A Grammar of Affect Dynamics: Definitions, Generative Model Equations, and Extensions

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For many decades, researchers interested in psychological and developmental processes have produced dozens of metrics to operationalize and capture individual differences in the dynamics that manifest in the intensive longitudinal data obtained in laboratory situations and in everyday life. In this talk, I share progress on a project wherein we are using AI-enhanced workflows to create a comprehensive, three-part grammar of affect dynamics. Our hope is that formalization as a grammar supports newly precise theoretical and empirical work on the dynamic systems underlying individuals’ affective experiences and how they change in different ways across people and over time. I illustrate how the framework supports simulation of Nesselroade’s developmental fabric (warp and woof), ask for advice on how to generate (dyadic) “synchrony”, and play with the idea of invoking the AI-enhanced workflow to curate modern grammars for both developmental and family systems.