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Show Infants Can Learn , Just Need A Chance! s. ''i iii by distTngulshed writer on njgffTttlt report l adapted by permission from riilld development vkar 'book, "Revolution In Learning," published by t harper St Row.) By MAYA PINES r'U'-?r-, f J baby lay in his fhe to electronic equipment hooked up job, that recorded his heartbeats. A bright jed ball (held by an unseen researcher) cptered the infants field of vision. .Then h disappeared behind a screen. As if black cube appeared in its by magic, a N v' - v I ' J V ' ' ' went the babys heartbeat! V " ' ' V $ Vs.'. ' reports Dr. Jerome S. Bruner, who obxr & served this experiment at Harvard Uni? w l i versitys Center for Cognitive Studies. When the heartbeat drops, it is a measure of attention, ' : has now joined the growing S ' V::' Xv; " who are discovering researchers of poup fruitinfancy as the most exciting and life to of human study. Only ful period a few yeas ago, the theory was that 5n n v- ' x newborn babies couldnt see more than V. V the difference between light and dark; , , J. that during their first three months of inlife they were so absorbed by their sides they could hardly react to the outside world; and that their physical envis -m? r ronment mattered little, so long as the babys mother provided food and comfort. Scientists of various breeds have just begun to realize, however, that infants Register far more of their environment than any but the most doting mothers have given them credit for. Children are able to discriminate more things in the first months of life than we ever dreamed of, says Bruner. On the day of birth, they can track a Dr. James S. Bruner (holding ball) of Harvard's Center for Cognitive Studies says that "children are triangle with their eyes. By the time able to discriminate more things in ihe first months ctf life than we ever dreamed of." they are one month old, they can spot the identity of objects, and know when To protect them from drafts and from result in grasping anything. Next came Shortly after World War II, the consomething ha3 been changed. a reach: Tne baby raised one hand togetting their heads stuck between bars, In other experiments, polygraphs have cern about maternal deprivation reached lined with white covers, cribs Rene were their ward the object, looked back and forth Dr. its poignant peak. Spitzs to babies newborn to heads been taped which acted like blinders. The eeilings from hand to object, and eventually made movies of babies in an institution showed record the change in electrical potential without anything interesting of their contact with it Finally the baby learned were were who how infants white, deprived move. the time eyelids Blinking every insubstitutes to and to to look of at. talked or mothers reach, and grasp, objects that were Nobody babies adequate thm, lights have flashed before young interest in their surroundthey heard precious little speedy of any held above him. as cameras whirred overhead, recording creasingly lost kind. They had no toys. They topk their The institutionalized babies took three eyery tiny, uncoordinated gesture. Blips ings, stopped playing, stopped hoping, nourishment alone, from bottles that months to progress from the swipe to the and even stopped crying. on a piece of paper have recorded every reach. Was this delay inevitaSimilar evidence piled up from other were propped up for them. time the child sucked on a nipple. Tape Besides having nothing interesting ble? White wondered. Or could it be recorders have registered each baby cry parts of the world. An influential survey of Dr. John Bowlby of Great Britain done to them, these infants never had reduced by enriching the babies envior gurgle. Much of this material was out to into sorted be fed brought all institutional care of infants the opportunity to do anything that might ronment? then computers, into disrepute. Various studies showed To find out, White selected 19 infants produce interesting results no incentive and analyzed. in life maternal earlier for the kind of repeated, intentional efthe that deprivawho were only six days old. He started on launched we what are Today forts that lead babies to learn new skills. them out with one month of extra hanamounts to a national renaissance in tion started, and the longer it lasted, the J. McV. Hunt of the University of Illinois dling by a nurse, who would provide child research, declares Dr. Stanley F. worse were its results. believes that these two lacks may have physical stimulation 20 minutes a day. To avoid trauma, it appeared, babies Yolles, director of the National Institute more to do with the infants drop In deAt the age of one month and one week, of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md. As a needed to be with their mothers 24 hours e quotient