Topology, metrics and chronology of the multi-level periodization of ontogenesis

Abstract

The central issue of both development psychology and psychology in general is the method of dividing life into periods, referred to in European tradition as the periodization of ontogenesis. This method implies not merely a conventional division of a lifetime into separate periods, but also the creation of a theory that explains why an individual life may be divided into corresponding periods. Only based on such a theoretical construct, one can raise questions related to the empirical scope of the periods at any organization level.

The periodization scheme proposed in this paper is multi-level, since it is based on the concept of the organization level and, consequently, on the hierarchy of levels that derives from it. The main advantage of such an approach to the problem of periodization is a real opportunity to describe the course of development of any living creature starting with the minimal level of a ripening egg cell and ending with the certain level of organization which is maximal for each biological species. As for the non-level and semi-level approaches, they do not offer such an opportunity, and therefore their dominance in modern science impedes further development of psychology. The central component of the multi-level development scheme is the interaction between levels, and not only the adjacent ones, but also of every level with the others, as well as within each level itself. It should be noted that the analysis of multi-level interaction cannot be defined as the prerogative of a single branch of science. Being engaged in their own empirical levels, each of the sciences traditionally does not reach beyond its area, and therefore cannot support the entire ontogenetic hierarchy of organization levels. The (meta-)system approach refused of their specifics in order to free the way for its own generalizations, yet it failed to progress towards the evolutionary understanding of the organization levels’ ontology.

In his time L. Vygotsky insistently pointed out the need for a constructive approach both in general psychology and in development psychology, but, unfortunately, he did not have the time to bring the results of his fruitful work in a multi-level approach. Therefore, the materials presented in this paper are in a certain sense a continuation of this endeavor. Their presentation begins with the traditional concept of a time scale. Then the concept of the organization level is introduced and consistently expanded to a hierarchy of levels. And, finally, on the basis of multi-level relative scales, an absolute chronological scale of ontogenesis is constructed, opening the path to the process of an empirical scope of the proposed periodization scheme.