ABSTRACT

The first year of the child's life is more important than any which succeeds it, and the first five years outweigh in moulding force the rest of a life-time. When the functions are satisfied the child shows the sign of physical well-being in a healthy sleep, an approximation to the prenatal state of content. The child himself effects the required result, and it is probable that along these lines develops his first consciousness of self and of power. Moreover, the alarm which such a procedure causes in those responsible for the well-being of the child must contribute to an association with the feeling of power and of self-assertion. The great lesson which modern psychology would appear to have to teach in connection with habit formation in the young child is that so far as is possible a personal and emotional reference should be eliminated.