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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
08:09
Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Frameworks for understanding emotions and their development: functionalist and dynamic systems approaches.
David C Witherington1, Jennifer A Crichton
1Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. dcwither@unm.edu
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|August 9, 2007
Summary
This study compares functionalist and dynamic systems approaches to emotion development. Both view emotion as a system, but differ in their analytical levels and explanations, impacting their complementarity.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Systems Theory
Background:
- Functionalist and dynamic systems approaches are increasingly prominent in emotion research.
- Similarities and differences between these perspectives are not well-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically examine the similarities and differences between functionalist and dynamic systems approaches to emotion.
- To analyze the distinct levels of analysis and explanatory mechanisms of each approach.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of theoretical frameworks.
- Examination of causal explanations (formal, final, efficient, material).
- Discussion of specific theories (Fogel's social process, Lewis' self-organization).
Main Results:
- Both approaches share a systems view of emotion, considering it relational and process-based.
- Functionalism uses formal/final causes for organism-environment relations.
- Dynamic systems uses efficient/material causes for behavior in context.
Conclusions:
- Complementarity depends on dynamic systems' incorporation of abstraction.
- The approaches offer distinct yet potentially integrated explanations for emotion development.
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