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Behavioral Individuality in Early Childhood

1964; American Medical Association; Volume: 189; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1001/jama.1964.03070050050029

1538-3598

Donald J. Holmes,

Child Therapy and Development

In this clearly written book the authors report on their study of personality development during the first few months and several years of life. A group of 80 children, unusually "well-controlled" with regard to socioeconomic factors, have served as subjects in this sophisticated attempt to dissect out elements of behavior which can be scored, and to validate the reliability of concrete information from parents as the primary source of data. After making adequate acknowledgment of the importance of early life experience as a potent determinant in personality development, the authors then proceed to argue the procedural validity of separating out for special study those patterns of very early reactivity of the infant and toddler which might be interpreted as expressions of intrinsically determined behavior. The occasional vehemence about the worthwhileness of the quantitative method seems to reflect some of the frustration necessarily experienced in even the most worthwhile effort to