Literature

Pre-course literature:

It will be helpful to read the following articles before the first day of the course:

  • Molenaar, P. C., & Campbell, C. G. (2009). The new person-specific paradigm in psychology. Current directions in psychological science, 18(2), 112-117.
  • Kello, C. T., Brown, G. D., Ferrer-i-Cancho, R., Holden, J. G., Linkenkaer-Hansen, K., Rhodes, T., & Van Orden, G. C. (2010). Scaling laws in cognitive sciences. Trends in cognitive sciences, 14(5), 223-232.
  • Thelen, E., & Ulrich, B. D. (1991). Hidden skills: A dynamic systems analysis of treadmill stepping during the first year. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Devevelopment, 56(1), 1-98; discussion 99-104. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1922136
  • Lewis, M. D. (2000). The promise of dynamic systems approaches for an integrated account of human development. Child development, 71(1), 36-43.

Selected chapters from these books will be made available so you can make a personal copy:

  • Friedenberg, J. (2009). Dynamical psychology: Complexity, self-organization and mind. ISCE Publishing.
  • Kaplan, D., & Glass, L. (2012). Understanding nonlinear dynamics. Springer Science & Business Media.
  • Rose, T. (2016). The end of average: How we succeed in a world that values sameness. Penguin UK.

Links to online materials on specific topics will be provided (Study Materials) that may provide additional explanation and information about key concepts. These materials are not obligatory, but highly recommended to study at least once.

Notes about this book and the assignments

The texts in the chapters of this book are somewhat of a work in progress, and are intended as a rough introductory guide to accompany the lectures. Sometimes, you will notice a paragraph or chapter rather resembles a set of lecture notes instead of a self-contained text. Do not hesitate to let us know if you think anything is unclear or too far out of context for you to understand.

An essential part of the course are the assignments that are available online and are linked to from the course pages, for example: https://complexity-methods.github.io/courses/helsinki-workshop-2020/day1_2/

The text inside these blocks provides important information about the course, the assignments, or the exam.
The text inside these blocks provides examples, or, information about a topic you should pay close attentiont to and try to understand.
The text inside these blocks provides a note, a comment, or observation.
The content in these blocks are often questions about a topic, or, suggestions about connections between different topics discussed in the book and the assignments. You should decide for yourself if you need to dig deeper to answer the questions or if you want to discuss the content. One way to find an answer or start a discussion is to open a thread in the discussion forum on Blackboard labelled ThinkBox.
The content in these blocks is provided as entertainment :)