Buku McGraw-Hill Series in Psychology (Elizabeth B. Hurlock - Child Development)

Elizabeth B-Hurlock. CHILD DEVELOPMlMT. r\'. /. ^-,. ^^y'\ y. >. a"^:. Xfe^ < t. •f-y r«. I. :'•-:.•. i>. ?'.. S. r-V ./. I. V.. ,>.-^>. .1.. r^. ''V-. 3': S-. "t. %:. ,-J,1. *. .. v**.::*^. ..r. ''*:.*. .'>^.'*'. f :'fii:. >> *-:. '. ». •'if'. ^. "^''. Jfl. -';.•» ^. .. *. <. I. '. .'.. . - •"^r i.^.^*. I. % : !. <•. !M >".. A. ..l--<'. •\-. '*,. iiit>. *'. •^.. \. I. .... f. '. '. •. ,u »-. ,. r. •. Li-.-. ''. •'••.•. W-. .... *-'.. /^. ^-. • .. r. ,. r*.. .-^ I. ». •. .--•. '.^. 1. >y. ^ ___La. •. I. '!•(. .i.>--. '. J. ;/:. ^*.. .7'. .v'. .'MTty-^' -.;^'. Jv ,/.'. vt. v-,'?ru«^ 6^1:^. '.i'. >,. •s-ii^,-;'. *'.:,. Xi'-".'. ?<^:»i; >'<\. vvi'iVvl. 'It r.. '^V^.. ,. ).<. Vw^.s,. ''iii^h. .... ^ -i.. '^r/^. ;«. '»^i. ^1. I'.V •i^ '. 1 L-. !. >.,A.. i' ',!:'. •. >rf' •/.•,. -^. .^1. ,. •/. ,1,. ,. ,=•. '\. .'. iL-i.. '. 'Ivy' .'^^^'i. V *'-i';t'. \y=:r ;«^-. r. i. I'-x \. '. ';''^<-<. i^ •. I f'.. "?v. '-'.'.K/J. .>>.-;'f.. ^: '^^i*';'^/. S^.V'iJ. f. x. •... .^;!'. <. .1M-. ':. Child Development. /:. «. McGraw-Hill Series. in. Psychology. Consulting Editors. NORMAN GARMEZY RICHARD L. SOLOMON LYLE. JONES. V.. HAROLD W. STEVENSON. Adams,. Human Memory. HuT\ock, Child Development. Beach. Hebb. Morgan, and Nissen. The Neuropsychology of Lashley Berkowitz, Aggression: A Social Psychological Analysis Berlyne, Conflict, Arousal,. and. Curiosity. Blum, Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality Brown, The Motivation of Behavior Brown and Ghiselli, Scientific Method in Psychology Butcher, MMPI: Research Developments and Clinical Applications. Campbell, Dunnette, Lawler. and Weick, Managerial Behavior, Performance, and Effectiveness Gofer, Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior Cofer and Musgrave, Verbal Behavior and Learning:. Problems and Processes Robinson, and CWbert, Recent Experiments in Psychology Crites, Vocational Psychology D Amato. Experimental Psychology: Methodology, Psychophysics, and Learning Davitz, The Communication of Emotional Meaning Deese and Hulse. 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Zubek and Solberg, Human Development. was Consulting Editor of this series from its inception in 1931 until January 1, 1950. Morgan was Consulting Editor of this series from January 1, 1950 until January 1, 1959. Harry F. Harlow assumed the duties of Consulting Editor from 1959 to 1965. In 1965 a Board of Consulting Editors was established according to areas of interest. The current board members are Richard L. Solomon physiological, experimental). Norman Garmezy 'abnormal, Harold W. Stevenson, /child, adolescent, human development;, and Lyle V. Jones [statistical, quantitativej. F. Dashiell. Clifford T.. <. clinical),. I'. I. .-%<. ROBERT REITZFELD. Development. Child. FIFTH EDITION. Elizabeth B. Hurlock McGraw-Hill Book Company New. York. St.. Kuala Lumpur. London. Panama Rio. de Janeiro. Louis. Mexico. San Francisco Montreal. Singapore. Dilsseldorf. New. Sydney. Delhi. Toronto. Johannesburg. To. my. daughter, Gail McKnight. Beckman. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Hurlock, Elizabeth Bergner. 1898Child development.. (McGraw-Hill series. in. psychology). Includes bibliographies. 1.. Child study.. 2.. 156.4 BF721.H8 1972 ISBN 0-07-031 425-X. Child. Psychology. Physiological.. 79-38613. Development. Copyright. 1. 1956. 1964. 1972 by McGraw-Hill, Inc.. All rights. reserved.. Copyright 1942. 1950 by McGraw-Hill, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.. or transmitted,. 2. 345. 6. 789 OMURM 798765432. This book was. set in Helvetica. by Black Dot,. Inc.,. printed by The Murray Printing Company, and bound by. The designer was Judith Michael; the drawings were done by Vantage Art, Inc.. The editors were John Hendry and Ellen Simon. Matt Martina supervised production.. The cover photograph was taken by Sy. m^f^. Lesser.. Rand McNally & Company.. Contents Preface,. Importance. ix. of. Normal Physical Development. Physical Growth Cycles. Body Size. TRADITIONAL BELIEFS ABOUT CHILDREN. 1. Why Study. Old Wives' Tales?. Damage. Psychological. How. of Old Wives Tales. True Are Old Wives Tales?. Bones. 3. Muscles and Fat. 9. DEVELOPMENT. SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF CHILD. Early interest in Studying Children. Obstacles to Studying Children. PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT. What. 123. Physical Defects. 20. Accidents. 126. MOTOR DEVELOPMENT. 7. Development. 27. Importance of Motor Development. Rate of Development. 29. Sequence. Is. 29. Social Expectations. Motor. Development; The Product of Maturation and Learning. Predictability of the. Developmental Pattern. Early Development is More Important than Later 38 Development 40 Development Proceeds by Stages. Each Developmental Stage Has Characteristic 42. Traits. Happiness Varies v^Wh Different Stages of Development 43 Values of Knowing the Developmental Pattern. 45. FOUNDATIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL PATTERN Present-day Interest in Prenatal Development 51 4. How. Life. Hereditary. Sex Determination. Number. 62 64. Pattern. How. Time. Emotional Deprivation. 207. of Birth. on Development. Effects of Prematurity. on Development. Developmental Status. of Full-term Infants. 207. 210. Emotional Catharsis. Damage on Development. 211. 83 86. 10. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. Meaning. 87 91. of Social. Development. Social Expectations. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 220. 221. Essentials of Socialization 6. 191. 205. Heightened Emotionality. 80. 187. 188. Emotional Patterns. Emotional Balance. 78. 184. 185. the Emotions Develop. Emotional Control. Development. Socially Unacceptable. 176. Emotional Dominance. 78. Birth Affects. Effects of. Damage from. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Common. Interruption in the Developmental. Effects of Birth. 174. How. 68. Beliefs about Significance of Birth. An. Content of Speech. Pattern of Emotional Development. EFFECTS OF BIRTH ON DEVELOPMENT. Birth:. 171. Importance of Children's Emotions. 64. Attitudes of Significant People. 146. 173. 9. 57. Irregularities. 143. of Talking. 54. Conditions Affecting Prenatal Development. 5. Amount. Speech. Timetable of Prenatal Development. Developmental. Bllingualism. 53. of Offspring. 140. Childhood. Skills in. SPEECH DEVELOPMENT 8 155 Speech versus Language 155 Importance of Speech 156 Prespeech Forms of Communication 162 How Children Learn to Speak 163 Major Tasks in Speech Development 168 Pattern of Speech Development 169 Defective Speech. 51. Endowment. 137. Motor. Psychological. Begins. 133 135. 35. 37. Individual Differences. Motor Development. Handedness Awkwardness. 34. Characteristics of the Developmental Pattern. of. Skills. Common. 31. 1 1. 122. Health Conditions. 14. Child Psychology versus Child Development 3. 114. 115. Development of the Nervous System 117 Puberty Changes. 13. 13. Motivations to Study Children. 110. 113. Teeth 2. 105. 106. Physical Proportions. 2. 104. 224. Importance of Early Social Experiences. 225. Group. Influence of the Social. The Pattern. Development. of Social. Beginnings of Social Behavior Social Development. How. 229 237. Shifts in. 257. 261. Methods. 263. 266. How. Develop. Interests. Appearance. Persistence of Social Acceptance. 270. Interest in. Importance of Social Acceptance. 270. Interest in Clothes. Improving Social Acceptance. 271. PLAY Meaning of Play 12. Work and. Dramatic Play. 291. 433. Family Relationships. in. 434. 434. Influence of Parental Attitudes on Family Relation-. 436. ships. Influence of Child-training Methods on Family Rela-. 440. tionships. 296 Sports. Reading. 297. Influence of Family Size on Family. 296. 440. Relationships. Influence of Sibling Relationships on Family. 302. 442. Relationships. 304. Television. 425. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS in the American Family Pattern. Deterioration. 295. Games and. Radio. 418. Influence of Family Relationships on Children. 293. 295. Movies. 414. Changes. 294. Constructive Play. Collecting. School. 287. 294. Daydreaming. Sex. Interest in. 17. Spontaneous Play. Music. Play. 289. Characteristics of Children's Play Free,. Interest in. 411. 412. Interest in Vocation. 287. Traditional Attitudes toward. Value of Play. 408. Interest in Religion. 276. 405. 406. Symbols. Interest in Status. Leaders and Followers. 403. 406. Names. Interest in. 273. Social Mobility. 403. Human Body. Interest in the. 268. 402. of Discovering Children's Interests. Characteristics of Children's Interests. Factors Influencing Level of Social. Acceptance. SOME CHILDHOOD INTERESTS Whims 402. 16. Interests versus. Leading to Acceptance and Rejection. Traits. 393. 256. Childhood Companions. Social Acceptance. 391. Misdemeanors. Social Adjustments. in. 377. Discrepancies between Moral Concepts and Moral. 246. Adjustment. of Social. Role of Companions. 376. 380. Discipline. SOCIAL ADJUSTMENTS. Meaning. Learned. Is. Behavior 11. 375. Moral Behavior. of. Morality. Pattern of Moral Development. 230. Late Childhood. in. Social Development at Puberty. MORAL DEVELOPMENT. Meaning. 228. Early Childhood. in. Social Development. 15. 227. Influence of. 305. Satisfactions and Dissatisfactions from Play. Home. Setting on Family. 445. Relationships. 311. Influence of Concepts of Family Roles on Family Re-. 