Social relations
3V0824.02 Hide and seek (4/25/80) Miriam and Peggy play “hide and seek” — and Peggy’s imitation is prominent. The place she picks to hide is always where Miriam hid immediately before. Counting has resurfaced as an issue in this context. Peggy hides her head and counts (1, 2, 3, 4…) then runs to find Miriam. …
3V0819.02 She-teddy (4/20/80) Gender is not a forward distinction for Peggy yet. She played with her Teddy bear, saying, “Teddy tired…(lays it down)… He’s a good girl.”
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 …
3V0792.01 Context appropriate verbal accompaniment: remembered rhyme (3/24/80) Sitting with Peggy on my lap, I became aware that she was babbling to herself. As I listened, I realized she was reciting an appropriate jingle… something like “Go horsie… go town… take-a Peggy…all fall in.” Gretchen
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 …
3V0774.01 Jokes as communication protocols (3/6/80) Miriam has been telling (surely in Peggy’s hearing) a knock-knock : M : Knock knock. V : Who’s there ? M : Tim. V : Tim who ? M : Tim – ber ! At supper this evening, Peggy said : P : knock knock. B : Who’s there …
3V0769.04 Contrast: reading Cat in the Hat (3/1/80) I read this to Peggy for the first time today. It was very difficult to keep her interested in any specific page long enough for me to read aloud the relatively extensive text on each page. Realizing early that this was a problem, I decided to see …
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 [Robby…lookit] vocative + verb example (plus others) (1/20/80) Another example of a vocative-verb to element structure. Peggy, just now, (1/29/80) came out with another, more directly comparable to ‘Mimi…did-it’), she carried a book to Robby and said ‘Robby, do-it.’
3V0720.02 [joke… knock-knock]: verbally formulated classification based on a single exemplar. 1/12/80) We all sat at table this evening. Either Gretchen and I teased and all of us laughed, Peggy too. I believe I asked her what she laughs about (the joke was one she could not comprehend). Peggy responded, “joke…” and then continued “knock-knock.” …
3V0718.02 Tirades: reappearance as singing (cf. P103-105); talking to Scurry. (1/10/80) Failing earlier to capture Peggy’s tirades mechanically, I’ve been delighted to find this behavior re-emerge. The most striking example appeared as Peggy led Scurry around the house on the leash. She spent considerable time yammering at Scurry as she took her on this inside …
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 …
3V0706.02 Puppy in Boston: default location of “gone” animate things (12/29/79) Over the past several weeks, Peggy has often given evidence of distinguishing between the sound of a bark and the word as the name of the sound. One of the puzzles Peggy received for Christmas was a five piece Puppy puzzle. Peggy came crawling …
3V0703.01 [Mimi…mad…Mimi…fall down] Expressed speculation. (12/26/79) Miriam has been playing with her old set of infant size legos which we gave Peggy for a Christmas present. She has tried through much of the day to construct a mobile dog (dragon?) and failed with amazing consistency. Lately cries of “awg !!” have been coming down from …
3V0647.01 Baby becomes a toddler on getting shoes. (10/27/79 & 11/1/79) Peggy just got her first pair of shoes (blue sneakers) and appears very pleased. I remarked to her that she is a big girl now and had her very own shoes, so she would not have to use other peoples’, and Peggy in reply …
3V0644.01 [/pinsh/ (punches doll)…shame] (10/28/79) Peggy had her doll completely undressed. At one point, she punched it on the chest, remarking as she did [pinsh…s’em]. Gretchen.
3V0605.01 [kiss]: kisses doll spontaneously; verbal self-direction 9/19/79 While I was working in the kitchen, Peggy walked by holding a doll. She held it up , said “kiss” and kissed the doll. A week later (9/26) Peggy repeated this with me, saying spontaneously [kiss] and leaning over to kiss me. (text repeated in 3V0611.1). Gretchen.
3V0563.01 Scissors : 08/08/79; Prospecting for playthings one place or another, Peggy came up with a pair of children’s safety scissors. Even though they have rounded ends, I feared Peggy could hurt herself by pinching her fingers and bade her put them on my writing table. After putting them down, Peggy pointed at them decisively …
3V0562.01 Where dada : 08/07/79; Bob went up to Boston yesterday morning. This afternoon Peggy came into our bedroom and looked around, especially at his chair, and said, “Where Dada’.” Today (8/11) Bob has gone again, and Peggy has been wandering around off and on calling Dada, sometimes imperiously, sometimes inquiringly.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Vignette 111.1 of The Intimate Study source materials. Unpublished. Robert W. Lawler.
Vignette 57.1 of The Intimate Study source materials. Unpublished. Robert W. Lawler.