than any lack! of a part-timcare velopmental the infants were taken out of their bland, a anybody of thus, child psychology by day; result, a new brand strongly emotional, personal relationship featureless world and placed in a riot of is unfolding. Not long ago, 93 per cent other than the mother was evil. Even with the mother, at least during the? first colors. There were multicolored printed studies were mothers who sent their youngsters to of all child development of hours school a a year of life. for sheets with animal designs, flowered of couple nursery done without any direct observations 'the child himself, Yolles points out. Now, day were often accused of wanting to Psychologists throughout the country bumpers, and a large stabile, somewhat are now trying various experiments to see like a barbell, which featured a shiny dump them. In reaction, nursery researchers collect mountains of facts schools concentrated on creating a homewhat kind of enrichment can best decelball at either end. at the scene of the action. , erate infants intellectual development. This brave new world seemed almost We are shamefully ignorant about like atmosphere in the classroom, and In Massachusetts, Dr. Burton L. White too rich for the youngest infants at first, what happens between the time the baby researchers spent their efforts on studies White reports. He feels he did not quite leaves the hospital and the time he shows of how die children reacted to this brief of Harvard Uninversity spent eight years studying normal infants in a nursery (consucceed in matching their level of deup at nursery school,' comments Dr. separation from the mother. nected with a state hospital the nearest As modern psychologists see the situaYet this is exactly William Kessen. velopment, since some of the younger thing he could find to an ones cried more than usual and paid when all things of importance take place. tion, however, die most dangerous ele' One reason for this ignorance is the ment in the orphanage. Here, too, infants spent tbeir less attention to their surroundings. Howorphanages was not the chifirst four months lying in white-line- d obsession many psychologists have shown ldrens separation from their mothers, ever, once they reached the age of two and a half months, they really took to it. hntil recently for such topics as Hie combut the fact that nobody provided them cribs that cut off the world outside, i As early as two months of age, wjhen and with any sort of stimulation. Babies in They spent hours staring up at the parative merits of breast-feedinthe perils of early toilet such institutions spent their whole time the infants first discovered their hands, stabiles, pawing them, frying to feel them. Apparently, they were terribly they began to swipe at objects a closed-fitraining, or the much more serious matwaiting for something interesting to hapmovement which naturally did not pleased by the whole business: They ter of maternal deprivation. pen to them. Eventually, they gave up. place. jr r l J y s v v. i V i 1 ; rr 'V,,':ri Is- in'' 2 lt( si iipM i g d o e ; e n e it if ; v x 1 '-- S?, ; top-lev- g st 'Hazardous Routes Pose A Big Problem . By LAVORK. ' Deseret News Education Editor Who should have the responsibility of getting children to school safely parents, tiie board of education or the gov- ernment agencies which design and build roads and streets? This difficult question is a point of . issue between the Granite School District group of hazardous transportation for the 1969-7school year, noting the change in the law as the principal reason. ' to each pupil regularly enrolled in kina group of parents Immediately dergarten through grade six who liwes demanded that the district continue the one and one-hamiles or more from hazardous bus routes and has threatened school; and each pupil regularly enrolled in grades seven through 12 who lives two the district with a lawsuit, opposition to or more miles from school, provided that school bond issues and election reprisals in no event shall the amount computed against individual board members. under this subsection exceed for any disThe routes over which many pupils trict the actual transportation cost, exhave to walk to school are hazardous. clusive of capital outlay, for that Parental concern can be understood. A district. small child, particularly of kindergarten Last. year, according to the state age, is no match for a speeding auto on a school office, Granite received only 37' road without sidewalks. While busing might be a temporary per cent of its actual transportation cost from state sources. For many years expedient, the problem can only be solved successfully when all parents Granite has transported elementary and are willing to pay for grade children living a mile or more demand from school, although the state limit is a