Evening star., 1942-04-13
Twins Will End Goldfish Bowl Existence
BY TRUDI MCCULLOUGH,
Wide World NeHs.

II the reason IOr The BOluIlSIl pOWl
existence of the twins, Johnny and
Jimmy Woods, comes to an end.
They were selected at birth to be
the principal actors in scientific
show with cast of nearly hundred
other children.
The show was a Rockefeller-en-
dowed experiment In behavior de-
velopment which was to have a
l0-year run, closing on the twins
first decade birthday.
The so-called Scientific Twins"
are q couple Of lively average city
boys with q fondness for marbles.
They live on Amsterdam avenue
in a crowded apartment above g.
store with their father, . former
taxicab driver, their mother and
six brothers and sisters.
They were chosen because Of no
particular physical or mental herit-
age, but because the experiment
required twins, and their mother
was willing for Johnny and Jimmy
TO participate in it.
Taken to Clinic Daily.
The experiment. was to find out at
what period Of human life the in
diyidual begins to profit by the
experience or repetition Of per-
formance. -.
It previously had been held that
the immature nervous system Of
infants Is unresponsive to practice
efforts.
So for the first two years of their
lives the twins were taken daily to
the Normal Child Development
Clinic, where Johnny's efforts were
stimulated and accelerated and
Jimmy's were restrained. The rest
OF the child cast was simply OBJ
served.
As result of the training, Johnny
when still less than 2 years old
and 2 feet high, started speeding
about the marble hospital floors on
roller skates and swimming with
his head under water.
The training part of the expert
ment lasted just two years.
The following eight years were
concerned only with checkups-at
various intervals-on retention of
the acquired skills.
Skill Not Always Well Retained.
The acquired skills were not al
ways well retained. The checkups
showed two reasons why: They
weren't thoroughly mastered during
the training, and as the child grows
he has to master q new set of body
mechaniSns.
Johnny, for instance, as he grew
taller, temporarily lost part of his
skating skill because his static
equilibrium changed.
The training in the experiment
was purely physical.
1t showed that the motor control
OF children can be groomed If the
training starts when the nervous
system is ready for it. If the nervous
system isn't ready, it is so much
time lost.
For example, the doctors tried to
teach Johnny to ride a tricycle. when
he was II months old, but his
nervous system was unresponsive
to that activity until he was 10
months old. Then he mastered it.
On the other hand, he was put
on roller skates when he was ready
for walking. The nervous system
was responsive and away Johnny
went on wheels.
Muscles More Co-ordinated.
The result of Johnny's training
was not that he developed into an
diversified, overstrong child, nor was
1t meant to be.
The result was that his muscular
coordination was above average.
In athletic attempts he worked
like a well-oiled machine" '..
Today he's bigger than his
brother, but that doesn't mean he
can outdo him. Both can climb up
pole or jump of wall, but
Johnny's performance will rate a
star higher than Jimmy's.
This was apparent when they were
still babies, and Jimmy was given
an intensive two-month training on
the heels of Johnny's two years of it.
The restraint that had been
placed on Jimmy's activities during
that first "A months until his emo
tional and perceptive capacities had
increased had made him more cau-
tious and less co-ordinated In han
ding his body.
Both children were given a set Of
stools, graded in size, which they
had to arrange in mountain order
to obtain a toy hung from the
ceiling.
Johnny, agile and daring, pushed
the stools together in any fashion
and clambered to the top in short
order.
Jimmy More Cautious.
Jimmy, more cautious, arranged
the stools in stairway formation in
order to make the climbing as easy
as possible. Then only If he des-
perately wanted the toy could he
be induced to go to the very top to
get it.
Johnny always got it, showing
more enthusiasm for the perform
ance than the reward.
But the performer today-in an
other fields Jimmy. He clowns
and bids for the approval Of his
audience. He is q chatterbox and
thoroughly unself conscious. He has
always seemed more at ease in
the home situation and Is closer to
his mother.
Johnny, today, has philosophical
attitude and takes things as they
come. He is not upset when he
can't get his own way and is more
sufficient. He has no fears and
often alarms his mother, who be-
lieves he ought to be more careful
in crossing the street.