Evening star., 1937-06-08
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r, HENRY.

Man comes into the world crying. but
1t takes two months to learn" to smile,
Only in the second month of life
can the true smile, as an expression
OF pleasure, be observed in the infant.
according to survey of personality de-
velopment in children just issued by
Society for Research in Child Develop
ment OF the National Research Council.
Shortly after birth there may be
"pseudo-smiling" brought about by a
full stomach or by light touch on the
cheek, but the psychologists are agreed
that this is not an actual expression
of pleasure. 1t Is Natures way of
exercising the smiling muscles of the
face so that they will be ready for the
unique human expression. Man is the
only animal that actually smiles.
Observers are agreed, according to
Mary Cover Jones and Barbara Burks
OF the University of California, who pre-
pared the report for the National Re-
search Council, that the first smile comes
sometime in the second month OF the
normal infant as response to a
social stimulus OF some sort-usually
the sound OF familiar voice or the
sight of familiar face.
This. the report points out. is about
what might be expected. The world
is strange, hostile environment for
the newborn. The baby is on the de-
fensive, protesting about everything.
Only after a considerable period is it
able to sort out the various elements
in its environment into the hostile.
the Indifferent and the friendly. The
smile is perhaps the first recognition
by the infant Of other creatures like
itself who, on the whole, are helpful
to it,
One must learn" not only how to
smile, but when to smile During the
third and fourth months of life. the
observers point out, a baby is likely
to smile at almost any stimulus re-
ceived from another person whether
the intent is friendly or not. The infant
may smile with equal readiness at an
adult whether he speaks soothingly
or scolds, smiles or frowns. During this
period any human being. friend or
stranger may cause this indif1erentiated
smile
During the fifth month there starts
what the observers call negative
phase" Smiles become less frequent.
AAC OdUy IlOW SlAICS OI CITES AL Clc
approach of a stranger, reserving actual
expressions Of pleasure for those who are
in constant attendance upon it. Here,
perhaps is the individuals first dif-
ferentiation between persons. For the
f1ve-month- baby there are two kinds
OF human beings-friends and strangers.
Psychologists cited in the report found
that. whereas up to the nth month the
infants they were studying smiled every
time they approached, from this time
on until the tenth month they were not
again able to elicit these expressions Of
pleasure. They were then no longer
disturbingly strange. This may be the
beginning Of an attitude that remains
subconsciously throughout life and is
especially notable among primitive
peoples-the fear and distrust of the
stranger.
For the first few months of life the
infants smile itself is undifferentiated
1t is the same for any sort Of pleasur-
able social contact. But in the course Of
the first year it becomes diversified in
expression and the baby develops DIFF
ferent sorts Of smiles for different
pleasures. The smile then becomes an
expression Of what the child is thinking
about.
The first two months of life are
described by one of the observers cited
As the period OF social blindness" when
another human being has no particular