DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-REGULATORY STRUCTURES OF THE MIND

From their early roots in embryology, paralles are drawn between the m ajor psychological and biological foci of organismic theories. Neural plasticity and concepts of causality in developmental systems are disc ussed. Because the nature of the developmental process necessities add ressing the nonlinear dynamics of complex systems, it is theorized tha t causal explanations in neural development, just as is the case with psychological processes, should emphasize the individual's active stri vings for self-organization as the major determinant of ontogenesis. W hether or not they cohere to form an integrated self, it is hypothesiz ed that the homeostatic, self-regulatory structures of the mind are th e major stabilities in the chaotic dynamics of psychological and neura l development.