Abstract
In this paper, we take up Kessen's challenge to develop a philosophically and historically informed developmental theory by describing a theory of the understanding and use of representations that draws heavily on the hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur and the genetic epistemology of James Mark Baldwin. This theory, which construes representation to be intrinsically mimetic, characterizes the development of representational understanding as internalization (cf. Vygotsky, 1978), and emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and psychological distancing for the decontextualization of representations from the circumstances in which they were created. Self-reflection is described in terms of a process model of recursive consciousness, the Levels of Consciousness Model (Zelazo, 1999, 2000; Zelazo & Zelazo, 1998).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 55-78 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Developmental Review |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2003 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Preparation of this paper was supported in part by a grant from NSERC of Canada to P.D. Zelazo. We would like to thank Janet Astington, Laurel Bidwell Zelazo, Stephen Cain, Sophie Jacques, Ulrich Müller, David Olson, and Dean Sharpe for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Portions of this paper were adapted from a book chapter prepared for a different purpose: Zelazo (2000) . Minds in the (re-)Making: Imitation and the dialectic of representation. In J.W. Astington (Ed.), Minds in the Making: Essays in honour of David R. Olson (pp. 143–164). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.