Micro-Theory
3V1267.01 Computer-based cuisenaire rods (7/12/81) Peggy enjoyed playing with the Cuisenaire rods during out experiment P181. Either in that one or the next P182, Peggy first accomplished a set of “stairs.” After the end of the experiment, she continued playing with rods and I heard her mention (at a point where she omitted the 3-length …
3V1247.02 Past tense and conditionals (6/22/81) For the past month or so, Peggy has been forming past tenses in the typical non-standard way — ie. RUN, RUNNED. (I will have to see if I can get her to discuss this in the next session, P181 now) — to get at the question raised by Seigler …
3V1247.01 Computer as Word-tester (6/22/81) Peggy sorts through the cards of the BEACH WORLD – She read the card WORLD with a questioning tone in her voice, then adding “I’ll try it and see,” executed it with considerable satisfaction. Later, after creating some objects, she sorted through the cards and picked out DOWN. She acted …
3V1246.01 Edit Shape 16: Miriam makes a pony shape for Peggy (6/21/81) Miriam made a PONY shape and procedure for Peggy’s BEACH WORLD. After I saved these on a tape and Miriam went away, Peggy took over her computer again, In the interim, somehow the shape had been cleared (perhaps a crash). At any rate, …
3V1239.01 Discovering “Turn” (6/14/81) After what seemed initially an unproductive session (P177), Peggy discovered the word TURN. Looking through the RED lettered cards (probably for some other word) she selected and keyed it. The TRUCK (or VAN) which was the current objects reversed as directed and Peggy exclaimed, “It turned !” This does not argue …
3V1238.02 Recalling a Word (6/13/81) Peggy just spelled ZOOM from memory. Two girl shapes were ZOOMing too close together. The FAST card sat nearby so I instructed Peggy to key it. With some trouble, she keyed that familiar word of unknown spelling, copying letter by letter. Disappointed that the current girl was going slow (fast …
3V1238.01 Debugging Spellings (6/13/81) Peggy copies the cards letter by letter, but sometimes she copies wrong. For example, after we returned from the hospital with Kate and Gretchen, and I loaded procedures, Peggy executed WORLD, SUN, UP (many times) then PAINT GREEN; she then tried “VAN”, a familiar shape but a less familiar word; because …
3V1234.03 Reading: one word at a time (6/9/81) Peggy played with the computer — off and on — during most of the day. Mostly she was “on.” (She even left the supper table to play with her “world”) although she took a break now and again to have a snack or to join Robby and …
3V1234.02 Peggy’s Reception of Card-words (6/9/81) After setting up the world subsystem with last minute perfections, I went off to the dentist, leaving four sets of cards stacked separately near the computer with the WORLD word leaning against the front of it. I left with the WORLD display set up, with a HOUSE in place …
3V1234.01 A New Way of Presenting Words (6/9/81) Peggy’s biggest problem in typing words [from a list] was recognizing which word she was copying to the keyboard. I began telling her to look at the first letter of the word and to remember what it was, emphasizing it that way and by identifying it by …
3V1233.01 Peggy’s first Word World: a summary description (6/8/81) Objects: SUN (base color) (via UPx N) (help with WALK/SLOWERx2) GIRL (base color) (Via DOWN x N=4 (started at road) CAR (help with GREEN) (help with MOVE) (via DOWN x 5) (help with WALK/ FAST) DOG (base color) (help with MOVE) (via DOWN x 1) HOUSE …
3V1218.01 Spelling a second word: “loadshapes” after “load” (5/24/81) My cassette files are set up with procedures stored before shapes. The first are accessed by ‘LOAD’ and the second by ‘LOADSHAPES.’ Since Peggy had insisted on typing LOAD wherever possible, I have HAD to instruct her to discriminate between the two words so that her …