13. Meaning. Influence of Preference for. 316. of Creativity. 320. of Creativity. PERSONALITY Meaning of Personality The Personality Pattern. Conditions Influencing Development of. 18. 321. Creativity. 323. Discovery of Creativity. Expression of Creativity. in. Childhood. 324. How. Change. DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING Understanding Develops. Role of Concepts. How Concepts. in. Understanding. Develop. Misconceptions. 345. in. 462. 467. Personality. Personality. 469. Important Personality Determinants. -Level of. Adjustment. Role of Self-acceptance. 346 353. of Children. Changing Concepts. 368. Index. 495. 471. 481 in. Adjustment. Relation of Self-acceptance to Happiness. 349. Some Common Concepts Difficulties in. Some. 345. in. 462. 466. Individuality. Persistence. 14. One Parent on Family. 455. Relationships. 319. Values of Creativity. Development. 451. lationships. CREATIVITY. 484. 487. Preface. THIS, the fifth edition of a text. INin. 1942,. which. first. appeared. extensive changes have been made.. some. hope that these changes \n'\\\ make the book a more valuable learning experience for students and a more helpful teaching aid for their instructors. Three new chapters have been added. They present some new material and reorganize some material from the fourth edition (but they do not make the fifth I. edition longer; in fact. Chapter. 1. it. is. shorter than the fourth).. deals with traditional beliefs— often referred. tales"— that can be psychologically damaging to children. Chapter 2 concentrates on the methods used and difficulties encountered in the. to as "old wives'. scientific study of children.. has been added. terest in this area;. chapters. in. Chapter. to reflect the it. 13, "Creativity,". growing. scientific in-. contains materials from various. the fourth edition as well as. much. that. is. new.. Perhaps the most radical change. new. may. in this. each chapter. But. find the brief chapter. summaries— also. edition— equally useful.. Users of the previous edition. chapter bibliographies are In. the use of boxes. in. to set off certain important points. students. is. will. notice that the. somewhat shorter this. time.. the main this reflects the elimination of older studies. which are referred to in the more recent ones. These citations, too, have been reduced in number. In the fourth edition they had. "get fort. in. the. way". has been. erally. become so frequent. of the reader. In this edition,. made to document. accepted. in. every point. the field or found. in. many. as to. no. ef-. now gendifferent. published studies. But the bibliographies go beyond the works specifically cited.. In this. way acknowledge I. with thanks the contributions, however indirect, of. examined while preparing this revision. And in this way the comprehensiveness of the bibliographies—a feature that was well received in previous editions— has been preserved. The many helpful criticisms and suggestions re-. the studies. I. ceived from friends and professional colleagues have. helped to guide the changes that appear sion.. you". I. in this revi-. take this opportunity to say a grateful "Thank. for them.. Elizabeth B. Hurlock. €N. CHARLES HARBUTT— MAGNUM. CHAPTER ONE. Traditional Beliefs about Children. SINCE. THE BEGINNING of. been. one. observing. people have. history,. and. another. reaching. how human beings. conclusions about. behave.. mends. a diet of fruit juices for a child with a. cold. likely to hear,. is. and starve a fever? Where. way a large number of traditional beliefs have grown up. Most of these beliefs relate to children and adolescents, though no age level has. to. been spared.. behavior. this. In. Traditional. —a. label. beliefs. are. called. "old wives' tales. suggesting that they are. on what has been found. to. beliefs are true. lem. and many are. assume. that they. is. somehow based. "work". for a person's. Some. physical or psychological welfare.. ". shake. off his cold. Old wives' often. play. ment. totally. Johnny get the strength. then, do influence people.. through. harmful. it,. the. in. when. role. in. child's. the individual. dependent on other people,. that his. They. parental. developis. life. almost pattern. parents and other adults are guided by tradi-. If. traditional. tional. beliefs,. The prob-. beliefs, often to his. partially true.. will. he doesn't eat?". childhood,. is laid.. that all people of a given. if. particularly. and,. is in. It. tales,. a. bad. "But shouldn't you feed a cold. the child. will. be influenced by the. disadvantage.. Anything that can stand the test of time for genera-. some. generation must have. What. and that what works for one person will automatically work for all. The fact that they are based on this half-truth is reason enough to question their. value do old wives' tales have?. veracity and cast doubt on the. as behavioral guidelines and as spurs to scientific. age are. alike. wisdom. of accepting. them.. tion. after. is. almost unani-. mously agreed that they serve two useful functions: investigation.. Why. AS BEHAVIORAL GUIDELINES. Study Old Wives' Tales?. Until the early 1900s,. To the serious student. of psychology, devoting time. to an analysis of old wives' tales might be a diversion. It. It. value.. might even be an opportunity for ego. inflation,. much. of children. few guidelines for the training. had been supplied by. scientific studies.. Parents and teachers had to rely upon traditional beliefs or use their. own. best judgment.. rummaging through grandmother's attic for like gramophones, bustles, and hand-cranked telephones. As each item is brought out, dusted off, and examined, the remarks are likely to be, "Can you imagine wearing that today?" and "I just cant believe people had to wind up their record players or telephones." Being able to poke fun at what people of past generations considered the last word in progress is, unques-. Under such conditions, old wives' tales had an important and useful function. They served as guidelines for behavior and gave parents confidence that they were playing their role satisfactorily. 'Spare the rod and spoil the child was— and in some families still is— a guideline for family discipline. It made corporal punishment a pa-. tionably, ego-inflating.. might be or whatever. old wives' tales were indeed innocuous relics of. If. the past and nothing more, they would not deserve. much space. in this. textbook. But, unfortunately, they. have not been relegated. to the attics of time.. much. People cling. are. very. alive. today.. to. They them. —even educated, intelligent people— with a tenacity seems completely irrational. Psychologists are by no means the only scientists. that. who encounter dispel liefs.. cially. strong resistance. traditional be-. face this problem. But. serious for those. who work. to. when he. tells his patient to. it. is. espe-. people.. with. medicine, for example, the obstetrician sistance. meets. you have to eat. for two.. "I ". The. it. distasteful. might arouse. in. the. duty. the parent,. immunized against social criticism if is more important, he had no doubt that the best punishment for any childish misdemeanor was a slap or a spank. Only that would teach a child what was right and what he must he was his. do. at least. misbehaved. What. child. (6).. Many. old wives' tales have gained support from. their early. endorsement by. scientists (19):. watch her. In. diet. at the. who recom-. reliable jour-. reputable re-. porters of congenital effects consequent to emotional stress.. have always heard that pediatrician. Toward the end of the last century quite nals and textbooks published reports by. re-. avoid putting on excess weight. "But, Doctor,". says the mother-to-be,. However. responsibility.. rental. their efforts to. in. unfounded and often harmful. All scientists. ". We. remember and smile condescendingly grandmother's story of the rat-faced boy whose all. mother was frightened by the appropriate rodent during her pregnancy.. We must. not forget that while. these beliefs arose in folklore, they were accepted. and. given clinical support by the writings of physicians.. influence on the lives of children should be given. of scientific approval has. As Whitehead emphasized, the "doctrines which best repay critical examination are those which for the longest time have remained unquestioned priority.. More. recently, the. stamp. ". to old wives' tales relating to postnatal. been given. Studies of juvenile. development.. delinquency,. for. example, report an alarming increase of delinquent acts among adolescents from affluent homes where permissive. spared. prevails— where. discipline. rod. the. some. to children. fit. in. this category.. is. (7,11).. Similarly,. which apply. Certainly, those. (27).. studies of the educational and vo-. Psychological Damage of Old Wives' Tales. cational achievements of people of different ordinal. position lief. the family have upheld the traditional be-. in. innate superiority of the firstborn. This. of the. was. belief titles. and family wealth. that he. custom. a justification for the. was best able. to the firstborn. manage them. to. of passing. The psychological damage. wives tales brings far outweighs. (1).. three. accepts the traditional guidelines, parents and teach-. ders.. for clinging to old child. many. damage takes may be singled out as especially The first comes from the