John Matthews is an artist and educator. He has taught all age groups from nursery children to University level, at institutions including Goldsmiths Art School and Goldsmiths Faculty of Education at the University of London, and the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His main research area has been early symbolism in very young children; more recently he has become involved in studying the precursors of symbolic thought in non-human primates.

• Introduction. 1. Expression, Representation and Symbolism in Primates. 2. Genesis. 3. Spontaneously Generated Expressive Structure. 4. Structural Principles: Modification, Variation and Extension of First Generation Actions. 5. The Meaning of the Moving Hand. 6. Directions and Locations. 7. The End of the Line. 8. Repetition and Variation Upon a Structural Theme. 9. The Giving of Meaning. 10. Sentences in the Sky. 11. Point of Arrival and Moment of Impact. 12. Helping Hands. 13. Shape, Form and Symmetry. 14. Empathy and Imagination. 15. Dialogue. 16. Dynamic Structure. 17. Continuous Rotation. 18. In a Spin: The Development of the Rotation. 19. Bottoms-up: Script-violation. 20. Rotation Around an Axis. 21. Rhythm. 22. A New Kind of Desire. 23. Structure. 24. The Image. 25. Shapes of Things to Come. 26. The Dynamic Knot. 27. Drawing and Writing. 28. Description. 29. The Scratch. 30. Agon. 31. Dying Slave. 32. Sack-cloth and Ashes. 33. Ida Draws. Conclusion.

"Meticulously scholarly. He shares his thought processes with the reader, explaining why he does things, how, and his observations would please Darwin, Piaget, all the greats! Each time I try to put the book down, the next section beckons and looks interesting." - Tina Bruce, Honorary Visiting Professor of Early Childhood Studies, Roehampton University, UK"Starting from Scratch is not your typical psychology text. It combines careful observation with an interpretative lens that is seldom encountered in scientific work. Professor Matthews' work supplements and extends previous studies and provides a valuable database on chimpanzees' representational capabilities." - Kerry Lee, Associate Professor, Applied Cognitive Development Lab, National Institute of Education, Singapore