AN IDENTIFICATION OF COMPETENCES IN THE S TUDY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EVOLUTION

The notion of psychological evolution has a twofold usefulness from an interbehavioral perspective. First, it brings up to discussion the co nceptual problem about different functional levels in individual devel opment and the related transition processes to be taken into account. Secondly, it leads to the empirical identification of the various beha vioral competences involved in those transition processes. When identi fying any kind of psychological interaction, it is necessary to consid er three aspects: a) the morphology of both, behavior and the environm ent; b) the functional organization of the interaction; and, c) the ef fectiveness criteria regulating interaction performance. This paper ex amines the relationship between these three aspects in the development of competence as a basic dimension of psychological evolution. The id entification of competence has practical implications for the improvem ent of education, and very specially in the teaching of scientific act ivities.