inertia. tific. of. scien-. to. forms, but. serious.. halo. the. that. surrounding old wives' tales engen-. infallibility. a belief has been accepted as true for. If. old. their value as easy. motivations. as. or. acceptance. research. This. on the ground. of. blamed. guidelines. behavioral. When scientists support old wives' tales or disagree among themselves and when social custom ers can hardly be. that. generations, people ask,. Who. are. we. doubt. to. many. it?. Fur-. training techniques.. thermore, most people are anxious to be socially ac-. ing. cepted, and following the crowd. rigid. if. Nor can they be accused of bethey are skeptical about experimenting. obvious way. with the latest educational theory.. to gain this end.. conform, he runs the cal" or an outsider.. AS SPURS TO SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION value of old wives' tales. motivated scientists to beliefs.) ior. that. As. many. of. became. it. that they have. reexamine accepted. evidence about. scientific. accumulated,. critically. is. our traditional beliefs were not. apparent in. keep-. ing with findings from scientific research. This served. as a spur to further inquiry. Would new evidence conor strengthen. tradict. the old wives' tales?. further studies of firstborn children. are. superior?. If. so,. is. their. others that he. show. Would. that they. superiority innate,. or. have they simply had greater opportunities? Similar-. a person does not. being labeled a. risk of. He then. feels that he. is. right,. that he. is. A second source old wives. rounds. of. comes from. tales. any evidence. contradicting. out. if. if. harm. of old. they increase their efforts to find. the beliefs are true or false, they can. important contribution to the. field of child. the. old,. new. up studies. may. require years of research.. old wives' tales should be subjected to. scrutiny,. people. ideas carefully. are valid or not. For example, mothers. those which have the greatest. infallibility. who. reported. were advised a group of 57 moth-. the part of their children. were. Out. willing to. as a customary procedure.. method but soon and reverted. skepticism. become unwilling to examine enough to discover whether they. to try permissive feeding.. cannot be carried out overnight.. of retention. all. is. food refusal on. In-depth studies of learning techniques and follow-. scientific. new. ers, only 8. fy traditional beliefs. While. of the. When. backed up by the halo of. make an. Scientific investigations to prove, disprove, or quali-. prevailing. The layman tends to feel that human beings complex to be studied scientifically. A man is not a guinea pig. And the scientist shows his skepticism of new evidence by claiming that more study is needed. The old ideas are a refuge from uncertainty. People would rather cling to the old and tried. develop-. ment.. the. beliefs.. of. scientists are alert to the possible. damage from. are too. techniques and by motivation? If. jus-. the skepticism that sur-. than take a chance on the new.. wives' tales and. must. not just seeking. psychological. do learning and retention depend only on intelligence, or are they affected by teaching and learning ly,. 'radi-. the limelight.. human behav-. increasingly. perhaps the most. his stand so that he can prove to himself and. tify. (A second. If. is. rejected. to their. of. adopt permissive feeding. A few it. tried the permissive. as a "new-fangled idea". former authoritarian practices. (5).. and most serious psychological damage from old wives' tales comes from the effect they have. The. third. Chapter One. on individual behavior and on the development of children. Behavioral guidlines based on traditional beliefs may be quick and easy, but they can also be. to the areas of. dangerous. For example, many a person has been. are psychologically damaging. This. influenced. by the saying that redheads have fiery. tempers.. a person. he has. If. little. who has. red hair believes this,. motivation to learn emotional control.. He was born with a fiery temper, he says, just as he was born with the genes that caused him to be a redhead.. Why. off. flying. try to control it? In time,. the habit of. firmly. rooted. in. pattern that learning emotional con-. his behavioral trol. becomes so. the handle. should he want to do so,. will. Here, the old wives' tales are categorized according. development. and an attempt. is. made. to. which they are related. to explain. why and how they is. done. the. in. hope that the reader will begin his study of child development with an alertness to the danger of being influenced by traditional beliefs. It is also hoped that the reader. will. learn to question all principles of child. development that are not substantiated by studies aimed at exploring all conditions be responsible, directly or. scientific. may. that. indirectly, for the child's. developmental pattern.. prove extremely. The. traditional belief that childhood. a. difficult.. Childhood.. The psychological damage inflicted on children by parents, teachers, and others guided by traditional beliefs is even more serious, because children become innocent victims. They have little or no choice. For example, the child whose parents or teachers believe that he must learn slowly to guarantee retention is often forced to take more time to learn than he needs or wants. As a result, he becomes bored and builds up resentments— resentments against parents,. time of helplessness has encouraged overprotective-. teachers, certain subjects, even school. Two. of the. most. common. causes. of. itself.. underachieve-. boredom and inefficient learning techniques. And there is ample evidence that most school boredom comes from having to spend more time on learning than is needed (12. 23). The underachiever usually develops a generment among. bright children are. below. alized habit of working. goes on. he becomes. his capacities.. As time. dissatisfied with his achieve-. because he realizes that he has potentials that have never been tapped. He has been an innocent victim of training based on acceptance of. ments. in life. the traditional belief that. slow forgetter.. "the. slow learner. is. the. '. ness by parents and, to. some. extent, by teachers.. While this may make childhood easier for the he. is. child,. pays a heavy penalty for not having learned. later. be independent, self-confident and responsible. Even when he is still young, he is likely to resent being. to. may spread. overprotected. and his resentment. who have. persons. to. all. authority over him.. Equally as damaging is the traditional belief that a happy childhood guarantees happiness and good adjustment in later life. The child who is shielded from unhappy experiences and permitted to do whatever. he wants. about. is. life,. grow up with. likely to. unrealistic ideas. expecting everything to turn out just as. he wants. Having developed no tolerance for frustration he will find it difficult to cope with provocative situations. without becoming angry and resent-. Even worse, he. ful.. martyr. when. his. likely to think of. is. himself as a. who. parents or the other adults. shielded him from the unpleasant facts of. are. life. no longer around. Feeling unprepared to face difficulties and frustrations alone, he may also come to resent those who built a protective cocoon around him.. Another. SOME PSYCHOLOGICALLY DAMAGING Not. all. BELIEFS. old wives tales are psychologically. belief that. damaging. is. they can be happy only. damaging. who use. if. to children. is. that. they are carefree. Adults. this as a guideline for training deprive chil-. to the person. dren of essential learning experiences. Assuming. trained by. sponsibilities. fore,. who accepts them or to the children people who use them as guidelines. There-. this discussion. is. not all-inclusive. Instead,. it. includes only those beliefs most widely accepted and which have been shown by scientific research to have damaging effects on the development of children. No attempt is made to give scientifically de-. termined evidence to show whether the beliefs are true, partly true, or false. This will. be done. quent chapters where the old wives". in. subse-. tales are dis-. cussed together with specific areas of development.. dently. re-. and working out problems indepen-. can be extremely satisfying. carefree existence. may. to. children.. A. foster long-lasting feelings. of personal inadequacy.. Children as People,. The most harmful. traditional be-. lief about children as people is that they are miniature adults. While few people today expect children. to. perform the physical tasks that adults perform,. many expect them. to. behave. like adults.. No. child.. Traditional Beliefs about Children. however, should be expected to. quietly for an hour. sit. ness into right-handedness. while adults discuss topics that are meaningless to. tional. him, no child should be expected to have the social. stuttering.. insight that. and no child should anger or fear in an adult. essential to tact,. is. be expected to control. his. way. the old wives' tale that children. they lay the basis for adult-child friction. This. may. tion. more mature manner. Constant punishment. or. for. criticism,. "not acting. an adult— make the child. like. fric-. a child's desire to try to behave. kill. feel. in. a. scoldmg,. age"— that. is,. inadequate and. re-. his. On. The. who. traditional belief that the child. differ-. is. encourages