{"id":8419,"date":"2019-05-22T16:07:30","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T16:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/microgenetic_method\/"},"modified":"2019-05-22T16:07:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T16:07:30","slug":"microgenetic_method","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/microgenetic_method\/","title":{"rendered":"Microgenetic method"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An intensive investigation of a group at a time when it is known that change is likely to occur. &nbsp;The aim is to chart the complexity of this change, sometimes by speeding up the process through training. &nbsp;Typically, employment of the method confronts individuals with the same or similar problem-solving tasks on repeated occasions in order to distil changes in the strategies they employ. &nbsp;A cardinal finding is evidence of intra-individual variability in the application of strategies such that alternative ones that increasingly better and more effective ones are exhibited. &nbsp;One way to capture the (qualitative) nature of such variability is through the application of <a href=\"http:\/\/hvandermaas.socsci.uva.nl\/Homepage_Han_van_der_Maas\/Publications_files\/papers\/maasmolenaarpsychrev92.pdf\" class=\"cc-route-enabled\" target=\"_self\" data-editable-link=\"http:\/\/hvandermaas.socsci.uva.nl\/Homepage_Han_van_der_Maas\/Publications_files\/papers\/maasmolenaarpsychrev92.pdf&amp;target=_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">catastrophe &#8216;flags&#8217;<\/a> to microgenetic data sets. &nbsp;There are two issues with the method. &nbsp;Firstly, whether changes observed under microgenetic conditions are comparable to those evident with using a longitudinal design over a longer period of time. &nbsp;The answer would appear to be &#8216;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.psy.cmu.edu\/~siegler\/sieglersvetina02.pdf\" class=\"cc-route-enabled\" target=\"_self\" data-editable-link=\"http:\/\/www.psy.cmu.edu\/~siegler\/sieglersvetina02.pdf&amp;target=_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">yes<\/a>&#8216;, with the expected difference being the length of time over which they are realized. &nbsp;Secondly, there is the accusation that the method blurs the distinction between development and learning. &nbsp;Adherents of applying dynamical systems approaches would consider this to be a misleading criticism, at least in terms of the analyzing the process of change whether it be across ontogenetic time or real-time. &nbsp;Those devoted to the microgenetic method would acknowledge a difference, but only in terms of change taking place more rapidly in older children and adults than in their younger counterparts (thus suggesting that older individuals bring to bear a greater learning experience to their development). &nbsp;The present entry cannot do justice to the rich possibilities offered by the method in promoting new insights in the relationship between development and learning. &nbsp;Excellent reviews can be found in publications by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.psy.cmu.edu\/~siegler\/sieglercrowley91.pdf\" class=\"cc-route-enabled\" target=\"_self\" data-editable-link=\"http:\/\/www.psy.cmu.edu\/~siegler\/sieglercrowley91.pdf&amp;target=_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US<\/a> and more recently <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thepsychologist.org.uk\/archive\/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=19&amp;editionID=133&amp;ArticleID=997\" class=\"cc-route-enabled\" target=\"_self\" data-editable-link=\"http:\/\/www.thepsychologist.org.uk\/archive\/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=19&amp;editionID=133&amp;ArticleID=997?target=_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UK<\/a> developmental psychologists. &nbsp;Finally, it has to be acknowledged the microgenetic method has its roots in work of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.academia.edu\/188646\/The_Experimental_Methodology_of_Constructive_Microgenesis\" class=\"cc-route-enabled\" target=\"_self\" data-editable-link=\"http:\/\/www.academia.edu\/188646\/The_Experimental_Methodology_of_Constructive_Microgenesis&amp;target=_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Heinz Werner<\/a>&nbsp;(1890-1964) starting in 1956. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>rSee Catastrophe theory,&nbsp;Developmental (or ontogenetic) time,&nbsp;Developmental research, Follow-back design, Intra-individual differences, Longitudinal design,&nbsp;Longitudinal studies,&nbsp;Longitudinal-experimental studies, Orthogenetic principle, Problem solving, Process, Transition<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An intensive investigation of a group at a time when it is known that change is likely to occur. &nbsp;The aim is to chart the complexity of this change, sometimes by speeding up the process through training. &nbsp;Typically, employment of the method confronts individuals with the same or similar problem-solving tasks on repeated occasions in &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/microgenetic_method\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Microgenetic method&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-8419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-glossary","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/fas\/psych\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}