3V1217.02 Spelling “load” and being grown-up; contrast toilet training (5/23/81) Peggy sat alone at the computer. The rest of us were out in the dining room, eating lunch. She called with notable excitement, “Daddy, come see. I’ve spelled ‘LOAD.’ Come see it, Daddy.” Because of her excitement, I left the table, witnessed her achievement (it …
3V121201 Writing words: in order to load programs (very impt.) (5/18/81) Peggy has spontaneously begun to “write” (ie type) words in order to control the loading of programs. While waiting for Gretchen to make available the DRAW program, Peggy typed “LO” (Did she ask if that was right ? Did she ask what next ?) …
3V1171.03 Counting in French: “Quatorze” (+ dog) (4/7/81) Peggy counts in French, which to her is “spelling”, i.e. reciting a list of non-sense sounds as an amplification or explication of something about a meaningful (?) work[d?]. Beginning with “/cat//twank/”, Peggy has picked up “/cat//torze/” (single word, no caesura) from Miriam’s recitations — partly offered as …
3V1171.01 Letter names versus Meanings: now even “the mommy letter” is blind coded.(4/7/81) In the last experiment, P167, Peggy made a distinction I have observed otherwheres since. When asked the name of any letter, she would reply “D”, no matter what the letter was, no matter what meaning it had for her. For example, she …
3V1170.01 Reflexive pronoun means symmetrical directed action: “The guys are killing themselves” (we would say “each other”.) (4/5/81) Peggy noted as she banged the Fischer-Price dolls against each other. That is, she uses the reflexive pronoun to describe symmetrical directed action.
3V1169.01 Recognizing “By” in another context: Asterix book (4/5/81) Peggy asked me to read “Asterix in Britain.” On page 6 (bottom) there appears a balloon with “Attack by Juno” in large capitals. As I was reading near the top of the page, Peggy pointed to “BY” and said, “That says ‘BY’.” Now it appears that …
3V1160.02 Subject and aspect: repetition expresses continued activity (3/27/81) Peggy is very vocal and most frequently describes verbally her action. The subject of her verbal predicates is usually herself and most often is “understood.” Today she ran through the kitchen, with her BearHug, putting him through actions. She said (manipulating him the while) “Run after. …
3V1156.01 Spelling a word: “B-E-R” for bear, from “BearHug” Peggy sat on the floor by her typewriter. She looked up at me and said, ‘I spelled ‘Bear’.’ when I asked her how, Peggy pressed in sequence the letters, ‘B’, ‘E’, & ‘R’. I asked how she knew to spell Bear that way, but she did …
3V1141.01 French: [I can speak French – “Cat twank” ] (3/8/81) I asked Miriam how her French is coming. She replied, ‘Comment allez-vous ?’ ‘Tres bien, merci, et vous ?’ I answered. Miriam could not continue. We mentioned ‘French’ several times during the conversation. Peggy, who had been sitting there piped up, ‘I can speak …
3V113601 Imperfectly articulated script: [Which hand ? This one ?] (3/3/81) ‘Which hand ?’ This question is one Peggy meets when she asks Robby or Miriam for something she knows they have (usually candy). Today, she came running up to my chair at the table and asked, ‘Which hand is the Rubic’s cube in ? …
3V112401 Singing: quiet activities of self-construction (2/19)81) Peggy’s repertoire of songs is sometimes surprising. On her recent trip to Boston with Robby, I found she knew a bit of ‘The cat came back’ (A song I know not but Robby does know, perhaps from a Disney program). This afternoon, Peggy sat singing quietly to herself …
3V1105.04 Generalized arguments to avoid rejection: [some little kids like candy.] (late January 1981) For some months now, Peggy has shown a semantically unusual usage. She typically uses “somebody”, “some kids”, “some people” as ways of indirectly expressing her feelings — especially in situations where she may be unsure that a request for something will …
3V1105.02 What we observe is not what she intends [Woodstock is patting his tail with the monsters.] (1/31/81) ‘Patting’ is an activity that Peggy knows a lot about. Scurry is her close friend and she pats Scurry every day. She is, in fact, merciless in expressing her affection for the dog who gets no peace …
