Abstract

NARDI, Bernardo  and  MOLTEDO PERFETTI, Andrés. The development of vittorio guidano's  model of personal meaning organizations: the processes of construction of the self in the developmental post-racionalist cognitive model. Psicoperspectivas (Valpso., En línea) [online]. 2009, vol.8, n.1, pp. 93-111. ISSN 0718-6924.

Following Guidano's contributions, in the last years the adaptive-physiological values of Personal Meaning Organizations (PMO) have been investigated. In fact, reciprocity with the primary care-givers drives individual adaptive abilities toward the construction a more useful PMO with respect to the individual's own developmental environment. Predictable and invariable care-giver behaviors favor an inward focus and a physical view of reciprocity: when reciprocity is high, a "controller" PMO develops; and when it is low, a "detached" PMO develops. Whereas the "controller" closure is focused on needs of protection/exploration, the "detached" closure is focused on needs of expression in contexts of isolation. Likewise, non-predictable and variable care-giver behaviors favor an outward focus and a semantic view of reciprocity: when reciprocity is high, a "contextualized" PMO develops; and when it is low, a "norm-oriented" PMO grow up. Whereas the "contextualized" closure is centred on the specific changes of the relational environment, the "norm-oriented" closure is centred on the classification of antithetical aspects of reality. In psychotherapy, focusing on the PMO allows recognizing and favors the emergence of adaptive individual resources, improving skills for controlling perturbing emotions and finding new and more flexible behavioral strategies.

Keywords : complexity; constructivism; mind; psychotherapy.