Empirical Research Using The Model
The MHC has a broad range of applicability. The mathematical foundation of the model makes it an excellent research tool to be used by anyone examining task performance that is organized into stages. It is designed to assess development based on the order of complexity which the individual utilizes to organize information. The MHC offers a singular mathematical method of measuring stages in any domain because the tasks presented can contain any kind of information. The model thus allows for a standard quantitative analysis of developmental complexity in any cultural setting. Other advantages of this model include its avoidance of mentalistic or contextual explanations, as well as its use of purely quantitative principles which are universally applicable in any context.
The following can use the Model of Hierarchical Complexity to quantitatively assess developmental stages:
- Cross-cultural developmentalists;
- Animal developmentalists;
- Evolutionary psychologists;
- Organizational psychologists;
- Developmental political psychologists;
- Learning theorists;
- Perception researchers;
- History of science historians;
- Educators;
- Therapists;
- Anthropologists.
The following list shows the large range of domains to which the Model has been applied. In one representative study, Commons, Goodheart, and Dawson (1997) found, using Rasch (1980) analysis, that hierarchical complexity of a given task predicts stage of a performance, the correlation being r = 0.92. Correlations of similar magnitude have been found in a number of the studies.
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