Following are previews of current and coming attractions,
we hope all well worth waiting for.
Peggy Bengel
-------------------------------------
MCA Abstracts Volume 6, No. 1
Imagery in Cultural Tradition and Innovation
Charles M. Keller=20
Janet Dixon Keller
Cultural traditions are preserved in the mental images=20
stored and reconstructed from past experiences.=20
Innovation requires the manipulation of this imagery in=20
the course of productive activity. Tool use in the broadest=20
sense is the mechanism enabling these processes.=20
Vygotsky articulated a significant role for instrumental=20
mediation in human psychology. We combine his=20
perspective with insights from phenomenology and=20
cognitive anthropology to develop a cultural psychology of=20
visual imagery in the context of contemporary artist-
blacksmithing.
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Mathematics Learning as the Socialization of the Mind
Terezinha Nunes
This article offers an integrated theoretical perspective of=20
work where mathematics is defined as a cultural practice.=20
The implication of this definition is that to learn=20
mathematics is to become socialized into the ways of=20
knowing used in the community of mathematicians=20
and mathematics teachers. Four aspects of the process of=20
socialization are discussed: the redescription of meanings=20
to fit with the systems of signs learned in mathematics,=20
the influence of the connections crated by teachers in the=20
classroom between the new concepts and the old=20
meanings, the consequences of using particular systems of=20
signs as mediators in reasoning, and the development of=20
social representations of what mathematics is (and the=20
associated process of valorization of particular methods)=20
that takes place in the classroom. Implications for=20
multicultural classrooms are briefly discussed.
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THE ONTOGENESIS OF MEANING. AN INTERACTIONAL=20
APPROACH
Adolfo Perinat
Universidad Aut=F3noma de Barcelona
Marta Sadurn=ED
Universidad de Girona
The aim of this paper is to shed new light on the process=20
through which infants acquire a set of cultural meanings=20
around the use of objects during play interactions with=20
adults. It is based on the authors' longitudinal study of=20
manipulative play interaction between mothers and=20
infants. The authors propose a theoretical framework to=20
explain the acquisition of shared meanings based on ideas=20
borrowed from Vygotsky (intermentality/intramentality),=20
Trevarthen (primary and secondary subjectivity), Bruner=20
(joint activity formats and narratives) and Peirce (theory=20
of signs). They argue that meanings are generated in a=20
dialogical process in which the adult acts expressively; the=20
infant understands and is then able to reproduce the=20
expressive actions previously performed by his=20
interlocutor. This behavior is a recursive loop which,=20
according to Maturana and Varela, is a typical autopoietic=20
process. With emphasis on the infants=B9 comprehension, a=20
facet rarely studied and often approached from an=20
erroneous standpoint in the psychological study of=20
personal interaction, the authors distance themselves=20
from the traditional Piagetian approach to symbol=20
acquisition by infants. They schematically present some=20
prototypes of interaction with an emphasis on developing=20
a conceptual framework that could explain how infants=20
gain access to the cultural meanings conveyed in and by=20
everyday human activities.
----------------------------------------
MCA Abstracts
Vol. 6 (2)
Historical Change and Cognitive Change: A Two-Decade=20
Follow-Up Study in Zinacantan, A Maya Community in=20
Chiapas, Mexico
Patricia M. Greenfield
(From the Introduction to this issue:)
Patricia Greenfield opens this issue with an article on=20
historical change and developmental change, as witnessed=20
in the weaving apprenticeship practices of a Maya=20
community in Mexico. Drawing on a unique set of data,=20
Greenfield demonstrates that an economic transition from=20
agricultural subsistence to entrepreneurial cash economy=20
has been accompanied a rather dramatic transformation=20
in the way weaving is taught to young girls. Interestingly=20
enough, also the products, the woven textiles, were=20
transformed. The findings imply that socialization is not=20
only a conservative process, but has tremendous creative=20
potential, too. Methodologically, Greenfield's study invites=20
us to look at human development as embedded in=20
collaborative material practices, driven by motives that=20
change as part and parcel of economic changes in the=20
society. Commentaries by Suzanne Gaskins and Robert=20
Munroe put Greenfield's significant paper in the context=20
of current research and debates on the relationship=20
between development and historical change.=20
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The Closed Room
Richard Alterman
The most significant model of reasoning to come out of=20
Cognitive Science began with the early work of Newell &=20
Simon (1972) on human problem solving and has=20
developed into an architecture for cognition SOAR=20
(Newell, 1990). A significant feature of this tradition in=20
Cognitive Science is that it renders the cognitive as=20
analytic. This article will analyze the assumptions of this=20
tradition. A first set of arguments explores the=20
consequences of the metaphor of the *closed room* as=20
introduced by Newell. A second set of arguments=20
develops the notion of an average everyday task=20
environment. The latter parts of the article present *For=20
Lack of a Better Name* (FLOBAN: Alterman, Zito-Wolf, &=20
Carpenter, 1998), a computational cognitive model of=20
everyday activity in the usage of household and office=20
devices. FLOABN models cognition in the everyday task=20
environment. The roots of FLOABN are clearly in the=20
tradition of SOAR but they have been transformed by=20
critiques that originate in the literature on everyday=20
activity and by assuming conditions that exist in the=20
average case. The attitude that emerges from FLOABN is=20
that the cognitive is pragmatic.
