3V0550.01 [is a stairs] (7/26/79) Recently Peggy has been using the phrase “Is a X”. This use has been in a context we would interpret as declaring the identification of a thing. It may not mean that to Peggy. It may mean that and other things as well, as this observation suggests. I recently refinished …
3V0545.01 VERBAL LABELS: 07/21/79; Peggy frequently points to or touches things saying “that” with an intonation not signifying interrogation. I would say she uses the standard declarative intonation except that it might imply an intention — but that is precisely what we don’t know. Does she mean “Look at that” ? “I recognize that” ? …
3V0541.03 [right!] Comprehension issue (7/17/79) Peggy and I had a fight today. I was charging about the house, all concerned with th beam-raising project or its clean up. Peggy was toddling about with the yardstick, probably looking to chase Scurry with it. We collided. The yardstick and my left shin. Peggy was knocked [over]. I …
3V0541.02 Comprehension evidence for “what’s that?” — Infant explanation Importance — I consider this exceptionally clear evidence that Peggy understands the meaning of the question “What’s that?” I judge it important because it is a general request for information sufficient to meet another’s criterion. Her first attempted answer, pointing to the scar, is a sort …
3V0541.01 Scars: scrape on floor analogous to scar on her own body. Comprehension evidence for “what’s that?” Explaining. (7/17/79) Raising beams for the living room ceiling led to a lot of furniture moving. At one point, a pebble caught under the couch, scraped across the floor and left a wide (1/4″) and long (14″) scar …
3V0531.01 COUNTING: beginning of notes. Cookies, hands, and counting (7/7/79) During interviews at IBM, Moshe Zloof raised the question of whether or not, in effect, counting is innate. I told him the question was a big one about which I felt no one could speak with authority but that I had very strong prejudices. As …
3V0527.01 Spontaneous naming [shoe] (2 different examples) (7/3/79) This morning before breakfast Peggy was playing in our room. She picked up one of Bob’s moccasins and said, “Shoe.” Shortly thereafter she picked up one of his deck shoes and repeated, “Shoe.” Gretchen.
3V0524.01 Pragmatics and names [bring me the snuggle gruggle] (6/30/79) Peggy was playing with a large ball. At one point, when it was not in her possession and she had been distracted by something, I said to her, “Peggy, bring me the snuggle gruggle.” Without hesitation she went over to the ball, picked it up, …
3V0520.01 Naming with pointing at pictures; alternating car, dog (6/26/79) Miriam and Peggy were looking at a book by Richard Scary. Peggy pointed to a picture of a dog driving a car. Miriam said, “Car.” Peggy pointed again. “Car.” And again. “Car.” About the fourth or fifth repetition, Miriam was bored and tired of repetition. …
3V0518.01 Naming with pointing [car] (6/24/79) Driving in her car seat, Peggy named a car [ka] with pointing simultaneously. Gretchen.
3V0516.02 Concrete pipe: putting in (6/22/79) Peggy often rides with Miriam and me down to the Cox school to pick up Robby after soccer practice. Beside the soccer field is a play area for the older children.. One object is an 8 foot long concrete pipe of 4 foot diameter. Peggy was obvious(ly) fascinated by …
3V0516.01 Naming cars; relation of teaching and exploration (6/22/79) Riding Back from graduation at MIT, Peggy frequently pointed at trucks passing in the opposite direction with her squeals of delight. We named them for [her] “truck,” “van.” We all over subsequent days continued this on local trips where the distinction was often made between trucks …
3V0509.01 Writing on a paper bag (6/15/79) Peggy was running around our bedroom with an open pen. I told her not to write on her clothes and suggested that she could draw on a paper bag that lay on the floor. Pointing to it, I said [something like] “You can use that paper bag there …
3V0508.01 Over the head: what it means to Peggy (6/14/79) Putting cloth objects especially (but others as well) over the top of the head and down about her neck has become one of Peggy’s favorite activities. This leapt to prominence in our eyes with her wandering from the living room into the kitchen with a …
3V0503.01 [Who have that?] role of pragmatics; example for analysis (6/9/79) Miriam, sitting at the table, had left a pair of shoes across the kitchen despite my asking her to pick them up. When I called them to her attention and we talked about the shoes, Peggy picked up one and carried it over to …
3V0423.01 Trying to stick a magnet to the butcher block (3/21/79) Peggy had a small magnet, from the varied collection that normally are holding things on the refrigerator door. She approached the smooth side of the butcher block and held up the magnet to the surface. It did not hold, of course. She picked it …
3V0502.03 TIRADES; issue: forming technical terms for phenomena appearing in observations (6/8/79) Tirades — I am introducing this word as a technical term in the sense in which it appears in French and Italian drama. The tirade is a long speech or declamatory passage by a single actor directed to an audience but not to …