parents and teachers to pressure the child to dress, feel and act like everyone else. Should his interests differ from those of his ent. is. from accepting. sults. be. to. handed. inferior. is. result. new. Since creativity requires a person to break with the old. and. something new and. try. individuality. stifles. creativity.. skills is. imitate. The. made". just as the old wives' tale claims.. original,. The. discouraging. group as. social. when a person who is capable of consomething new and different is prevented from doing so for fear of being different. The po-. left-. a handicap and. is. possible. Since being different. if. who. is. expected to follow instructions and demonstrations designed for the right-handed majority. Learning. he sees himself as inferior-. that. might seem. not correct. Being. is. ness presents learning problems for the child. never easy, and. handed.. the. that re-. adolescent years. Even more important, left-handed-. His resentment lowers his motivation to perform well,. with. damage. severe, especially during the self-conscious. for a left-handed. is. child resents having to. to try. often interpreted as being inferior, the psychological. encouraged or even forced to change. submerge personal interests and activities and follow patterns set by others. peers, he. A. them. this old wives' tale. a right-handed society. in. should be avoided is. are deterred by. trait.. This, however,. trivial.. is. surprising. it. for. the surface, the psychological. hazard. bellious.. Many. would be useless. it. change a hereditary. to. are miniature adults and should behave like adults,. is. which. of. take any action to counteract. will. their child's left-handedness?. the belief that. When people accept. common. With this dire warning,. few parents. that. cause serious emo-. will. disturbances, the most. movements designed. even more. for. difficult. follow models or. those. who. are right-. traditional belief that "leaders are born, not. militates against trying. play leadership roles. from. is. it. who must. child. their earliest. leadership. to. children to. train. they have not shown, almost. peer group. As a. ability.. many. if. activity,. 'natural". a. many leaders are lost to who have potential leader-. result,. a whole loses. society and. tributing. ship ability and a motivation to lead, are forced to play. tentially. person. creative. because he. is. himself. made unhappy. forced into a pattern unsuited to him.. is. children. the follower role. They. may be discontented. followers,. however, and they often develop feelings of personal inadequacy, believing that others lack confidence. in. them. Traditional beliefs about the role of heredity. Heredity.. in child development are especially harmful. They encourage the feeling that one is fated to develop in. a certain pattern.. the old. block. throughout. When. ". The. one. is. "a chip. off. endowment. sonality, his talents,. physique and. born with a birthmark or. responsible. is. and. for. his. his behavior, just as. facial characteristics,. per-. stretch of the imagination, to. for. cal. the. it. is. discourage habits that can lead to social and personal problems. A child may come to believe. with. more desirable. ones.. It. is. is. widely held today claims. are born either right- or left-handed.. believed that any attempt to. change left-handed-. some. greatly increased. that the. music. if. is. if. to. another. mother can endow her child The mother-to-be may be-. special ability.. lieve that her child will. for. old wives' tale that. fear dur-. a psychologi-. Closely related to this traditional belief. which claims. to replace these behavior patterns with. is. is. mother develops an overprotective attitude compensate for her feeling of guilt.. bad temper. Then neither he nor. his parents will try. attribute, with a. some maternal. hazard to a child, the hazard. that he inherited his father's stinginess or his mother's. that children. other physical feature. ing pregnancy. While a physical defect. they are less. likely to try to. An. some. which she, her husband, or friends. life.. parents or teachers believe that a child's. hereditary. his. belief that. can influence a person's behavior. The traditional belief that the mother can "mark" her unborn child by her fears has caused many a mother to feel guilty if her child is. Prenatal Influences.. be born with a special aptitude. she devotes her time. to listening to music,. attending concerts, practicing the piano, or singing. Later,. she. will. try. to. tunity to cultivate his. see that he has every oppor-. expected. talent, often at great. Ik. *'V. Chapter One. personal sacrifice.. he does not develop into the. If. musical genius she believes she created, she may. be. The. is. such treatment is likely to feel and inadequate. He will resent being expected do something he feels incapable of. It is he. rather child subjected to. influenced by day of. birth.. The psychological damage. disappointed and even punitive toward him.. bitterly. the widespread tradition that personality. illustrates. is. of. that they discourage children. such old wives' tales and parents from try-. guilty. ing to cultivate desirable personality characteristics. to. or correct undesirable ones. Personality patterns that. who pays. than the mother,. ceptance of the old wives'. By. tale.. most damaging. far the. relating. the bigger price for her ac-. influences. prenatal. to. of the old wives' tales. the. is. that. belief. the mother can control the sex of her child.. How. this. can be done is explained by a number of traditional beliefs. For example, if she eats certain foods during pregnancy, the baby it. be a. will. that If. girl;. may develop. disappointed she. is. Recognizing that. child.. and unsportsmanlike, she. unfair. if. they are undesirable, the. uted largely to acceptance of the traditional beliefs.. Another group the effects. will get.. is. resentment against the is. she eats others,. if. is. pensate by becoming overindulgent.. likely to If. a. this. com-. the father. is. on the. of birth. and as he grows bodied. older.. birth. on the. Chinese. adjustment to postnatal by scientific evidence.. it. pays.. He. is. spoiled by one. The. child. also penalized by the kind of. is. home. climate engendered by the acceptance of this traditional. belief.. If. the husband believes that his wife. he. she. will. blame. her.. will feel guilty.. If. she accepts the blame,. If. she does. not,. she. will feel re-. Under such conditions, have a happy home climate. sentful toward her husband.. the child. is. unlikely to. and love essential. or the acceptance. for. wholesome. Because. teries,. it. grew up. is. birth. is. one. of. not surprising that. to explain. it.. man's greatest mys-. many. One group. traditional beliefs. of beliefs holds that. attempt has been made,. birth.. Again, the psychological traditional. belief. that. is. damage. of accepting the. stifles. any motivation. it. the parents might otherwise have to guide the child's. development. into desirable channels.. Traditional. and. its. about prematurity. beliefs. effect. adverse. on the. child's. psychological. of. men came. to believe that. being born under certain stars would bring either. good. life. The season sometimes regarded as a determinant The old rhyme. or bad fortune throughout. of birth. is. also. of personality.. Monday's child Tuesday's child. is. damage.. fair. to. difficult. often blame. child. For. absence. themselves— and. physically. and. knowledge,. their. Mothers. husbands blame. seriously and thus preventing what might be lifetime. handicaps to their children. They become overprotective. thus depriving their children of opportunities. is. and wise and good and gay.. has an. them— for not taking their maternal obligations more. ture. giving,. both. of scientific. to learn. Parental friction over. and. cause. centuries,. birth. contradict such a belief.. full of grace,. loving. its. caused by an imprudent act. fair of face,. Saturday's child works hard for a living. But the child that is born on the Sabbath Day is. is. is. —. development— are another. is. Wednesday's child is full of woe, Thursday's child has far to go, Friday's child. the it. of the mother. In the it. history,. in. on. effect. mentally and that. there are auspicious and inauspicious times to be born. Very early. "Difficult. have been supported. life. people have believed that premature Birth.. em-. about the effects. beliefs. Little. ease of the. difficulty or. source. personality development.. saying,. is. however, to discover whether it is the birth experience per se that effects the child's adjustment and personality or whether it is the attitude of parents, mainly the mother, toward the child because of the. could have controlled the sex of their child but did not,. infancy. in. personality and the infants. child's. may become even more Again, is the child who. parent and resentful of the other— or of both.. both. child,. belief of this kind. Some. birth, difficult child.". of. One. ancient. an. in. around. of traditional beliefs center. disappointed as well and rejects the child, the mother indulgent and permissive.. damage will be done. But damage can be attrib-. desirable, no psychological. she wishes hard enough for a boy.. if. what she the mother. be a boy;. will. good or poor personal and social adjustment are assumed to be