adequate roads and walkways. : mile and It is a problem for the entire commuThe Granite District recently nity, not just the Granite Board of Eduannounced that it could not continue the ; cation and parents of pupils involved. and a district It also parents. has serious implications for other school districts, particularly those along the Wasatch Front The 1965 Utah Legislature provided state aid for school districts which transhazard- ported children over ous routes. Such routes had to be approved by the State Board of Education. Last year Granite District operated 28 bus routes, involving approximately 1,500 pupils, under the hazardous provision. The 1969 Legislature deleted the hazardous bus route clause from the school finance law. It also declined to reimburse districts on a percentage basis for bus operations. It was proposed that the state pay a certain percentage, say 80 per cent, of a districts transportation costs, but the Legislature said no. Instead, the law specifies a flat amount per student mile on an annual basis. The language of the law, from Section (D) (1), reads as fallows: An amount equal to 32.50 per mile annually for the average number of miles traveled per day by each pupil who is actually transported shall be applied one-hal- . te torney. Burke Marshall were called. A call to the Kennedy compound o nrmpin Kim f. children stimulation than middle-clas- s during their first year of life. Its the distinctiveness of the stimulation thats important not its sheer The best quantity, Kagan replies. kid is that thing about the middle-clas- s hes up in his room alone playing with his fingers. Then after an hour his mother comes in, leans over his crib, and says, Hello, Billy! Here, Kagan clapped his hands to show the impact this must have. A single, distinctive stimulus thats what you need, he says. The other kids, who are surrounded by noise all the time, from TV and many voices, learn to tune it out right in the living room. You dont learn anything in a Tower of Babel. The main question is, is the mother distinctive?" For the first-bor- n child, the adult is tiie most distinctive stimulus around, Kagan points out For the fifth-borwhose four older siblings continually poke, fuss, and vocalize into the crib, the caretaiang adult is less distinctive As a result less attention will be paid to the adult The fact that first-bor- n children are nearly always more verbal, and generally have higher IQs than their younger brothers and sisters, is directly related to this observation. Thus, parents can no longer afford their old insouciance about the first years of life. Besides listening with the third ear for evidence of emotional problems, they must now develop a fourth ear to hear the patterns of intellectual growth. This will enrich their own lives, as well as help their children. Every human infant wants to The explorers of infancy are beginning to find out how each cognitive step leads to the next, and how to help the infant climb them. Tender loving care and mothering are not enough. Even the youngest infant also needs something interesting to do. n, at Hyannis Port was also completed. These calls uphold my story that Kennedy wasn't stumbling around in confusion but was busy trying to extricate himself after the tragedy. Whatever Sorensen may have counseled on the phone, he evidently expected the Senator to report the accident at once to the police. For when Sorensen arrived on the scene, he chewed out Joe Gargan and Paul Markham for not calling the police. Instead, the two joined Kennedy in attempting to cover up his responsibility for the accident. of Defense Robert McNamara strongly advised that Kennedy go before the TV cameras at once with a full explanation. Other intimates, including Sorensen, were worried that the emotional strain might be too much for the Senator. The eventual statement was drafted by David Burke, the Senators administrative assistant, and Milton attorney, Gwirtzman, a Washington , under Sorensens direction. What is amazing is that such advisers would produce a statement so full of loopholes. If Kennedy had old the full truth, no matter how painful, the public probably would have forgiven him. For they would have been asked to balance one terrible night against a seven-yea- r record of dedicated public service. high-power- - When WHEEt THE MUSICIAN! Dr. Robert Cundick, Tabernacle organist, arrived hoiiie late Wednesday evening from the Tabernacle Choir concert tour at the Canadian National Toronto and the National Hospital naAssociations tional corvention he in Chicago, found a pretty . thick and exciting envelope mailbox. in the Dr. Cundick He was notified by the national office of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) in New York that he had scored the highest of the 50 professional organists who had participated in