To follow up on my previous post on the Moro reflex being an immature
form of the startle response, I see that I have in my file a paper by
Hunt et al (1936!) which makes this claim. I obtained it from a book
of readings (and I've lost the source). The introduction to the
reading states as a summary:
"The Moro gradually drops out of the movements of the infant during
the first 4 or 5 months of age and is replaced by the startle pattern
which continues to be present throughout the remainder of human
life....In the present report, Dr. Hunt...took ultra-rapid moving
pictures of 60 infants...The stimulus selected to evoke the Moro...was
the firing of a blank cartridge...The investigators conclude that
around the age of 4 months the Moro reflex disappears and is followed
by the regular startle pattern typical of adults."
Salvatore Cullari had also asked about dreams of the congenitally
blind, and I sent him a private response, giving Cecil Adams' (from
_More of the Straight Dope_ ) opinion:
"The dreams of the congenitally blind contain no visual elements and
consist predominantly of sound plus smell, touch, and the sense of
movement. Plotwise they tend to be reality-based-e.g., a reprise of
the events of the day--with less of the fantasy you find in the dreams
of sighted people. There's also more conversation...Helen Keller, who
became blind at the age of 19 months, claimed to have "visions of
ineffable beauty," which mostly involved things like pearls and
whatnot".
But I also have an excerpt from Schwartz et al (1978) which says
"Blank (1958) extensively reviewed the topic of dreaming in the blind.
The dreams of the congenitally blind are devoid of all visual
imagery".
So it looks like Blank is the authoritative source. I don't have the
reference for Blank, but it can be retrieved by going to the Schwartz
article in the Arkin book (got that?).
Reference
Hunt, W. et al (1936). Studies of the startle pattern: IV, Infants.
Journal of Psychology, 2, 339-352.
Schwartz, D. et al (1978). Title is possibly "Qualitative aspects of
sleep mentation" In A. Arkin (ed). The mind in sleep., p. 184.
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Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
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