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Philosophical assumptions
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The philosophical foundations of the TPS Paradigm are based on complexity theories to consider the peculiarities of
individuals as complex living systems. This involves explicit
consideration of the principles of self-organisation, emergence and the irreversibility
of time, amongst others. The TPS Paradigm also builds on epistemological
complementarity to consider that, by using different methods,
ostensibly incompatible
information can be obtained about the properties of the same object that are
nevertheless all equally essential for an exhaustive account of it. This
principle of complementarity is implemented in the paradigm's frameworks
in various ways.
Further central assumptions are based on the idea that science is inseparable from its
makers' particular perspectives on their objects of research given their own positions in the
world - as humans, members of particular sociocultural and language communities, and
as individuals. This entails
particular risks for anthropocentric, ethnocentric, and egocentric
biases, because researchers studying individuals are not independent of their objects of research.
Such biases can occur in the phenomena that researchers seek out to
explore and the questions they ask about these phenomena (metatheoretical
level) as well as in the techniques and practices researchers
use to explore them (methodological level).
Publications: Uher (2013, 2015a, 2015d, 2017,
2018a, 2018c).
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Metatheoretical foundations
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In its metatheoretical framework and based on the premise that all science is made by
humans, the TPS Paradigm considers the ways in which humans can perceive phenomena in
individuals under everyday life conditions. These ways are described by three
metatheoretical properties - internality/externality, temporal
extension and spatial extension.
These three abstract properties are used to metatheoretically define
and differentiate from one another various kinds of phenomena that are
studied in individuals. These are the phenomena of morphology (e.g., muscles),
physiology (e.g., nerve potentials), behaviour (e.g.,
vocalising) and the psyche (e.g., thinking, feeling), semiotic
representations (e.g., language), artificially modified outer
appearance (e.g., clothing) and contexts (e.g.,
situations).
Publications: Uher (2015a, 2016a,
2016b).
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Methodological foundations of measurement and quantification
In the methodological framework, the three metatheoretical properties
are used to explore the foundations of phenomenon
- methodology
matching and to elaborate novel concepts and perspectives for
- basic issues of data generation across the sciences
- measurement and quantification, highlighting fundamental
differences between measurement versus assessment and observation
versus assessment
- extroquestion versus introquestion to overcome conceptual limitations of previous concepts of
extrospection versus introspection, and
- nomothetic and ideographic approaches,
amongst others.
Publications:
Uher (2019,
2018b,
2018c,
2015c). |
Microgenetic,
ontogenetic and (possible) phylogenetic icrogenetic,
ontogenetic and (possible) phylogenetic pathways of development of psychical
phenomena
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The concepts of the TPS Paradigm have been applied to trace the developmental
pathways through which psychical phenomena enable individuals to increasingly
become actors of their lives - as single individuals, communities and species.
Analyses have explored the fundamental imperceptibility of others' psychical phenomena and the
impact that this peculiarity had on the emergence of language and
instructed learning, culture, social institutions and societies
in the course of human evolution.
Publications: Uher (2015d).
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Further information: researchonindividuals.org
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