Branco, Angela Uchola & Valsiner, Jaan. (Eds.) (2004). Communication and Metacommunication in Human Development. Reviewed by Cynthia Crosser, University of Maine

Branco, Angela Uchola & Valsiner, Jaan. (Eds.) (2004). Communication and Metacommunication in Human Development. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Pp xvi +318     $34.95     ISBN 1593112548 Reviewed by Cynthia Crosser University of Maine January 26, 2007 Branco and Valsiner have compiled a book that combines research, theory and commentary on the subject of communication and metacommunication in human development. Angela Branco is coordinator of the Laboratory of Microgenesis of Social Interactions (LAMBIS) at the University of Brasilia in Brazil. Jaan Valsiner is professor of psychology at Clark University. The purpose of the book is to present research and theoretical perspectives from LAMBIS and authors with related interests and viewpoints. In order to appreciate this book it is necessary to have some prior background in both sociocultural constructivism (or co-constructivism) and the microgenetic method. The best preparation for understanding this version of the sociocultural approach is Branco and Valsiner (1997). Readers who are unfamiliar with this work, should bear in mind three things: human psychology is socially derived, index variables such as gender, age, and social class cannot be separated off from the time-bound developmental process, and the interpretation of the research setting is always the activity of the subject. Readers who need more information on the microgenetic method should consult Siegler and Crowley (1991) for a readable and clear explanation of the history and uses of this method. Siegler and Crowley compare before and after photographs of a tornado hitting a neighborhood to traditional research methods, and a movie of a tornado wrecking havoc to the microgenetic method. The microgenetic method can be used in naturalistic, experimental, or interview settings. The contributors to Communication and Metacommunication in Human Development make use of all three research options. The book is divided into three parts. Part I is titled “Communication and Metacommunication: Basic Issues.” Part II is titled “Communication and Metacommunication Processes within Specific Personal-Cultural Domains.” Part III is titled “Communication and Meaning Construction.” Although this book was written in English, most of the authors are not native speakers. Some of the chapters would have benefited from editing by a native speaker/writer of English. However, none of the small grammatical problems interfere with comprehending the text. Although the book is divided into three parts, it is easiest to divide the discussion of the book into communication, metacommunication, and combined chapters dealing with both communication and metacommunication. The communication theme includes chapters three, and eight, and nine. The metacommunication theme includes chapters one, two, and five. The combined communication and metacommunication theme includes chapters four, six, seven, ten, the first two commentaries, and chapter eleven (the concluding chapter by the editors). Chapter three by Carvalho and Pedrosa (pp.83-108) presents research and theory on communication in early infancy. This chapter will interest readers who are interested in language development. Carvalho and Pedrosa present us with examples of recorded communication behavior in a day care center. The authors deal with expressive communication, referential communication, and joint attention. This behavior is analyzed within a functional framework for language development that compares ontogeny to phylogeny. This framework is based on the assumption that human social behavior has a strong biological basis (Hinde, 1974). Chapter eight by Rey (pp. 249-270) and Chapter nine by Arendt (pp. 271-284) are devoted to communication theory. Rey makes an interesting case for considering subjectivity in communication before moving into a discussion of personality development. The connection between personality development and subjectivity in communication is not immediately clear, and readers may find it off-topic. However, it is in keeping with Valsiner’s (1998) view that one of the forces driving the evolution of personality is the construction of human signs (semiotics) in social relationships. Arendt discusses the difficulty of incorporating social context into modern psychology. This chapter makes important points about the limitations of using universals and general laws in understanding human behavior. Arendt’s chapter does a better job in keeping the focus directly on communication issues in psychology. Commentary three is by James Wertsch (pp.307-312), a well-known scholar in the sociocultural approach to developmental psychology. He discusses chapters seven to ten in terms of communication and meaning construction. Wertsch broadens his discussion to include the contributions the chapters make to sociocultural studies in general. Readers who are unfamiliar with the topic of metacommunication will benefit from reading Chapter two by Fatigante, Fasulo, and Pontecorvo (pp.33-82) before reading the other chapters dealing with metacommunication. Chapter two discusses some of the most important influences on research in metacommunication that have influenced the authors’ present research: Bateson (1972), Goffman (1974), and Hymes (1974). Bateson is a critical influence because he posited that metacommunication includes an understanding of the relationship of the participants. Goffman’s work on frame theory provided a way of organizing recurring social contexts in a given culture. Hymes’ work on sociolinguistics produced a model for breaking out the social and language components of a communication event. Chapter two provides conversational examples of family relationships in Italian families of Jewish culture living in Rome. The authors provide analyses that examine the relationships of the participants, the situation in the context of the culture, and the conversation itself. The authors’ views are compatible with Scheflen’s (1973) view of the metacommunicative act, which is defined as commenting on the allowability of behavior in the immediate present. Example 6 provides a good illustration of this. The mother says, “This is not like a dinner. I mean a simple one. It’s a happening.” (p. 70). The mother is reclassifying the event because of the game that is being played at the dinner table. In chapter one Branco, Pessina, Flores and Salomao (pp. 3-32) begin their discussion of metacommunication by limiting the scope of their interest to the relational level (see Wilmot, 1980). Their research deals with metacommunication as an examination of the relationship between participants in a communicative event. Examples are presented from research on teacher-student interactions and child-child interactions. All of the examples are interesting, but the chapter is difficult to follow in a single reading. Chapter five by Amorim and Rosetti-Ferreira (pp. 127-149) utilizes tape from a baby’s illness at a day care center to show changes in metacommunicative behavior between the baby’s mother and the staff. This research shows the microgenetic method at its best. The relationship between the mother and the day care staff is also presented in a sociohistorical context. This is especially useful for readers who are unfamiliar with Brazil and would not understand the underlying cultural context. This is one of the strongest chapters in the book. The chapters dealing with both communication and metacommunication have varying success in discussing both aspects at the same time. Chapter four by Maciel, Branco, and Valsiner (pp.109-126) discusses the co-construction of knowledge in a teacher-student transaction. This chapter does what the book title promises. It deals with both communication and metacommunication in human development. This chapter will be of interest to teachers because it illustrates the concepts in a meaningful way. Chapter six by Madureira and Branco (pp.151-190) discusses the construction of gender identity from both communication and metacommunication perspectives. The most interesting part of this chapter is the discussion of the historical role of gender in Brazilian culture. This background information helps to set the context for the research that is presented and illustrates the usefulness of the sociocultural approach. However, the background information is much more extensive than the actual discussion on the role of communication and metacommunication in gender construction. The authors discuss a narrative study to examine communication aspects of gender awareness. A naturalistic study of children at a daycare is used to discuss metacommunication in terms of gender construction and the role it plays in communication between males and females. Chapter seven by Valsiner (pp. 227-248) discusses communication in terms of conversational strategies. Valsiner begins with a powerful example of social interaction in a short conversation between two German law students discussing politics in 1933. This example is powerful because readers know that this conversation could have significant repercussions to the speaker criticizing the Nazi party. In the interaction the reader follows the speech of both participants and the thoughts of the speaker who is criticizing the Nazi party. This example is followed by a discussion of game theory, hypergame theory, and their relevance to conversation strategies. Game theory was developed as a means to discover what strategies rational players will follow and what their expectations should be for other players strategies (Harsanyi & Selten, 1988). In classic game theory both the strategies and the payoff for strategies are known. However, there is a variation called hypergame, in which strategies and payoffs may not be clearly seen by all players (see Inohara, Takahashi, and Nakano, 1997). Valsiner discusses conversation as a type of hypergame in which both the strategies and their payoffs emerge during the process of the game. This is a fascinating chapter, which looks at conversation in a way that demonstrates the significance of examining both communication and metacommunication. The first two commentaries discuss chapters four through six. Commentary one by Lourenco (pp.191-208) is critical of the sociocultural approach while commentary two by Silva (pp.209-226) is a defense of this approach. Readers will be interested in both viewpoints. Chapter ten by Brockmeier (pp.285-306) presents a case study on narrative discourse. Brockmeier presents the concept of narrative coherence as a socially negotiated phenomenon between the speaker and the hearer who provides feedback to the story construction. He provides examples illustrating this process. This chapter does a good job in showing how communication interacts with metacommunication for narrative discourse. Chapter eleven by Branco and Valsiner (pp.313-318) attempts to tie the book together by discussing the focus on subjectivity in many of the book’s chapters. The book ends with a short discussion on the challenges of subjectivity. What really ties the book together is the sociocultural approach and the microgenetic method. This book can be hard to follow for readers who are not familiar with the authors’ previous works. This book will be more useful for graduate students and researchers than for undergraduates. For this reason I recommend the book for university libraries that serve graduate programs in communication, psychology, or sociolinguistics. Researchers in education may find individual chapters useful. References Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to ecology of mind. New York: Ballantine Books. Branco, A. U., & Valsiner, J. (1997). Changing methodologies: A co-constructivist study of goal orientations in social interactions. Psychology and Developing Societies, 9(1), 35-64. Harsanyi, J. C., & Selten, R. (1988). A general theory of equilibrium selection in games. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Hinde, R. A. (1974). Biological bases of human social behaviour: McGraw-Hill. Harsanyi, J. C., & Selten, R. (1988). A general theory of equilibrium selection in games. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Hinde, R. A. (1974). Biological bases of human social behaviour: McGraw-Hill. Hymes, D. H. (1974). Foundations in sociolinguistics; an ethnographic approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Scheflen, A. E. (1973). How behavior means. New York: J. Aronson. Valsiner, J. (1994). Bidirectional cultural transmission and constructive sociogenesis. In W. De Graaf and R. Maier’s (Eds). Sociognesis Reexamined New York: Springer-Verlag, 47-70. Wilmot, W. W. (1980). In D. Nimmo (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 4. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books. About the Reviewer Cynthia Crosser is a Social Science and Humanities Reference Librarian/Education and Psychology Subject Specialist at the University of Maine. In addition to her M.S. in Library Studies from Florida State University, she has an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Florida with a specialization in language acquisition and an extensive background in developmental psychology.