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Journ. Genetic Psychology, 1948, Vol. LXXIII, pp. 57–79 and 81–117.
Searching for individual differences of behaviour in infancy the author has found that the sucking behaviour of bottle-fed infants 'is considerably more complex, but at the same time more constant in its details, than described hitherto'. The most important result of this carefully planned experiment is the constancy of rhythms of sucking. 'Each infant seems to possess his individual rhythm (or rhythms) and keeps up its frequency even under widely varying conditions.'
Four main rhythms have been found, the most interesting among them one called 'quivering'. It is a fast rhythm of smaller amplitudes than that of sucking. 'It may occur when the infant is pausing or it may be superimposed on the sucking movements proper.' Quivering has been found to be more frequent in girls than in boys.
It has not been possible to show how the different individual rhythms have come to be adopted, but it is noteworthy that such differences exist from the very beginning of extrauterine life onwards and that these differences seem to be maintained throughout the sucking period. The author asks whether they do not form a basis of character traits.
In this paper Dr. Balint has refrained from carrying his investigation into the field of psycho-analytic theory, but he discusses 'the psycho-analytic approach' in his introductory paragraphs. He has certainly succeeded in arousing the psycho-analyst's interest and curiosity in the nature of the sucking rhythms, in the biopsychological conditions of their individual variations and their constancy.