3V1100.01 What words mean: example: graphics mean the name of the thing (1/26/81) After concluding an experiment (P157 I believe), Peggy touched the camera now back in its case. Pointing to the words on the camera she said, ‘I know what this says.’ ‘What,’ I asked. ‘Camera,’ she replied. This is a second example (see …
3V1096.01 Time sensitivity: When vs. Before (1/22/81) Miriam and I got back from Boston around 9 pm. We emptied the car, got off our coats, and all that. I talked with Peggy a while and she told me of her activities earlier in the day. I can’t recall the specific activity, but at one point …
3V1091.01 Breaking up an idiomatic expression: [By Beatrix Potter] (1/17/81) Peggy brought “Peter Rabbit” and “The Flopsy bunnies” to my lap. As I have read them to her in the past, I have moved my finger along the title. Earlier (1/26/80) Peggy recognized “by” in two books as being “the same.” Here when I finished …
3V1069.03 Her first orthographic word: “by” (very impt) (12/26/80) Especially as we read the titles of Peggy’s many books, Peggy imitates my pointing to words and saying words. After I read “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” she pointed more or less randomly: “The” (for the tale of); “Tale” (for Peter); “of” (Rabbit) “Peter” (by) (Rabbit” …
3V1069.02 Counting and one-to-one correspondence (12/26/80) Having bought her two of Beatrix Potter’s books for Christmas, I have read them over and over to Peggy. At one point in the story of Peter Rabbit, old Mrs. Rabbit goes to the bakers and buys ‘five current buns.” I decided to see how Peggy would follow or …
3V1067.01 I wonder I’m hungry”: idioms and structure (12/24/80) In chanting recitations very like “I thought I saw a pussy cat,” Peggy has repeated the phrase above, most as noted but with a few variations, e.g., “I wonder I’m sleepy.” This utterance is noteworthy because it is one with the surface structure of a grammatical …
3V1011.01 Jumping Jacks and Counting (10/27/80) Peggy sometimes goes to gymnastics make up classes with Miriam. She has seen the girls do jumping jacks and counting them. Whenever she feels full of energy, Peggy is as likely to break into jumping jacks as any other activity. Usually Peggy counts, but with the numbers 16 and …
3V1006.02 One to one correspondence: words and things (very impt)(10/22/80) Gretchen was reading to Peggy from “The Big Book of Real Trains.” At the bottom of each page is a little picture reviewing each of the cars introduced in the previous pages, each having an engine at the head. As Gretchen read and turned the …
3V1006.01 “When Mimi was my age, Christina was my age too” (10/22/80) I judge this an amazing statement for a child of Peggy’s age. Christina is a coeval of Miriam’s who rides to and from gymnastics in a car pool. Christina is of significantly slighter frame than Miriam. It is possible that Peggy imagined Christina …
3V1004.01 Role Reversal: reading to others (10/20/80) Bringing some wood inside, I nearly tripped over Scurry at the porch door. Continuing on, I came close to Peggy also, who censured me “Don’t step on me, Daddy. Don’t step on Scurry. She’s a good kid, too.” Scurry is Peggy’s most accessible playmate (and the only controllable …
3V0978.01 BANG vs. RING: limits of word recognition (9/26/80) Peggy has been able to identify as “BANG” the word in “The Calculus Affair” when it appears in a yellow cloud of color. She did not (in P140 in 9/29/80) distinguish it from the word “CRACK” so displayed (although she may have done so earlier, (cf. …
3V0977.01 Reading words to Peggy: unintended instruction Peggy has been lately enjoying Richard Scary’s “Best Word Book Ever.” She brought it to me today and asked me to read her the words (in a general sense) “Read these words?” I read the title, etc. then began to read the labels accompanying objects on the cover. …
