First Steps in Mental Growth. By David R. Major, Ph.D.
(Macmillan and Co. 5s. net.)—This is one of the studies of child development with which we are becoming familiar. They are likely to be most useful, as long as we recognise, as Professor Major certainly does, that each case is but a part of the large experience from which final inductions are to be made. Probably the steps in physical growth are the most trustworthy material. The baby does much the same things whatever its conditions and surroundings. But when it begins to observe, the difference of these begins to tell. And there is always the idiosyncrasy. Some children, to take one instance, never show any fear of dogs or other animals, though this fear is a common experience. The experience of the writer, who does not, however, forget that individual experiences must be discounted, is that gently born children show this fear less commonly than others. Among physical developments, the use of the left and right hand is especially interesting. "R," the child who was observed, showed a tendency about the end of his first year to use the left hand. This was discouraged, and in time disappeared. Surely the discouragement was an error. To be ambidextrous is a great thing. The average performance of left-handed people is higher than the common. Drawing, colour, number, memory, association, are among the matters treated of. Professor Major did not find that his child had any inherited reminiscences of times when his ancestors had to struggle for existence with the beasts of the field. He was not frightened at furs, but liked the touch. A dog, though he may never have seen a furry creature, is always keenly interested in skins. "R," it may be said, showed a national tendency when in his third year he developed a desire to make bargains with his baby brother. The book, it will readily be believed, affords entertainment as well as instruction.
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