Psycho essay

[First off, what the buggery is this? - http://mimind.blogpsot.com ]


How do children communicate before they can speak?
http://www.sign2speak.com/about.htm

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&q=How%20do%20children%20communicate%20before%20they%20can%20speak%3F&sa=N&tab=wg

• mutual gaze - staring into mother's eyes. Sense of profound communion, but more for mother
• mimicking facial expressions - learns to associate smile/movement of facial muscles (?) with happiness, & ecstatic feeling it gives, plus the feedback from others (mainly mother/primary care-giver [PCG])
• communicating through manipulating objects?
• crying
• pointing
• babbling
• tantrums

They don't really grasp the concept of communication for some time.

When do infants grasp that they can interact with & manipulate the world around them (things and people), as opposed to just absorbing everything?

Trevarthen & intersubjectivity

• up to 4/5 months old babies just stare/mutual gaze
• about 5 months - "Praxic Mode" eg manipulating objects. Babies prefer interaction with objects as opposed to people/PCG (study?)
• by about 8 months the two converge to a simliar level

Neonatal imitation (of pcg's facial expressions)

• Trevarthen - inbuilt, natural thing
• Piaget - these imitations are reflexes

{Philosophy - Journal of Memetics http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/}

Right, that's enough for now. Go get ready for the biggest party of your life.