ABSTRACT
I take as my task the weaving of a suitable commentary out of the variegated strands that are available to me: Reed’s (this volume) tightly argued and provocative chapter on actions and intentions, a chapter that has renewed my interest in Gibson’s (1979; Reed, 1988a) ecological approach to perception; the theme of this volume, the impact of specific environments on cognitive development; my own view that the impact of societal, cultural, and historical conditions upon development has been neglected (Meacham, 1984a, 1989); my view that the basis for psychological development is not individual cognition but interpersonal relations, communication, and cooperation (Meacham, 1984b, 1991; Meacham & Emont, 1989); the fact that simultaneous with our annual meeting a short distance from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, a symbol of freedom, thousands of people were gathered together in Tiananmen Square; and, of course, Piaget’s structural-developmental theory. Each of these strands might serve as the warp or as the woof–each might provide a context for interpretation of the others, each might be interpreted in terms of the others–and so which one of the many strands I select to begin the weaving becomes, for better or worse, a critical choice that will give shape and texture to the whole cloth.
