Psychological and Social Structures.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- General Introduction -- The Place of Psychology in the Hierarchy of the Sciences -- The Organization of the Present Work -- Part I: Form, Function, and Organization: The Statics of Structural Theory -- Chapter 1: The Concept of Structure -- Systems and Structures -- The Boundaries of a Structure -- Form and Content -- Form and Information -- Some Auxiliary Concepts -- Choosing a Level of Analysis -- Summary -- Chapter 2: Function and Content -- Context -- Function -- Coupling -- The Appropriateness of Content to Context -- Classifying and Comparing of Structures by their Functions -- Summary -- Chapter 3: Macrocosmic Form and Microcosmic Constraint -- Idiogenic Constraints -- Interactional Constraints -- Collective Constraints -- Contextual Constraints -- Interactions Among Constraints -- Summary -- Chapter 4: Hierarchic Forms of Organization -- The Basic Hierarchic Form -- Interactional Hierarchies -- Synechdochic Hierarchies -- Degrees of Hierarchic Organization -- Advantages and Limitations of the Hierarchic Form -- Summary -- Chapter 5: The Nucleate Form of Organization -- The Nucleate Gradient Form of Representation -- Centrality and Functional Distance -- More Complex Nucleate Forms -- Special Properties of the Nucleate Form -- Summary -- Chapter 6: The Concept of Organization -- Four Criteria of Organization -- Macroscopic Organization and Microscopic Constraint in Colonies of Tropical American Army Ants -- Single Organisms and Organismic Collectives -- Summary -- Part II: Energy, Activity, and Change: The Steady-State Dynamics of Structural Theory -- Chapter 7: Energy-Information Linkages -- The Concept of Energy -- Football Sunday Afternoon.

The Energic Distinctiveness of Psychological and Social Systems -- Levels of Linkage -- Extensions and Limitations of this Approach -- Summary -- Chapter 8: Stability, Form, and Flexibility -- A Basic Thermodynamic Approach -- Some Thermodynamic Aspects of Unstructured Systems -- Some Thermodynamic Aspects of Structured Systems -- Psychological and Social Bonds -- Summary -- Chapter 9: Conformation, Information, and Adaptation -- Conformations and Discrepancies -- Templating and Resistance -- Objects and Objectivity -- Summary -- Chapter 10: Activity States of a Structure -- A Taxonomy of Activity States -- Changes in State and Changes in Form -- Steady-State Range and Rate of Development -- Summary -- Part III: Growth and Development: The Developmental Dynamics of Structural Theory -- Chapter 11: The Concept of Development -- Development as a Change in Form -- Development as a Directional Process -- Development as a Dialectical Process -- Summary -- Chapter 12: The Levels-by-Stages Model -- The Intrastructural Model -- The Transition Between Stages -- The Intergenerational Model -- Summary -- Chapter 13: Some Controversial Issues Concerning Levels and Stages -- The Controversy Over Levels -- The Controversy Over Stages -- The Controversy Over Critical Periods -- The Controversy Over Regression -- The Controversy Over Recapitulation -- Summary -- Chapter 14: The Orthogenetic Ordering Principle -- The Orthogenetic Ordering of Steady-State Structures -- Summary -- Chapter 15: Primordial Integration: Independence, Coaction, and Interaction -- The General Model for Primordial Integration -- Functional Independence of the Precursors -- The Coactive Form -- The Interactive Form -- Summary -- Chapter 16: Primordial Integration: Partial and Full Integration -- The Partially Integrated Form -- Completing the Process of Integration.

The Interstructural Medium -- Summary -- Chapter 17: Differentiation and Specialization -- Partitioning the Primordial Field -- The Process of Specialization -- The Interlocking of Differentiation and Integration -- Functional Autonomy -- Summary -- Chapter 18: Change in Size and Change in Form -- Class Size and Classroom Organization -- Upper Boundary Phenomena of the Steady-State Range -- An Informational and Attentional Model of Cohesiveness and Efficiency -- Generalizations, Extensions, and Limitations -- Summary -- Epilogue -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Changes in the Flow-Pattern of Vehicular Traffic as a Function of Changes in Traffic Density -- References -- Author Index -- Subject Index.

Originally published in 1984, this work is organised in three parts. Part 1 explores what a structure is. Part 2 critically explores the dynamic (energic) conceptualization of psychological and social phenomena. Part 3 brings all these earlier considerations to bear upon the processes by which these structures grow and develop.

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