Issue 3/4 Vol. 33 1991

The application of catastrophe theory in psychology

v. SALDERN, M.

In recent years the renaissance of the system theory has increased the application of the chaos- and catastrophe theory in psychology. This has not been done empirically, but only with arguments about the plausibility. Therefore it seems to be necessary to discuss the possibilities of application of this kind of nonlinear models. An overview about this models is given as well as an discussion about the application in psychology. Results show that these kinds of models are adequate only when (1) the system is defined clearly and (2) a statistical model is found.

Keywords: catastrophe theory, chaos theory

Short Title: V. saldern, M. (1991) PsyBeit 3-4:261

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