[Theoretical model of the development of sensitivity to specific stimulations intervening in parental relationships]

A comparison of six studies on the development of specific stimulation recognition in parental relationships reveals some common points. In all cases, the recognition of complex specific stimulations is obtained by practice (in contact with the environment) in dealing with a simple stimulation which does not seem to be learned. The configuration of the final complex specific stimulation is associated with the simple, initial stimulation, both of them belonging to the same sensory register. The efficiency of the new stimulation makes the first one obsolete. From these convergences we have constructed a working model to determine the profile of individual sensitivity in time: the simple, initial stimulation would complement a rigid sensitivity site, situated within a flexible, pliable sensitivity, which would be modeled by and rigidified at the contact of the complex stimulations associated with the efficient simple stimulation. In the initiation of a same behavior, a time relation is thus established between the basic, simple specific stimulation and the final complex stimulation. The new rigid sensitivity of the individual could eventually serve as a starting point for another sensitivity, corresponding to a still more complex stimulation.