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.
The present volume is the record of the proceedings of the second meeting of the World Health Organization Study Group on the psychobiological development of the child, held in London in 1954; the first meeting was held in 1953 and appeared as Volume I. The discussions were transcribed and edited. The reader is told by the publishers: “It is unlikely that so distinguished a group of people from so many disciplines and from so many countries has ever before been brought together for informal discussion in the field of human biology.” It is tempting to compare this tendency with the trend in contemporary theatre of bringing together an all-star cast in order to ensure success, the play itself being of secondary importance!
In addition to the editors the members of the study group are: John Bowlby, Frank Fremont-Smith, Konrad Z. Lorenz, G. R. Hargreaves, Margaret Mead, K. A. Melin, Marcel Monnier, Jean Piaget, A. Rémond, R. R. Struthers, W. Grey Walter, René Zazzo. There were also four guests: Dalbir Bindra, D. Buckle, Howard Liddell, John W. M. Whiting.
The six presentations or chapters of this book are respectively by Dr. Grey Walter, Dr. Bindra, Professor Liddell, Professor Whiting, Dr. Bowlby, and Dr. Lorenz, the last two being accompanied by films. The presentations as such are quite short and most of the text consists of the discussions which followed under the chairmanship of Dr. Frank Fremont-Smith. There is a short Preface by Professor G. R. Hargreaves. The topic of the discussions is loosely connected with the theory of learning, but not confined to it.
This is in many ways an unusual book, mainly because of its format and style which lead the reader to feel as if he were watching a play—the characters of the actors do emerge despite the editors' blue pencil. It is, of course, not the purpose of this record to tell us about the actors, suffice it to say that to this reader's mind Lorenz, Margaret Mead, and Piaget succeed in stealing the show. One can never forge