Growth and Development in Immaturity

In this paper, Winnicott looks at how giving children the right kind of good time makes possible their growth to the adult state called democracy, and to become active, creative members of society, without loss of personal spontaneity and without loss of that sense of freedom which comes from within. At the start it relies on an active adaptation to needs from a devoted mother or mother-surrogate. With small children love enables the person to be reliable enough and maintain an uninterrupted relationship. As the child gets older, nursery schools need to provide active adaptation to children whose parents have not succeeded - often through no fault of their own. However, active adaptation coming too late is called ‘spoiling’. Good management is providing consistent conditions in which each infant can work out what is specific to him. When an infant has an excited experience, they must deal with two sets of phenomena: to be able to stand feeling guilt, and to find ways of making reparation. When all goes well, a sense of responsibility develops along with the ability to relate to external reality and to maintain a continuity of being.

Differential Emotional Experience Leads to Pruning of Dendritic Spines in the Forebrain of Domestic Chicks

Auditory filial imprinting induces quantitative changes of synaptic density in the forebrain area mediorostral neostriatum/hyperstriatum ventrale of the domestic chick. The aim of the present study was to examine the time window and the extent and quality of experience that is required for the induction of these synaptic changes. We found that a brief (30 min) experience with the imprinting situation (tone stimulus + mother surrogate) is sufficient to induce spine elimination, which is detectable on postnatal day 7, but not 80 min after the presentation of the imprinting stimuli. This synaptic reorganization requires the association of the acoustic imprinting tone with an emotional reward (mother surrogate); acoustic stimulation alone does not lead to detectable synaptic changes. The results of the present study provide further evidence that juvenile emotional learning events, such as filial imprinting, lead to a selective synaptic reorganization.

Development of Attachment and Exploratory Behavior in Infant Squirrel Monkeys under Controlled Rearing Conditions

This study contributes to the understanding of early development of communication in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri). Emission of expressive behavior as well as its perception (as concluded from the partner's responses) form the basis of social communication. We studied stimulus conditions that control attachment and exploratory behavior two interdependent fields of motivation which are especially important in the early stages of development. Newborn squirrel monkeys were isolated from their mothers and the group and were provided with a mother surrogate, manipulanda, and social surrogate stimuli: objects were so designed as to elicit behavior which would otherwise be directed at conspecifics. It was found that the animals displayed largely normal attachment and exploratory behavior. They modified their behavior depending on whether their contacts with the social surrogate were answered by aversive or non-aversive calls in the same sense as socially experienced conspecifics would do. Consequently, the conclusion may be drawn that specific genetic components are involved in comprehending emotional expressions.

Effects of Species-Specific Vocalizations On the Behaviour of Surrogate-Reared Squirrel Monkeys

This is a contribution to the study of the communicative behaviour in a primate, the squirrel monkey (Saimin). It will be shown whether socially inexperienced infants respond differentially to species-specific vocalizations. Six squirrel monkeys were separated from their mothers and conspecifics on the day of birth and surrogate-reared up to their 3rd month of age. In order to counteract general deprivation effects, the subjects received visual, auditory and vestibular stimulation, in addition to the constant presence of the mother surrogate and manipulanda. From the 2nd week on subjects were presented a test object 3-6 times daily. The object was so designed as to elicit behaviour which would usually be directed to conspecifics. When the subjects were able to locomote freely in their cage and approach the object on their own, the following experiment was carried out: Upon each physical contact by the subject with the object, a sound was played back by a loudspeaker hidden in the object. During any 8-min. session only one of five preselected sounds was used. The effect of two vocalizations, caw and cackle, known to be aversive in squirrel monkey groups, was compared to that of two non-aversive ones, twitter and play peep, and a neutral control tone. Caw and cackle resulted in low overall contact and less varied and less playful activities toward the test object. Subjects also were facing the objects more from a distance and spent more time in contact with the mother surrogate as their security figure. Twitter and play peep resulted in an opposite pattern. These findings indicate a genetically preprogrammed basis for perception and processing of species-specific vocalizations.

The Selection of Delusional Persecutors

The hypothesis tested in this study was that: The sex of a delusional persecutor will have a relationship to the sex of the most fear-inspiring parent or parent surrogate. Twenty-eight patients with delusions of persecution were evaluated by different interviewers who were unaware of what material to uncover in order to fulfil the hypothesis. It was found that when the father or father surrogate was most fear inspiring, the patient later would develop delusional fears of men only; that when the mother or mother surrogate was most fear inspiring, the patient would develop delusional fears of both men and women, but predominantly of women. The findings are discussed in relation to cultural studies of delusions, certain aspects of learning theory and the concepts of Freud relating homosexuality to paranoid delusions.