Focuses on the role of instinctual and affective forces in internalization, a process identified by Piaget and Vygotsky as the primary mechanism underlying the development of higher mental structures and functions. Discusses the theory of contemporary psychoanalyst Hans Loewald, who shares Piaget's and Vygotsky's emphasis on internalization but…

This paper presents examples of nonconscious or intuitive parental behaviors in parent-infant dyads in which the parent or child is deaf, discusses these behaviors in terms of the ways they help infants adapt to the postnatal environment and transition from preverbal to verbal development, and examines difficulties in parent-infant interactions.…