On March 6 and 7, 1950, apparently, a group of especially invited guests held a two-day meeting in New York under the auspices of the Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation, for the purpose of discussing certain problems of infancy and childhood. In opening the conference, Dr. Frank Fremont-Smith, the Medical Director of the Foundation, announced that this particular group would hold annual two-day meetings for five years. Hence this book is the merest fragment of what may appear later.
Three subjects were considered: "Cultural Determination of Parental Attitudes," "Consideration of Problems in the Ontogeny of Family Life and Social Adjustments in Various Infrahuman Animals," and "Working Toward Healthy Personality." Each was introduced by a competent authority and then discussed by equally competent authorities who had been invited to attend the meeting. What each of these authorities actually said now appears in print.
The result is a curious hodgepodge; some of the