Workshop: Group Dyanmics
The workshop explores communication and social influence patterns in clinical, social, and organizational or task-oriented groups. The nonlinear dynamics explain how patterns emerge and evolve. Pertinent methods for isolating complex patterns are also presented. Clinical and social applications (David Pincus) are centered on applying current systems theory and methods to better understand small-group interaction dynamics, with a focus on group and family therapies. General topics to be explored include the roles of conflict, control, and closeness in social health and resilience. The organizational behavior applications (Stephen Guastello) are centered on dynamic decisions, which are prominent in complex adaptive systems. Principles of game theory, coordination, and synchronization play prominent roles in team performance.
Bio:
- Stephen Guastello, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, specializing in human factors engineering and ergonomics, and industrial and organizational psychology. He received his PhD in Industrial-Organizational psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and BA in Psychology from the Johns Hopkins University. He is the founding editor in chief of Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, published by the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences. He is the author of Chaos, Catastrophe, and Human Affairs (1995, Erlbaum), Managing Emergent Phenomena (2002, Erlbaum), Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics: A Systems Approach (3rd edition in press CRC Press), and Cognitive Workload and Fatigue in Financial Decision Making (2016, Springer); and co-editor of Chaos, Complexity and Psychology: The Theory of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (2009, Cambridge University Press), and Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences using Real Data (2011 CRC Press). Dr. Guastello’s current research centers on cognitive workload and fatigue, group dynamics, and interpersonal synchronization, and statistical analysis for nonlinear dynamics. He has developed statistical techniques for analyzing catastrophe models, chaotic and related functions with exponential structures, pattern analysis with symbolic dynamics, and a coefficient that quantifies synchronization during human group interactions.
- David Pincus, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Psychology Department at Chapman University and a licensed clinical Psychologist specializing in psychotherapy for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. His research career has focused on applications of nonlinear dynamical systems theory to understanding biopsychosocial resilience and psychotherapy. Some empirical examples include the analysis of: fractal patterns in family and other small group dynamics; fractal conflict dynamics; fractal organization of personality and behavioral flows; and changes in coupling and attractor dynamics across menopause. His publications include several dozen peer reviewed articles, academic book chapters, and guest editorships on nonlinear dynamical systems and clinical applications. In addition, he is a co-editor of Chaos, Complexity and Psychology: The Theory of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (2009, Cambridge University Press) and the lead author with Anees Sheikh of: Imagery for Pain Relief (2009, Routledge). Dr. Pincus received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University, as well as an APA accredited internship at Shasta County Mental Health and an APPIC accredited post-doctoral fellowship through the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry. All of his work aims at the understanding of flexibility and integrity in experiential self-organization with applications to health and resilience.