Tania Zittoun

The use of symbolic resources in developmental transitions

This paper introduces the idea of symbolic resources as the use of cultural elements to mediate the representational work occasioned by ruptures or discontinuities in the smooth experience of ordinary life, moments when the ‘taken-for-granted’ meanings cease to be taken for granted. In particular we are concerned with the use of symbolic resources in moments of developmental transitions, that is, the mobilization of symbolic elements ranging from shared bodies of knowledge or argumentative strategies to movies, magazines or art pieces. The paper begins with a brief theoretical sketch of these ideas, and then presents three case studies, each of which involves the use of a different type of symbolic resource within a particular age group. In the first, children are observed in interaction with a peer about a conservation problem. In the second, adolescents are observed negotiating the meaning of their art productions with their peers, teachers and parents. The third example looks at Western tourists searching for spirituality, adventure and freedom in Ladakh as an alternative to the materialism of modernity. In each case the analysis of the symbolic resources employed indicates the significance of the gaze of the other in the construction of meanings, and of the various constraints operating within specific situations. The analysis also reveals different modes of use of symbolic resources, linked to changing forms of reflectivity.

The Metaphor of the Triangle in Theories of Human Development

Developmental psychologists have a long history of using triangle metaphors to conceptualise the social constitution of psychological development. In this paper, we present a genealogy of triadic theories, to clarify their origins, distinctions between them, and to identify key themes for theoretical development. The analysis identifies three core triangle models in the developmental literature. Each theory relies on some combination of the terms subject, object, other and sign, and they can be distinguished by the core psychological dynamic which they entail. We distinguish an emotional triangle rooted in psycho-analysis, a mediational triangle rooted in the work of Vygotsky, and a sociocognitive triangle originating with Piaget. Despite their differences, the analysis reveals a common theme of the transformation from external mediation to internal mediation. Contemporary research and possible future directions are discussed in the light of the theoretical distinctions that our genealogy has revealed.

Symbolic resources and responsibility in transitions

Since youth transitions have been redefined as flexible periods of change, it becomes difficult to conceptually distinguish them from any other transition period in peoples life. Transitions are here defined as involving three types of interdependent processes (social relocation, knowledge construction and meaning-making). From a cultural psychological perspective, youth transitions can be qualified by young peoples access to symbolic responsibility. Through a case study, the article shows how cultural elements chosen and used by a person can support processes of transition. Finally, the article sketches a model of uses of symbolic resources enabled by symbolic responsibility.

Using Resources: Conceptualizing the Mediation and Reflective Use of Tools and Signs

The idea that culture comprises resources that are used has become a popular means to re-conceptualize the culture—agency antinomy. However, the theorization of using resources is fragmented. The present article reviews several attempts to theorize resources, arguing that there has been too much focus upon the resources themselves, while the notion of use has been neglected. Focusing upon mode of use, as opposed to the resources used, the article underscores the importance of distinguishing between tools, which are used to act upon the world, and signs, which are used to act upon the mind. The article also argues for a distinction between non-reflective use, or mediation, and reflective use of resources. Future research should focus upon the transformation of tools into signs and the transformation of mediation into reflective use. The article concludes by discussing problematic issues that remain in conceptualizing the use of resources.

Learning through Transitions: The Role of Institutions.

In this paper two models are proposed for analysing transitions in education. Firstly, transitions are the processes that follow ruptures perceived by people. They include learning, identity change, and meaning making processes. Secondly, processes of change are observed through a semiotic prism, articulating self-other-object-sense of the object for self, and located in a specific social frame. Transitions are thus analysed as reconfigurations of such semiotic prism. The paper proposes to highlight the role of institutions as social frames likely to facilitate, or constrain, such reconfigurations. The role of institutions in transitions is discussed through three case studies: the transition to vocational training, the transition out of a religious school, and the transition to work at war-time.RésuméCet article présente deux modèles pour analyser les transitions éducatives. Premièrement, des transitions sont des processus de changement qui suivent des ruptures perçues par les personnes. Ils comprennent des processus d’apprentissage, de changement identitaire et de construction de signification. Deuxièmement, ces processus peuvent être observés au travers d’un prisme sémiotique, qui articule la personne, autrui, l’objet et le sens de l’objet pour la personne, situés dans un cadre social spécifique. Les transitions sont comprises comme des reconfigurations de ce prisme. Le rôle des institutions en tant que cadres sociaux qui peuvent faciliter ou contraindre ces reconfigurations est mis en évidence. Trois études de cas de transitions — vers la formation professionnelle, hors d’une école religieuse, et vers le travail en temps de guerre — soutiennent cette proposition.

