Scientific research sheds new light on the mental phenomenon of pulling out. In his book, The Bond of Power, Joseph Chilton Pearce tells of the research of psychologist Burton White of Harvardâs Child Development Center. After finding that about one child in thirty is brilliant and happy, White did a great deal of research to determine what demographic or psychological characteristics distinguished those children. But the children came from a wide variety of backgrounds - rich and poor, small families and large, broken and stable homes, poorly and well-educated parents - and from all parts of the U.S. Finally, through extensive questioning, he determined that the brights and happy children had only one thing in common: All of them spent noticeable amounts of time staring peacefully and wordlessly into space.