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Through fortuitous circumstances an unusual study was made possible in the field of child development. It happened that in 1947-51, a study of infants was conducted in Topeka, Kansas, by Sibylle Escalona, Ph.D. Special emphasis was placed on the earliest phases of personality development in a group of 128 infants ranging from four to thirty-two weeks of age. As this information was being completed (a process which took several years), a second researcher appeared in Topeka with a plan to study pre-schoolers. It was discovered that thirty-one of the original 128 still resided in the Topeka area and a new project was launched. Using the data of the infant observations, an attempt was made by Escalona to forecase the behavorial personality characteristics of this group as seen five years later. A separate group of investigators (with no access to the infant material) studied the children and the material gathered by both groups was extensively studied and collated. The book is a presentation of this material, with straight-forward discussions of the many pitfalls, speculations, and tentative hypotheses of the authors. In addition to the results and discussion, there are lengthy case reports of several of the children. This gives the reader an opportunity to come to his own conclusions and to make his own speculations.
The questions posed (in my own words) were: 1. Can personality and behavior be predicted from observation of certain traits in infancy? What is the fate of “organic” differences often noted in infants from birth? Do these factors lead in later life to specific personality patterns such as aggressiveness and sensitivity? 2. How does the data fit in with current theories of child development?
As is usual in an objective investigation of human beings, the results are complex, have to be interpreted and qualified, and are often equivocal. Any other findings are viewed with justified scepticism.
Often the complexity of the human subject is reduced by diligent res