A Biological Sketch of an Infant (summary)

A Biological Sketch of an Infant

Darwin, C. (1877). A Biographical Sketch of an Infant. Mind, 2(7), 285–294

After reading a publication in MIND, where Taine described his child's journey through language acquisition, Charles Darwin began keeping a record of empirical observations of his son, William Erasmus's, development. He described the age at which emotions, such as anger, fear, and affection occurred, as well as association of ideas, moral sense, pleasurable sensations, unconsciousness, shyness, and means of communication. Judging from his own experience, Darwin noted that the period of development of different faculties would differ considerably between different infants

Touch - During the first seven days, Darwin noticed various reflex actions such as sneezing, hiccupping, yawning, stretching, and of course sucking and screaming. When Darwin touched the naked sole of his son’s foot with a bit of paper, when he was 7 days old, he jerked it away, curling his toes at the same time, like a much older child would when tickled. This showed Darwin that such involuntary reflexes are more influenced by will than by muscle tone or coordination centres. The infant also showed a desire to suck the finger of the warm hand if it was applied close to his head, which, Darwin reasoned, must be considered as a reflex or an instinctive action.

Hearing - During the first two weeks of his life, William was often shocked by any loud noise, blinking his eyes in reflex, just as other infants Darwin had previously observed. When he was 66 days old, Darwin sneezed, causing his son to cry - and even few hours later, his son remained in a nervous state. This was the same reaction as he had had to seeing a new object; however Darwin observed that this reaction was much more common with sound than with sight. It was concluded, therefore, that winking, a movement that protect the eyes, was not a movement learned through experience, but by nature. Even though sensitive to sound in a general way, he was not able to easily recognize where the sound was coming from, even at 124 days old.

Vision - Darwin noticed that the infant’s eyes were fixed on a candle when he was only 9 days old, and up to the 45th day, nothing else seemed to catch their attention; but on the 49th day, his attention was attracted by a bright-colored tassel. Darwin noticed that it took quite some time for his son to be able to follow a moving object, as he could not even do this well at seven and a half months old. When the baby was 32 days old, he perceived his mother's breast when three or four inches from it, as was shown by the protrusion of his lips and his eyes becoming fixed, but Darwin remained unsure of whether this was due to vision, or whether the infant had simply felt the warmth and smell of his mother's body. At 77 days old, he was able to take a sucking bottle and when he was between 80 and 90 days old, he drew all sorts of objects into his mouth, however it seemed that he often first touched objects to his nose, later pushing them down towards his mouth. At four months old, Darwin's son often looked at his own hands or objects around him, causing his eyes to turn inwards and for him to squint frightfully. At times, he would pull Darwin's finger close to his mouth, trying to suck on it. This action was repeated several times on many occasions, implying that it was an action of intent, rather than coincidence. Later, at 132 days, William would grasp at objects that were close to his face, often failing to make contact with the object. Darwin also noticed that when his son was 2 years and 4 months old, he did not hold pencils, pens, and other objects as efficiently as his sister, who was then only 14 months old, did.

Anger. – Darwin argued that it was difficult to decide at how early an age anger was felt; on William's eighth day, he noticed behavior that may have been associated with anger, but could have also been caused by pain or distress. When he was nearly four months old, and perhaps even much earlier, Darwin noticed that his son could become violently passionate, as indicated by blood rushing into his face. At two years and three months, he was often throwing books away even on other children but Darwin never noticed such a behavior in his infant daughter, which made him think that a tendency to throw objects is inherited by boys.

Fear. - This feeling is probably one of the earliest which is experienced by infants, as shown by their starting at any sudden sound when only a few weeks old, followed by crying. As an infant, William displayed signs of fear at unfamiliar noises (four and a half months) and unfamiliar scenarios, such as when his father stood still with his back facing him. It is normal for toddlers to have vague and undefined fears, such as a fear of the dark. This was shown in William's development through a trip to the Zoological Gardens, where the child enjoyed seeing familiar animals, and even put forth a request to return; however he mentioned being scared of particular "beasts in houses," an irrational fear that Darwin could not account for. Because these fears appear so early in life, Darwin began to question whether these fears, emotions that were intended to prevent a child from walking into dangerous situations, were inherited from ancient ancestors, passed down in the name of self-preservation.

