Life With Baby (1956)

[Music] In the period between Pearl Harbor and VA, wartime marriage ages and boom time incomes were responsible for a bumper crop of more than 10 million babies, almost 3 million more than these years might normally have been expected to produce. For some time to come, that most demanding of all age groups, the 1 to 5year-olds, will inevitably claim a greatly increased share of the nation's time, attention, and money. Most American parents are thoroughly impressed with the importance of regular care as insurance for their children's health. Frequent checkups on physical growth and development by parents as well as by pediatricians are an established part of the routine of most properly cared for babies. But that the child's mind and personality also need regular checking is an idea still dramatically new to most parents. It is this idea which underlies Yale University's clinic of child development. Pioneer and leader in the new science of infant behavior. Here for 35 years, a group of child specialists have been diligently at work charting the behavior patterns of children from every kind of environment in order to establish some standard of development to serve as a yard stick by which parents, teachers, and doctors may better understand the child's mental growth. After years of cooperative research and experimentation, the various progressive stages of mental growth, 34 in all in the normal child, have been identified by Dr. Arnold Gassel, founder and head of the clinic. >> The mind manifests itself in patterns of behavior which take on characteristic shapes throughout infancy and childhood. We have identified the behavior patterns which may be used as standards of reference in the clinical diagnosis of child development. When you observe the work of this clinic, you will see how these diagnostic standards are applied. For their studies, Dr. Gasell and his staff have devised a one-way vision dome which conceals from the child those who are watching him. Gassel's findings, carefully documented in pictures and in written records, reveal that in the growth of their minds and physical skills, most normal children follow a startlingly similar pattern of development. Tests of the four weeks old infant show that he has little physical control. His hands remain clenched and he grasps objects only by reflex action. He has not yet achieved much coordination of head and eye movements. He can fix his eyes on a moving object, but he has not yet learned how to turn his head from the side position, which is natural at this age. His exploration of the world around him begins with his eyes. Later, it will continue with eyes and hands. At 4 months, the baby can turn his head from side to side and hold it in mid position. He can also consciously bring his hands together, a thing which would have been impossible for him at 4 weeks. At this age, the normal child is barely beginning to coordinate his eyes and hands. He fixes his eyes on objects presented to him, but he makes no move to pick them up. For this simple action involves a more complex mental process than he is yet capable of. But the child of six months, Dr. Gel finds has progressed far enough in coordination to be capable of grasping directly on site. His grasp is still crude, but he can transfer objects from one hand to the other. His mouth is fully as important as his hands in investigating sizes, shapes, and textures. At 6 months, his vision has so progressed that he can focus his eyes on a sugar pellet. But picking it up is another matter. Even when the baby doesn't get the pellet, he benefits by the efforts he has made. At 9 months, the infant's dexterity has greatly increased, and now he can pay attention to more than one object at a time. He brings blocks together or drops one to pick up another. His behavior pattern is becoming more advanced. [Music] He is growing aware of the world around him as well as of those things immediately at hand. The sugar pellet problem which was too difficult for the six-month child is simple for the child of 9 months. Making efficient use of thumb and forefinger, he picks the pellet up promptly. At one year, the child is beginning to feel out shapes and contours, but he is still too young to grasp the fact that the bottle has depth or to think of putting the pellet inside the bottle as he will be doing in a few months. Every child's equipment for learning includes a burning curiosity and a constantly growing ability to profit from experience. Because the one-year-old child has not yet acquired a full sense of his own physical self, a mirror proves to be a complicated problem. [Music] That the ball in the mirror is only a reflection is a difficult idea for him to grasp. [Applause] Out of Dr. Gazelle's simple tests has come a yard stick which doctors may use to help those parents who are worried at the apparent backwardness of their children. Now doctors can determine whether the child's behavior is in fact backward or merely the normal inability of his age. The child of two who persists in putting a round peg in a square hole, for example, is not necessarily lacking in intelligence. Tests show that the normal child of two can fit a block into its right space under simple conditions. However, at this age, he is easily baffled by so slight a complication as reversing the test board. By the age of three, the child is far quicker and more sure of herself in recognizing differences in form. When the board is reversed, the three-year-old is not confused. Her mind is equal to the problem, and she takes childish delight in her success. [Music] At this age, the child is also capable of solving simple construction problems. The ability to build a bridge of blocks from a model is an