ABSTRACT
Observations on crying in pre-school children have furnished evidence which corroborates the findings of Lund from studies chiefly of adults. When children cry apparently from distress over a fall or because of interference, they are aware that a kind and sympathetic adult will come immediately to their assistance at sound of their cry. Parents may also show tension and distress at the parting themselves or prolong the "good-byes", until the child who was relatively happy at the thought of school before becomes distressed and tearful. The child who is hurt so slightly that the discomfort itself is insufficient to produce tears may cry after the sight of an adult has aroused a habitual craving for sympathy and attention. Some children will stop crying in the middle of a tearful outburst and laugh or smile at some little incident instead. They swing from the tearful to cheerful emotional behaviour in a few seconds.
