In the last 25 years, criticism of most theories advanced by Darwin and the neo-Darwinians has increased considerably, and so did their defense. Darwinism has become an ideology, while the most significant theories of Darwin were proven unsupportable. The critics advanced other theories instead of 'natural selection' and the survival of the fittest'. 'Saltatory ontogeny' and 'epigenesis' are su...

Most models of conduct disorders are based on a biopsychosocial perspective. In such models, genetic and/or neuropsychological determinants are assumed to have a core hierarchical role by conferring vulnerabilities during a child's development. Based on a review of recent literature, I will show that other views are attempting to integrate the diversity and complexity of factors that influence ...

DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORIES 258 Intellectual Heritage: Developmental Process 259 Lessons from Embryology: Form from a Formless Egg 260 The Mountain Stream Metaphor 263 Epigenesis in Developmental Psychobiology 263 Contextual and Ecological Theorists 266 An Introduction to Dynamics Systems Thinking 271 Development from a Dynamic Systems Perspective 276 Bimanual Coordination 297 What Is Skill? 298 S...

Historically, philosophers of biology have tended to sidestep the problem of development by focusing primarily on evolutionary biology and, more recently, on molecular biology and genetics. Quite often, development has been misunderstood as simply, or even primarily, a matter of gene activation and regulation. Nowadays a growing number of philosophers of science are focusing their analyses on t...

Epigenesis is the process whereby the daughters of a dividing cell retain a chromatin state determined before cell division. The best-studied cases involve the inheritance of heterochromatic chromosomal domains, and little is known about specific gene regulation by epigenetic mechanisms. Recent evidence shows that epigenesis pivots on methylation of nucleosomes at histone 3 lysines 4, 9 or 27. ...