The Science of Human Nature · Part 15

For example, if a pupil have a very poor memory, the teacher can help him by aiding him to secure the advantage that comes from close and concentrated attention, frequent repetitions, logical organization, etc. On the other hand, she can help the brilliant student by preventing him from being satisfied with hastily secured, superficial knowledge, and by encouraging him to make proper use of his unusual powers in going deeper and more extensively into the school subjects than is possible for the ordinary student. In many ways a teacher can be helpful to her pupils if she has an accurate knowledge of their mental abilities.

(2) In life occupations. Extreme variations in ability should certainly be considered in choosing one's life work. Only persons of the highest ability should go into science, law, medicine, or teaching. Many occupations demand special kinds of ability, special types of reaction, of attention, imagination, etc. For example, the operation of a telephone exchange demands a person of quick and steady reaction. The work of a motorman on a street car demands a person having the broad type of attention, the type of attention that enables one to keep in mind many details at the same time. Scientific work demands the type of concentrated attention. As far as it is possible, occupations demanding special types of ability should be filled by people possessing these abilities. It is best for all concerned if each person is doing what he can do best. It is true that many occupations do not call for special types of ability. And therefore, as far as ability is concerned, a person could do as well in one of these occupations as in another. The time will sometime come when we shall know the special abilities demanded by the different occupations and professions, and by suitable tests shall be able to determine what people possess the required qualifications.

The schools should always be on the lookout for unusual ability. Children that are far superior to others of the same age should be allowed to advance as fast as their superior ability makes possible, and should be held up to a high order of work. Such superior people should be, as far as possible, in the same classes, so that they can the more easily be given the kind and amount of work that they need. The schools should find the children of unusual special ability, such as ability in drawing, painting, singing, playing musical instruments, mechanical invention, etc. Some provision should be made for the proper development and training of these unusual abilities. Society cannot afford to lose any spark of genius wherever found. Moreover, the individual will be happier if developed and trained along the line of his special ability.

Subnormal Children. A small percentage of children are of such low mentality that they cannot do the ordinary school work. As soon as such children can be picked out with certainty, they should be taken out of the regular classes and put into special classes. It is a mistake to try to get them to do the regular school work. They cannot do it, and they only waste the teacher's time and usually give her much trouble. Besides, they waste their own time; for while they cannot do the ordinary school work, they can do other things, perhaps work of a manual nature. The education of such people should, therefore, be in the direction of simple manual occupations.

For detecting such children, in addition to the tests given above, elaborate tests for individual examination have been devised. The most widely used is a series known as the Binet-Simon tests. A special group of tests is provided for the children of each age. If a child can pass the tests for his age, he is considered normal. If he can pass only the tests three years or more below his age, he is usually considered subnormal. But a child's fate should not depend solely upon any number or any kind of tests. We should always give the child a trial and see what he is able to achieve. This trial should cover as many months or years as are necessary to determine beyond doubt the child's mental status.

SUMMARY. Just as we differ in the various aspects of body, so also we differ in the various aspects of mind. These differences can be measured by tests. A knowledge of these differences should aid us in grading, classifying, and teaching children, as well as in the selection of occupation and professions for them. Mental traits have some degree of independence; as a result a high degree of one trait may be found with low degree of some others.

CLASS EXERCISES

1. Many of the tests and experiments already described should have shown many of the individual differences of the members of the class. The teacher will find in the author's Examination of School Children a series of group tests with norms which can be used for a further study of individual differences.

2. The tapping experiment described in the first chapter can now be repeated and the results taken as a measure of reaction time.

3. You should now have available the records of all the tests and experiments so far given that show individual differences. Make out a table showing the rank of each student in the various tests. Compute the average rank of each student for all the tests. This average rank may be taken as a measure of the intelligence of the students, as far as such can be determined by the tests used. Correlate this ranking with standing in the high school classes. It will give a positive correlation, not perfect, however. Why not? If your measures of intelligence were absolutely correct, you still would not get a perfect correlation with high school standing. Why not?

4. If you had a correct measure of intelligence of 100 mature people in your city, selected at random, would this measure give you an exact measure of their success in life? Give the reason for your answer.

5. Of all the tests and experiments previously described in this book, which gives the best indication of success in high school?