the 1969 To drive Associates competition. home the point, a $200 check was enclosed, a check which Bob beamed will help with our childrens school clothing expenses. The AGO has three classifications of members i.e., members, associates, and fellows. Now Bob anticipates trying for the top status of a fellow after the mandatory wait of a year has elapsed. f OUR MAN JONES 'If Better Look Out For Mabel By HARRY JONES Mabel Persch is a real fighter. Not a lady wrestler a gal who fights for causes and battles the tricky curves that life flings her way . . . and thereve been quite a few! Mabel is in the Valley of Salt ... attending the puppet bash up on Indian Hill. Its en-- t h usiasm which draws you to Mabel. She ema- nates like a Lawrence Welk bubble machine gone mad! Shes from Duluth. the Music Academy of the West In Santa Barbara and at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. The competition is a two-patest: an examination of performance, given by other fellows and a written (academ- Gifts of cash, uniforms, and music totaling $1,500 have been given to the Southern Utah State College music de- ic) partment by the Cedar City Mastersing-er- s. The cash will go toward music scholarships, Dr. Blaine Johnson, director of ! When old Adolph started blowing up the world, Mabel grabbed a welding iron and went to work on U.S. airplanes. Then ' the telegram dame , . . Mabel had lost her man in the war. She was left with a child to raise, and she knew welding wasn't a way of life for a woman. She joined the f nurse cadet corps in 1945 the very last group. Since then, Mabel has taught nursing, been supervisor . . . just about every type of nursing has been handled at one time or another by Mabel. Then she met Alfred . . . married r him. He's a city councilman in Duluth, i " Life was a bit easier even with three more children. Then, 14 years ago, Mabel started to get hoarse . . . and she knew the meaning . . . cancer of .the larynx. "You dont get shattered when you he.r the word cancer if you are a i nurse, said Mabel. She had something else going for her , a strong religious background. She , thought about the kids. Then she came to the part in the prayer . . . Thy will be ? done." And she left it in His hands. Thats when she decided to live every r single day for what life had to offer. In i three months, Mabel had mastered the use of a mechanical larynx run by 5 batteries. She holds it to her throat and she is able to speak very clearly, but in a low gravel voice. Boy, does she talk. The batteries5 should last about three weeks, but they get such' a workout with Mabel that a week is about the average life of a bat? tery. Like Alfred says . , . talk Isnt cheap v f j at our house!" On a family trip to Mexico, Mabel discovered the world of puppets. It started out as a hobby and just grew. She took i a course at the university and puppetry 3 was a part of it. j Because of Mabels gravel voice, they gave her the part of a cow in Noah's ... ... -- Ark. Alfred was so proud that he told everyone around . . . The old cow is my wife! I She also does a good dragon voice in' a Chinese puppet play. Wows the little ' kids. Mabel is a member of the Internation-- u al Association of Laryngectomees. Its , sponsored by the Cancer Society. And when the Cancer drive comes around, Mabel and her puppets are in1 big demand. Shes working on a script for " an puppets which will be cancer cells ; ... educational bit. But her puppet shows raise a lot of that hard cash for cancer research. v And with Mabel on the job . . . Ive, got a feeling that cancer is in for a lot ot, trouble! Wit's End We have a very bright child leaves on every light In the house! MUSICAL WHIRL By HAROLD LUNDSTROM Deseret News Music Editor 23 Friday, August 22, 1969 Highest Score Made By Dr. Cundick Ted's Clan Uncooperative By JACK ANDERSON It now looks as if it will take a grand Jury investigation to find out what really happened the night that Sen. Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne plunged into Poucha Pond. The tight little circle around Kennedy has shown no Inclination, as of this writing, to cooperate with Massachusetts District Attorney Edmund Dinis. He may be unable to get all the answers he seeks, therefore, at the Sept. 3 inquest. It he is dissatisfied with the responses, he, can call a grand jury which has broader powers to compel answers. Those who know Dinis say he wont rest until he has explored every lead and questioned every witness. This will include the Senator himself. Dinis can subpoena the people, for instance, who received the controversial telephone calls charged to Kennedys credit card on the night of the accident and ask them to identify the caller under oath. A Kennedy aide has branded the report of the 17 calls preposterous. This column can report categorically, however, that