Event representations, narrative development and internal working models

The theoretical framework of experientially based event representations as the basis for early cognitive development and the level of extended discourse such as narratives that incorporate new understandings of the personal, social and cultural world are summarized.

Abstract

In this article I summarize the theoretical framework of experientially based event representations as the basis for early cognitive development. Further work on representational levels, in particular the level of extended discourse such as narratives that incorporate new understandings of the personal, social and cultural world, is discussed. Parallels with the concept of internal working models from attachment theory, and differences between these two theoretical approaches are then laid out, with implications for further interchange between the two.