Distributed by New York University Film Library

Institute of Psychiatry, The Maudsley Hospital, London

The approach to objects by psychotic children

[An attempt to demonstrate the genesis of the concept of a permanent substantial object (Piaget)...] 

[...forwardly in the normal child...] 

[...and in reverse in the regressed psychotic child]

[Normal babies pass through several stages to reach a full appreciation of the object] 

[1. The object lacks permanence and no attempt is made to search for it when hidden] 

[2. The object is searched for only at the point of its disappearance] 

[3. The object is searched for through successive visible displacements] 

[4. The object is followed through displacement beyond the visible range]

[A young girl sitting at table handles a bracelet made of beads, putting it in her mouth, then back down on the table. 

[She moves her fingers about her mouth, picking up and dropping the bracelet.]

[The beads are now placed in front of her, but covered with a white cloth. She loses interest and does not attempt to remove the cloth.]

[A young boy handles the bracelet while looking into the camera; then it is taken away and returned hidden under a white cloth.]

[He ignores the cloth, looking and gesturing to his right, and then appears uncertain.]

[Another boy is given a bracelet of beads and handles it, occasionally smiling.]

[Again the object is taken and returned to him under a cloth. He appears uncertain, then looks up and smiles.]

[Another child is presented with the beaded bracelet. The child slaps first the palm and then the back of one hand with it.]

[The bracelet is presented under a white cloth, and the child bends their head down, then looks around. The cloth is not touched.]

[The next boy picks up the bracelet and hands it back to a person offscreen.]

[After it's presented under the white cloth, he picks up the bracelet and cloth together and hands them to someone offscreen.]

[Different objects are placed in front of the children, one child at a time. They handle them and sometimes appear to smell or taste them.]

[The white cloth appears off and on. Some children play and show curiousity, others mostly ignore the objects and cloth.]

[2. The object is searched for only at the point of its disappearance] 

[A small object is placed under a larger one, then removed. Childrens' reactions vary. Some look for the missing small object.]

[3. The object is searched for through successive visible displacements] 

[4. The object is followed through displacement beyond the visible range]

[The children continue to handle the objects, which come and go. There are multiple pieces which fit one into another.]

[Full appreciation of object at end of the sensori-motor stage includes a capacity...]

[...to retrieve the visible object behind an obstacle...]

[Now the object is placed in front of the children but behind a clear barrier. The children respond in different ways, some with frustration,   

some with an understanding that they must reach behind the barrier to retrieve the object.]

[...to retrieve the visible object...to infer its presence by generalisation...]

[Objects with candies hidden beneath them are placed in front of the children. The children find and eat the candies.]

[...and recognise self as a reflected object in a mirror]

[A mirror is placed in front of each child. Some seem to recognize themselves while others do not.] 

[One girl mouths the mirror, as she has earlier items.]

[Others make faces at themselves or place their faces very close to the mirror. One boy points at his reflection.]

from the Department of Psychiatry

Directed by: Dr. E.J. Anthony

Camera: P.V. Jacobs

1957

The End