The paper looks at the relevance of W.R. Bion's 'Theory of Thinking' to the interpretation of young child observations. Bion describes a process whereby emotional experience, when contained by a caregiver, gives rise to a capacity for symbol formation, which is at the root of imagination and language. The study consists of eight written hour-long…

According to Lev S. Vygotsky (1896-1934), the highest levels of abstract thinking and self-regulation in preschool development are established in "pretend play using object substitutions." An extensive research literature supports Vygotsky's empirical model of the internalization of self-guiding speech (social speech > private speech…

Puppetry plays an edutainment role in playing and learning activities for nursery and kindergarten children. This qualitative study was aimed to investigate the benefits of puppetry activities for children who were enrolled in early childhood programs. In-depth interviews were conducted with four respondents, two of whom were child care providers…

Extends William James' classification of phenomenalistic reality (PR) and analyzes PR using empirical data available in developmental psychology; focuses on the relation of PR to a human subject; to rational constructions; and to the idea of truth. Concludes that the development of phenomenalistic reality is qualitatively different from the…