Clinical observations of ghetto four-year-olds: Organization,involvement, interpersonal responsiveness,and psychosexual content of play

This study attempted to refine the assessment of the effectance of four-year-old children through observation of their play. Two scales were developed; the first scale defined organization, involvement, and interpersonal responsiveness in play, and the second operationally defined psychosexual content of play. The validity and reliability of both scales and the inter correlations among the four major variables were explored. The results confirmed the validity and reliability of the instruments as measures of the children's effectance and important indicators of a child's capacity as a learner at age four.This research was carried out at the Dr. Martin Luther King Family Center and was supported by the Kenneth F. Montgomery Charitable Foundation in collaboration with the State of Illinois Department of Mental Health. Additional support was provided by the National Institutes of Health, General Research Support Grant No. 1-So 1 FR 05 666-01.Received M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine in 1957. Presently Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Research interests lie in cross-cultural personality development and in psychophysiologic studies of human sexual arousal.Received Ph.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1967. Presently Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center. Research has been mainly in the area of development and interference of effective learning in children.Graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1954. Presently Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Primarily interested in the effects of poverty on personality and social organization.