listened to the tones of a piano with evident pleasure in his eighth week, and Mrs. Moore's boy lay quietly for twenty minutes on the twentieth day while some one was singing to him, though it is recorded that on the whole his first month was characterized by lack of interest in sound. The earliest manifestations of pleasurable interest in sound seem to be chiefly of an inhibitory nature, the child ceasing to cry or lying still when interested in sound. From the fifth month onward there is a marked rise in auditory interests, and these are, for the most part, mingled with the development of motor activities; the crackling and tearing of paper becomes an absorbing interest; some children love to touch the piano keys and are better satisfied with their own musical attempts than those of others; the ticking of a watch excites active curiosity as to where the sound comes from. Sight interests do not diminish, but they are supplemented by those of hearing and muscular activities, as the baby begins to coördinate things seen, heard, touched, tasted, and smelled. Sully (Extracts from a Father's Diary) notes that in the tenth week the sound produced by striking a wine glass excited "an agreeable wonder," though the sound of the piano proved disconcerting. Later the child became fond of it and "evidenced his enjoyment by complete relaxation of the muscles." Inhibitory effects and muscular relaxation are more frequent modes of manifesting pleasure in sound than in sight, where the reaction is often shown by widely opened eyes, movements of the hands and feet, with, later, attempts to grasp the pleasing object, and looks of eagerness and desire. Thus it will be noted that although muscular and skin sensations, including temperature, are those earliest experienced, they do not form the chief centers of interest during the first months of a baby's life; the stage of muscle interest being distinctly later in development than those of sight, and even then sight interests are not subordinated but coördinated with them. This acceleration of sight development beyond that of the senses which genetically precedes it, is undoubtedly due to its greater utility. In the case of hearing, as of sight, the material gathered by the questionnaire has been compared with the continuous records, and examples from both are given. It will be noticed that there is greater variation in the ages at which the different developments occur than in the case of sight. This is, in part, due to the fact that for the first eight weeks, at least, in sight, psychic developments keep pace with certain definite physical factors, which is not the case with hearing, the ability to hear being present from the first week, although the psychic development comes later. It is interest in sound, which is later in development, and not the physical ability to hear. Early sensations of sounds are, in many cases, connected with either unpleasurable or negative-feeling tones. Light sensations, if not too strong, are of a pleasurable kind, while sound frequently causes a shock, or kind of rudimentary fear, and often occasions crying. F., 5 months. F., 6 months. Would always stop crying to listen to music. Turned her head in direction of sounds. F., 6 months; M., 5 months; F., 5 months; M., 10 months; M., 10 months; F., I year. Interested in listening to music. F., 9 months. Was much delighted with organ music. M., 7 months. Always cried to be lifted up when he heard any one talking. As soon as he could see, was satisfied. F., 9 months. Would always amuse herself if allowed to touch the piano keys. Would clap her hands to the rhythm of music. M., I year. At this age he learned to tear paper, and this interest continued for several months. F., I year. Was much interested in a toy that rattled. M., I year. F., I year. Would sit very still and listen intently to watch. F., 15 months. Tried continually to get her rattle open, shook it, listened, and then tried again. F., 18 months. Was much interested in ticking of clock. After these early stages in the development of visual and auditory interests, interest in seeing things done plays a prominent rôle in the baby consciousness, and closely associated with it is the desire to do. The stage of active experimenting fills the second half of the first year. It is the period in which the series of sight, auditory, muscular, and skin sensations coalesce. Of the child at this age Perez writes: "His activity, doubled now by curiosity and stimulated to the highest pitch by emotional sentiments of all sorts, makes him happier and happier, and seems to him so great a necessity that a quarter of an hour of relative inactivity weighs on him as much as a whole day of ennui on a grown-up person." Whatever the development of the baby's time sense may be, Perez is undoubtedly right as to the curiosity and muscular activity which characterize this age. In these months the range of interests is not only greatly increased but individual predilections begin to be apparent. A distinct interest in mechanics is observable in some children as early as the seventh month, the wheels of a chair or carriage, or the hinges of a door proving a continued source of entertainment. A little later the problem of a lock and key becomes an absorbing interest, the inserting of the key in the lock and trying to turn it holding the attention for astonishingly long periods. Nature interests, too, are shown in these months, the interest in animals, even when accompanied by a certain degree of fear, being marked. Not only living animals, but animal pictures, and later animal stories, are a source of delight, and the joy of outdoor life is plainly manifested by baby coaxing and pleading in sign language long before the development of speech. In Miss Shinn's little niece this interest in animals was almost a passion, developed suddenly just at the close of the first half year, and was unaccompanied by fear. A large dog, which the baby had seen all her life, suddenly roused her desire and she would pay attention to nothing else. "Day after day, for weeks, the little thing was filled with excitement at the sight of the shaggy Muzhik, moving her arms and body, and crying out with what seemed intensest joy and longing. When he came near her excitement increased and she reached out and caught at him." While this case is more marked than is usual in so young a child, the interest in animals seems common to babies in general and continues as a permanent source of pleasure unless interfered with by rousing the fear instinct, which, though it is of frequent occurrence, soon wears off under normal conditions of familiarity with animals. The stages by which the child passes from passive to active observation and experiment are very gradual, and not only do the different stages overlap in the course of normal development, but we find the rudimentary stages persisting even to adulthood in the case of the uneducated and undeveloped and, perhaps, occasionally manifested by every one under certain conditions of shock or surprise. The inarticulate surprise, the fixed stare, and hanging jaw of the dull-minded youth when brought into new and unaccustomed surroundings are familiar examples of this early manifestation of curiosity persisting beyond its time. Cases of arrested development and imbeciles never outgrow this primitive manifestation. Instead of fully developed, eager, questioning curiosity, there is only the stare of amazement and shock of surprise. This arrest in the development of curiosity is marked in cases of epilepsy and is one of 3114 the symptoms of mental degeneration. The patient loses interest in anything new, his attention is hard to gain, and he finally sinks into an apathetic state with "no wants, no desires, no affection," the power of attention completely lost. In the training of the feeble-minded the teacher's chief problem is to rouse interest and curiosity, so that the wandering attention may be held long enough to make a lasting, mental impression. In the development of normal children active observation begins to play a prominent part toward the close of the first year. No longer content with merely seeing things, the little investigator desires to touch, taste, smell, and handle everything within reach. Curiosity as to the contents of parcels, boxes, bureau drawers, trunks, bags, and pocketbooks seems to be universal. Rummaging through closets, drawers, workbaskets, or writing desks becomes a delight. The mere fact of a closed space seems to exercise a fascination over the childish mind. So widespread and deep-seated is this curiosity and interest in whatever is concealed from view, that we must look for its explanation in the phylogenetic rather than the ontogenetic series. We can trace it far back in the animal line, when undoubtedly its utility lay in the food-seeking impulse, and it is probable that in primitive man, as in animals, the impulse to explore unknown cavities, even though exposing the explorer to danger and coming into conflict with instinctive fears, was, on the whole, an advantage in the struggle for existence. Sixty-nine cases of this active curiosity in regard to parcels and boxes were described, the ages varying from one to seven years, and the larger.number of cases occurring between the ages of four and six. At about the same ages interest in discovering why the door bell rang is at its height. With some children this becomes temporarily almost a mania, and all other interests are sacrificed to running to the door or to some position from which the door can be seen. York Library HIGHBRIDGE BRANCH, 78 West 168th Street. CIRCULATING DEPARTMENT |