MURRAY, Tom (United States)

Title of contribution:

What’s going on in later stages? (Acad)                                                           

Using Artificial Intelligence to Score Meaning-making Development in Text

Where & when:

Ibiza II.
Thursday, 24th 12:00-14:00

Catalonia
Friday, 25th 11:30-13:30

What’s going on in later stages? — Do integral developmental theories agree?

We compare adult developmental theories including those of Kegan, Commons, Fischer, Cook-Greuter, O’Fallon, and Wilber, offering new tools to understand why some frameworks differ about what it means to develop through later stages (“second tier”). Themes include: differentiating upward growth vs. downward or ablative “growth;” differences in the types of developmental operations or moves that each theory emphasizes; why what is considered vertical growth in one model may be horizontal growth in another; and additional thoughts on the relationship between states and stages. The goal is to improve our theoretical foundation and framing for further inquiry into late stage development, not to suggest definitive descriptions or definitions of late stage development.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Score Meaning-making Development in Text

I will describe the StageLens project, which uses artificial intelligence (machine learning) methods to automatically score text. The StageLens computer model has been trained on human scoring data based on O’Fallon’s STAGES theory, an extension of the Loevinger/Cook-Greuter framework. The primary application is to score completions of the 36-item sentence completion test for ego development (also called meaning-making maturity and person-perspective capacity). I will also report on preliminary attempts to use the technology to score other types of text, including essay responses. Topics include: the accuracy of the current model; how low-cost developmental assessment opens up applications of developmental theory to new areas; and ethical considerations in making developmental scoring more widely available.

About Tom Murray

Tom Murray is Chief Visionary and Instigator at Open Way Solutions LLC, which merges technology with integral developmental theory, and is also a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts School of Computer Science. He is an Associate Editor at Integral Review, is on the editorial review board of the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, and has published articles on integral theory as it relates to a variety of topics. See www.tommurray.us