innate. As a result, a child may develop, by chance rather than by guidance, the characteristics commonly associated with "his stars" or his day of the week. If these happen to be lead to. will. children. creates. an. climate for the children to. how. to handle. prema-. unwholesome emotional grow up in.. Throughout the ages, children have paid a heavy price for such an old wives' tale. Among many peoples, it. was a common. infants. to. practice to put prematurely born. death or to put them. in. some. isolated. place with other defectives and allow them to per-. Traditional Beliefs about Children. ish.. The. was. justification for this practice. The Relationship between Physical and Psychological. that the. children would always be a burden to society. Even old. today,. wives'. marked influence on the treatment born. during. only. not. children,. of. that. but. often as long as they remain under the parental roof.. tally. capable of. the nose, forehead, or mouth, are used to evaluate personality traits, while. full-term child. can be expected to do.. Two. of the. they are the most able of the firstborn. is. The. all. first. maintains that. children.. As a. the firstborn child. will inevitably. motivated to develop his innate. is. s. that. be spoiled and un-. abilities.. People often. prejudge firstborn children and regard them with suspicion.. warn. is. not. uncommon,. their children. ground never. It. that they will. amount. to. for example, for parents to. not to marry firstborns on the. be. difficult to live. with and. the size and shape. for this purpose. traditionally. is. considered a quick-tempered, impulsive person. The is. that there. is. nothing he can do to be-. many redheads tend. accidents, If. less widely accepted, belief. latter,. less impulsive. Be-. cause quick temper and impulsiveness often lead to. development.. The second, and. the. come more even-tempered and. given greater privileges and advan-. This favoritism affects every area of the child. in. with red hair, for example,. implication. result,. tages and more parental affection than later-born siblings.. head are used. A person. contradictory beliefs have been long and widely. held about firstborn children.. possible to evaluate personality charac-. is. former, facial features, such as the size and shape of. They are overprotected and undermotivated by parents who believe that they are not physically or mendoing what a normal,. it. teristics by observing physical traits. The widespread and popular techniques of physiognomy (Fig. 1-1) and phrenology (Fig. 1-2) are based on this belief. In the. prematurely infancy,. their. For centuries, people have believed. Characteristics. about prematurity have a. tales. to be accident-prone.. they, their parents, or their teachers accept the old. wives'. redheads. tale,. learn to control their. will. have. little. motivation to. emotions and prevent the occur-. rence of accidents. They pay the price. in. two ways: un-. favorable social judgments about their emotional ma-. and an unneccessary share. turity. often leave. The. will. permanent physical. of accidents. which. scars.. traditional belief that the personality. changes. as the body changes has been strengthened by the. much.. Figure 1-1.. Some. widely held personality "types" associated. with certain physical features. (From the book The human heredity handbook by Amram Scheinfeld. Copyright '^. 1965 by. Amram. Scheinfeld.. Redrawn. by permission of the. publishers, J. B. Lippincott Company.). NOSE. BROWS. CHINS Low:. High:. Sharp, thin:. Large:. Weakness. Protruding: Bravery. LowlQ. Highia. Meanness. Virility. Timidity. Determination. Brutality. Loftiness. Cruelty. Aggression. Receding:. MOUTH. EYES. Small, thin:. Large, wide:. Meanness. Wide, large: Frankness. Coldness. Sensuousness. Slyness. Sincerity. Selfishness. Generosity. Close, small:. EARS Small:. Large:. Refinement Commonness Stinginess. Generosity. 8. Chapter One. fairy tale of the ugly. graceful swan. Children,. cally. outgrow. when. teristics. all. who. duckling. tiful,. it. is. turns into a beau-. said, will automati-. their undesirable personality charac-. their bodies. become more mature. in. unquestionably true that a bright child. is. it. learned to study efficiently. advantage, there. is. no. the child, he be-. mental. and motivation. ability. to. do well. memory so. in a way that leads to disapproval and rejection. makes him unhappy and resentful toward those. rote. the time or effort needed to master them.. who. reject him.. later. discovers that he has traits,. it. will. be much. boring that he. forgetter, is. The. belief that the. leads. is. and the quick learner the quick. the slow forgetter,. not the only old wives' tale about learning that. is. psychologically damaging to children. Equally dam-. aging. is. subject. the belief that a child. will. who does. automatically do well. in all. well in. may. other subjects,. require.. This. were believed. to control different. functions. and. may be generalized. to their. becomes known. other school. to. work below. subjects: he begins to. and. his capacity. as an underachiever.. While. Training,. Child. sparing the rod. is. the. wives'. old. the best. about. tale. known and most widely. accepted traditional. belief relating to child training,. others. damaging. Of these, the most. are. just. as. the one claiming that approval. is. a child. satisfy. and thus weaken. itself will. motivation to. his. perform. Tradition like. holds. corporal. that. and. criticism. punishment,. disapproval,. spur the. will. child. to. greater effort. Therefore, praise should be withheld. patterns of behavior. /Adapted from N. J. Hoffman: The science of mind applied to teaching. New York:. and. Fowler and Wells. quently.. Co., 1887.). come up. fails to. turn, leads the child to resent. develop a dislike for the tasks involved.. to. dislike. serious. Figure 1 -2. In phrenology, an attempt is made to determine the major personality characteristics of a person through the measurement of the size and shape of the skull. Note that different areas of the brain. in. one. regardless of any special mental abilities a particular. subject. them and. mental. all. in. spend. parents and teachers to criticize and. punish the child when he. slow learner. subjects. in. unwilling to. is. Expecting a child to do equally well tasks. expectations. This, Learning.. the. that require reasoning, but find subjects that require. haves. When he. support. to. may have. This. not outgrown his undesirable more difficult to change.. have an. will. evidence. scientific. the old belief. A child, for example,. With no attempt on the part of parents or teachers to. develop socially approved behavior. While. who has. criticism. and disapproval used. freely. and. fre-. The psychological damage of accepting this old wives' tale is that the child comes to think of himself as an inferior and inadequate person who can do nothing well. This idea. complex.. feriority. proval put so. wrong. is. often the basis of an. addition,. criticism. in-. and disap-. much emphasis on what the child does some things he does. that he fails to realize that. are right. his. In. He develops. achievements.. a negative attitude toward. Furthermore,. since. all. criticism. is. ego-deflating, the child builds up resentments against. those. who. criticize.. eventually. This. leads. to. low. motivation and, hence, low achievement. Closely related to this old wives' tale. is. the one. warns against showing children too much affection on the ground that, like praise, it will encourage children to rest on their laurels and work. that. below capacity. Too much affection, it is said, will encourage children to take advantage of the person in authority, to regard him as a soft and easy mark.. When. this. occurs, the child. himself, rebelling against. will try to. all. rules. be a law unto. and regulations.. The psychological damage from accepting wives' tale as a guideline for child training. this old is. even. Traditional Beliefs about Children. more serious than. which comes from the. that. A. that praise will spoil the child.. been deprived of parental love. that he has. weakens. tionally starved. This not only. to. who. child. do what he. capable. is. believes. emo-. feels. his motivation. but leads him to believe. of,. According to. belief. women. The. tradition,. most often. reason. men. are less emotional than. functional periodicity of. given. for. Is. the. sex difference.. this. masculine superiority. While the age-old tradition of. has not been upheld by results of. intelligence. in. women. him— his. Intelligence testing, the cultural stereotype of the male. parents and teachers— dislike or reject him. Because. as the "reasoning animal" and of the female as the. many. "unreasoning animal. that the people. who. are most important to. parents, especially fathers, feel that. affection. boys. to. boys are more. make them. will. than. likely. girls. showing. who pokes the fire from. "sissies,". as. James described. her,. to be the innocent. of. the female sex,. tradition. into. dependent,. victims of this old wives' tale.. persists (14).. still. are. holds,. members. while. Members meek and. male sex. the. of. the top,". are. autonomous and adventuresome. The. Intelligence.. dumb". but. cliche "Beautiful. By the time children enter school, they have learned. ex-. people. sex. regard. differences. as. extremely. presses