Children Perception of the World - Essay Example

Infant Observations by During the third phallic stage of development examined by Klein children`s perception of the world and the objects changes significantly. While examining infants world they start internalizing external objects and introjecting them into self. For instance, while being fed an infant perceives a breast as a separate object of relating it to a real mother. The sensation towards this object is experienced as “unconscious phantasy”’. Further a child understands that there are” two breasts”, the one that feeds him when he is hungry and the one that is not there when needed and describes them as “bad” and “ good” managing to cope with this conflict with the help of paranoid-schizoid position. Further an infant enters in a stage of depression when he realizes that the object he was dividing is actually the same one and integrates them. This makes a child understand that love and hate have to be directed to the same object. The feeling of hate he was experiencing earlier towards a “bad” part is now converted into guilt towards it with which a child has to cope (Klein, 1959). The child is probably experiencing some sort of depression described by Klein as a final stage of maturation. Though it is reflected mostly in aggressive behavior towards other children and struggling for the carer`s attention. He reveals that he does not possess or define carer`s behavior and aims to attract a lot of attention. The child evidently realizes no attachment to the other and tries to manage with his own feelings (K1) (1)The boy often watches carer`s actions, uses lots if mimicking behaviour. However, the child loses interest fairly quickly, moves to the toy of his own choice. (2)The boy notices another child being shown the view out the window, goes over to receive the same attention. Smiles, laughs, has lots of eye contact with the carer. (3)Stays very close to the carers, seeks eye contact and interaction. Little attention paid to what other children and adults in the room are doing. (4)The boy returns to the large toy with which other children are playing around near the carer. Takes interest in watching and listening to the carer but does not join. (5)The boy lies down on the bench in front of the carer, smiles and giggles to the carer. Later he sits on the bench with the carer holding behind him. The child moves away to sit on the end of the bench showing independence from the carer. The boy has aggressive and destructive inclinations as probably he experiences bad part of him which is no longer projected in the others. That is why sometimes his behaviour is puzzling (K2). (7)The boy tries to pull apart the toy he is playing instead of using it to push cars down (toy car park). (8)The child sees the girl giving two fake drinks to the carer, asks her to give him one. Gets one happily. Sees the girl dropping the cup, gets very excited, jumps, and shouts. Winnicott in his turn explains children`s development as divided between several periods. During the first stage of dependence an infant lives in the world of omnipotence when all his physiological and psychological needs are responded by a caregiver instantly and he does not feel separated from a caregiver. As fears and frustrations accumulate gradually a child has to learn how to project and reintroject them with the help of a caregiver (Winnicott, 1965). Disillusionment during this stage is alleviated with a help of a transitional object that is perceived as both real and unreal in child`s perception. In most cases a favorite toy serves as such object with the help of which a feeling of self is developed in a child and omnipotence disappears. Independence is marked by development of a “true self” in a play or otherwise a development of a “false self” (Winnicott, 1965). The child is obviously passing through the stage of “disillusionment” starting to realize that others have their own preferences, feelings, and activities that have to be considered during interaction. Moreover, he also recognizes that the objects around him are real and aims to check this fact often (W1). The first thing that attracts attention is the behavior of a child with toys belonging to others or being used by other children. (1) As he wwalks into the room, he pushes past little girl and grabs the toy from her in the same moment. This suggests that the feeling of omnipotence (the ability to have all the objects he wants in this case) is still very strong and a child must cope with it. He probably perceives other children as objects as well at this stage and examines his possibilities with them (W2) (2)The boy then picks up a lion hat and ties to put it onto another child laughing and running around the room. (3)Even after a carers remark, the boy comes back, takes the hat in order to put it again on the head of the child. The interest of the boy to the hat arises after the carer forbids him to do it, he moves to put the hat onto another child. It is clear that the boy does not have his own transitional object, at least he does not pay particular attention to some toy, and it is a possibility of imposing his will on another child attracts him. In this episode the lion hat becomes such an object, and the child examines the limits of his omnipotence with its help. (4)Being told no again, the boy looks puzzled and scratches his head. The boy does not let go the hat until he finds another child to interact with. The carer substitutes him mother and so he seeks for approval and attention from this person. (5)Later the boy tries to play with the same toys as other children. (6)He seems to be the main focus of other infants and the carer for a good deal of time as he is keen on interaction with other children as well as with careers. (7)Stays very close to the carers, seeks eye contact and interaction. Several actions of the child suggest that a transitional object or any toy that catches his eye permit the boy to re-establish himself among other children (W3). (8)The boy takes unused toy to the centre of the room, toy wheelbarrow, mimicking the behaviour of another child pushing a pram. (9)The boy moves onto a toy of his own choice. Tries to use personal toys to play or the toy chosen by the carer but gets distracted. (10)Takes another toy from the little girl he interacted in the very beginning but faces some resistance. Snatches the toy from her. Once he gets the toy and walks away he quickly loses interest in this toy, drops it and moves back to the original toy of focus (11)Gets bored of playing alone with his toy and decides to try and interact with other but notices a child with the toy he has left behind and returns to take the toy back. Grabs the toy from another child for the third time I a short period of time. Instantly shows no previous interest in this toy. (12)The boy is happy when other children play with his toy only if he gives it to them first. According to Winnicot, the primary transition object is later substituted with other things that become valuable for a child even for a short period of time. A child (and in some cases adults later) perceive objects as something defining them as well. That is why longing for possessions and the interest to the toys of the others is an attempt to create a self with the help of things (Winnicot, 1953). The child also demonstrates a lot of mimicking and copying in his behavior in attempt to find a true self (Smith, 2012). This transitional period of mimicking helps the child to collect those skills, gestures, patterns of behavior that will be useful to him in future (W5). (13)Another child sips from a toy cup, the boy imitates the actions. Same mimicking behaviour with a wheelbarrow toy. When a girl picks up a cart to push it, the boy (14)Starts rocking baby in a crib shortly after a girl he had been mimicking behaviour did it. (15)The boy is very observant. He watches the girl playing. The boy is quite happy to spend some moments not playing himself but just watching the events happening in the room. (16) Chews a fake cheese. Picks up a plate and acts out eating cheese off it seeing a girl doing it. After observation it is possible to conclude that the child demonstrates behaviour described by Winnicott and Klein in their theories of development. Klein was studying closely the phases that a child passes through maturity and separation from a caregiver and how the perception of reality changes and becomes more coherent in this situation. The boy`s interaction with a caregiver, his search of attention and demonstrative behaviour suggest that he is experiencing a depression phase. His destructive and aggressive inclinations can be attributed to the signs “bad” part of him that cannot be projected anymore and requires acceptance. Nevertheless, the boy still has difficulties with accepting ambivalent nature of things that is why his interaction with objects and people is puzzling. As he still cannot overcome omnipotence to the full extent he perceives adults and peers as ruled by his desires in certain moments. His search for the toys (transitional objects) helps to demonstrate that the attempts of finding a true self is intense as well. References Klein, M. (1959). Our Adult World and its Roots in Infancy in (1988) ‘Envy and Gratitudeand Other Works 1946-1963. London: Virago Smith, T. (2012). Strong Interaction. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press Winnicott, D (1960). Ego Distortion In Terms of True and False Self’; in (1965) The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment’. London: Hogarth Winnicott, D (1975). Through Pediatrics to Psycho-Analysis. London: Karnac Books. Winnicott, D. (1953). Transitional objects and transitional phenomena, International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 34, 89-97 Read More