Beyond One-Dimensional Change: Parallel, Concurrent, Socially Distributed Processes in Learning and Development

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Abstract
Development and learning involve similar changes in the organization of behavior, within different time frames. A potentially powerful way to relate learning and development is through the study of microdevelopment, in which short-term changes are analyzed as developmental functions. Research on microdevelopment has been stymied, however, by assumptions that have restricted analysis to nonecological, one-dimensional concepts. Traditional paradigms assume erroneously that a solitary individual develops along a single linear pathway. Moving beyond these one-dimensional concepts opens up microdevelopment as an exciting and fundamental arena for research. Learning and problem solving are distributed socially among members of small ensembles. Communication among members externalizes much of the process of microdevelopment, providing extensive information for researchers. Growth occurs along multiple concurrent strands, forming a developmental web; each strand is in turn composed of multiple concurrent threads. In different strands and threads, individuals and ensembles function at widely different developmental levels, and they grow in diverse nonlinear dynamic shapes. An example of problem solving involving an unfamiliar device illustrates how adding these complexities in fact simplifies microdevelopment research and theory.

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