me EO 18 THE SUBJECT MATTER OF PSYCHOLOGY 7 setting often desirable to observe the behavior of animals in & ts aisle The social activities of monkeys for example, their oe pe one another and to engage in free play, have been punters Observational studies have been made, t00, of the ex of ene what has been called the “pecking order.” in domestic ee Shine hens are placed together within a small enclosure, cons! pad gpa of one hen by another will occur in attempts to get at the f ee ually a pecking order emerges. The dominant hen pecks a be oh second hen in the hierarchy pecks all those beneath her, and so 00 to the last hen, who is pecked by all. It is interesting to note Sa the domingnt hen will not tolerate hen aumber two close By, Sie! | Permit the lowest ranking hen to search for food near her. A good de®) ‘Of observation suggests that an order of dominance is found = a animal social groups. When the dominant male in a herd becomes 10° ‘old to maintain his leadership, he is driven off or killed by a younger. more energetic animal. UNCONTROLLED OBSERVATIONS For several reasons, anecdotes or stories of the exceptional per- “ formances of animals or children must usually be heavily discounted Parents who report the bright sayings of their offspring and pet lovers who relate the remarkable achievement of their dogs or cats usually are biased observers. Anecdotes are faulty because of errors in memory. an understandable pride which leads to exaggeration, and failure to check the behavior by subsequent observations. There is a strong tend- ency, t00, to remember positive and forget negative instances. One re- members the cleverness of his dog in opening a door or gate and forgets the many times when the dog failed because the latch did not happen to be loose. A small sample of behavior unchecked by further observation is always suspect. Repetition of the behavior under a variety of con- trolled conditions is necessary before we can be sure that the perform- ance was more than accidental. Figure 5 shows an observation dome used in the Yale Clinic of Child Development. The child to be studied is placed in a crib in the center of the dome. The dome itself is covered by wire mesh, is painted white. and is illuminated from within by soft, well diffused lights, Since the laboratory in which the dome is situated is dark, the walls of the dome constitute a convenient one-way vision screen. The observers sitting in the room outside the dome can see the child clearly as he playsvanald Gee MD: FIGURES — The Gesell observation dome, used in the study of cig and reaches for and manipulates objects, but the child canny «i abservers Tafants from several weeks £0 about five years of age have observed in the dome over varying periods of time. Written and moi, ‘eture records are taken systematically to show the child’s sequg, of development in posture, reaching) walking, manipulation of toy; blocks, and exploratory and adaptive behavior. Many observational studies have been made of the socal relain exhibited by children in nursery school and in free play situations experiment in the reaction of preschool children to frustration was scribed on page 13. The results of typical experiments will be found pages 80-90. ; hieLp stupy i An investigation of the effects of cradling upon age of “ the Hopi Indian child is a gbod illustration of nonlaboratory psjth ¢al observation. Many Hopi Indian mothers strap their babies x“*ULOGY ard and carry them in this cradle Oe eacoatlt hypothesis con ( walking. The investi seve OF ind at what age the baby beg fashion over OME Periods, jp that such Pratctic ISMlOr intervie an tO walk, £1 a sufficiently large to cancel out memory error. To be sure, walking deve some later in all Hopi infants than in childye, Se ener anTound by this study roups: of other Indian cradling is not the crucial factor 1 tarded walking. t KING OBSERVATIONS RES IN MAI ocEDU} iderable training is needed before an observer is qualified to se tad aed significant behavior in animal or humé groups, identify and bservation is not always easy, and the Psychological ob- Contra given a clear idea of what behavior he fe looking for and server MUS i visic lass en- er type of observation room. The One-way vision . FIGURE 6 tee ble to the child they are studying. Two of the rv ies Ue POE rehicied he lass observers mbla Univeoury teachers College, Columtoa et {S called the genetic or develo careful “hnique employed over the HPO is made of the 48 Of his rol i ations to other c velopment. When the pMental method is Period of growth, tn 4 child's mental and physical hildren and adults—that ts, of his sacral te sane children are observed over the age cycle trom “SY: {0 college, and their behavior in a variety of tents und an observa His method, BFOWIN, as sell Kindergarten, FIGURE 7 Rreater deve Confidence, The tis Jopme: My hold Wack from joining w group of muscular cont ‘ity e gives hin my Sandard Ou v4