Other issue
3V0995.01 Excuses and implausible threats (10/11/80) Peggy begins now to more frequently offer excuses (as her siblings do all too often) and even makes threats. She sometimes neglects to empty her potty into the toilet after shitting. I urged her to do so today. as she sat on the floor, playing with a bare foot. …
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. …
3V0974.01 The Pig in the book: what does Peggy mean by what she says? (9/22/80) Peggy was playing with her “happy family” (her Fischer price dolls). I mentioned she had other animals besides the dogs. There was a chicken and, somewhere, a black pig. Peggy pointed to a Richard Scary book and asked, “Can I …
3V0971.01 In my lap: repertoire of three character scripts (9/19/80) I have tried to dissuade Peggy from reading all the time. So more lately, she has climbed into my lap with friends, the small bear, the pink panther, “Aroot” her elephant, and the horse Miriam received when she was in the hospital. The animals have …
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 …
3V0942.01 If “P” means Peggy, what is “eggy” ? (8/21/80) Peggy has been writing a lot lately. She frequently asks me to write “Peggy Lawler” on the pages before she does anything else. It has been my custom to write “PEGGY” at the top and “LAWLER” in the middle. She has come to accept that …
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 …
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 …
3V0916.01 Commitment to an interpretation: [go pick the lady grass.](7/26/80) Miriam has been given the job of picking grass out of the driveway and she resists it mightily. I recently scolded her and told her to go pick out every blade of grass at the turn (the grass had slowed drainage and caused some flooding). …
3V0819.01 Progressive Verbs (4/20/80) Peggy has used present participles as progressive verb forms in a descriptive mode (as on last page). In two incidents, the context makes clear her richer semantic framework served by those forms. Yesterday I sat on the front stoop. Peggy came up the path and before reaching the stairs said to …
3V0811.04 Surprising syngnosticity (4/12/80) Peggy’s toy elephant she names “Arroot.” Miriam received as a birthday present a pig hand-puppet which Peggy very much admires. She asked the name and Miriam called it “Alfred,” since which Peggy has been chasing and pestering her for “My arroot.” The resolution a half hour later: Peggy came in the …
3V0781.01 “Peggy Lawler” – what symbols mean to her (3/13/80) Ever since Miriam’s gift of the Grover Book (wherein she wrote PEGGY LAWLER on the inside cover to show ownership), Peggy has interpreted any group of letters as meaning “Peggy Lawler.” She distinguishes (more or less) between four things: letters, seen as individuals; pictures in …
3V0780.03 Shoe Daddy off: clear example of non-standard syntax (3/12/80) Peggy said this as I removed my shoes. It is perfectly clear she was describing what I did and it is also clear what she meant, “Daddy is taking off his shoe.” the syntax appears quite non-standard.
3V0777.01 Analogies — their incomprehension; deep role in cognition. (3/9/80) Peggy woke me at midnight, she had a stuffy nose and was crying for her Mommy. we played in the sitting room, she in my lap. Pointing to a foxy, she said ‘Get foxy.’ I replied ‘Too far away.’ She continued ‘Like a fader.’ Surprised, …
3V0776.02 An inference (3/8/80) Peggy ran from the dining room to me in the living room. Holding out her hand to me (I responded to take whatever it might be), Peggy dropped coins in my hand. She said, ‘Money on table. Somebody left it.’ Not only is this a two-sentence speech act, it also exhibits …
3V0767.01 Don’t rub your eyes”; imitation as analysis by synthesis (2/28/80) So, Gretchen reminded me. I sat in my chair with Peggy and one of her books on my lap. (My eyes get itchy from allergic reactions and I rub them excessively, almost without noticing). Peggy turned, looked at me (after I had stopped) and …
3V0749.01 Words and Numbers; primary roots of discrimination (2/10/80) Miriam and Peggy play with my yardstick a lot (a free one from a local hardware store, it has the measure and advertisements on it). Miriam marches around with it on her shoulder: “hup, two, three, four; hup…” Peggy marches too, “hup, two, three; hup, two, …
3V0733.01 [chin hurts] Variation anchor, abetted by questioning. (1/25/80) Peggy somehow hurt herself, and when asked what was the matter, replied, ‘Chin hurts.’ A few days previously, as I was changing her diaper, I became aware that she was talking away. P : ‘…neck….hurt (or hurts, I could not notice)…’ G : ‘Your neck hurts, …
3V0728.01 CAUSE – toilet training; cause, agent, effect (1/20/80) We have tried to interest Peggy in using a small toilet. She plays with it, pushing around the house, chasing the dog with it, and so forth – investigating the removable pot and peering at it every which way. Now she knows the clothes come off …
3V0720.01 [fork…hurts…arm…me]: Peggy’s most complex phrase construction before the upsurge of pause deletion and appearance of anchoring with variation in her verbal productions (1/12/80) Peggy stabbed herself with the tines of a fork. I can’t recall whether she was in her high chair or helping unload the dishwasher, but her words and pauses are certain. …
