Children's Use of Transitional Objects during Daily Separations from Significant Caregivers

1993 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Lookabaugh Triebenbacher ◽  
Deborah W. Tegano
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects

Attachment behaviors of 105 toddlers were observed as the children separated from significant caregiver(s) at child care. Analysis indicated that children attached to a transitional object and using the object when separating engaged in ritualistic touching behaviors directed at a variety of targets. Results lend some support to the notion of transitional objects facilitating separation and reducing anxiety in mildly stressful situations.

Sacred Objects as Vital Objects: Transitional Objects Reconsidered

1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Lamothe
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Developmental Theory ◽  
Transitional Object ◽  
Secondary Process ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
Sacred Objects ◽  
Identity Continuity

In this essay I argue that the concept of transitional objects in Winnicott's psychoanalytic developmental theory and Rizzuto's perspective regarding God representations in human life, though helpful, is inadequate for understanding and explaining the complex roles, functions, and characteristics of sacred objects and practices in adult life. Transitional objects of infancy and early childhood, which represent a movement from merger to shared existence, from primary process to secondary process thinking, from fantasy to reality, are idiosyncratic and are substantially different from the sacred objects many adults share. I argue that an expanded depiction of Winnicott's concept, transitional object, provides an understanding of the vital role or functions of sacred objects in everyday existence and in interpersonal relations. I suggest that sacred objects and practices in adult life may be conceptualized as vital objects or phenomena when they (a) furnish believers with an unconscious belief in omnipotence for the sake of the construction and organization of subjective and intersubjective experiences and reality; (b) provide a subjective and intersubjective sense of identity, continuity, and cohesion; (e) serve as opportunities for spontaneity and creativity; (d) supply comfort and security for persons and communities during periods of anxiety.

The Fate of the Transitional Object

2016 ◽  
pp. 523-528
Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
Transitional Phenomena ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
The Individual

After describing transitional objects, Winnicott describes the passing of the transitional object. He discusses his theory that if the transitional object and transitional phenomena are at the very basis of symbolism, then these phenomena may mark the origin in the life of the infant and child of a third area of existing, which might turn out to be the cultural life of the individual.

Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena

2016 ◽  
pp. 159-174
Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Development ◽  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
Object A ◽  
Environmental Care ◽  
External Objects ◽  
Internal Object ◽  
Mother Figure ◽  
Object Relationship ◽  
Soft Object

This paper describes the interstices between illusion and reality and their importance in emotional development. Some soft object or equivalent is often found and used by an infant, and becomes what Winnicott calls a transitional object. Transitional objects involve the nature of the object, the infant’s capacity to recognize the object as ‘not-me’, to create, think up, devise, originate, produce ‘an object’ and to initiate an affectionate type of object relationship with it, based on the earliest one with the mother or carer. When basic symbolism is employed the infant is already distinguishing between fantasy and fact, between inner objects and external objects, between primary creativity and perception. The transitional object is not an internal object (a mental concept)—it is a possession. The infant can employ a transitional object when the internal object is alive and real and good enough. But this internal object depends on the existence and aliveness and behaviour of the external object (breast, mother figure, general environmental care). The transitional object is never under magical control like the internal object, nor is it outside control as the real mother is. Transitional objects belong to the realm of illusion, which is at the basis of initiation of experience. An infant’s transitional object ordinarily becomes gradually decathected as cultural interests develop.

Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena

2016 ◽  
pp. 447-462
Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
Transitional Phenomena ◽  
Symbol Formation ◽  
Depressive Position ◽  
Internal Objects

In these notes, distributed prior to the first presentation of this paper, Winnicott introduces his concepts of the transitional object and transitional phenomena. Winnicott starts by examining the first ‘not-me’ possession of the infant, and the wide variations in the infant’s relationship to this possession. Winnicott defines a transitional object as hallucination taken for granted because of the immaturity of the infant, and ‘transition’ to be a transition from one kind of experience to another. The phenomena occur at times of anxiety, at which time an object becomes vitally important for the infant for use in its defence. Sometimes there is no transitional object except the mother herself. Winnicott summarizes the qualities of the object: among other things, that the infant assumes rights over it, that it is cuddled and mutilated, that it must never change, and that its fate is to be gradually decathected. Winnicott discusses these phenomena in relation to tension around the gratification of instincts, the pleasure-pain principle, introjection and projection, symbol formation, and the depressive position. He states that only if there are good internal objects can the infant use transitional objects, which are intermediate between internal and external. He provides several clinical examples and a list of his references, including quotations.

