Yesterday's lecture grew from our exercises on recording and reporting our learning in class. I followed four classic sociology references in the lecture. Quick summary:

• Jean Piaget, The Language and Thought of the Child. Piaget, in his study of how children think and learn, dealt with schemata and concepts. The schemata is a part of the concept. We talked of trying to measure whether the child has grasped the concepts of color and of shape. We mix together red, blue, and green circles, squares, and triangles. We ask the child to sort them. Child puts red triangle in one pile, then adds red square. Color, we think. Child has learned color. But no, the next piece in the pile isa blue square. Looks to us as though child has not learned concepts. Piaget points out that child has part of concept, color, but is distracted along the way by shape. Less a measure of child not grasping concept than of child having part of the concept, schemata.

  Moral: What we see in our measurement is not always what is learned. We must look more deeply.

• Goffman, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Classic presentation of social setting as a stage. We spoke of the concept of backstage and frontstage, and how, in communicatin, some issues are kept backstage. It can be overwhelming to bring a stranger into a backstage area with little preparation. We discussed the connection between inviting someone into the backstage and using a first name to eliminate the social distance of titles.

  More later. Still need to put up Edward T. Hall and Bales' Interaction Process Analysis on displaying leadership through summarizing, giving information, and asking questions TO WHIC YOU WANT AN ANSWER.