Stimuli 'important' to young children

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33290, 30 July 1973, Page 6

Stimuli 'important' to young children

There was no such thing as “over stimulation” of children and infants, Dr Eugene A. Levitt told the New Zealand Association of Child Care Centres seminar in Christchurch on Saturday.

“I read recently, a statement of concern in New Zealand about over stimulation of children,” he said.

“I shudder when I think of it. There is no such thing as over stimulation. No stimulation at all just dries up the brain,” said Dr Levitt. A clinical psychologist from the department of psychological medicine at the University of Otago Medical School, Dr Levitt was addressing the seminar on the importance of pre-school play. Research, mainly in the United States, had shown that the earlier an infant was exposed to stimuli — even just extra handling over and above that of feeding, changing and bathing—the quicker he developed visual attentiveness and was more aware of

what was going on around him. “A lot of people think that all a baby can see is a cloudy mass — that he cannot make out objects or shapes. There is a tendency in our Western, middle-class society, to dress the baby all in white and to have his crib draped in white. “Because of this, the infant does not receive any stimulation, and of course his eyes cannot differentiate between shapes, patterns or colours because he is looking at flat white.” When, in research, infants were exposed to patterned sheets and cribs and mobilelike objects were hung above their cribs, their visual attentiveness was greater, he said. This in turn led to “grasping,” and hand movement.

Children whose parents talked to them more, and children who were provided with a lot of toys and play

things were brighter than those who were not given toys or talked to, said Dr Levitt.

The most important phase of development in infants was from 10 to 18 months. “Before that, all infants are at about the same level. However, the stimulation they receive during this time is most important. You can usually tell by 18 months a child who is bright or dull.” Other speakers at the seminar included Mrs Sonja Davies of Wellington, the association’s president, who spoke on the task of the association, and Miss C. A. Hudd, senior supervising social worker in Christchurch, for the department of Social Welfare, who spoke on the role of the department in the field of child care.

The one-day seminar was attended by representatives of most child-care organisations.