Notes from the brain ...

1) The Question: what are the developmental steps and pathways through which such distinctly human capacities as symbol formation, language, and reflective thinking emerge in the life of each newborn.

2a) To create a meaningful symbol, the image must be invested with emotion
2b) A symbol emerges when a perception is seperated from its action

3) A second question: How do we seperate a perception from the initial tendency or urge to take immediate action?

4) An idea is an image that has been freed from a fixed, immediate action and is invested with affects or emotions (ie. intent) to give it meaning.

5) Every experience that a child undergoes involves this form of dual coding; that is, experiences are coded by their physical properties and the emotional reactions to them. (A blanket may feel smooth [and pleasant] or itchy [and irritating] ... and it is the latter emotional element that helps, indeed, may be the most imporatant factor, in producing meaningful symbols for the infant.

6) The first instances of cause and effect learned by the infant are emotional ... I smile, she smiles back, I cry, she comes over to me concerned.

- Greenspan and Shanker