the traditional concept of the relationship of. that. intelligence and physical appearance. An attractive person is expected to be dumb, and an unattractive one bright. Traditionally the highly creative person is. important. They have also learned that "masculine. expected sique,. be nonconforming. to. and deviant. havior.. is. It. In. assumed. In. dress,. weak. in. phy-. moral, social, and emotional bethat he will be. an unsocial per-. son If not antisocial. As Elsenman has commented, "Throughout history, deviant behaviors, including have been denigrated". creativity, If. role that. may. up. to. them, he may find himself playing a. not to his liking.. is. resent the. bitterly. A. bright, attractive girl. Implication. she lacks. that. normal intelligence or the suspicion that she has. cheated. if. and as an. she does good academic work. As a child adult,. she. bother her "pretty head. someone. else. Tradition. grow. resent being told not to. will '. about problems, but to. cope with them. who. are dull will. as they get older, just. brighter. let. for her.. claims that children. with undesirable personality traits. ually, their. as. children. automatically. will. feriority. cultural. excel.. realize that. tradition,. it. It. is. Even. like princes.. Is. belief. wonder. if. the accusa-. they have personal doubts about. about masculine. accept the tradi-. superiority. because. in. different ways.. The person with a. complex may be personally. satisfied or. but he discovers that social attitudes toward him are. from favorable. The person with an. plex. Sex Differences.. If. even happy because he thinks of himself as superior, far. of guilt.. and. Both kinds of complex are psychologically dam-. and. develop feelings. of the social. rebellious,. ego-gratifying.. superiority. finally. members. resentful,. their superiority, they are willing to. taking advantage of their opportunities.. and. motivation to. opinions of themselves that they expect to be treated. aging, though. tions are indeed correct,. they accept. and dictatorial toward others, they may tend to rest on their laurels, and they sometimes have such good. damage.. The children. their. If. complexes. They may become authoritarian. riority. considerable. resentful, begin to. stifles. widely held by. makes them. teachers often accuse children of not trying or of not. become. it. complexes which color. of behavior.. Acceptance of the cultural tradition by members of the male sex fosters the development of supe-. it. then. inferiority. unhappy.. it. Parents. happens, members of the. they reject the tradition, even though they. If. group,. this. and patterns. their attitudes. happen, the expectation that psychological. When. female sex develop. tional. responsible for. merge into a general concept of inwhich is closely associated with "feminine. characteristics.". replace them with desirable ones. While this does not will is. commonly regarded as "superior." Gradown observations of individual instances. inferiority. of. the. (8).. the person accepts these traditional beliefs and. tries to live. traits" are. is. Inferiority. com-. neither happy nor socially approved.. For the most part traditional beliefs. about sex differences claim or imply that the. ences are Innate and, consequently.. differ-. Inevitable. Be-. How True Are. Old Wives' Tales?. cause the two sexes are physically different and. because the differences become Increasingly pronounced after puberty, it is assumed that psychological and behavioral differences are automatic accompaniments of physical changes.. were given a true-false mark those traditional beliefs which are false and those which are true, the chances are that he would mark most of them false. If, on the other If,. at. test. this point, the reader. and asked. to. 10. Chapter One. hand, the reader were asked to produce evidence to prove that the beliefs are false, the. do. that he could not. chances are. so, at least in a majority of the. of the firstborn child of the family. assumption that While there. cases.. No attempt. made. is. in this. chapter to present evi-. ample evidence. is. how. aspects of development.. If. in. all. It. people responsible for the care and guidance. had the opportunity to study science. children. high school or college, most of them would aban-. don the harmful old ever,. is. beliefs in their youth.. not the case.. college campus,. Away from. old. wives'. Such, how-. the high school or. tales. the per-. persist:. centage of the population that clings. to. them. un-. is. questionably larger than the percentage that rejects. evidence. is. in origin,. presented. in. not hered-. the chapters. covering speech, academic achievement, and other. teachers, and other adults.. of. This. itary.. superior.. also evidence that. is. environmental. is. is. that firstborn children. are often high achievers, there their superiority. based on the. is. endowment. his hereditary. dence in support of or against the beliefs. The sole purpose of bringing them together here is to focus attention on how many old wives tales there are and pervadingly they affect the behavior of parents,. about the superiority. Similarly, the traditional belief. hoped. is. terial. in. the remaining chapters with the question.. What evidence I. approach the ma-. that the reader will. is. there to substantiate or refute what. have heard or what others believe so strongly?. This approach. help reinforce the statement that. will. damaging to children. It will also emphasize the importance of trying to eliminate old wives' tales are. these beliefs before they are passed. down. to future. generations.. them. Thus, to understand why many children behave as they do. one must realize that their training has. been greatly influenced by parents and other relawho used old wives' tales as behavioral guide-. Highlights of Chapter. 1. tives. lines.. who. Readers. believe that most old wives' tales are. false should also their. tify. belief.. evidence. know what evidence there is to It seemed logical to present. jus-. that. chapters related to the subject matter. in. areas with which the old wives' tales are identified. This arrangement. evidence. will. enable the reader to see the. a broader context than this introductory. in. 1.. Old wives' tales are traditional beliefs based on. what has been found. 2.. Because old wives'. is. presented. Chapter. in. the discussion of the. in 5.. in. of. Chapter. example,. newborn. persistence and. is. included. change. in. in. ing. is. the dis-. personality. 18.. why. the reasons. prove them may be is. commonly. false.. that sparing the rod. Studies. of. the. is. justification. for. know-. given to prove or dis-. effects. of. way. to spoil the child.. excessively. permissive. and inconsistent training reveal that they too can prevent children from learning to behave according to social expectations. Using the rod often 'spoiis" the child in the sense that it encourages child. him to develop socially undesirable characteristics, such as lying or projecting the blame and the punish-. in. scientists,. All. 4.. others.. These matters are discussed. the evaluation of discipline. in. Chapter. 15.. alike,. veracity. at. some. there. and. time or other, encounter. Old wives' tales play two important roles:. they act as behavioral guidelines. in detail. when. First,. other guide-. and second, they act as spurs. to scientific investigation. Their value in these roles is. do. far. outweighed by the psychological damage they. to the child.. The three most serious forms. damage from tales;. infallibility. surrounding old wives'. skepticism about any evidence contradicting. and the harmful effects on the development resulting from parental or teacher. an old wives' child's. of psychological. old wives' tales are inertia resulting. from the halo of. training. ment on. their. resistance to their efforts to dispel unfounded and. 5.. the. age are. often harmful traditional beliefs.. For example, the assumption. is. based on the assump-. questioning. lines are unavailable,. to prove or disprove old wives' tales. tales are. infant. Equally as important as knowing what evidence there. person's. is. Evidence regarding the 'outgrowing'. of undesirable personality traits. cussion. for. for the. doubting their usefulness as behavioral guidelines. 3.. on the child's development,. "work". tion that all people of a given. chapter would allow. Evidence about the effects of birth. to. physical or psychological welfare.. tale:. acceptance of an old wives'. tale.. The old wives' tales that have been found to be most damaging to the child's development are those relating to the meaning of childhood, children as. 6.. Traditional Beliefs about Children. people, the role of heredity. in. child. development,. physical. prenatal influences, the time of birth and the condi-. associated. tions. with. it,. ing,. the relationship between. and. child. psychological. training. characteristics,. learn-. methods, intelligence, and sex. differences.. Bibliography 1. Altus.. W.. order and. D.: Birth. Canad.. scholastic aptitude. J. consult.. Psychol. 1965. 29, 202-205. 2.. New. Bolln. B.. An. investigation of. at. Bossard.. The. H. S.,. J.. and. E. S. Boll:. sociology of child development,. 4th ed.. New. York: Harper & Row,. Brim. O. G.: The acceptance of. new behavior in child rearing. Hum. Relat., 1954, 7, 473-491. 