esses the importance of the mental health of the nursing mother not as intrinsically beneficial, but because any emotional stress "may cause the milk to disagree with an infant or even make it acutely ill" (Holt, 1894, p.39). Similarly, he discourages the kissing of infants because "tuberculosis, diphtheria, and many other grave diseases may be communicated in this way" (p.131). And his discussion of "bad habits" such as nail-biting or dirt-eating focuses on the control of the habit, and not on understanding why it began in the first place. Understood through Holt's eyes, then, the child seems to be little more than a affliction waiting to happen. This perception of the child as more of a problem than a blessing is carried through into the work of John Watson, which emerged thirty years later.
After years of working with laboratory animals, John B. Watson's fascination with the psychology of learning brought him to the study of children. When he published Psychological Care of Infant and Child in 1925, it became a best-seller in months (Cohen, 1979, p.217). Parents Magazine declared it should be "on every intelligent's mother's shelf"; Atlantic Monthly called it "a godsend to parents" (Cohen, p.218). In a time when the possibilities of science seemed limitless, parents were eager to believe it could offer "a way of rearing perfect children" (Cohen, p.220).
Like Holt, Watson is very specific in his recommendations and generally does not offer explanations for the advice he gives. The common idea throughout the work is that children need conditioning to rid them of disagreeable habits. There is no attention paid to understanding the mind of the child; instead, the emphasis is placed on control. According to Watson, a ch
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