3V0502.02 Pure verbal interpretation overwhelms context: 6/08/79 Pick up Foxy The older children have a bad habit (likely picked up from me) of dropping wherever they are whatever they have no further need of. when I try to get them to pick up after themselves they complain “I didn’t have that” or “Shouldn’t (the other …
3V0502.01 Trash can: comprehension and generalization Peggy comes to pick at the contents of my writing table whenever she is in my bedroom. (Just now she took a box of chalk and complained vociferously when I retrieved it from her). Today she found the cap of a beer bottle and picked it up. I asked …
3V0495.03 Putting herself into things: hats and more (6/01/79) Peggy has played with Robby’s Boston Red Sox protective helmet. The children or I place it on her head when she brings it to us – and replace it when it falls off, as it always does. Peggy extracted a large colander from those low shelves, …
3V0495.02 Pretending; incorrect choice as a joke (6/01/79) Late in the afternoon I found myself waiting at home for two telephone calls while Gretchen took the cub scouts on a trip. Peggy played in my care and during the hour and more the following incidents occurred: Pretending: Peggy of pulls dishes and other utensils from …
3V0493.01 Fragmentary sound knowledge contrast to prosodics (5/30/79) Diaper = /dai/ — Peggy needed changing this morning — so I believed — and Gretchen upstairs agreed to do it. Peggy was complaining loudly, toddling around and smacking her plastic pants. To make certain, I asked, “What do you want, Peggy?” She replied [die] (/dai/) and …
3V0492.01 New Car Seat Opens up Peggy’s World (5/29/79) Ever since the children got some real bargains at a tag sale last summer, they have been followers of local tag sales. They take whatever cash they can scrape up and spend it all, giving away their loot in case they can not imagine a use …
3V0491.01 Peggy hiding by closing her eyes; no sense of how others see her (5/28/79) Peggy likes to hide and play chase. The way she hides is reminiscent of playing peek-a-book [sic]. She will run to the corner of a wall and its perpendicular projection and put her head in the corner. When I cry …
3V0485.04 Action Imitation — Helpful Peggy (5/22/79) Last Thursday or Friday I was washing windows using the Ritz cloth then wiping down with an old linen dishtowel. Peggy noticed what I was doing, and while I was working on the sliding glass doors downstairs, she disappeared for a moment and returned with the dish towel …
3V0485.03 Napping and Symbolic Play (5/22/79) Napping — Sometimes when Peggy is playing in my lap, she will stop for a while and lay her head down on my chest. She keeps her eyes open. Peggy does this in other situations, not on people. For example, yesterday she was bouncing on Miriam’s bed (she stands …
3V0485.02 Game-agent flexibility precursor to language (5/22/79) Toe grabbing — We grownups tickle Peggy (so do the older children) and she enjoys it. She has begun to try tickling us in return. Her attempts are good imitations although not very effective. (She holds her hand over a patch of skin and scratches [with] all her …
3V0485.01 Action initiation; observations of symbolic ‘up’ from discussions with Mimi Sinclair (5/22/79) I discussed Peggy’s development with Mimi Sinclair and we reviewed a video tape or two. She encouraged me to continue with the study till Peggy is at least two years old. We discussed several topics. Peggy and shoes — Peggy has no …
3V0483.01 [That’s a pup] (5/20/79) Robby’s National Geographic World subscription brings other materials beside the magazine into the house. Beside the vixen and pup poster (and others) occasionally a small set of ‘cards’ arrives. one recent set was of various types of dogs. Peggy looked at one with two basset hounds. “What’s that?” I asked. …
3V0454.01 Functional Classification: hairbrush, handkerchief; too far (4/21/79) It’s clear that Peggy knows what certain things are “for.” The first clear example was her use of a hairbrush. The second and most pervasive, was (and continues to be) her use of “handkerchiefs.” She and I have played much with hankies — they are the main …
3V0444.01 Playing with Scurry; tool, weapons, chimps, and Peggy (4/11/79) After Peggy became more skilled at toddling around, she and Scurry have delighted in chasing each other about the house. Scurry bounces up and down, changes direction running off, hides under the chairs and peers out. Peggy toddles about, chortling gleefully, sometimes chasing Scurry, sometimes …
3V0434.01 Non-standard use of name ‘bird’ (04/01/79) We have a “make-it/bake-it” cardinal hanging high on the dining room window. Peggy is much interested in it, and Gretchen often informs her that it is a bird. Peggy’s verbal imitations are pretty good. Sometimes sound turns out more like /b/\p/ or /b/\d/, but it’s quite easy to …
3V0432.03 Problem solving: bad bugs; insensitivity to the “obvious” (3/30/79) Problem solving: bad bugs; insensitivity to the “obvious” (3/30/79) | One of those many times she has sat in my lap, Peggy began trying to uncap pens. (She has seen me put the cap on firmly many times, so that when she put them in …
3V0432.02 Foxy Robin Hood: classification. (3/30/79) Peggy has been playing much of late with Miriam’s stuffed toy fox, called “Foxy.” Peggy carries the toy about by the ear, pets it as she tries to do with Scurry. (Has she compared it yet to our pictures in the living room ? I’m not certain.) Yesterday Peggy …
