A Systemic Approach to Adaptability 1

Abstract

A systemic structural variable, differentiation within a perceptual-cognitive system, is predicted to be related to the system's adaptability. Differentiation, the number of bounded regions within a system, was measured in five ways, and Adaptability, the ability to respond to changing environmental demands, in four ways. Ss were 66 children in the fifth and sixth grades in a Boulder, Colorado school and 3 others of comparable ages in a special education class in Boulder. IQs ranged from 56 to 149. Results indicated that Differentiation and Adaptability are homogeneous attributes. Differentiation was found to be more reliable than IQ as a predictor of adaptability for most of the sample. Differentiation was also found to be positively related to age and to IQ. The systemic model is valuable in investigating perceptual-cognitive functioning.

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