As an infant, the primitive [EFU] is very active, very sensitive and inclined to be inept. Like the [EFA], the [EFU] is involving, relating and very responsive to external stimuli. Unlike the [EFA], the [EFU] is less attractive to people in his environment and receives little spontaneous attention. As a result, the [EFU] will actively and aggressively "demand" attention, In most instances, this over-activity is met with exasperation and even sharp, overt hostility. Early in his life, the [EFU] has experience with rejection and hostility and his ultimate adjustment is determined by the means he adapts to this experience. He immediately recognizes and responds to even subtle rejection.

A primary liability of the [EFU] baby is that he is either in danger of being over-disciplined and controlled or he may receive intense dependency care. This intense dependency care is brought on by the sympathy that an abandoned, emotionally upset child engenders in parents with a strong sense of responsibility. These parents are likely to be hostile towards the "others" who ignore or reject their baby while adopting a fiercely possessive and protective attitude toward the child. In other cases, the [EFU] will be under strong pressure to "adapt," change or earn respect and attention. In any event, the early experience of the [EFU] is likely to be highly affect ladened, with consequent strong influence, one way or another, on his development.

As with the [EFA], the maturation rate of the [EFU] tends to be slow and erratic. The [EFU] is distractible, easily confused and non-perseverating. Unlike the [EFA], he gets little support. His ineptness and distractibility is met with impatience and he is subject to rather extreme corrective action. Since there will be a tendency for external figures to be irritable with the [EFU] child, feelings of inadequacy and inferiority are bred early. To a certain extent, the child will work to understand what is wanted of him, primarily to receive praise and recognition. So, in addition to the inferiority-inadequacy, a strong need to please others develops with more intensity in the [EFU] than in any other primitive group.

Since the [EFU] is a behaviorally active and emotionally responsive child, most external pressure is applied in these areas. But the [EFU] child rarely can learn to behave acceptably. The suppression both of his activity and his emotional responsiveness is characteristic of the [EFU] adjustment, and this he does primarily by withdrawing into ideational, passive states. The [EFU] child is prone to learn to control his external affect at a very early age. Stoicism, easy embarrassment, timidity, and self-sufficiency are common characteristics of the early [EFU] adjustment.

The [EFU] child is rarely in danger of losing touch with external reality, even when under extreme pressure. With his withdrawal, he does not retreat from reality; he merely withdraws at a distance and watches. The [EFU], then, is likely to become an early non-participant observer and much of his early experience is in placing himself in events about him, but only in his mind. Identification, rather than projection, is a primary psychological mechanism of the [EFU].

The [EFU] child, left to his own devices, is inquisitive and responsive. He often has considerable ingenuity and creativity. He has marked sensual responsiveness and his relationships to the things in his environment that provide sensual stimulation are close and important. Blankets, bottles, toys, etc. can become important "sensual" companions. Self-exploration can be highly satisfying and early discovery of masturbation is most likely in the [EFU]. (The [EFA] has similar experiences, but the attention he gets -- fondling, petting, touching, loving, etc. -- often sets the stage early for sublimation of sensual satisfaction in more socially acceptable channels.) The preoccupation of the [EFU] child with his bodily processes (he will early explore his feces and urine) and his early discovery of masturbation result partly from the fact that he has few substitute sensual experiences. The violent reaction that these activities produce in external authority figures serves both to focus the [EFU] on sex (with guilt) and drive him into secret exploitation of his sexual needs. In any event, sexual difficulties ranging from voyeurism and fetishism to extreme sexual inhibition and guilt occur with more frequency in the [EFU] than any other group.

In the American culture, at least, [EFU] tends to be a difficult pattern for a male. The emotionality, the ineptness, and the sensitivity are particularly unsuitable for masculine development. The [EFU] male, then, is under extreme pressure for modification and he must either overcome his initial adjustment by extreme compensation or he must definitely achieve in some area that will displace or make up for some of his "weaknesses." Intellectualization is one of the primary areas that will be a socially acceptable displacement, so it is not unusual for the [EFU] to become intellectually oriented early in his development. Obviously, intelligence is of extreme importance in this pattern. The highly intelligent [EFU]'s have much more chance of successful intellectualization. The barely average and low intelligence [EFU]'s contribute a disproportionate number of disturbed and inadequate people.

More so than the other primitive groups, the [EFU] is prone to situational disturbances and difficulties. The stress of an unsatisfactory love affair, depression following death or loss of a loved one, anxiety about unsatisfactory performance, reactions to criticism and humiliation, and fear reactions in general are more obviously disabling to the [EFU]. Involutional depressions are also quite common. Because the [EFU] has difficulty getting support and understanding, he is inclined to use illness and disability as a means of getting attention. Hypochondriacs and some psychosomatic difficulties are also relatively common in this group. Impatience, cynicism, sarcasm, and stubbornness are also often more marked in this group. However, in spite of these vulnerabilities, real artistic, intellectual and cultural creativity is possible and relatively common in this group.