6. If the class in psychology is a large one, a graph should be prepared showing the distribution of abilities in the class. For this purpose, you will have to use the absolute measures instead of ranks. Find the average for each test used. Make these averages all the same by multiplying the low ones and dividing the high ones. Then all the grades of each student can be added. This will give each test the same weight in the average. The use of a slide rule will make this transference to a new average very easy. A more accurate method for this computation is described in the author's Examination of School Children, p. 65.

The students should make a study of individual differences and the distribution of ability in some grade below the high school. The tests described in this chapter can be used for that purpose.

7. Is it a good thing for high school students to find out how they compare with others in their various mental functions? If you have poor ability, is it a good thing for you to find it out? If the teacher and students think best, the results of all the various tests need not be made known except to the persons concerned. The data can be used in the various computations without the students' knowing whose measures they are.

8. To what extent is ability a factor in life? You find people of only ordinary ability succeeding and brilliant people failing. Why is this?

9. None of the tests so far used measures ideals or perseverance and persistence. These are important factors in life, and there is no very adequate measure for any of them. The students might plan some experiments to test physical and mental persistence and endurance. The tapping experiment, for example, might be continued for an hour and the records kept for each minute. Then from these records a graph could be plotted showing the course of efficiency for the hour. Mental adding or multiplying might be kept up continuously for several hours and the results studied as above.

10. We have said that ideals and persistence are important factors in life. Are they inherited or acquired?

11. Do you find it to be the rule or the exception for a person standing high in one mental function to stand high in the others also?

12. Make a complete outline of the chapter.

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING

MÜNSTERBERG: Psychology, General and Applied. Chapter XVI.

PYLE: The Examination of School Children.

PYLE: The Outlines of Educational Psychology. Chapter XVII.

TITCHENER: A Beginner's Psychology, pp. 309-311.

CHAPTER X

APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

The General Field. Psychology has now reached that stage in its development where it can be of use to humanity. It can be of use in those fields which demand a knowledge of human nature. As indicated in the first chapter, these fields are education, medicine, law, business, and industry. We may add another which has been called "culture." We cannot say that psychology is able yet to be of very great service except to education, law, and medicine. It has been of less service to the field of business and industry, but in the future, its contribution here will be as great as in the other fields. While the service of psychology in the various fields is not yet great, what it will eventually be able to do is very clear. It is the purpose of this chapter to indicate briefly, the nature and possibilities of this psychological service.

Education. Throughout the preceding chapters, we have emphasized the educational importance of the facts discussed. There is little left to say here except to summarize the main facts. Since education is a matter of making a child over into what he ought to be, the science of education demands a knowledge of the original nature of children. This means that one must know the nature of instincts, their relations to one another, their order of development, and the possibilities of their being changed, modified, developed, suppressed. It means that one must know the nature of the child's mind in all its various functions, the development and significance of these functions,--memory, association, imagination, and attention. The science especially demands that we understand the principles of habit-formation, the laws of economical learning, and the laws of memory.

This psychological knowledge must form the ground-work in the education of teachers for their profession. In addition to this general preparation of the teacher, psychology will render the schools a great service through the psycho-clinicist, who will be a psychological expert working under the superintendents of our school systems. His duty will be to supervise the work of mental testing, the work of diagnosis for feeble-mindedness and selection of the subnormal children, the teaching of such children. He will give advice in all cases which demand expert psychological knowledge.

Medicine. In the first place, there is a department of medicine which deals with nervous diseases, such as insanity, double personality, severe nervous shock, hallucination, etc. This entire aspect of medicine is wholly psychological. But psychology can be of service to the general practitioner both in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. A thorough psychological knowledge of human nature will assist a physician in diagnosis. Often the best way to find out what ails a patient's body is through the patient's mind, and the doctor must know how to get the truth from the patient's mind even in those cases in which the patient is actually trying to conceal the truth. A profound practical knowledge of human nature is necessary,--a knowledge which can be obtained only by long and careful technical study as well as practice and experience.