Symbolic Competencies for Developmental Transitions: the Case of the Choice of First Names

Human life consists of stability interspersed with ruptures. Transitions that follow such ruptures, offer a window on processes of change at the level of skill acquisition, identities, but also meaning construction. The article explores various uses of cultural elements such as books, movies or religious baggage as symbolic resources for such psychological development. It introduces the notion of interiority to have access to the work of these symbolic resources on emotions. Such uses of symbolic resources are examined through a study of the procedure of choosing first names during the transition to parenthood. The notion of symbolic competencies, as the abilities to use cultural elements as resources for thinking, action and development, is proposed to account for interpersonal differences and is discussed.

Imagination as Expansion of Experience

This paper proposes a developmental view on imagination: from this perspective, imagination can be seen as triggered by some disrupting event, which generates a disjunction from the person’s unfolding experience of the “real” world, and as unfolding as a loop, which eventually comes back to the actual experience. Examining recent and classical theorization of imagination in psychology, the paper opposes a deficitary view of imagination to an expansive notion of imagination. The paper explores Piaget, Vygotsky, Harris and Pelaprat & Cole consider: 1) What does provoke a “rupture” or disjunction? 2) What are the psychological processes involved in the imaginary loop? 3) What nourishes such processes? 4) What are the consequences of such imaginary loop, or what does it enable doing? The paper proposes to adopt an expansive view of imagination, as Vygotsky proposed—a perspective that has been under-explored empirically since his seminal work. To stimulate such sociocultural psychology of imagination, two empirical examples are provided, one showing how children make sense of metaphor in an experimental setting, the other showing a young person using a novel met at school as symbolic resource.

Dynamics of Life-Course Transitions: A Methodological Reflection

The French movie “Life Is a Long Quiet River” (« La vie est un long fleuve tranquille », Chatiliez, 1988) compares the fates of two children, born in contrasting social classes and exchanged at birth, and plays with the unpredictable curves and bends of their developmental histories, which eventually bring them to acquire the skills and knowledge that they might have acquired in their original milieu. The ironic title strongly suggests that life is not a long quite river, and illustrates two long-time known principles of development. It shows that the development of a child or a person is not linear, and cannot be predicted; it also shows that many different ways can lead a person to develop a given skill or understanding (Vygotsky, 1929/1993). Admitting these principles has consequences for the study of human development: life-courses appear characterized not only by the regular and progressive establishment of regularities and continuities, but also, and mainly, by the moments in which these continuities are interrupted, reoriented, or challenged.

The Role of Symbolic Resources in Human Lives

This chapter talks about a special population of non-human primates whose abilities and social competencies deserve the attention of cultural studies. It explains a long-term investigation of language, culture, and tools in a society of bonobos (Pan paniscus) having lived in Decatur, Georgia for the last 25 years. The chapter discusses the culture theory based upon the empirical and ethnographic facts of ape language research (ALR). The idea of ethnographic accounts with nonhuman primates is new, and perhaps startleling to ethological and cartesianist perspectives. One must consider that Vygotskys idea of zone of proximal development (ZPD) is an effect with continuity within, at least, Pan and Homo. The ZPD is the critical radius upon which enculturation occurs. The effects are total and permanent and preempt biology. This idea is part of the explanation of why researchers observe so many different outcomes with culturally different groups of chimpanzees or bonobos.

Fragmentation or Differentiation: Questioning the Crisis in Psychology

There is a recurrent discourse about the fragmentation of psychology and its crises as a science, which often leads to a disenchanted view about its future. To this discourse we oppose a developmental one, in which crises can be occasions for development, and in which development might imply differentiation. We first review why psychology can be said to be in crisis. We then situate the crisis in the pragmatics of doing psychology. Crises occur when psychologists have problems either working with other psychologists or with communities. We argue that collaborative research is a way to overcome these crises. Specifically we suggest three specific scientific activities that can lead to the development of psychology: collaborative research methods, the identification of nodal concepts that enable the bringing together of different approaches and disciplines, and the creation and maintenance of institutional spaces that enable creative, collaborative work.