We appreciate Wallemacq and Jacques’s concern for understanding and repre-
preface 5
senting meanings in context. This is a strength of most work in the cognitive field
(see, for example, Eden, Jones, and Sims 1983), but most MOC research has a
theoretical base in cognitive psychology. Wallemacq and Jacques are influenced
by the writings of Derrida (1978, 1981, 1982) and other (post)structuralists. Their
ideas are, therefore, more closely related to the sociology of defining the situation
(McHugh 1968), with its implications for behavior, than to work rooted in
psychology.
We are very positive about