A comprehensive blog exploring Thelen & Smith's (1994) A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action through both personal reflections and technical theoretical analyses.
This graduate seminar blog demonstrates two complementary approaches to engaging with developmental systems theory:
- Personal Reflections - First-person graduate student voice connecting theoretical concepts to personal experience, using concrete examples and metaphors to illuminate abstract principles
- Technical Analyses - Graduate-level theoretical exposition reconstructing Thelen's arguments about how dynamic systems redefines developmental explanation, focusing on what counts as adequate explanation in developmental science
Chapters 1-2: Technical analyses complete
Chapters 3-4: Complete with both reflection and analysis
Chapter 5: Technical analysis complete (reflection pending)
outputs/
├── index.html # Homepage with chapter sections
├── style.css # Comprehensive stylesheet
├── script.js # Reading time & animations
│
├── chapter1-analysis.html # Technical: Developmental puzzle & infinite regress
├── chapter2-analysis.html # Technical: Cognitive development crisis
│
├── chapter3-reflection.html # Personal: Horse gaits & phase transitions
├── chapter3-analysis.html # Technical: Dynamic systems framework
│
├── chapter4-reflection.html # Personal: Drumming & control parameters
├── chapter4-analysis.html # Technical: Developmental timescales
│
├── chapter5-analysis.html # Technical: Neural mechanisms (TNGS, Freeman)
│
└── README.md # This file
- First-person graduate student voice
- Connect theory to lived experience
- Use concrete examples (horse gaits, drumming, coding)
- Metaphors and accessible language
- ~800-1000 words
Example triggers: Personal examples, "I think about...", biographical elements
- Graduate-level theoretical exposition
- Reconstruct Thelen's arguments rigorously
- Use developmental psychology vocabulary as analytical tools
- Focus on what counts as adequate explanation
- No personal voice unless doing theoretical work
- ~1000-1300 words
Example triggers: Theoretical framework, experimental implications, explanatory mechanisms
Analysis: Teleological assumptions in developmental theory; the infinite regress problem; why traditional approaches cannot explain ordered progressions without prespecified instructions
Analysis: Cognitive development exhibiting same paradoxes as motor development; competence-incompetence coexistence; context-dependent performance; asynchronous trajectories
Reflection: Horse gaits as paradigm for phase transitions, self-organization, and attractor dynamics
Analysis: Dynamic systems as alternative to teleological explanation; Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction; far-from-equilibrium dynamics
Reflection: Tempo as control parameter in drumming; asynchronous development across coding/drumming domains
Analysis: Bridging real-time to developmental timescales; Bernstein's degrees of freedom; infant kicking self-organization; control parameters
Analysis: Freeman's chaos in olfactory perception; Georgopoulos' population coding; Edelman's TNGS; selection vs construction
- Dual post types per chapter (reflection + analysis)
- Responsive card-based homepage
- Chapter navigation (previous/next)
- Reading time calculator
- Fade-in animations
- Mobile responsive
- Clean, academic design
- Create a new repository on GitHub
- Upload all HTML, CSS, and JS files
- Go to Settings > Pages
- Select branch (main) and root directory
- Site will be live at
https://yourusername.github.io/repository-name/
# Initialize repository
git init
# Add all files
git add *.html style.css script.js README.md
# Commit
git commit -m "Add Dynamic Systems seminar blog - Chapters 3-5"
# Add remote and push
git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/your-repo.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main
# Enable GitHub Pages in Settings > Pages on GitHubHomepage (index.html)
│
├── Chapter 1: The Puzzle of Motor Development
│ └── Technical Analysis → chapter1-analysis.html
│
├── Chapter 2: What is Developing?
│ └── Technical Analysis → chapter2-analysis.html
│
├── Chapter 3: Exploring Paradigms for Change
│ ├── Personal Reflection → chapter3-reflection.html
│ └── Technical Analysis → chapter3-analysis.html
│
├── Chapter 4: Dynamic Principles of Development
│ ├── Personal Reflection → chapter4-reflection.html
│ └── Technical Analysis → chapter4-analysis.html
│
└── Chapter 5: Neural Organization and Development
└── Technical Analysis → chapter5-analysis.html
Each page includes:
├── Top navigation: Home | Previous | Next
└── Bottom navigation: Home | Previous | Next
- Copy an existing reflection HTML file
- Update header, meta tags, and navigation links
- Replace article content with new reflection
- Update tags in footer
- Add card to homepage
index.html
- Copy an existing analysis HTML file
- Update header, meta tags, and navigation links
- Replace article content with new analysis
- Update tags in footer
- Add card to homepage
index.html
In index.html, add new chapter section:
<section class="chapter-section">
<h2>Chapter N: Title</h2>
<div class="post-cards">
<article class="post-card">
<div class="post-type">Personal Reflection</div>
<h3>Your reflection title</h3>
<p>Description...</p>
<a href="chapterN-reflection.html" class="read-link">Read reflection →</a>
</article>
<article class="post-card">
<div class="post-type">Technical Analysis</div>
<h3>Your analysis title</h3>
<p>Description...</p>
<a href="chapterN-analysis.html" class="read-link">Read analysis →</a>
</article>
</div>
</section>- Primary blue:
#3498db - Dark text:
#2c3e50 - Gray text:
#7f8c8d - Light gray:
#ecf0f1 - Background gradient:
#f5f7fato#c3cfe2
Default system font stack:
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, sans-serif;- Max content width: 900px
- Padding: 2rem
- Card-based design with hover effects
- CSS Grid for post cards
- Flexbox for navigation
- Smooth transitions and animations
- Responsive breakpoints at 768px
- Fade-in animations on load
- Reading time calculator (200 words/min)
- Smooth scroll
- Staggered card animations on homepage
- Modular, non-intrusive code
Tested and working on:
- Chrome/Edge (latest)
- Firefox (latest)
- Safari (latest)
- Mobile browsers (iOS Safari, Chrome Mobile)
This blog demonstrates two essential modes of academic engagement:
- Reflective Practice: Making theory personally meaningful through lived experience, building intuition and deep understanding
- Analytical Rigor: Reconstructing theoretical arguments with precision, evaluating explanatory adequacy, mastering disciplinary vocabulary
Both are necessary for graduate-level mastery of complex theoretical frameworks. Reflections build conceptual intuition; analyses develop theoretical precision.
- Course: Perception and Action Graduate Seminar
- Institution: University of Central Oklahoma
- Program: Experimental Psychology
- Term: Spring 2026
- Primary Text: Thelen, E., & Smith, L. B. (1994). A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action. MIT Press.
- Chapters 1-2: Technical analyses
- Chapters 3-4: Full suite (reflection + analysis)
- Chapter 5: Technical analysis (reflection pending)
- Homepage with organized chapter sections
- Responsive navigation system
- Professional academic design
- Additional chapter reflections and analyses as seminar progresses
- Potential integration of figures/diagrams from source text
- Possible addition of interactive demonstrations
- Citation system if needed for academic submission
Educational use only. Content represents original graduate student work for academic coursework.
Built for graduate seminar coursework exploring dynamic systems theory in developmental psychology. All content represents personal engagement with Thelen & Smith's groundbreaking theoretical framework.