3V0975.01 Reading to herself (9/23/80) Peggy has been doing this for quite some time — usually when others are occupied otherwise. Today, in P139, I got her to read to me (which she would never do before). Her “reading” has seemed a reconstruction of recalled dialogue and text mixed with observations of the pictures (or …
3V0956.01 Meaning more than she can say (9/4/80) This note documents an incident more remarkable for what Peggy failed to say that for what she did say: While I was off in Boston, Miriam had been sitting in my arm chair (one from which I shoo the children whenever I want to sit there.) It …
3V0949.01 Roles involving three people: (correcting me about Gretchen) (8/28/80) I no longer recall the detail of this incident. What is important is development of the role-expansion theme from two to three characters. Note that Peggy only has trouble with the third person possessive pronouns (and adjective also). She has trouble — as will be …
3V0940.01 GSB : letters as symbols for people: “This say Mommy, Scurry, Daddy” ( 8/19/80) We have a key ring about the house from the Guilford Savings Bank. Peggy brought it to me today and explained to me, “This says Mommy, Scurry, Daddy.” She has been told that this first letter begins the name Gretchen, …
3V0938.01 My-best-friend: early phrases as unstructured idioms; early variations: (8/17/80) How many words is this utterance ? How fluid or viscous are the relations of parts and the whole ? Playing down at Jacob’s Beach, Peggy used this phrase to refer to ANY child she met there of her size. (She has originally used it …
3V0933.03 Nouns and adjectives: non-standard usage (8/12/80) Peggy has long resisted our attributing any character to her where of this form, “You’re a X.” (Or “Are you an X ?”) Bob: Are you a sweet Peggy ? Peggy: Yes. Bob: Are you a sweety ? Peggy: No ! I’m a Peggy ! It appears to …
3V0933.02 Fixity of Part Relations: idioms are central (8/12/80) As we set out the supper on the table, Peggy in her high chair already was delighted to see the food. “It’s macaroni and cheese,” she exclaimed, “Peg,” I said, “It’s cheese and macaroni.” “Not cheese and macaroni,” she argued adamantly, “It’s macaroni and cheese.” What …
3V0933.01 Describing actions: fluid script application (8/12/80) Over this past week, Peggy has often played with her Fischer-Price dolls. This has joined with her new interest in Legos so she has made (with Miriam’s help and mine) in making couches and houses for her dolls. Most striking about Peggy’s play with dolls is her language …
3V0924.02 Watching Videotapes: single letters as name symbols (8/3/80) Last night Gretchen and I reviewed four videotapes (weeks 26, 52, 78, and 104). Peggy was in and out during this two hours of viewing (she was alternately watching an hour long Disney show on the basement TV). One question of interest to me was what …
3V0924.01 Meta-linguistic reflection: “I sorry.” (8/3/80) We have an old clock whose face plate falls off with a distressing regularity. Peggy just bumped the clock, the face plate fell off, and she walked away. Sitting down in the middle of the floor, she called it to my attention. Peggy: I sorry break the clock. Bob: …
3V0917.01 Egocentricity and agent expression: very non-standard usage (7/27/80) At the beach: On their return, Peggy informed me of an event that was important to her(She has referred to it several times since, in nearly the same verbal formulation): “Go to the beach the beach and fall in the water, then somebody pick me up, …
3V0910.02 Possessive pronouns: non-standard forms [he lives in he’s house.] (7/20-24/80) Peggy was reading that Britanica book which begins with a picture of several animals and asks where they live. There are pictured on one page a horse, dog, spider, turtle, and others (?) and on the facing page a barn, pond, dog house, and …
3V0852.01 Verbal aspect: self correction I do -> I did (5/23/80) Peggy has been to the beach with Gretchen. Returning from Boston, I heard of Peggy falling down in the water and began to talk about it with her: Bob: You fell ? Peggy: I fall in water. Bob: You do ? Peggy: (correcting me!): …