This study investigated preschoolers' living kinds conceptualization by employing an extensive stimulus set and alternate indices of understanding. Thirty-four 3- to 5-year-olds and 36 adult undergraduates completed 3 testing phases involving 4 object classes: plants, animals, mobile, and immobile artifacts. The phases involved inquiries participants generated, what biological properties they attributed and their assignment of "alive" to the 4 classes. The study also focused on preschoolers' conceptual coherence by examining their responding across indices. Results revealed both competence and confusion in preschoolers' living kinds conceptualization relative to adults'. In addition, demonstrations of coherence across testing situations suggest that the beginnings of an abstract, biologically organized framework for understanding of living and nonliving kinds are in place in the preschool period.

A core theme of this special issue on the past, present, and future contributions of the dynamic systems (DS) approach is its potential to unify developmental psychology by resolving false dichotomies and embracing the rich complexity inherent in development. This commentary raises some questions about the underlying ontological unity of the DS approach as applied to developmental psychology, a unity that many of its proponents take for granted. Specifically, the focus is on the nature of process and the means by which dichotomies are resolved in this approach to illustrate the contention that a fundamental ontological divide remains. Future substantive progress in the DS approach critically depends on resolution of this ontological divide.

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