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.
April 14, 1959. ON INFANTILE PRECURSORS OF THE 'INFLUENCING MACHINE'. Paula Elkisch, Ph.D. and Margaret S. Mahler, M.D.
In previous publications concerning the symbiotic stage (which begins in the third or fourth month), Mahler has stated that this period is normally succeeded (between the twelfth and eighteenth months) by one of separation and individuation and the appearance and growth of secondary narcissism. The infant is enabled to differentiate its boundaries from those of its mother by a process of partial introjection. Greenacre has emphasized the importance of adequate body libidinization for the development of a normal body image within the mother-infant relationship. Perceptual and kinesthetic experiences are important for both the development of a body image and of a concept of the self.
In some of the authors' observations, overstimulation of contract and kinesthetic perceptions seem to have occurred. Such maternal overstimulation distorted the body image (in one case of both mother and child) and also increased autoerotic activities. During the symbiotic phase, experimentation in the direction of separation sometimes fails, and the panic of separation becomes so great that gradual identification with the mother fails to abolish the fear of annihilation. Total introjection creates a regression identical with primary identification. The ego loses its ability to integrate external and internal stimuli and its development is seriously impaired.
With reference to the psychotic ego defense mechanisms, which are the precursors