Rituals, compulsions, and other syncretic tools: Insights from Werner's comparative psychology

In line with theme of this special issue, this article speaks to a topic in developmental psychology from a Wernerian perspective. We take a Wernerian , comparative, and orthogenetic approach in addressing rituals and other co mpulsive behaviors in a variety of contexts: Ritual as cultural practice, a s a part of pathologic behavior, and as a normative aspect of child develop ment. We discuss the similarities and differences in these various forms of ritual, and conclude by incorporating recent advances in the study of obse ssive-compulsive disorder to shed light on the normative variant of compuls ive behavior. Our goal is to emphasize the continued relevance Werner's wor k in light of contemporary trends in developmental psychology, developmenta l psychopathology, and neuroscience.