6.. Caldwell. B. M., and. mond: The impact. J.. Dinitz, S., F. R. Scarpitti.. and. C. Reckless: Delinquency. vulnerability:. A. cross group and. 8.. Elsenrnan. tal illness:. and men-. prevalent stereotype.. Percept, mot. Skills. 1969. 29, 34. 9.. Garai.. J. E.,. and. Sex differences havioral. traits.. 17.. in. mental and be18.. Monogr., 1968. 77, 169-299. 10. Gardner. R. C. and D. M. Taylor: Ethnic stereotypes: Meaningfulness In ethnic group labels.. Amer. Psychologist, 1962.. T. L. and B. J. Magic and witchcraft: An interpretation from dissonance theory. Southwest J. Anthrop.,. Siegel:. 1959. 15, 143-167. 22. Sanford. N.: Will psychologists. Jahoda, G.: The psychology of superstition. Baltimore: Penguin,. study. human problems? Amer.. chologist. 1965. 20,. 23. Thorndike. R.. James, W.: The principles of. New. over-. York: Holt, 1890.. The concepts of. L.:. and underachievement. New. York: Teachers College. 1963. 24. Titley. R. W.: Imaginations. erations of college students. J. 1 -16.. 25.. W.. E.,. H. Frankel.. the disabled. Soc. Sci. 1969. 3, 29-38.. and. Watson.. G.:. ferences. in. strict or. Some. &. about. Med.,. personality dif-. children related to. permissive parental dis-. G. R. Tucker: Judging personality. cipline. J. Psychol.. 1957. 44,. through speech: A French Cana-. 249.. dian sample. 305-321.. J.. Loewenthal,. K,:. Commun., 1966,. 16,. How. are "first. 20, 1970.. Pasamanick.. 26.. Watson.. J. B.:. Behaviorism.. 227-. New. York: Peoples Institute. 1925.. Neu- York Times Report: Modern medicine seeking remedies of witch doctors. The New York. May. Psy-. 192-202.. Coffman, and G. Walters: On the fading of social stereotypes: Studies In three gen-. Times, 19.. 17,. 496-500. 21. Rosenthal.. impressions" formed? Psychol. Rep., 1967. 21, 834-836.. A. Scheinfeld:. Genet. Psychol.. medieval writings.. and N. Sprinthall: Underachievement related to interests, attitudes and values. Personnel Guid. J., 1965, 44, 388-. 16. Lambert,. 515-517.. R.: Creativity. A. Motivation and. in. Pers. soc. Psychol., 1969. 13,. longitudinal analysis. Amer. sociol. Rev., 1962. 27,. J.:. learning. R. H... psychology.. 9,73-78.. W.. Hummel.. Xegro Educ,. -7.. 20. Pratt. K.. Law. 1966. 57,. 15. Kariins, M., T. L.. child development. Children, 1962,. 7.. Sci.,. 1969. 14.. B. Rich-. of theories of. J. crim.. children.. 1958. 27, 4-9.. 395. 13.. 1966. 5.. discrim-. 27-30. 12.. 1052. 4.. school age.. Criminal, police. duration and childhood anxieties.. 1045-. Negro. A more. fication of potential delinquents. the relationship between birthJ. ment. Sci., 1959. 105,. factors to school retardation in. inative instrument for the identi-. York: Macmlllan, 1968.. J.:. Behav. Sci., 182-192.. J.. 1,. 11. Glueck. E. T.:. Anastasi. A.: Psychological testing,. 3d ed. 3.. 1969.. B... The contribution. and of. 27.. A. N.: Quoted in Pasamanick and H. Knobloch: The contribution of some organic. Whitehead. B.. factors to school retardation. Negro children.. J.. 1958, 27, 4-9. 28. Wilkinson. C. B.:. H.. Knobloch:. some organic. in. Negro Educ,. The destructive-. ness of myths. Amer. J. Psychiat., 1970, 126, 1087-1092.. 11. CARLETON SARVEB— FORD FOUNDATION. CHAPTER TWO. ScJentifJc studies of Child. Development. DESPITE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE Of Old Wives' tales,. many. were. in. are as widely held today as they. the. general answer. is. Why. past.. that there. is. is. so? The best. this. not. enough. scientific. evidence available to prove that they are not. true.. the whole, scientists simply have not been moti-. On. vated. this direction. Studies of the effects of old. in. wives'. on child development are. tales. even. rare,. though there have always been children to study.. The. make such. lack of motivation to. explained. studies can be. two ways. First, children were regarded. in. as miniature adults. Since adults are easier to study,. on them and assumed. scientists concentrated. what was learned could then be applied standing. Second,. children.. of. that. to an under-. traditional. beliefs. provided ready-made guidelines for the training of children,. and. adequate. for. was taken. it. use both. in. for granted that they. home and. the. were. the school.. in. tional care of the child during illness (77).. development. scientific record of the. published. in. 1774,. made. notes Pestalozzi years. of his 3V2-year-old son. Several. Tiedemann.. later,. of. Germany, kept biographical. records of the development of his children during the. The best-known and most American studies was Miliicent. early years of their lives.. thorough. of the early. Shinn's Biography of a Baby, based on her observations of her niece from birth through the of. This appeared. life.. means. that the vast majority of early studies. from an interest. in. children themselves or. velopment but primarily from an. means. of educating. them. to. in their. citizens.. concepts, reported dren's. 1891. in. in. his Contents of Chil-. Minds on Entering School,. that children. bryonic adults but. One. of. Comenius should be studied not as em-. to. in their. essential child nature so as. how. understand their capacities and know. to deal. with them.. Following the pioneer work of Comenius, two definite. trends appeared. the study of children:. in. philosophical treatises on education. were studied only. indirectly,. observations of children at first. in. in. and. (1). which children direct. (2). and soon many psycholo-. and educators became interested. studying the. in. without reference to education.. child. himself,. cause. of the interest Hall stimulated,. he. ferred to as the "father of the child study. Be-. often re-. is. movement.". de-. tional reformer of the seventeenth century. felt. that. students. (36). Hall's. McCullers has commented: "The results of any careful. first. strongly. this point of view,. emphasized. Hall. reexamination of Hall's ideas would appear to have. persons to study children as individuals was Johann Amos Gomenius, the famous Slavic educathe. of. Hall,. not. interest in the best. be useful. was given. impetus by the work of G. Stanley. Clark University. Beginning with his study of children's. gists. came. (88).. Interest in scientific studies of children. great. year. first. 1900 and was modeled along. in. German baby biographies. the lines of the. adopted. Lack of widespread motivation to study children does not mean that they were entirely neglected. Rather, it. of a. was based on the observational. children are not miniature adults. Early Interest in Studying Children. emoThe first young child,. as breast-feeding, feeding the poor eater, and. daily. least. some. at. implications for almost every major devel-. opmental theory. in. psychology today". (66).. Since. work, thousands of studies of almost. Hall's original. every phase of child development have. made. their ap-. pearance.. Few. of. early. studies. little. to. velop or. how. another.. As. yet,. children. this. employed. reason, they con-. our knowledge of. how. children de-. they change from one age level to. Dennis. said. his field. in. be the. child psychologist will. as. of. methodology. For. scientific. tributed. the. 1955,. "The cautious to indicate that,. first. possesses only a modest amount of. scientific data" (28).. which they were studied. hand.. Among. the educational. reformers. who. indirectly. Motivations to Study Children. contributed valuable information about children and their capacities. of. were Locke,. of England;. Rousseau,. France; Pestalozzi, of Switzerland; and Herbart. and Froebal,. of. Germany.. Direct observations proved to be far. more. fruitful. The. ones being made. early studies of children, like the. were inspired by a number scientists were motivated by some today,. of motives. First,. practical. problem. The. very ear-. relating to child behavior or child care.. was. a desire to improve educational. than philosophical treatises, however, because they. liest. focused attention on the child himself. Educational. practices. Later, preschool children. and pediatric. the. and sevensuch present-day problems. literature of the sixteenth. teenth centuries refers to. motivation. hope. of. child training.. throwing. light. Still later,. were studied. in. on problems related to. the newborn infant. was. stud-. 13. 