3V0718.01 Who’s there ? (Original notes on homely binding and lonely discovery) (1/10/80) Peggy’s use of the knock-knock joke script has been monolithic — ie. she would not respond in the victim’s role, nor would she continue in any way no matter what response her victim made. This morning, when I brought some coffee to …
3V0709.02 [Mimi did it…Peggy’s] Good example; issues important; developing a vocabulary to describe observed phenomena. (1/1/80) The situation to which the locution applies was Miriam’s making a wrapped package, a present, and giving it to Peg. Peggy brought it to me to show. what is significant here is the pause/connected structure of the phrasing. There …
3V0706.01 Knock knock jokes: story used in ACR chapter of CECD. (12/29/79) Jokes have been much in the air lately. I’ve worked on OCL: Inventing Jokes. Miriam made me a joke book as a Christmas present. Peggy has begun telling knock-knock jokes, apparently in imitation (without instruction): Peggy: knock-knock ? Victim: Who’s there ? Peggy: …
3V0690.01 Harp and Guitar: naming shows assimilation of a new object to a familiar schema with spontaneous naming, social differentiation of relations, and her locking in the relationship. (12/13/79) We were all watching the Marx Brothers movie “Monkey Business.” (Note also that bob Despain recently gave Miriam an old Guitar of his.) At one point, …
3V0683.02 Kicking and hurt feelings. (12/6/79 and earlier) Peggy’s control over her supports, her legs, has been of apparent and considerable interest to her, I recall her joy at being able to jump with both feet when first she could and, most recently (12/20 ff.), her tapping with one foot to music while standing [this …
3V0683.01 CHIN: word learning and private review in play. (12/6-7/79) Peggy found an old doll of Gretchen’s in the basement. She brought it to Miriam (who was sitting in my lap) and me and began pointing to and naming what struck her — the dress, the hair, face parts — eyes, nose. I realized that …
3V0674.01 COUNTING (carrying two cookies) [one, two, seven] ONE, TWO, SEVEN (11/27/79) Peggy came into the study (living room) with cookies in hand (one each) and said to me “two”. She continued beyond me, saying, “One, two, seven”. [FOOTNOTE: Later note on date written up: 12/6 This evening, I asked Miriam is she had been …
3V0670.01 UP & DOWN: symmetrical relations; very IMPORTANT DATA on word-thing relations: she relates words and their structures of meaning through reversibility as actions. (11/23/79) Peggy wandered into the living room today with her “Bear Hug” in hand. She held it high “Up” and put it on the ground “Down.” She repeated this exercise several …
3V0622.01 [mama got eye]: MAJOR NOTE on cognitive structures behind speech; topic and comment at “discourse” level, not a word level. 10/6/79 Gretchen long ago began instructing Peggy in the names of body parts, especially of the face. Recently, Peggy has surprised me by making comments about the commonality of the body parts. For example, …
3V0593.01 [maemae take bath]: CENTRAL NOTE: first complex follow up to /cul’/du/vae/vae’/ 9/7/79 This morning, as Peggy and I played on the bed, Gretchen asked if I were going to take a bath, and we agreed she should do so first. Peggy played with her bear, picked up a book, called out “Mama !” and …
3V0587.01 /cul’/du/vae/vae’/: CENTRAL INCIDENT;major insight ascribed on basis of incident. 9/1/79 Over the past several weeks, our house has suffered a greater than usual density and flux of Tintin cartoon books. As do the older kids, Peggy enjoys them. She brings a magazine, says /aen//aen/ and convinces one to hold her in his lap while …
3V0556.01 Toothbrush: 08/01/79; Playing on my bed, looking at the older children’s pictures, Peggy saw my ‘traveling’ toothbrush on the adjacent dresser top. “Have that, have that” was her cry and I did not stop her from taking it. Peggy picked up the toothbrush by the handle, examined the bristles, then tentatively opened her mouth …
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” ? …
3V0541.01 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
3V0125.03 Expecting a TV game on a display (5/27/78) Last Saturday (5/27), bob came back from Radio Shack with a TV game for the children. It has been attached to the TV in Miriam’s room. Since the weather over the weekend was quite warm, I occasionally fed Peggy in that room to enjoy the coolness …
3V0123.02 Videotape Series Beginnings 05/25/78 Peggy was 4 months old on Tuesday. I’ve thought of starting a videotape series on Peggy’s development — to begin at 4 months — but don’t really know what to do. I would buy the tape and begin this early — partly to keep for my own memory a sense …
3V0030.01 Why we abandoned Meltzoff Experiment; Infant communication 2/21/78; 0;30 Gretchen and I agreed to do Meltzoff’s experiment as requested by Sheldon but later changed our minds. Upon a close reading, I decided the only valid replication of the experiment would require both videotape and the mirror in my office. The only practical way to …
3V0015.1 Sheldon Wagner proposes Meltzoff Experiment 2/6/78 Sheldon Wagner called with congratulations on Peggy’s birth today. During a long conversation, he asked if we would be willing to informally try an experiment on infant imitation which seriously refutes Piagetian theory (I found the reference in a back issue of Science: imitation of Facial and Manual …