从历史上定义 DST 的两个核心概念中提取出来：发生论和发展动力学。最后，我们转向 DST 如何解释，认为它通过阐明机制来解释。