Introduction to Playing and Reality

2016 ◽  
pp. 261-264
Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
Transitional Phenomena ◽  
Direct Observations

Winnicott’s introduction to his book Playing and Reality is a development of his paper ‘Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena’, drawing attention to the paradox involved in the use by the infant of the transitional object and its value for every individual who is capable of being enriched by the cultural link with past and future. He is no longer making direct observations, but notes much research in this area done by Renata Gaddini, Joseph Solomon, Olive Stephenson and others.

Ideas and Definitions

2016 ◽  
pp. 359-360
Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
True Self ◽  
False Self ◽  
Transitional Phenomena ◽  
Early Note

In this early note of ideas, Winnicott gives early definitions of the false self and the true self, transitional objects and transitional phenomena: ‘Transitional object’ was intended to give significance to the first signs in the developing infant of an acceptance of a symbol. Regression to dependence is different from ‘regression’ as applied ordinarily to instinct positions. Good-enough mother is a description of the dependence that belongs to earliest infancy.

Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena

2016 ◽  
pp. 405-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
Transitional Phenomena ◽  
Soft Objects ◽  
Object Relationship

In this essay, Winnicott describes the interstices between illusion and reality. He focuses his discussion on the soft objects used by an infant, what he calls a transitional object. He says transitional objects involve the nature of the object, the infant’s capacity to recognize the object as ‘not-me’ and yet to feel paradoxically that he has created that object. Through the attachment to the transitional object the infant initiates an affectionate type of object relationship. Winnicott emphasises the importance of this transitional object to the infant, and how parents respond to it. The transitional object belongs to the realm of illusion, which is at the basis of initiation of experience. An infant’s transitional object ordinarily becomes gradually decathected as cultural interests develop.

‘The one you watched when you were twelve’: Regenerations ofDoctor Whoand Enduring Fandom's ‘Life-Transitional Objects’

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Hills
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Transitional Object ◽  
Transitional Objects ◽  
Doctor Who ◽  
The Past ◽  
Christopher Bollas ◽  
The One ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Generational Consciousness

In this article I return to the fannish transitional object, relating fandom across the life course (Harrington and Bielby 2013) to recent critical concepts of ‘consumed nostalgia’ and ‘mediated nostalgia’ (Cross 2015; Lizardi 2015), both of which imply that ‘enduring fandom’ can represent an unhealthy holding on to the past. Challenging this, I turn to Christopher Bollas’ (1993) notion of ‘generational consciousness’, considering instead how a long-running British science fiction TV series such as Doctor Who (BBC1, 1963–) can become a ‘generational object’ for multiple cohorts of fans (Booth and Kelly 2013), this being recognised through fan discourses of ‘my Doctor’. I also examine how changes in the fan object linked to recasting and reimagining are drawn on by fans to understand the ageing of their own generation, and its movement from a culturally powerful ‘illusion’ (that the text is meant for them), to disillusionment (that Doctor Who is now aimed at younger audiences, and hence they may no longer be culturally central to its meanings and practices). If we can identify ‘media generations’ (Bolin 2017), then this calls for a greater exploration of how media attachments, retained by fans across many decades, can act as life-transitional objects within experiences of ageing. I conclude by addressing the ‘textual ageing’ of Doctor Who, demonstrating how the programme denies its own metaphorical ‘life cycle’ (Harrington 2016) in favour of always regenerating, even while it simultaneously trades on the cultural/heritage value of being more than 50 years old.

Clinical Impressions of How Young Children Use AAC at Home and in Child Care Settings: A Canadian Perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
Kathryn Wishart
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Young Children ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Multicultural Community ◽  
Canadian Perspective ◽  
Communication Devices ◽  
Stakeholder Input

Abstract Speech-language pathologists, working in a multicultural, community-based environment for young children with special needs in Vancouver, Canada, collected information on 84 clients using AAC from a chart review. The speech-language pathologists collected additional usage information and attended a group interview to discuss barriers and facilitators of AAC. Thirty-one percent of the children were using AAC. Children aged between 16 and 72 months typically relied on multiple modes of communication, including sign, communication boards and binders, and low- and high-tech communication devices. All of the children used at least one type of unaided mode. Fifty-five percent used pictures or communication boards/displays, and 29% used technology with speech output. Similarities in usage of AAC were noted in home and child-care settings with increased use of unaided in homes and a slightly increased use of aided communication in child care settings. Speech-language pathologists reported that the time needed for AAC intervention as well as limited funding for high-tech devices continue to be major barriers. Additional research is needed to describe current AAC practices with young children particularly from minority linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Stakeholder input is needed to explore perceptions of children's usage of AAC in daily life with familiar and unfamiliar communication partners.

A Pioneer in Child Care

1974 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 377-378
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPH M. HEINICKE
Keyword(s):  
Child Care
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