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October 26, 1971. EARLY SEXUAL DISCOVERY IN RELATION TO MOOD, DEFENSIVE ORGANIZATION, AND SYMBOLIZATION. Eleanor Galenson, M.D. and Herman Roiphe, M.D.
The authors observed Ruth in a research nursery from age twelve to twenty-four months. The infant had a congenital hip dislocation and wore a corrective pillow device from six weeks to twelve months. This led to an early disturbance in body schematization which together with the disturbance in the mother-child relationship interfered with the establishment of a stable maternal mental representation. Persistent separation and stranger anxiety were prominent from six months, at which time the infant was abruptly weaned.
When the child stood, first with support and then alone, during the fourteen to sixteen month period, more distinct and stable self and object representations were established and there was a spurt in symbolic functioning in speech and play. The surge in development reached a climax at seventeen months: for the first time she greeted strangers without apprehension, and genital interest increased. Between eighteen and nineteen months distortion in verbal symbolization occurred under the impact of increased anxiety about sexual difference. There was an increasing use of denial in play and speech, her mood deteriorated, and her earlier fear of strangers and clinging to the mother returned.