SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES.

The chapter deals with a study that examined the persistent qualities of individual children, as seen apart from the newness of the situation and as carried over from one age to another. Also, special consideration will be given to deviations from these settled qualities as they relate to factors in the child's personality and environment. The items of watching and associative play seem better indices of emotional adjustment and social maturity than the other two because they present sharper differences between individuals. A young child talks a great deal to the room as a whole. It is a definite communication quite different from the talking he or she does off in a corner to himself or herself over his or her solitary play. It is social, a bid for attention, without recognizing individuals as listeners, and goes on whether anyone pays attention--not waiting for responses. Therefore, excessive speech to adults suggests a desire for adult attention or reassurance. Of course, participation in organized group activities was of a more advanced character, interest lasted longer and more ideas originated in the group as age increased, but the willingness to gather together in a group and participate appropriately for a given age seemed more an individual than an age matter. An emotional disturbance was defined as any instance where a child was led to express his or her emotions by crying, screaming, stiffening on the floor, gagging on purpose to gain attention or other such violent manifestations.