Review of The activity of young children

Abstract

Reviews the book, The activity of young children, during sleep by Chester Roy Garvey (1939). This monograph analyzes the records of 3,486 nights' sleep of 22 children between the ages of 25 and 58 months. Each child slept in his own home in a special bed to which was attached H. M. Johnson's apparatus for recording movements of the bed springs. In all essential details Johnson's method was followed so that the results could be compared with his on adults. This study is an interesting addition to the literature on sleep, but the delay in its publication weakens its effectiveness. The date of publication is just 9 years and 26 days later than the last day of observation. According to a foreword by J. E. Anderson, the author was engaged in preparing this monograph for publication when he died. The staff of the Institute of Child Welfare saw the book through the press. For the editors to publish this work as though it were very recent and the latest investigation in the field, without any direct indication of its age, is unfair to the reader and to the author. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)