Experiential canalization of behavioral development: Theory.

Experiential Canalization of Behavioral Development: Theory

Waddington's (1942) notion of canalization has been widely invoked in developmental psychology to conceptualize species-typical regularities in behavioral development as genetically determined. In contrast, a developmental systems view, such as the one described in the present article, sees the genes as only one component in a hierarchy of influences, all of which contribute to canalize behavio...

Individual development and evolution: experiential canalization of self-regulation.

In this article, we contrast evolutionary and psychobiological models of individual development to address the idea that individual development occurring in prototypically risky and unsupportive environments can be understood as adaptation. We question traditional evolutionary explanations of individual development, calling on the principle of probabilistic epigenesis to suggest that individual...

American Psychologist Child Development in the Context of Adversity: Experiential Canalization of Brain and Behavior

Child development in the context of adversity: experiential canalization of brain and behavior.

The authors examine the effects of poverty-related adversity on child development, drawing upon psychobiological principles of experiential canalization and the biological embedding of experience. They integrate findings from research on stress physiology, neurocognitive function, and self-regulation to consider adaptive processes in response to adversity as an aspect of children's development....

Canalization in evolutionary genetics: a stabilizing theory?

Canalization is an elusive concept. The notion that biological systems ought to evolve to a state of higher stability against mutational and environmental perturbations seems simple enough, but has been exceedingly difficult to prove. Part of the problem has been the lack of a definition of canalization that incorporates an evolutionary genetic perspective and provides a framework for both math...