important step forward. Left to herself, this normal three-year-old builds structures which call for careful coordination of eyes and hands. Heat. Heat. Throughout the first 5 years of life, children go on developing their minds and physical skills. As school beginners, they are examined to determine their readiness for the complex task of reading. Dr. Cassell and his associates have also discovered that the normal baby goes through more than 20 stages of bodily development before he learns to walk erect. At the age of 5 months, the child usually cannot move from the spot on which he is placed. A child a few weeks older reaches the swimming stage, but he has not learned to use his arms to make any progress. Our 6-month-old child is at the pivoting stage. Now he can move in a circle. His mind and nervous system are not yet far enough advanced to enable him to move ahead by creeping, but he is preparing his muscles for this next stage. All these and many more stages of child development have been recorded by movie cameras. And the clinic's vaults today contain miles of film. Every foot of this film has been indexed, studied, and analyzed by Dr. Gassel, his associates, and his students in order to identify the particular patterns of behavior most characteristic of each stage of development. This has involved classifying and tracing and outline the physical reactions of thousands of children to clinical tests. Against the standards thus established, Dr. Cassell and his associates can today gauge the progress and the capacity of any child brought to them. For years, the clinic has been applying the results of its study and research to family problems. Parents of the community who are worried about their children's behavior can bring them to the clinic to find out what, if anything, is wrong. Social agencies refer to the clinic children who are candidates for adoption. The clinic determines whether the child is normal and suitable to the home which is being considered. These methods of diagnosis materially reduce the risks involved in adoption. Every child develops at his own pace, a fact which amateur experts would do well to understand. >> Say something for Aunt Bessie, dear. >> A little slow, isn't she? Clara's little girl is talking very understandably now. >> In the clinic's guidance nursery, children are given frequent tests to determine their ability to speak and ability to understand. >> What is that? >> What's this? >> Oh, wow. Wow. >> Wow. Wow. >> What do they have in the basket? >> Oh, >> what is in the basket? A flower. >> Flower. >> Uh, >> we're all finished with the book. Would you like something else, Sheila? >> Okay. >> What's that, Sheila? >> Keys. >> And what's it for? >> A. >> Oh, >> a door. >> Open a door. That's right. And what is this? >> Huh? >> Money. >> Money. And what's this for? What do you use it for? >> Oh, yes. And what is this? >> The ball. >> And what do you do with the ball? >> Yes, that's all right. >> A more advanced test is that of associating ideas with words rather than with pictures or objects. >> And what burns? >> Fire. >> Fire. You >> mustn't go near fire. >> No, you mustn't go near fire. And what cuts? >> Nice. >> Nice. Cries. >> People. >> People. And what sleeps? >> Sleepy head. >> Sleepy head. And what scratches? >> Sleepy head. >> What scratches? >> And now what size? >> Wy. During the course of ordinary play in the nursery, the children's social behavior is studied without their being aware of it. By such observation, parents too often find the children whose conduct has caused them worry are simply following the normal patterns of their age. >> There you are. That's what I meant. >> Oh, don't worry. This kind of behavior often occurs at 2 and 1/2 years. As children grow older, they use words instead of force. When the group is smaller, Mary plays perfectly well. To society, the value of Dr. Cassell's discoveries may be farreaching. Mental and emotional instability can be detected and treated early in life, while that which is distinctive and superior can be recognized and encouraged. mental as well as physical health will be protected by new applications of medical science. Tomorrow's children will have an unequal chance of growing up sound in mind and body as more and more parents rid themselves of old worries and misconceptions. >> Too often, parents lacking a knowledge of child development will punish their children for behavior that is entirely normal. During the child's first year of life, most parents are willing to accept his behavior as natural. Nobody punishes a baby for creeping instead of walking. But all too often, they do punish him in his second year when he upsets things in the room and doesn't put them back. It is easier for a young child to pull things down than to put them up. After a little more growth, he will enjoy putting things back in their place. Parents punish the four-year-old child for making faces at people. At this age, he is growing out in different directions and may even have a very natural urge to run away. Fortunately, parents who understand the normal stages of growth do not punish a child for behaving like this. They're better able to guide him and enjoy him because they know that many troublesome phases are simply normal and natural stages in the child's development. The long and patient study of child behavior made by Dr. Cassell and other workers in the field has made it clear that childhood's greatest need from birth throughout the formative years is for a parental attitude of enlightened understanding. For this understanding with love and care will bring to healthy fruition the budding individuality of the citizen of tomorrow's world. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause]