You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
A distinction was drawn between observation of children, as described in child development studies and the psychoanalytic observation of infants by students in training. Technical and theoretical aspects of the seminars and of the students' work were discussed. Unfortunately, only seldom is it possible to identify characteristics of the individual child. The main gains for the student are an appreciation of the mutual influences between infant and parents, as well as between worker and subjects, a vivid experience
of the concept of development and of the importance of waiting before acting or forming interpretations of his data. The role of observer was described and comparisons made with that of the analyst. It was stressed that the seminar leader should not simply accept or correct the student's interpretations, but, instead, help him to find the analytic concepts that best make sense of his findings. These seminars, extending over a whole academic year, give the training establishment a unique assessment of the student's ability to relate to his subjects and of his capacity to learn and to change.