An intensive investigation of a group at a time when it is known that change is likely to occur. The aim is to chart the complexity of this change, sometimes by speeding up the process through training. Typically, employment of the method confronts individuals with the same or similar problem-solving tasks on repeated occasions in order to distil changes in the strategies they employ. A cardinal finding is evidence of intra-individual variability in the application of strategies such that alternative ones that increasingly better and more effective ones are exhibited. One way to capture the (qualitative) nature of such variability is through the application of catastrophe ‘flags’ to microgenetic data sets. There are two issues with the method. Firstly, whether changes observed under microgenetic conditions are comparable to those evident with using a longitudinal design over a longer period of time. The answer would appear to be ‘yes‘, with the expected difference being the length of time over which they are realized. Secondly, there is the accusation that the method blurs the distinction between development and learning. Adherents of applying dynamical systems approaches would consider this to be a misleading criticism, at least in terms of the analyzing the process of change whether it be across ontogenetic time or real-time. Those devoted to the microgenetic method would acknowledge a difference, but only in terms of change taking place more rapidly in older children and adults than in their younger counterparts (thus suggesting that older individuals bring to bear a greater learning experience to their development). The present entry cannot do justice to the rich possibilities offered by the method in promoting new insights in the relationship between development and learning. Excellent reviews can be found in publications by US and more recently UK developmental psychologists. Finally, it has to be acknowledged the microgenetic method has its roots in work of Heinz Werner (1890-1964) starting in 1956.
rSee Catastrophe theory, Developmental (or ontogenetic) time, Developmental research, Follow-back design, Intra-individual differences, Longitudinal design, Longitudinal studies, Longitudinal-experimental studies, Orthogenetic principle, Problem solving, Process, Transition