Individual meaning and increasing complexity: Contributions of Sigmund Freud and Rene Spitz to developmental psychology

Journal/Book: Psychother Psychosom Med Psyc. 1998; 48: P O Box 30 11 20, D-70451 Stuttgart, Germany. Georg Thieme Verlag. 114-127.

Abstract: Contributions of Sigmund Freud and Rene Spitz to developmental psychology are presented in terms of today's research. The work of each of these pioneers draws our attention to the need for increasing our knowledge about the meaning of individual experience and increasing complexity in the course of development. Freud's contribution to today's developmental thinking is reviewed in terms of his observations of play, his schematic perspectives on developmental processes, and his innovative theoretical approaches involving nonconscious mental activity in the context of constructivism, Spitz's contribution to today's thinking is reviewed according to a similar array of topics. These include his observational assessments of infants, his schematic perspectives on developmental processes, and his innovative theoretical approaches involving affective communications in the context of caregiving.

Note: Review Emde RN, Univ Colorado, Hlth Sci Ctr, Program Early Dev Studies, 4200 E 9TH Ave, Denver,CO 80262 USA

Keyword(s): developmental psychology; psychoanalysis; affective communication; constructivism; 1ST YEAR; MOTHER; INFANT; LIFE; BEHAVIOR; FATHER; SELF

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