14. Chapter Two °. ied for the traits. V. / purpose. which behavioral. of discovering. were hereditary and which must be taught.. than. Second, studies were motivated by a desire to refute. The theory. or substantiate prevailing theories.. constancy. of the. in. be made available to the. likely to. scientist. the past. Also, the feeling that babies are. delicate" to be studied. is. too. not as widespread as for-. merly.. Nursery schools,. intelligence quotient (IQ). for ex-. of the. more. are. and health and. kindergartens,. ample, has motivated long-term studies of the devel-. mental health clinics give the psychologist of today. opment. an. of intelligence (13, 74).. Third, scientists. became curious about. behavior related to them. in. Fourth,. scientists. were. preschool age. Parents bring their children to these. study the areas of. centers for training, for free medical care, and for. overcoming behavior problems. In return they permit the children to be studied and tested at. to. disproving their veracity. Are quick learners quick forgetters. for example, and.. the. of. the hope of proving or. and were motivated. beliefs. traditional. excellent opportunity to study children. if. so.. why?. motivated. guidance. in. regular intervals.. by. new. the. There are. still. serious obstacles to studying school-. evidence revealed by scientific studies. What was. age children. Although many school people today. responsible for the patterns of behavior that were. willingly. found to be. solved. typical. of. children at different ages''. cooperate with the. problem. the. scientist,. this. School. completely.. has not children. Under what conditions could these behavior patterns. themselves are often reluctant to cooperate. They. be expected to manifest themselves? For example,. feel. why. more frequent among prethey become less freintense as children grow older?. are temper tantrums. school children, and •'i. quent. and. less. why do. The first were those considered most important for evolutionary adaptation— upright locomotion, opposed thumb-grasping, speech, etc. When it was shown that development in each of these areas occurred over a wide range of ages, scientists were motivated to study individual differences and the causes of areas selected for scientific investigation. that they are being treated like guinea pigs or. that testing. the. is. is. a waste of their time.. placed on what can be studied.. limitation. School authorities often child. and. not permit research on. will. subject, such as sex. religion, or parent-. touchy. a. Even more serious. sibling relationships.. METHODS OF STUDYING CHILDREN A second obstacle of children. is. in. finding. way methods the. of scientific studies. that not only will. be. suitable for use with children of different ages but. these differences.. will. also. be scientifically accurate and yield valid. The problem. The obstacles to scientific study are ubiquitous and sometimes almost insurmountable. Of the many ob-. methodology in the study of children has always been a thorny one. Many approaches have been abandoned because they proved to be too complicated or because they lacked reliability. For example, baby biographies and ques-. their attempts. tionnaires are seldom used today because they are. results.. Obstacles to Studying Children. stacles scientists have encountered to study children, the. most. in. common and. the most. dif-. too. research, finding suitable and scientifically accurate. methods. for studying children, controlling the. accu-. racy of material obtained outside the laboratory setting,. difficult to control for. Actually,. ficult to cope with are: securing children for scientific is. accuracy.. no one method or measuring technique. suitable for all age levels or for all forms of behavior.. Entirely different. children. those. and establishing rapport with children.. of. who. methods must be used. for studying. cannot verbalize their thoughts and for. whose speech. is. developed.. well. Different. measuring techniques must be used for children cannot read and write and. SECURING CHILDREN FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. A major. difficulty. for. scientists. wishing. to. study. inappropriate. and unselected groups of children for scientific research has long been a troublesome problem. This obstacle is not as overwhelmmg as it used to be. however. Today most babies are born in hospitals and. development.. large. is. those. who. can. Socio-. metric techniques are valuable for example, in studies of social development, but they are inadequate and. finding subjects for their research. Getting. children. for. who. As a. for. studies. of. result of this obstacle,. language. or. motor. accumulation of. in-. formation about child development has been slow as well as spotty.. The. difficulty. has been met.. in. Scientific Studies of Child. by borrowing methods used. part,. related fields. in. research— mainly medicine, sociology, and experimental psychology. Since many of these methods. of. were devised. for use with adults or adolescents of. Development. These methods have not infrequently been judged It is commonly said of them that. and found wanting.. almost anything they can better.. Their advantage. experiments can. do,. said. is. do. to lie in their relative. which makes them useful as rough and. high school or college age. however, they must be. simplicity,. modified before they can be applied to the study. ready methods for reconnoitering new problems, and. of children.. especially,. variables. identifying. for. be. to. included. in crucial experiments. In. Laboratory versus Field Studies. scientific psychological research,. made. the early days of. most studies were. the laboratory, where conditions that affect. in. the pattern of a subjects behavior can be carefully controlled.. It. soon became. the laboratory setting. Was. sive.. itself. apparent, however, that. made. children apprehen-. the behavior they displayed. in. the labora-. tory situation a true picture of their everyday behavior. or only a picture of. To eliminate. some. how. they behaved. in. a laboratory?. obstacle to accurate research.. this. began making studies in the child s natural habitat of the home, school, and playground. These studies— called field studies —showed that scientists. results obtained. with those from. more. field. in. the field did not always agree. more and. the lab. Consequently,. made— studies. studies have been. of anger,. versus. Cross-sectional. spective reports,. etc... can be combined with data. from other studies to give a composite picture of child development. This is known as the normative approach. cross-sectional. areas. different. many. studying. because. development. of. results of. tration. laboratory studies of children.. Fawl. results of a laboratory study of frus-. made by. Dembo. and Lewin. where. Barker.. obtained. by. When. the. development can then be observed (7). The longitudinal approach to studying child development consists of reexamining the same children at intervals throughout the childhood and adolescent. of. is. compared the. are. for. groups are made up of representative samplings of the population, environmental influences are. to a large extent, ruled out. and the normative pattern. subsequent chapters. An experiment by Fawl will serve to show why many psychologists have become skeptical about. the. norms. the. groups over a short period.. years. Dennis has pointed out that. in detail in. In-. formation from questionnaires, observations, retro-. and conversation in the home, of social in school and in the neighborhood, of behavior reactions to school, (as school phobias), and a host of other behavior patterns. These will be discussed discipline,. Approach.. Longitudinal. has been almost alone studies.. ". in. child. psychology. undertaking longitudinal. emphasizes that one of the in our knowledge of children longitudinal studies are inherently slow". He. further. reasons for the gaps that. (28).. Longitudinal studies. may be. trait-oriented or. outcome-oriented. The trait-oriented study discover stability or change of traits. For. in. is. life-. used to. a single trait or cluster. example, by studying the same person. artificial state. over a period of years, one can discover whether the. of frustration in the child, with the results of a field. aggressiveness or cowardliness he showed as a pre-. which the psychologist observed and reported. schooler persists through adolescence and into adult-. the psychologist acted to produce an. study. in. children's reactions to frustrating situations life. settings.. The. results. from. obtained. in. real-. the. two. hood, whether the. trait. becomes stronger. as time goes on. or whether. studies were quite different (10. 30). Unquestionably,. way. to other traits. Similarly,. more accurate. that. make up an. the field-study approach appraisal. of. children s. yielded. a. characteristic. reactions. to. mean. that laboratory studies should. be abandoned. Nor does. it. mean. that field studies. signed to find out what childhood. By studying a. alty.". can seldom match laboratory studies. in. controlling. conditions that might affect the subject s reactions.. has brought out as. some. of traits. syndrome. field-study methods.. some. of their. of their advantages:. Barker. (9). shortcomings as well. traits. are likely to. preindicate an 'achieving adult or a psychiatric casu-. tive years of his. commenting on. does a cluster. authoritarian or alienation. do they change or disappear?. are universally believed to be superior. Field studies. In. or weaker. disappears and gives. Lifeoutcome-oriented longitudinal studies are de-. frustrating situations.. This does not. persist, or. it. child through the important forma-. life,. one may be able. only what kind of adult he. will. to discover not. be but also whether. certain persistent traits or clusters of traits are likely to lead to. adjustments. more. successful than to unsuccessful adult. (73).. 15. 16. Chapter Two. Material for longitudinal studies. may be obtained by. a prospective approach or a retrospective approach.. the former, the study begins with the child and. In. follows in. the. him into adolescence or adulthood, while. the long-term effects of child. personality and behavior by Kagan. Macfarlane et. Schaefer and Bayley. and Watson. adult and traces back into childhood to identify the. Human. antecedents. logical. is. of. the. present. obtained from. behavior.. In. both, the. al.,. (45, 59. 86, 104).. clinical, biographical,. a