Synergistic psychology has been proposed as a meta theory for synthesizing different psychological theories into an explanation of how social, cognitive, and biological factors interact in human behavior. The basic theoretical assumption in synergistic psychology is that internalized social interactions become higher mental functions that regulate lower biological functions. The synthesis of psychoanalytic and Vygotskian theories can be woven around six common issues: (1) the interaction of thought and language in cognition; (2) the role of adults as mediators of infant's early object manipulations; (3) the role of internalized social interactions in the regulation of thought; (4) the collaboration of imagination and logical thought in creative thinking; (5) the role of nonverbal unconscious thought in cognition; and (6) the role of internalized social interactions involving speech and object manipulations in the development of self-concept and world view. The teaching of studio art involves the two domains of the craft of art and the conceptual processes of artistic activity. While some may suggest that creativity is a natural attribute of most people that will manifest itself if allowed to do so in a laissez faire manner, the synergistic approach suggests that what is needed is a developmental model of teaching creative problem solving with maximal social interaction and collaboration with the teacher. Future research will investigate the effects of social interaction with adults on the child's object substitutions in play. A reference list of 18 items is included. (PPB)