Development

Organization

Transformational change is change in the form, organization, or structure of a system. Any given organization represents a pattern of action. In the case of ontogenesis, the system is the living organism, whereas subsystems consist of cognitive, affective, and motivational (i.e., psychological) processes together with their biological correlates. Embryological changes constitute some of the clearest and most concrete examples of transformational or morphological change. Through processes of differentiation and reintegration, movement occurs from the simple organization of single-celled zygote to the highly organized functioning systems of the 9-month fetus. Cognitive and social–emotional phenomena of human ontogenesis have also been conceptualized as reflecting transformational change. For example, sensorimotor action (organized pattern of action) undergoes a sequence of transformations to become symbolic thought (organized pattern of actions), and further transformations lead to a reflective symbolic thought exhibiting novel logical characteristics (organized patterns of action).

System

Transformational change implies an entity that is changed. On one level of constructs, the individual or person is that entity. This person level is constituted by genuine psychological concepts (e.g., thoughts, feelings, desires, and wishes) that have intentional qualities, are open to interpretation, and are available to consciousness. At a second and complementary level—the subpersonal level—the entity is the living, active, relational, open, self-creating, self-organizing, and self-regulating system of processes. As an inherently and spontaneously active system (organized patterns of action), the living organism acts, and these acts have the following characteristics: (a) acts express the underlying organization of the system (i.e., any act is expressive), (b) acts are instrumental and communicative, that is, acts do something in the sociocultural and physical world, and (c) act or embodied action constitutes the fundamental process that, through coaction with the world, results in system’s transformation. It is the active psychological system that organizes and regulates itself through complex and multidirectional relational coactions with its biological, sociocultural, and physical environments. In sum, it is a relational developmental system that is the object of transformational change and is the sufficient cause of this change as well. Relational developmental systems are subpersonal-level constructs, and they constitute both formal and dynamic pattern explanations of personal-level meanings and changes in meanings (i.e., cognitive, emotional, motivational meanings).

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