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We present a social pragmatic model of talk-as-interaction. Talk consists of observable and orderly sequences of turns by means of which participants together construct and interpret action. The meaning of a speaker's turn, the action accomplished, is observable in the manifest details of that turn and responses to it. We discuss methodological implications and illustrate the relevance of this social pragmatic model for theory and research on human development through an analysis of the role of talk in the development of children's understanding of mental states.

Written by highly respected theorists in psychology and philosophy, the chapters in this book explicate and address fundamental epistemological issues involved in the problem of the relationship between the individual and the collective. Different theoretical viewpoints are presented on this relationship, as well as between the nature of rationality and morality, relativism and universalism, and enculturation and internalization. Many chapters also highlight similarities and differences between these alternative frameworks and Piaget's theory, and thus correct the misperception that Piaget had

Although there is consensus about the importance of early communicative gestures such as pointing, there is an ongoing debate regarding how infants develop the ability to understand and produce pointing gestures. We review competing theories regarding this development and use observations from a diary study of infants' social development, focusing primarily on one infant from 6 to 14 months to illustrate a currently neglected view of the development of pointing. According to this view, infants first use their extended index finger as a manifestation of their own attention that emerges from their tactile exploration of close-by objects. Their gesture gradually becomes social in its use as infants become aware of the meaning of their action for adults.

Worldviews consist of preconceptions about the nature of mind, knowledge, and meaning, and these assumptions influence theorizing about human development and the interpretation of research. We outline two contrasting worldviews - dualist versus relational - and explicate the implications of such preconceptions for studying the development of pointing gestures. Pointing is a pivotal social skill that is an aspect of social understanding, as well as a foundational form of interaction for language. In studying the development of pointing it is possible to observe how infants develop the social skills required to convey meaning in human ways. Thus, this is an area in which to examine the nature and development of meaning, and an adequate conception of meaning is necessary for theories of language and cognition. We argue that dualist approaches have problems that can be avoided by adopting a relational worldview and the relational developmental systems framework that follows from it, which we suggest is a fruitful approach to theorizing about human development.

Communicative development can be better understood by examining the diversity of gestures and how various forms of gestures are interlinked in their developmental origins – their genealogy. To draw attention to the differences and interrelations among forms of gestures, we group gestures into three families based on their developmental origins: (1) action-based gestures that develop from infants' spontaneous actions that others respond to; (2) conventional gestures; and (3) iconic gestures. Although these diverse gestures are acquired through somewhat different developmental pathways, we argue that they develop in the context of shared experiences within social routines. What differs is the relative role of the caregiver and child in initiating the routine. In viewing communicative development in this way, we show the importance of basing our investigations on an adequate conception of meaning in order to recognize the similarity in the underlying processes involved in early communicative development.

Giving is an act of great social importance across cultures, with communicative as well as moral dimensions because it is linked to sharing and fairness. We critically evaluate various explanations for how this social process develops in infancy and take a process-relational approach, using naturalistic observations to illustrate forms of interaction involving the exchange of objects and possible developmental trajectories for the emergence of different forms of giving. Based on our data, we propose that the object becomes a pivot point for interaction, and through the process of such interaction the social actions of showing and giving emerge and take on diverse social meanings within the relations between infants and caregivers.