Vignette 51.1 of The Intimate Study source materials. Unpublished. Robert W. Lawler.
Vignette 41.1 of The Intimate Study source materials. Unpublished. Robert W. Lawler.
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 …
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 …
3V0361.01 Two words 01/18/79 TWO WORDS — Peggy has long joined /thaet/ with pointing to call another’s attention to some out-of-reach object. We usually interpret this to mean that she wants to either eat, touch, or mouth the object. Peggy likes to take things to herself — cookies or picture frames. The smaller ones we …
3V0357.02 Reading 1/14/79 READING — When I tired of pipe play and put them away, Peggy pointed to the book about puppies Miriam has given her. Peggy played contentedly for a minute or a few — then she gave the book to me. I thanked her, admired the book, and returned it to her. She …
3V0331.01 Pointing and Naming. Comprehension evidence. 12/19 POINTING AND NAMING — Today I asked Peggy, “Where’s Peggy’s NOSE?” She brought her hand up to my nose [I don’t remember if she pointed; I think it was the whole hand] and very decisively said, “Da!” NOSE appeared to be the operative word.
3V0329.01 Pointing and imperative /dae/. Social rich interpretation. 12/17/78 POINTING AND NAMING — Over the last several days Peggy has been VERY cranky. She always wants to be picked up and makes this clear in two ways: she whines or cries; she crawls over and climbs up on your leg. New teeth are definitely coming …
3V0327.02 Helen Keller as archetype (12/15/78) Helen Keller situation as extreme exemplar of every infant’s plight.
3V0306.03 Pervasive Instruction. 11/24 PERVASIVE INSTRUCTION — Peggy’s maternal grandmother (Edie) has been visiting us for the week around Thanksgiving. Six months ago she played “Clap hands, here comes Charlie” with Peggy and is delighted that Peggy claps on command and gets others to clap by doing it herself. While she sat across the table …
3V0297.01 Pointing at Bob: 11/15/78 Yesterday morning I was sitting on the end of the bed with Peggy on my lap. Bob was in his chair, behind and to my right. All three of us faced in the same direction. Peggy was babbling away and when she said /dae/dae/dae/, I asked her “Where’s Daddy? Where’s …
3V0278.02 Pipe play: giving as a communication protocol 10/27/78 PIPE PLAY — When sitting in my lap, Peggy frequently ends up with one of my old pipes. (I still carry them about in a shirt pocket and chew on the stem, though I no longer smoke.) These pipes of mine have become a favorite toy …
3V0267.01 Associating Sounds with People. Interesting Action. 10/16 Peggy went through a period of several days where she seemed to associate her sounds with people. The most striking case was ma-ma(repeated an indefinite number of times with no obvious relevant stress on intonational accenting), which she apparently connected with Gretchen. This delighted Gretchen, who would …
3V0263.02 Social Selection of some actions Social Selection of some actions as interesting leads to their entering the repertoire. RELEVANCE (of preceding story in V0263.01) — Here we see an accidental correspondence of two actions selected as significant, of interest, to another person. This stumbling upon an interesting new pattern so pleased Peggy that she …
3V0263.01 Waving, communication through imitation. 10/12 WAVING — Peggy sat in my lap after dinner. We had indulged in some conversations with Peggy. Robby approached my chair and Peggy said /ae/, flapping both her arms as she has long done when excited. Robby repeated /ae/ and waved his right arm. Peggy smiled then /ae/ /ae/, …
3V0256.01 Verbal Imitation of “shoe” 10/01 Gretchen left Peggy with me while she made cookies in preparation for the first meeting of Robby’s cub scout pack. After trying to constrain Peggy various ways and failing, I let her roam around the floor of our bedroom/ study. After beating the log carrier with her toy giraffe …
3V025401 Miriam naming people for Peggy. 10/03 NAMING — This was one of those bad days for Miriam where her wheezing/ upchucking of medicine kept her home from school. Thus early in the morning she was saddled with responsibility for Peggy. Miriam played with Peggy on the bed and as is frequently the case with …
3V0246.01 Rejecting food: 9/25/78 Peggy being fed. Deciding she had enough, she stuck out her tongue, full and rounded, effectively blocking off her mouth. At another feeding, she did the same, then looked at me and smiled and opened her mouth for food — (Was it a test to see if she could refuse food …
3V0245.01 Everyday prohibitions as source of naming 9/24/78 Peggy was crawling about on the living room floor as Gretchen chatted with a house guest. The floor was littered with her toys and the dog’s. “No, Peggy. Don’t chew on that. That’s Scurry’s bone.” RELEVANCE — The kinds of verbal naming formulae witnessed by Ninio appear …