CHAPTER 5 - Models of Development and Theories of Development

Abstract

Models, which originate in metaphor, exist on several levels ranging from all inclusive metaphysical models to narrowly circumscribed models of specific features of theories. Models at the more general levels form the determining logical context for models at lower levels. This categorical determinism stretches from metaphysical levels through scientific theories, to the manner in which we analyze, interpret, and make inferences from empirical evidence. Two radically different models which have had a pervasive effect upon the nature of psychology generally and developmental psychology specifically are the organismic and mechanistic world views. The history and nature of those models are discussed and the manner in which they become transformed into corrolary issues which form the metatheoretical basis for theory construction is analyzed. Theories built upon different world views are logically independent and cannot be assimilated to each other. They reflect different ways of looking at the world and, as such, are incompatible in their implications.