calls were placed from Marthas Vineyard shortly after the accident and charged to Kennedys credit card. House aide Ted Sorensen and at- 0 U lf MERRY - GO - ROUND A T THEY'RE YOUR SCHOOLS CHAFFIN DESERET NEWS smiled at objects, vocalized and chuckled I in a manner no other Institutionalized child in the hospital did. I think weve shown clearly that enrichment procedures can produce remarkable effects on the course of early declares White. development, For thousands of years, the formal efforts of educators have been concentrated on children between the ages of 6 and 16, he says. Implicit in this is the effort to teach children to think the way we do to teach larguage, logic, math, and pump adult skills into immature brains. Adults have learned from experience that children dont respond to this much before 6, except when the teacher is awfully clever. But now White foresees a new science of education which will study the youngest childrens own ways of learning, as opposed to the ways of adults. The great Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget showed, says White, that in the everyday experiences of the child lie the origins of curiosity; that there are exciting possibilities, that there is order in what the child does. White believes his own work may have the most effect on the infants motivation. By the time he is through enriching their lives at five months, they are very good babies in every way. They are the kids who milk the most out of the available situation, he says. Similar studies are now going on in Russia in fact, much of the research on infants that American scientist are now pursuing was pioneered by Russians. Soviet scientists have made particular headway in studying babies eye and head movements and other evidence of attention. However, American scientists often use more sophisticated equipment. For example, the technique of recording an infants heartbeats as a measure of attention is an American invention. Until it was developed, there was no way of knowing whether an infant was actually looking at something, or just staring blankly. With the help of this technique, Dr. Jerome Kagan of Harvards Department of Social Relations has been able to show that the attention of infants is at its peak when they see something just a little unfamiliar neither too novel nor too repetitious. Kagans lab has devised a variety of new tests that measure how much an infant percieves and understands of his surroundings. The effect of social class . is seen in the very first year of life, he reports. Babies from lower social classes cant discriminate as well between similar stimuli, and they also vocalize less. How can that be? Infants who live in crowded homes with many people around them day and night receive more bottle-feedin- jafriwf ' , , BIG TALK ... rt examination. LOUD & SOFT In a sensational swoop, Polydor Incorporated has captured the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras from RCA Victor. The scoop Marks the first American recording ven- ture by Deutsche Grammophon (DGG), parent company of Polydor Inc. Of significance is the Boston Pops Orchestra, which will now fill a very g essential gap, neglected in the spe-cil- al too-lon- DjGG catalog. ... - Kirstin C. George, the talented young Salt Lake violinist who is on a scholarship program with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and a long-tim- e student of Mns. Bryon H. Kienke, was recently the fealtured guest solist with the Guatamala Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Bruchs Concerto for Violin and Orchestra." The performance was conducted by Entrique Raudales. Kirstin has also studied' with Berl Senofsky, who has appeared with the Utah Symphony several times. She has studied with him both at APPOGGIATURAS music at SUSC, ha3 announced. ... The great blind pianist, George Shearing, is just finishing composing and orchestrating the score for a new movie, 80 Steps to Jonah, that features Wayne Newton, Sal Mineo, and Mickey Rooney. George leaves his North Hollywood home early in September to on the East Coast with the Boston con-certi- Pops and Arthur Fidler playing the Mozart "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 20 in D Minor, (K. 466). Sometime ago George wrote to the library of Congress to see if they had a copy in Braille of Prokofievs Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3. The Librarys answer was no. But the other day a complete copy arrived. The Library l ad found a generous patron who paid the $1,000 (or more, George estimates) to have the printed score printed in Braille. And now George has his work cut out for him, for sure. . , , 5 "Bruce says fie knows the answer have Congress to lawlessness laws than faster people can pass them!" break Rrrnn photot taken for the Detent dally Birthday feature. New 1 pedlar' ! |