Non-Mediational Psychologies: An Integration as Ontogenetic Dynamic Systems

Abstract

This article proposes an integration of non-mediational psychologies using an ontogenetic dynamic systems approach. It argues that the differences between these approaches are not rooted in fundamental ontological categories but rather in the way each tradition has defined its own interests, concepts, and methodologies. The integration of these psychologies is achieved through an epistemological delimitation of a field of study: ontogenetic functional expansion. This concept describes how environmental and reactive events are functionally integrated into an individual’s life, leading to expanded responses to new events. The dynamic system proposed is structured around three axes: modal, temporal, and spatial. These axes allow the analysis of the system’s behavior at different levels of molarity and complexity, as it distributes across opportunities established by the relational structure of nature. Additionally, the system is examined across three orders of relationships: the material order, based on spatiotemporal contiguity; the vital order, which focuses on probabilistic relationships; and the human order, governed by conceptual and categorial pertinence. The article concludes that analyzing behavior through this framework aids in identifying first, second, and third-order parameters that act as state variables in a non-linear dynamic system. These parameters allow modeling the system’s trajectory in a multidimensional space, enhancing the understanding of its evolution and providing a more robust view of psychological behavior.