Individual Pathways of Change: Statistical Models for Analyzing Learning and Development

This is an outstanding resource for researchers studying the dynamics of learning and development. The chapters are a well-balanced mix of applied and technical treatments of the latest methodological thinking in, among other things, interindividual dynamics, time series, and state space approaches to the study of individual and interpersonal interactions. If you are interested in longitudinally intensive research designs or are looking for models to describe how individual-level change over time can be modeled, this book is a great reference.---Phillip K. Wood, Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia

This is an exciting book! New doors are being opened to theory and methodology in psychological research and social sciences research in general. A new paradigm is being developed concerning research based on intraindividual variation. When the methods presented in this text are widely adopted, generalizability will be on a much stronger footing. For those keeping up to date with psychology as a science, this book is a must.---Alexander von Eye, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing

This is an important book that presents advanced techniques for analyzing intraindividual change and dynamics. The editors have integrated an excellent collection of chapters that should be of great interest to researchers studying learning, development, and human dynamics. I am delighted to see this outstanding volume.---Emilio Ferrer, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of California, Davis

Although the importance of studying intraindividual variation from a developmental systems perspective has been occasionally recognized over the years, only recently have advances in quantitative methodology allowed for the meaningful application of these techniques in practice. Leading researchers in the field provide the first comprehensive explication of this new generation of methods for studying individual change. The material is highly accessible given that it is firmly embedded in meaningful substantive questions about development and learning. This book is a must-read for anyone striving to understand the development of individuals over time.---Patrick J. Curran, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Individual Pathways of Change: Statistical Models for Analyzing Learning and Development presents and applies cutting-edge time series analysis techniques for gauging intraindividual change. Molenaar and Newell demonstrate the practical benefits of intraindividual analysis by applying the new techniques to various learning and developmental problems and discussing implications for future applications.

The techniques in this book cover each of Bartholomew's four classes of dynamic latent variable models, and they are presented and applied to such topics as measuring shifts between different psychological states, differences in responses and test scores, and time scales that are present in the growth or decay of learning processes. The editors emphasize innovative frameworks and reveal the limitations of using group between-subject analysis to derive inferences about psychological processes.

With more examples and contexts than any other book on the subject, this volume is essential reading for students, professors, and researchers interested in the analysis of intraindividual change in learning and development.

Peter C. M. Molenaar, Phd, is a professor of human development in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, State College. The general theme of his work involves the application of mathematical theories in the following fields of research: singularity theory (in particular, catastrophe theory) to study developmental stage transitions, nonlinear signal analysis techniques to map theoretcal models of cognitive information processing onto dynamically interacting neural sources, ergodic theory to study the relationships between intraindividual (idiographic) analyses and interindividual (nomothetic) analyses of psychological processes, advanced multivariate analysis techniques in quantitative genetics and developmental psychology, adaptive resonance theory neural networks to study the effects of nonlinear epigenetic processes, and computational control techniques to optimally guide developmental psychological processes and disease processes of individual subjects in real time.
Karl M. Newell, PhD, is the Marie Underhill Noll Chair of Human Performance and head of the Department of Kinesiology at The Pennsylvania State Unversity, State College. Dr. Newell's research interests lie in the area of human movement in general and motor learning and control specifically. His research focuses on the coordination, control, and skill of normal and abnormal human movement across the life span; developmental disabilities and motor skills; and the influence of drug and exercise on movement control. One of the specific themes of his research is the study of variability in human movement and posture, with specific reference to the onset of aging and Parkinson's disease. His other major research theme is processes of change in motor learning and development---the focus of this book.