Pleasurable Sensations. – Darwin assumed that infants feel pleasure while sucking, as shown by the expression of their swimming eyes during this behaviour. One of his infants smiled at 45 days old, and a second infant at 46 days old. Darwin described these smiles as true smiles, indicative of pleasure, because their eyes brightened and eyelids were slightly closed. He noted that his infants often smile when looking at their mother. Additionally, at around 90 days of age, Darwin began playing with his son by pinching him on the nose and cheeks. His son, to his surprise, did not react badly, but welcomed the humour. When the child was four months old, he showed in an unmistakable manner that he liked to hear the pianoforte played, which Darwin interpreted as the earliest sign of an esthetic feeling. It is important to note, however, that his son's reactions to bright colours was similar and could also be considered the first expression of pleasure.

Affection. - This emotion appeared to have developed very early in life, as proven by WIlliam smiling at his caretaker when he was less than two months old; though Darwin had no distinct evidence of his son recognizing anyone until he was almost four months old. The infant did not spontaneously exhibit affection until he was a little above a year old, by kissing his nurse, who had been absent for a short time, several times. Darwin also observed that his son showed signs of sympathy at six months and 11 days, when his son's expression changed to melancholy at the sight and sound of his nurse pretending to cry. At 15 and a half months, William exhibited signs of jealousy, when his father showed affection to a doll or his sister.

Association of Ideas, Reason, &c.- As mentioned before, the first sign of logical reasoning occurred at 114 days, when William tried to put Darwin's finger in his mouth. At the time, William reasoned that, in order to put his father's finger in this mouth, he would have to move his own hand further down his father's finger. Like all infants he much enjoyed thus looking at himself, and in less than two months perfectly understood that it was an image. He was, however, confused at seeing his father through a window, but being unable to hear his voice. When he was seven months old, he made the great step of associating his nurse with her name. Sentences describing his actions only needed to be repeated two or three times during the action before William was able to associate the sentence with the behaviour. Curiosity is displayed at an early age by infants, and is highly important in the development of their minds. At four months old, Darwin initially thought that William had started trying to imitate sounds; however he was not entirely convinced of this until William had turned 10 months old. Later, at eleven and a half months, William was able to shake his head and respond to objects being brought closer to him.

Moral Sense. - The first sign of moral sense was noticed at the age of nearly 13 months: when Darwin said "Doddy (his nickname) won't give poor papa a kiss, - naughty Doddy" it made him feel slightly uncomfortable and he went to kiss his father. This happened several more times, and the feeling of reconsiliation was clearly pleasurable to William, as he sometimes purposely slapped his father, just so he could kiss him better. Later, at two years and seven and a half months old, William snuck into the kitchen and stole some pounded sugar, something he was forbidden to do. When Darwin caught him, he noticed a look on his son's face, and since his son had never been punished, it was safe to assume that his expression was not one of fear, but rather of his own struggle with his conscience.

Unconsciousness, Shyness. - Darwin saw the first symptom of shyness in his child when he was nearly two years and three months old and it was shown towards Darwin himself, after he was absent 10 days from home. Soon after the first moment, shyness disappeared.

Means of Communication. - The sound of crying, squalling, is expressed in an instinctive manner and serves to show that there is suffering. After a time, the sound differs according to the cause, such as hunger or pain and it was noticed when his infant was eleven weeks old. When he was 46 days old, he first made little noises without any meaning, as a means of pleasing himself. An early laugh was observed on the 113th day, but much earlier in another infant. When he was one year old, he made the great step of inventing a word for food, namely mum, but what led him to it remains unknown. Instead of crying now when he was hungry, he used this word in a demonstrative manner or as a verb, implying "Give me food". Additionally, the work "Ah" was used whenever someone he recognised entered his line of sight, or when he looked at himself in the mirror. Between 18 and 21 months old, William was able to modify his voice, making a defiant tone. To summarise, infant communication began with expressions, which slowly turned into gestures, and eventually, self-made words.