The Chifd Within - PSYCHOLOGY NOTES - Centuries ago, it was belleved that a child was a miniature adult. As a result few, If any, prousions were made for the child's need to develop and mature. Later, some philosophers and psycho- logists went to other extreme, claiming that childten were so unformed that they could be made into anything adults desired. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, instead that the first five years of life were the critical ones and that by the end of the fifth year, we had become what we were going to be- at least in terms of our abnormalties. It is hard, even today, to avoid hearing that someone who acts strangely probably does so as the result of something that happened un childhood. few psychologists embrace this point of view any longer, but it continous nonetheless. Similarly, we Still hear what a terrible asservice mothers who work outside the home are doing to their chidren -another belet that is not suppurted by the evidence. While itis possible that what we write here today will not bear the scruniry ot time, at least today's views are far more balanced, have quite a bit of experimental support, and seem to make sense. Here are a few very important discoveries. (1) Parents don't simply control whatever happens to the child. The child also influence parents by his of her behavior (2) Childhood friends have a striking impoct on how we devetop. In fact, their influence otten outstrips that ot parents (3) Genetic factors play an important sole in what we afe•