ABSTRACT
As noted in Chapter 4, Vygotsky attributed the development of more advanced types of human learning to our social nature and argued that it is through interaction with other people and the tools and artefacts developed in our culture that we develop advanced ideas and conscious control over our mental processes. His work has raised many questions about the nature of interactions between adults and children and how they relate to cognitive development. These questions inspired a generation of researchers to examine adult-child interactions and develop models of these interactive processes. In general terms this work is concerned with two issues. The fi rst focuses on interactions and aims to understand how these interactions aid learning. It involves detailed observational studies of adults interacting with children as they perform a variety of tasks, with the aim of understanding key features of these interactions. The second is concerned with the wider issue of how adults and children come together and participate in particular kinds of activities. This chapter will consider the fi rst of these, while Chapter 6 is concerned with the second, wider issue.
