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To the Editor:
In his excellent paper on "The We-Self of Identical Twins [ This Journal, Volume 6, No. 2], D. H. Ortmeyer could have more strongly emphasized the specific developmental problems encountered by identical twins. The development of the self is closely related to that of a sense of identity and uniqueness. This development is made more difficult for identical twins than for anyone else by the fact that the identical twin has in his environment someone who looks like his mirror image.
It has been observed that as a rule identical twins recognize later than other children their mirror image as a reflection of themselves. Furthermore, not only the mother (whom Ortmeyer mentions) but also everyone else confuses the identical twins and thus inhibits their identity development. The higher incidence of schizophrenia among identical twins may just as well be due to these impediments in identity development, which lead to the we-self, as to the supposed identical genetic material.
As to Ortmeyer's speculation "that recall of very early childhood events may be a construction based upon the later comments of others rather than a reporting of the early immediate experience" (footnote on page 134), J. Piaget1 relates exactly such a pseudo-memory of his and discusses why he does not believe that true memories of events of the first three years of life exist.—LEWIS W. BRANDT, Ph.D., Regina, Canada.