The general pattern which characterizes the development of the primitive "R" or "F" involves the same general sequence as does that of the primitive Externalizer or Internalizer. The child begins life, and continues through the earlier developmental phases, on the basis of his primitive inclinations. Environmental opposition to his restricted responsiveness usually arises, pressing him to change the direction of his preferred areas of awareness and response. The nature of the final resolution of this clash between the child's primitive tendency and environmental opposition depends on the strength and direction of both.
Neither primitive "R-ness" nor primitive "F-ness" provides the individual with a range of behavior which is sufficiently broad to enable him to function appropriately and efficiently in a variety of situations which will confront him. Acquisition of the ability to develop and utilize both types of behavior will greatly increase adaptability.
If the interaction of individual and environment has been favorable to the development of maximal functioning, the Individual will be able, on the one hand, to profit from environmental pressures, while remaining sufficiently uninhibited, on the other, to express his Inherent tendencies appropriately.
He will thus be able, ultimately, to use his natural abilities for purposes of acquiring and. utilizing some of the traits of the opposite orientation, at the same time retaining the advantages inherent in his own.
The theory sees many obstacles In the way of a smooth and productive course of development. An ideal outcome, such as is described above, is regarded as highly unlikely. Primitive tendencies are thought of as more or less tenacious. An individual does not depart from his predetermined path either spontaneously or willingly. He will abandon it only if he finds that greater discomfort results from adhering to it than from relinquishing it. Alterations in the direction of the primitive tendencies are thus undertaken because of distress, and are maintained with effort.
Since the theory regards primitive rigidity as present at birth, it conceives of the infant who possesses this tendency as one who, from the outset, experiences frustration when forced to shift activities; responds with anger if he is prevented from indulging in perseverative behavior arid experience; and exhibits fear of situations in which he does not know how to respond. Environmental pressures are directed toward forcing the child to overcome these limitations. As the child's lack of awareness in interpersonal areas becomes increasingly apparent, pressure is also exerted against his tendencies to be self-preoccupied, and toward becoming more sympathetic and more empathic. If the essentially rote quality of his learning is recognized, external direction will point up his need to acquire more insightful problem-solving approaches, and to understand the content rather than the form of what he learns.
The nature of primitive rigidity is such that the child tends to be relatively unaware of mild disapproval and moderate direction. The greater the inherent insulation of the child, the more extreme the external pressure must be in order to force him to change, and the more gross the punishment which he receives for indulging in his preferred behaviors. However, although anxiety and. guilt are more difficult to induce in him, they are also potentially more intense and. disabling.
The particular pattern of strengths and. weaknesses which are attendant upon primitive rigidity places a child in a particularly difficult position, and one in which consistent parental attitudes are especially unlikely. Because of the child's inherent ability in rote learning, he tends to be quick to acquire the formal aspects of what is demanded of him, without insight into the requirements. Accordingly, the transfer value of his learning is limited, and. his inability to apply it to other situations is likely to bring on further censure. Thus, the child is in a position in which the tendency to shift and. the acquisition of new behaviors, difficult for him from the start, may become stress situations for him, because of acute, externally-induced feelings of personal inadequacy and inferiority.
The rigid child is capable of performing very well in areas on which he has concentrated, and in which he has developed special aptitudes. He is likely to be praised for his accomplishments in these respects, and thus to regard himself as praiseworthy. On the other hand, his obvious abilities to concentrate and achieve In specific, narrow areas may give rise to overly broad parental expectations. The parents may expect similar concentration and achievement in situations to which his interest has not shifted, or for which his specific aptitudes are unsuited.
The child's resistance to shifts may easily be interpreted as stubbornness, and his poorer performance in unfamiliar situations as intentional. Parents, or other adults in charge of him, may become angry, punitive and rejecting. In general, they do not understand his failure to meet their expectations, or to respond to their pressure for more diversified behavior. In consequence, they tend to become highly emotional in their handling of him.
A primitive "R" child generally does evoke an unusually wide range of emotional reactions in the surrounding adults, ranging from enthusiastic acceptance and praise for his good performances, to overt hostility and rejection for his lack of versatility. The child himself cannot understand what gives rise to these variations in parental response. From his point of view, they are sometimes very accepting and sometimes very angry, being equally unpredictable in praising and punishing him.
Relatively early in his life, then, the rigid child tends to become unsure in connection with adult responses. He knows on the basis of experience, that the emotional reactions of those around him are likely to be intense. However, he also recognizes his own inability to anticipate them correctly.
The early experiences of the rigid child in this respect may later be. reinforced by the varying reactions of his teachers, in response to the same traits. Being imitative and unquestioning, the child can learn how to do a number of things quite rapidly, without understanding them. The result can be misleading, giving a teacher the impression that he has learned considerably more than he actually has. Here again, the adult may fail to understand the child's inherent difficulties in extending the range of his activities, and to appreciate the characteristically uninsightful nature of his learning. The child, on the other hand, may experience reinforced feelings of personal inadequacy, as well as increased anxiety due to what he perceives as unpredictable inconsistencies in the ways in which he is treated.
The child's ability for sustained but narrow focus is a function of his "R-ness." What he focuses on, however, is largely determined by his location on the Externalizer-Internalizer continuum. If' he is a primitive Externalizer, his focus will be outwardly directed, toward perceptual stimuli in external reality. If he is a primitive Internalizer, his focus will be Inwardly directed, toward internal, ideational stimuli. His rigid characteristics will be manifested primarily in either perceptual or ideational areas, depending on which is dominant.
The rigid, externalized child, for example, will usually develop rapidly in motor areas. He will crawl early, and enjoy crawling. He will, however, tend to perseverate at the crawling stage, and will not be spontaneously inclined to give it up in favor of walking. He will usually lack incentive to proceed from one developmental stage to another throughout the course of his motor development, taking each next step late and unwillingly, if left to his own devices.
The rigid, internalized child will manifest the same general characteristics, but will do so in the ideational direction. Here, he will tend to restrict his focus to specific ideational concerns, and will shift with difficulty. He will perform well in intellectual areas on which he has concentrated, and for which he has developed special aptitudes. On the other hand, he will not turn readily to other intellectual activities, nor will he be equally proficient in them if he is forced to do so.
Like the rigid, externalized child who is content to crawl, the rigid, internalized child may remain preoccupied with the alphabet or the multiplication tables. He will enjoy perseverating at whatever levels he has achieved, and will be largely content to remain within them. In addition, the rote quality of his learning gives him the appearance of intellectual achievement which is disproportionate to his Insight. He, too, will suffer from a wide range of emotional reactions on the part of the surrounding adults, which he neither understands nor anticipates.
The rigid child, then, does not meet with external forces which are opposed to his rigidity alone. Pressure may also be exerted against his primitive externalized or Internalized tendency as well. Whether he compensates for one, for both, for neither, depends on the intensity of the guilt, anxiety, and inferiority feelings which external disapproval has aroused.
Should compensation take place, it will greatly increase the individual's adaptive abilities. Here, as elsewhere, a one-sided development will not enable him to respond effectively in many of the life-situations in which he will find himself. In order to be able to function smoothly and effectively, the primitive "R" must learn to break away from his tendencies toward self
centered, perseverative behavior in either the perceptual or ideational areas, to respond appropriately in both, and, finally, to Integrate the two types of activities meaningfully.