Evening star., 1928-05-13

such conditions should not be allowed
/ to arise.
DR. SHERMAN wants to find out how
~ early in life personality begins &c
develop. Little boys and girls are
placed in all sorts of unusual situations
and motion pictures taken Of their ex.
pressions. They are confronted will
new and strange toys. They are intro
duced to groups of new comrades. Thcl
are taught new games. And all the
time they are watched. Every LITTLE
variation of behavior is valuable. i
may be the keystone upon which 9
whole character wiz be built
The children have a big yard anS
big rooms in which to play. They pla!
naturally. They are not aware Of an,
unusual condition. but act precisely a,
any children would act In q playground
The difference Is that here the condi.
tions can be controlled. On the whole
1t Is a wonderful life which these little
boys and girls are leading. They arr
in the custody Of people who know al
about children and have few false ideas
about what they should do and shoulc
not. There Is no nagging. such as /:
almost inevitable in the home There
is simply adjustment Of stimuli.
To a certain extent they understand
what is going on. The growing mind is
curious and. so far as possible. the Curl
osity Is satisfied. The experiments and
their purposes are explained, so far aS
the children are able to understand
them. They have their regular meals
scientifically prepared. They have their
appropriate hours OF sleep,
There are "a control children-that
Is, boys and girls who are entirely nor
NAL. For the most part they are the
children of educated persons who un-
derstand the value Of the research
which Is being conducted and the good
results to the children themselves Then
there are % children of various degrees
of ahnormality In behavior. brought "a
the research center for study and cure.
1t Is not, of course. pSychopathic
hospital The abnormal children are
not there as patients. but as study mate
rial, Improvement Is important. but II
Is incidental. Also, II Is almost inevi-
table, The abnormal child may be
purely nominal. anyway, Unless the
pathology Is functional. the chances are
that the curious behavior Is the result
OF ill-adluSted environment and mis-
taken application OF stimuli. which can
DC NukT@ttCu IL tNhEIl III ttkltCs
All the time tic children are under
close medical observation. Once inside
the walls OF the research center they
are In a world Of their own~-in many
ways an ideal world for childhood.
They are brought by their parents At
a:a0 am, and left until 5 pm, six days
a week. All this time they are under
the complete control Of the stAff, and
In later years they will have the satiS-
faction OF knowing that their play has
contributed something OF fundamental
value to human knowledge,
DIR. sherman and his associates do
not expect. as did Brother Juniper. to
solve the riddle Of the universe, Hut
they do expect 20 add few discoveries
toward the eventual solution OF the most
vital and fundamental problem In set
ence~-the basis OF human character,
They think II Is made on earth and IN
each life separately They want 10 md
out something as 20 how Il is made,
Probably hundreds of psychologists must
work for scores of years before there Il
any ultimate satisfactory answer 10 the
whole problem
THIS Is the iirst and most fundamen-
: tai Of the projects IN the program
which has been laid out,
One other has received considerable
attention during the past few weeks
aud viii be studied more next Fall,
That " the problem Of sleep In chill
dren How thoroughly does the child
relax Does II dreams Does II toss In
It's sleepe AT recent meeting Of the
Academy ot Sciences here, two uni.
versity " pittsburgh anthropologi