Laurent also demonstrated to me that he can notice the relationships between objects. For example, Laurent further explains himself by stating, "Here is more height but a little less width; what you gain in height you lose in width; that evens it out." He is using physical properties and actions to guide his thinking. It seems then that the child's thought is based off of using concrete objects to guide problem solving.

February 12, 1944  - To test this idea of "concreteness" I interviewed a child I often speak to and asked him about what his notion of thought was. I asked him, "What does one think with?" - The head. "Could one see thought, if one opened the head?" - No, it doesn't stay inside. "Could I see it?" - No. "Could I touch it?" - No, it is what talks. "Could one feel it?" - Yes. "What is thought?" - It is our voice. This child seems to think of thought as material. He has not yet come to the notion that thought can be something more abstract.

 

 

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I have seen evidence today that children may begin to perform problem solving activities by thinking about actions and their consequences on the environment. This presupposes a way of thinking that allows for the hypothetical. 

May 23, 1944 - Today I showed my 12 year old niece piles of red, blue, green, and yellow poker chips and asked her to make all of the possible combinations of pairs of colors. Unlike younger children who will make all of the combinations rather haphazardly, she developed a method for creating the combinations. She first made a column of red chips and then placed a different color beside each chip. Once she used up all of her chips, she then started a new column with the blue chips and repeated the process. She did this for each color. She has demonstrated the ability to think of an action and then evaluate its consequence in order to decide which plan to take. Curiously, I have not seen this type of thinking in children just a few years younger. She has also demonstrated the notion that thought and dreams may be more than just material.                                                                                                                      Next Page