Maintains that Muller and Overton (1998) challenge the current Zeitgeist regarding infant cognitive development. Suggests that researchers reconsider infants as developing actors in a meaningful environment, not as born philosophers. Notes the need to explore processes underlying key transitions in infancy and the relation between action and…

Comments on Lewis's ideas about reconciling stage and specificity in neo-Piagetian theory in this issue. Focuses on whether general stages, domain specificity, and individual diversity are compatible from a nonlinear, dynamic perspective. Suggests that, by using catastrophe theory, intra- and interindividual diversity and domain specificity can be…

To resolve tension between general stages and conceptual specificity in neo-Piagetian theory, R. Case introduced the idea of central conceptual structures. To resolve difficulties of separating developmental level and conceptual diversity, this article reconceptualizes central conceptual structures as self-organizing systems that stabilize in…

Comments on Lewis's ideas about reconciling stage and specificity in neo-Piagetian theory in this issue. Summarizes R. Case's central conceptual structure and its relation to other neo-Piagetian theories. Notes similarities between Lewis and Piaget, suggesting that differences adhere to a limited number of general laws instead of being…

Discusses processes in the development of shared pretend representations: adoption of shared pretend focus; metacommunication defining the activity as pretend play; and communication within pretend play. Examines claims that children's play becomes intersubjective only after three years of age. Concludes that intersubjectivity in peer pretend play…

Coded discourse of three preschool girls during an entire play session. Analyzed discourse as an instance of Goffman's concept of social frames specifying 13 reality modes, from deeply engrossed play action to nonplay interaction. Proposes a theoretical view regarding the society-instituting function of pretend play from a constructivist…

Identifies three categories of baby diaries--scientific, educational, and domestic--prevalent from the late 18th to late 19th century in Western Europe and the United States. Discusses the diarists and recurring themes in the diaries, such as the nature of instinctive behaviors and recapitulationism. Explores contemporary uses of the diary method.…

Comments on the article by Wallace and others in this issue. Discusses the history of diaries and diarists in child psychology and comments on modern diary studies. Examines some of the benefits and challenges of using diaries as a research method and suggests that old and new diary studies can contribute to the progress of contemporary…

Comments on the article by Wallace and others in this issue. Suggests that baby diarists kept records to clarify their own thinking rather than to contribute to a body of knowledge. Although noting the value of baby diaries, proposes a revival of similar methods that would enable researchers to address some of the fundamental issues in child…

Reviews a book which describes the Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form. Compares the test to that of Lawrence Kohlberg, pointing out benefits and drawbacks of the test, and concludes the test represents a notable advance in the measurement of Kohlberg's first four stages of moral development. (TM)

Offers a theoretical and methodological approach to study of children's socio-cognitive interaction. Observation of object-centered activities among three age groups of children showed different modes of collaboration. Processes were similar across age groups; roots of basic peer interaction patterns reach back into infancy. Similarities across…

Comments on Verba's ideas about collaboration in peer interaction in this issue. Praises Verba for setting new direction in the study and understanding of social processes in cognitive development and for establishing important continuities in how children communicate with peers. Notes that Verba's analyses suggest natural categories of…