This volume compiles papers from a 1996 conference on communication held at Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts). The goal of the conference was to share the work and ideas regarding the development of communication and meaning comprehension. The papers are organized into three parts, covering the organization and the origins of communication, and the emergence of self in communication. The papers are: (1) "Introduction: Communication, Meaning, and Development: Interdisciplinary Perspectives" (Nancy Budwig, James V. Wertsch, and Ina C. Uzgiris); (2) "Intersubjectivity and Alterity in Human Communication" (James V. Wertsch); (3) "Emotion within Situated Activity" (Marjorie Harness Goodwin and Charles Goodwin); (4) "Language and Communication--What Develops? Determining the Role of Language Practices for a Theory of Development" (Michael Bamberg); (5) "Preverbal Communication: Emergence of Representative Symbols" (Hanus Papousek, Mechthild Papousek, and Gunhild Kestermann); (6) "Infant into Conversant: Language and Nonlanguage Processes in Developing Early Communication" (Marc H. Bornstein); (7) "Words Don't Tell All: Some Thoughts on Early Communication Development" (Ina C. Uzgiris); (8) "Verbal and Nonverbal Contributions to Early Representation: Evidence from African American Toddlers" (Linda L. Sperry and Douglas E. Sperry); (9) "Groundwork for a Holistic View of the Ontogenesis of Representation" (Irving E. Sigel and Bruce Dorval); (10) "Language and the Construction of Self" (Nancy Budwig); and (11) "Adolescents' Public Discussion and Collective Identity" (James Youniss and Miranda Yates). Each of the papers contains references. (HTH)