ABSTRACT
The claims of John Bowlby, who attempted to synthesise psychoanalytic formulations on infancy with ethological theory. In the case of infancy, Jean Piaget remained faithful to the associationism of mainstream child study. This chapter describes psychoanalytic accounts of infancy: That is, accounts derived directly or indirectly from the writings of Sigmund Freud. The emphasis on interpersonal processes had become widespread in psychoanalytic circles in the 1930s, especially among a group sufficiently divergent to be labelled as "Neo—Freudians". The chapter discusses the most influential and authoritative accounts of the behaviour and competence of the newborn. The newborn is limited by neurology, with an absence of associative connections between lower centres and the cortex. The chapter also discusses the various claims for the origins of sociability with other persons, including such issues as smiling and imitation, and claims concerning a social knowledge of the self.
