This study identifies key mechanisms through which a young child operates with external knowledge in his/her immediate social context. Central to this is the child's capacity to draw on discourse-based understandings that have become evident in prior interaction. In contrast to studies that analyze development under different headings, such as language, emotions and cognition, Tony Wootton links these aspects in his examination of the state of understanding that exists at any given moment in interaction. The result is a distinctive social constructionist approach to children's development.