Discusses the emergence and early development of symbolic functioning in children engaged in nonverbal, expressive activities. Concludes that symbolic functioning must be considered in the affective as well as cognitive sphere of development. Implications for educational practice and questions for further research are presented. (DP)

This document presents some of the major challenges facing Developmental Psychologists. Research revealed that middle class children tended to respond in classification tasks to objects and pictures as equivalents, whereas low class black children tended not to do so. The reason for this was investigated. This investigation of the course of…