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Coordination of Speaking and Acting in the Second Yer of Life
Sumedha Gupta
Jaan Valsiner
We offer a conceptual re-formulation of the relations=20
between two major psychological functions, speaking and=20
acting. The role of speech in regulating action is=20
traditionally presented in cultural-historical psychology as=20
a gradual take-over and control of the flow of actions by=20
emerging speech functions. We expand this notion to=20
include a variety of coordinated forms between speaking=20
and acting in which the speech-controlling-action model is=20
but one of the possibilities. Human development can be=20
characterized as a constant overproduction of action and=20
speech efforts, which are context-bound, and from which=20
the constructive selection of surviving speech and action=20
forms emerge. Ontogeny thus entails the selective attrition=20
of speech and action forms that emerge through episodes=20
of individual and individual-social other activity. =20
Empirical evidence from a short-term longitudinal study=20
of toddlers' speaking and acting in everyday-life problem=20
solving situations is provided to indicate how different=20
forms of action/speech relations co-exist and may=20
transform into one another. =20
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The Riddle of Things: Activity Theory and Actor- Network=20
Theory as Approaches to Studying Innovations
Reijo Miettinen
This paper compares cultural-historical activity theory=20
(AT) and actor network theory (ANT) as approaches to=20
studying technical innovations. The concept of=20
nature/society production in the ANT and the concept of=20
activity in the AT have much in common as attempts to=20
transcend the dualism between subject and object, nature=20
and society. The symmetrical (ANT) and the dialectical=20
(AT) interpretations of the concept of mediation are=20
compared. It is suggested that the historically developed=20
artifact mediated structure of human activity is=20
instrumental in studying interaction and co-evolution of=20
social and material entities. Three limitations of the=20
concept of generalized symmetry, or symmetrical=20
mediation, become evident when the concept is used in=20
empirical studies of innovation: Firstly, it does not supply=20
any criteria for defining the nature and scope of actors in=20
heterogeneous network. Secondly, it leads to an=20
asymmetrical, Machiavellian analysis of innovation in=20
which the contribution of designers, users and non-
human entities remains marginal. Thirdly, it does not=20
provide any explanation for the intentionality and=20
competence of humans. It is suggested that these=20
problems can be solved, if the innovation network is=20
studied as a network of activity systems. Non-human=20
entities are included in the analysis as historically=20
developed arrays of tools and raw materials of the=20
activity systems. This approach is elaborated by=20
analyzing an unsuccesful innovation process, the=20
production of ethanol from wood trough the use of=20
cellulose degrading enzymes. It is suggested that instead=20
of applying the symmetrical semiotic language proposed=20
by ANT in the analysis, a dialogue that utilizes the=20
historically developed resources and languages of=20
different thought communities is needed.=20
=20
-----------------------------------------
8/18/97 Bite Me
Resistance in Learning and Work
Jessica Berit Kindred
This paper examines characterizations of resistance in=20
learning and at work and provides an alternative=20
interpretive position and empirical work concerning the=20
productive role of the performance of resistance in=20
learning and self-development at work. Specifically in=20
contrast with more traditional views of resistance as an=20
obstacle or impediment to learning, I suggest that=20
resistance can be read as a constructive and=20
deconstructive process in which learners forge bridges=20
between pasts and presents, and emerge themselves as=20
authorial participants in workplace change.
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"I Don't Like to Live Nowhere but Here"
The Shelter as Mediator of U.S. Homeless Youth's Identity=20
Formation
William R. Penuel
Tim L. Davey
Identity formation, from a sociocultural perspective,=20
involves people choosing from among the variety of=20
historical and cultural resources available to them for=20
living their values, making a commitment to a particular=20
life course, and grounding their hope in the future. =20
Researchers in the past have argued that homeless=20
shelters provide few such resources for children and=20
youth to form healthy identities. At the same time, these=20
researchers have not examined how young people=20
themselves make sense of the shelters in which they live=20
in the course of their own development. This article=20
examines how children living in two small family shelters=20
in a large southeastern city understand the shelter as a=20
place they call =B3home=B2 in relation to their families, friends,=20
and themselves. Implications for the study of identity=20
formation of homeless children and youth are discussed. =20
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Phantoms Slain: Reading Gilligan as a Radical Text
Myra Bookman
This paper follows Gilligan's work on moral development and gender=20
psychology from its inception through its contemporary refinements=20
and reads the entire opus as a radical text. An interdisciplinary=20
argument drawing on political philosophy and feminist theory=20
supports a Vygotskian sociocultural interpretation. Simplistic=20
dualistic models of gender development are rejected in favor one=20
that describes an embodied cultural-historical subject capable of=20
agency, resistance, and change. This reading works against the=20
consistent essentialist misinterpretations of Gilligan's writings.