ABSTRACT
Probably the most potent circumstance conditioning human development is the circumstance of the utter dependence of the individual in infancy and early childhood upon influences beyond himself for the satisfaction of his desires. The infant is helpless in the extreme. At first for his physical comfort, later for his emotional and intellectual satisfactions, he is at the mercy of environment. As we have seen, the child develops as the result of effort directed towards the outward satisfaction of an inner need or desire. His activity takes the form of problem solving. This effort brings him into contact and often into conflict with environmental forces and conditions. The result is a clash with reality and this becomes the nexus of development.
