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serving as models, carried many otherwise abstract ideas into my head.
(Papert 1980: vi)
Similarly, Piaget describes the importance of actions - observable, physical
activities - as the internalized operational ”glue” that holds together certain
structured understandings (Beth & Piaget 1966: xvi).
Thus actions with objects - doing things to and with objects - may con-
stitute a crucial aspect of human learning and thinking. Many people prefer
thinking with objects, moreso or rather than with abstractions (Turkle & Pa-
pert 1992). Objects may facilitate transitions from one thought to another, or
one emotional state to another, at any age. Perhaps those who prefer this style
of thinking would be especially inclined toward commentary on narratives
through the use of manipulable objects.
Chorus members' object-based interactions with narrative systems
Game and film manufacturers often produce supplemental media to extend
their audiences' experiences of narratives. For example, Nintendo publishes
magazines that include solutions, character descriptions, and accounts by
skilled players. The experience of a game is not limited to sessions in which
the player is actually engaged with the machine, but extends through read-
ing and discussion at other times. Relevant media include game cartridges and
magazines, even dolls or other facsimiles of characters and objects within the
game. Similarly, the producers of
Toy S t or y
released a line of dolls and other
toys to augment the cultural impact of the film (Lasseter 1995). Involvement
with the narrative includes not just suspension of disbelief, identification with
characters, and other processes related to film-watching, but creative processes
involved in play with objects that can be held, moved, and transformed.
Strategies for extending a narrative context through use of a range of media
tacitly acknowledge people's use of objects to mediate thought. They also pave
the way for development of objects that augment a narrative context not just
in players' minds, but between players and within a computational system.
Objects as stand-ins
The theatrical chorus are concerned primarily with commentary: the collective
enriches the audience's experience of the narrative through verbal, often musi-
cal, responses to dramatic events. We could imagine objects associated with a
narrative system as being recorders, transmitters, and/or players of spoken or