3V0432.01 First example of symbolic thought: “doll-up” for herself (3/30/79) Miriam has been making fantastic figures by cutting out paper. She displays them by taping them up below my mantle motto at the second story fireplace. Peggy caught sight of them and wanted to ‘see’ them. She indicates this by a high pitched noise of …
3V0429.01 Stair gate: extends her horizon. (3/27/79) We have long had a stair gate at the bottom of the flight to our second storey. I put it up at first to keep Scurry downstairs (for Miriam’s sake) but knew also that we want to keep Peggy from climbing unattended. While I have worked at my …
3V0417.01 Putting-in with no pockets! insensitive to the “obvious” (3/15/79) After many games of “wooba wooba”, pockets still confuse Peggy. Equally, they interest her. When my shirt pockets have the flaps tucked in, she can occasionally get enough of a hanky in for it to stay in place. Similarly, she succeeds more or less well …
3V0415.01 Functional classification: two examples, one in error (3/13/79) Peggy has begun to classify objects by what she knows their use to be. Some examples are equivocal, though I remain convinced of their interpretation. For example, Peggy has been “brushing” her hair. This could be from having her hair brushed, from seeing Miriam brush her …
3V0413.01 Change of fashion in Peggy’s favored sounds; cups, closing(3/11/79) About three weeks ago “Doit” [do-it?] replaced “ha zat” (have that) and “zat …zat…zat” as the most frequently used phrase in Peggy’s speech. For a while the older phrases disappeared completely, then returned…. Ten days or so ago, Peggy went to take a nap about …
3V0412.01 Putting-on; (3/10/79) Peggy has definitely begun putting objects on “tables”, i.e. any flat surface bounded and raised. The evidence of intention is her repeating the action. For example, she spent a long time (10 minutes or so) with Miriam’s boots and the checker table, putting on one, then both, then taking them off. She …
3V0403.01 “dog” used as a verbal label for Scurry (3/01/79) Peggy was downstairs in the kitchen with Gretchen. I sought a book from our shelves on the balcony of the living room. Peggy entered downstairs and crawled over to the sliding glass doors. (These are a window on the world at her level. For several …
3V0398.03 First introduction to pictures of herself. (3/01/79) Late February – Pictures and Names (a reconstruction) Carrying Peggy back from the balcony, when she pointed to some pictures and requested them, I turned Peggy to pictures of her hanging above the balcony entry. I was trying to distract her attention to pictures beyond her easy …
3V0398.02 Identifying toys and pictures of foxes; classification possible insight; (nominal date 2/28/79 added) Late February – Foxes: (a reconstruction) Before videotape session P57 (a day or two before) Gretchen sat with Peggy on the couch in the living room. Gretchen was ‘reading’ Baby Animals. Peggy pointed at the Fox on the cover and said …
3V0398.01 Shaping and imitation (2/24/79) Perhaps two weeks ago, Peggy had a cookie. In the process of consumption, a rather large piece was broken off and dropped. I retrieved it for her and handed it back. she took this piece in her free hand and immediately tried to match it to the main body of …
3V0388.01 Hiding from sight and relocating things (2/14/79) For weeks now, when playing with objects taken from my pockets or my writing table, Peggy has delighted in hiding them. her characteristic move is to put a pen, for example, underneath her leg on the seat cushion or, the usual case since she is on my …
3V0387.01 Peggy varying elements of a transient game; like phrases 2/13/79 Wooba wooba — Peggy hates to have her face washed or her nose wiped. But she does like to take things out of my shirt pockets. Her usual pocket-picking targets are pens or pipe stems. Today, with my having two shirt pockets, she discovered …
3V0385.01 Peggy’s nose; two element phrase from idiom variation 2/11/79 Peggy sat on my lap, and Miriam, feeling left out, demanded the same privilege. Gretchen has been naming face parts with Peggy for months and Peggy cooperates by reaching out to touch her nose when Gretchen asks, “Where’s my nose?” Miriam asked, “Peggy, where’s my …
3V0384.01 More verbal specificity; productive uses of signifiers 2/10/79 Returning from a three day trip to Boston, I have Peggy in my lap more than usual. At one point, she indicated she wanted Miriam’s belt which lay near by on the floor: /zIt//zIt/. I gave it to her. Peggy chewed it over, and because I …
3V0380.01 Need for specificity expands repertoire of signifiers 2/6/79 Peggy drives [us] to distraction. A few weeks ago when her talk was all /[th]aet/[th]aet/ and her pointing restricted to pictures, the talk was endurable, but now that it is coupled with specific objectives Gretchen and I are subject to streams of /[th]aet/ and /hae/[th]aet/ and …
3V0377.01 Neat phenomena and instruction: An Ale Bottle — (2/03/79) Peggy has long had the habit of carrying ale bottle. We separate glass trash for recycling and Peggy has long been able to careen over in her walker, select one she likes, and continue charging about the ground floor waving her prize. She usually puts …