ON VOLUNTARY ACTION AND ITS HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE1

Les AA., cherchant à découvrir quels sont les caractères de l'organisation de quelques systèmes biologiques au cours de la première enfance, montrent comment un comportement primitivement automatique et réflexe se transforme graduellement en contrôle volontaire. Sur la base d'expériences qui ont porté sur la manière dont deux activités conflictuelles, téter et regarder, s'intègrent chez le bébé de 2 à 3 mois, on peut distinguer des étapes dans le processus d'organisation : (a) d'abord, suppression de I'une ou de l'autre activité; (b) ensuite, alternance des deux sans interférence; (c), enfin maintien en place des deux à la fois : la structure des deux activités est intégrée dans un acte qui les comprend I'une et l'autre, les parties y étant cependant exécutées séparément. Dans une autre expérience, on observe que les bébés s'efforcent de voir nettement, but qui est fixé arbitrairement, en coordonnant suçage et regard, à l'aide d'une stratégie de réponses qui est hiérarchiquement organisée et adaptative. Certains épisodes du développement de la manipulation des objets avec guidage visuel, montrent comment un programme d'action peut être mis en place dès le début. La maîtrise de l'action implique un cycle de restriction brutale des formes du mouvement et de formation programmée de l'habileté dans les limites de cette restriction. On peut dire, en conclusion, qu'il y a une organisation adaptative, générique et intelligente du comportement à chaque âge. Elle est atteinte de façon inégale et imparfaite, par intermittence et incomplètement : une nouvelle analyse fonctionnelle est nécessaire.     

INSTRUCTIONS,FEEDBACK, AND REINFORCEMENT IN REDUCING ACTIVITY LEVELS IN THE CLASSROOM

The biomotometer, an electronic device which simultaneously measures motor activity and provides auditory feedback, was used in combination with material reinforcers in an experiment to reduce children's activity level in a classroom setting. Subjects were nine boys and two girls, aged 9–13, from a day hospital program for emotionally disturbed children. After five baseline trials, each child had five contingent reinforcement trials in which he/she received feedback “beeps” from the biomotometer and was given toy or candy rewards after each trial in which activity fell at least 20% below mean baseline level. Then five noncontingent reinforcement trials were run in which children received rewards for wearing the apparatus without the feedback attachment. Results indicated that the intervention “package,” including instructions, feedback, and contingent reinforcement, was successful in all five trials for 8 of 11 children. Activity levels increased during the final noncontingent phase.     

Relative cues and absolute distance perception

It is possible, in theory, for the simultaneous occurrence of several different relative cues of distances to increase the veridicality of the perception of absolute distance. To test whether this actually occurs, a three-dimensional display was viewed monocularly while moving the head laterally, under conditions in which some error in perceived absolute distance was expected. The perceived absolute distance of the display was measured with the number of relative cues of distance within the display varied. No systematic reduction was found in the error in perceived absolute distance as a consequence of the variation in the number of relative cues. The study provides no evidence that the potential source of absolute distance information provided by relative cues is utilized by the visual system.     

Constant-force cable coupler and activity monitor for small unrestrained animals

A mercury commutator with retracting cable coupler and activity monitor is described. A coiled spring maintains stable tension on a spool that takes up slack in a flexible cable attached to the electrode skull cap of a freely moving rat. This vertical movement-compensation assembly swivels on a low-friction horizontal bearing that follows the animal’s circular movements. A sensitive measure of activity is achieved by using a photobeam to detect movement of the cable spool when the animal moves its head. The apparatus can be used with low-ceiling chambers and is suited to long-term continuous recording and stimulation experiments.     

Attachment and sibling rivalry in Little Hans: the fantasy of the two giraffes revisited

Freud's interpretation of Little Hans's "phantasy of the two giraffes" is pivotal to his oedipal analysis that Hans has inchoate desires for sexual intercourse with his mother. Bowlby argued that Freud's focus on his oedipal theory led him to ignore preoedipal attachment-related factors that have equal plausibility in explaining the clinical data. However, Bowlby did not attempt to apply the attachment perspective to the interpretation of Hans's fantasies that form the core of the case material. A microanalysis of Hans's giraffe fantasy and the evidence used to support Freud's claims about it yields an attachment-based sibling rivalry account arguably of greater explanatory power than the oedipal account. Consistent with Bowlby's hypothesis, the evidence suggests that Hans's giraffe fantasy is about the sibling rivalry triangle involved in caregiver attachment access, rather than (or in addition to) the oedipal triangle. The issue of multiple levels of meaning and the methodological challenges raised by multiple determination is also considered. The giraffe fantasy's attachment-theoretic explanation encourages a rethinking of this classic case and strengthens Bowlby's claim that the case is fruitfully viewed from an attachment perspective.     

Notes on infant psychotherapy

The idea of „infant psychotherapy”︁ is easily misunderstood, especially by those who associate psychiatry with images of crazy behavior. Nevertheless, there is a type of activity conducted by adults with infants, discussed with increasing frequency in recent literature, which is best understood in an analogy with adult psychotherapy. This activity may be called infant psychotherapy or infant-centered activity. Briefly, it consists of encouraging the infant to take the lead, and asking the adult in charge to follow or „track”︁ the infant's behavior as unobtrusively as possible. This is more easily said than done, and the present work tries to show why this is so. A discussion of the maternal-infant program at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Centre accompanies the observations.