The newborn's avid interest in staring at other babies turns into the capacity for cooperation, empathy, and friendship. The completely unselfconscious baby becomes a preschooler who not only can describe herself in great detail but also whose behavior is partially motivated by how she wants others to view and judge her. It is no surprise that the early childhood years are portrayed as forma- tive. The supporting structures of virtually every system of the human organism, from the tiniest cell to the capacity for intimate relationships, are constructed during this age period. The child becomes a social being with an array of deeply important relationships.
Language is acquired and powerful communicative capacities develop.
And, the child's emotional repertoire and awareness grow to encompass both tremendous joy and deep sadness. The tasks to be accomplished range from developing day- night rhythms to acquiring a rudimentary moral code to learning how to negotiate and sustain friendships. At the same time, virtually no one argues that a given child's life course is set by the time of school entry. People are not like rockets whose trajectory is established at the moment they are launched. Indeed, it is the lifelong capacity for change and reorganization that renders human beings capable of dramatic recovery from early harm and incapable of being in- oculated against later adversity.