Dynamic systems is a recent theoretical approach to
the study of development. In its contemporary formulation,
the theory grows directly from advances in understanding
complex and nonlinear systems in physics and
mathematics, but it also follows a long and rich tradition
of systems thinking in biology and psychology. The
term dynamic systems, in its most generic form, means
systems of elements that change over time. The more
technical use, dynamical systems, refers to a class of
mathematical equations that describe time-based systems
with particular properties.