Contributions to the history of psychology: LXXXV. Jean Piaget, student of Pierre Janet (Paris 1919-1921).

This article provides information about an important period of Piaget's formative years, those he spent in Paris from 1919 to 1921, during which he came into contact with eminent members of the French scientific and philosophical community of the time. Among these was the psychiatrist and psychologist Pierre Janet, whose genetic approach to the psychology of behaviour and ideas about the hierarchical organization of psychological functions converged with Piaget's early scientific interests and provided Piaget a conceptual framework within which to work and develop his own project of studying the genesis of knowledge.

Sexual differentiation in children's drawings of pregnancy.

An analysis is reported of drawings of pregnancy by children of both sexes, with the hypothesis that it would be possible to determine sex-related characteristics of the drawings. Clear sexual differentiation in male and female children's representations of pregnancy was revealed by to features: the location of the baby inside the body of the mother and the tendency in some of the boys to "masculinize" the figure, of the expectant mother.

Development of internal body image from childhood to early adolescence.

The study aimed at providing a psychogenetic characterization of the developmental patterns through which the graphic representations of the inside of the body progress, and at testing the developmental hypothesis of a progressive integration of genital parts into the internal body image. The drawings of the inside of the body by 360 children of both sexes and of age 5 to 10 yr., and by 213 early adolescents, boys and girls of ages 11 to 14 yr.

[Anatomical knowledge in relation to the female genitalia in adolescent girls].

The purpose of the research was to analyse drawings of the inside of the body and the female genital apparatus produced by 275 female adolescents aged 11 to 18, with particular interest in the quality and structural properties of the drawings and in the female genital elements best known to the subjects. The results reveal the presence of a progressive process of integration of the genital parts into the representation of the inside of the body and show how knowledge of the female genitals evolves in the age group considered.

Adolescent girls' representations of their genital inner space.

Psychoanalytical theory and research based on Freud's observations have viewed female sexual development mainly in terms of the fantasies and sensations aroused by the external genitals of the child. Other authors refer to the significance of females' inner sexual organs that define the cavity surrounded by body mass, included in the body image. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between girls' representative modalities of their genital inner space and their identity formation.

Knowledge and beliefs about the body interior during early adolescence: the case of menstruations.

Contrasting with the increase of curiosity about sexual matters at the time of puberty, is the paucity and distortion, recognized by many authors, of young adolescents' sex-oriented knowledge. In the present study attention focused on knowledge about the internal mechanisms that cause menstrual bleeding. The study was conducted in a situation where schools do not provide systematic information about sexual matters, as is the case in many parts of Italy.

Sexual socialization during early adolescence: the menarche.

It has been shown that during adolescence most information about sexual matters, generally colored with misconceptions, comes from the peer group, since cultural inhibitions often prevent discussion with parents or other adults. In addition, there is abundant evidence from anthropological data of diffuse negative beliefs across cultures concerning menstruation. In order to explore the early socialization of beliefs and attitudes toward menarche, 258 adolescents, aged 11 to 14 years, male and female pre- and postmenarcheal, from southern Italy, were interviewed by way of an open questionnaire method.