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How the average child, who is not fated to become a seriously disturbed adult, handles the inevitable problems of maturation becomes increasingly subject to intensive study. Lois Barclay Murphy, from the study of thirty-two children, here presents a wealth of observations on the behavior of the preschool child in situations of stress. The children she describes are typical, the situations those any child may face, and the reactions are familiar to anyone who has contact with other than severely disturbed children. Her empathic and clear description of their responses under comparable circumstances offers a panorama in brilliantly distinctive coloring. The book contains many excellent vignettes which refresh the reader's knowledge of the various patterns of child behavior. They also offer teaching material to balance against that so frequently drawn from records of severely disturbed children. The vignettes should sharpen diagnostic acumen. The particular response of several of these children to the episodes described could also be found among the severely neurotic or psychotic; Dr. Murphy's children are neither. The result of the child's attempt to cope with the disturbing situation, not his immediate response, appears to be the answer to the diagnostic question.
The theoretical discussion is stimulating. The author sees in her findings a new facet of the multisided gestalt of human psychology; to the term 'mastery', an aspect of psychological responses that has been stressed by several writers, she prefers the concept of 'coping'. She states, '… the study of coping puts the emphasis on the process of developing ways of dealing with new and difficult situations. Once such methods are consolidated, competence or mastery may result.' During this process, among other significant developmental steps, the adaptive and defense mechanisms take shape or are re-enforced. Coping is a basic, inherent response of the average child to a new situation; it is not a def