Harvard Psychologists Make Study of Personality Traits of Children

Not all the "guinea pigs" in Harvard are Dr. Bock's normal boys; in the Psychological Clinic at 64 Plympton Street a group of 26 children from four to six years old are having their personalities analyzed and their complexes examined.

Under the direction of Dr. Walter Dyk, research workers in child psychology are going into the third year of an intensive study of the character traits of a selected group of children whose complete physical history from birth is known.

In a brightly colored playroom that is not as innocent as it looks, the youngsters are exposed to temptation, have their curiosity aroused and are purposely frustrated while an observer watches them through a one-way screen; even moving pictures can be taken of the unsuspecting youngsters through a mirror that is really a window.

One of the "frustration" tests used last year involved the use of a savings bank. For three days the trusting subject was given a quarter in payment for drawing a picture, a quarter which was to be deposited in the bank. On the fourth day a key was substituted for the quarter, but when the child opened the bank with it, the other three quarters had gone.

A number of the subjects just swore, loud and long.

A curiosity test, in which a record of someone reading "Moby Dick" is played very softly over a loudspeaker, was unsuccessfully tried with some local talent the other day. "Children are so used to radios now that they didn't pay any attention," Dr. Dyk explained yesterday. "I think I'll try putting it in the closet."

The children come from a child clinic in Brookline, which has kept tabs on their physical development since birth. This year eight prematurely born youngsters have been added to the list, with the object of determining if they exhibit certain personality traits differing from normal children.