| Abstract: | Reviews the book The First Idea: How Symbols, Language and Intelligence Evolved From Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans, by Stanley I. Greenspan and Stuart G. Shanker (see record 2004-17062-000). In a sweeping and engrossing text, speckled with colourful anecdotes and real life examples, Greenspan and Shanker outline their ambitious theory that encompasses both development within a lifetime and evolution over millennia. They rightfully point out that emotions and social interaction have been neglected variables in the search for the origin of ideas and language. Their thesis places these factors, encapsulated in the affective caregiving relationship, as the primary instigators of developmental change. In their evaluation of human evolution, Greenspan and Shanker argue that with increased emotional communication there are tandem increases in symbolic thinking. Following their sweeping overview of human evolution, Greenspan and Shanker move to development within the individual. They argue that it is through emotional signaling that infants develop symbolic thought. The authors offer a comprehensive theory that brings emotional interaction solidly into the realm of scientific debate. It is also a theory with the enormous potential to contribute to the understanding of the beginnings of ideas and language both in individual and in evolutionary development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