Psychology can be of service in the treatment of disease. The physician must understand the peculiar mental characteristics of his patient in order to know how to deal with him. In some cases, hypnotism is a valuable aid in treatment, and in many cases, ordinary normal suggestion can be of considerable service. The state of mind of a sick person has much to do with his recovery. The physician must know this and must know how to induce the desired state of mind. Indeed, a patient's trouble is often imaginary, exists in the mind only; in such cases, the treatment should be wholly mental, i.e. through suggestion. Of course, the best physicians know these facts and make use of them in their practice, but preparation for this aspect of their work should be a regular part of their medical education. They should not be left to learn these facts from their practice as best they may, any more than they should be expected to learn their physiology and anatomy in this way.

Law. The service of psychology to law can be very great, but owing to the necessary conservatism of the courts, it will be a long time before they will make much use of psychological knowledge. Perhaps the greatest service will be in determining the credibility of evidence. Psychology can now give the general principles in this matter. Witnesses go on the stand and swear to all sorts of things as to what they heard and saw and did, often months and even years previously. The expert clinical psychologist can tell the court the probability of such evidence being true. Experiments have shown that there is a large percentage of error in such evidence. The additional value that comes from the oath has been measured. The oath increases the liability of truth only a small percentage.

Experiments have also shown that one's feeling of certainty is no guarantee of truth. Sometimes the point we feel surest about is the one farthest from the truth. In fact, feeling sure of a thing is no guarantee of truth.

In a particular case in court, the psychologist can determine the reliability of the evidence of a particular witness and enable the judge and the jury to put the proper value on such witness's testimony. For example, a witness may swear to a certain point involving the estimation of time and distance. The psychologist can measure the witness's accuracy in such estimates, often showing that what the witness claims to be able to do is an impossibility. A case may hinge on whether an interval of time was ten minutes or twelve minutes, or whether a distance was three hundred or four hundred feet. A witness may swear positively to one or both of these points. The psychologist can show the court the limitations of the witness in making such estimates.

Psychology can be of service in the examination of the criminal himself. Through association tests and in other ways, the guilt or innocence of the prisoner can often be determined, and his intellectual status can also be determined. The prisoner may be insane, or feeble-minded, or have some other peculiar mental disorder. Such matters fall within the realm of psychology. After a prisoner has been found guilty, the court should have the advice of the clinical psychologist in deciding what should be done with him.

It should be added that the court and not the attorneys should make use of the psychologist. Whenever a psychologist can be of service in a case in court, the judge should summon such assistance, just as he should if expert chemical, physical, physiological, or anatomical knowledge should be desired.

A knowledge of human nature can be of much service to society in the prevention of crime. This will come about from a better knowledge of the psychological principles of habit-formation and moral training, through a better knowledge of how to control human nature. A large percentage of all crime, perhaps as much as forty per cent, is committed by feeble-minded people. Now, if we can detect these people early, and give them the simple manual education which they are capable of receiving, we can keep them out of a life of crime.

Studies of criminals in reform schools show that the history of many cases is as follows: The person, being of low mentality, could not get on well at school and therefore came to dislike school, and consequently became a truant. Truancy led to crime. Crime sent the person to the court, and the court sent the person to the state reformatory.

The great duty of the state is the prevention of crime. Usually little can be done in the way of saving a mature criminal. We must save the children before they become criminals, save them by proper treatment. Society owes it to every child to do the right thing for him, the right thing, whether the child is an idiot or a genius. Merely from the standpoint of economy, it would be an immense saving to the state if it would prevent crime by the proper treatment of every child.

Business. The contribution of psychology in this field, so far, is in the psychology of advertising and salesmanship, both having to do chiefly with the selling of goods. Students of the psychology of advertising have, by experiment, determined many principles that govern people when reading newspapers and magazines, principles having to do with size and kind of type, arrangement and form, the wording of an advertisement, etc. The object of an advertisement is to get the reader interested in the article advertised. The first thing is to get him to read the advertisement. Here, various principles of attention are involved. The next thing is to have the matter of the advertisement of such a nature that it creates interest and remains in memory, so that when the reader buys an article of that type he buys the particular kind mentioned in the advertisement.

In salesmanship, many subtle psychological principles are involved. The problem of the salesman is to get the attention of the customer, and then to make him want to buy his goods. To do this with the greatest success demands a profound knowledge of human nature. Other things being equal, that man can most influence people who has the widest knowledge of the nature of people, and of the factors that affect this nature. The successful salesman must understand human feelings and emotions, especially sympathy; also the laws of attention and memory, and the power of suggestion. A mastery of the important principles requires years of study, and a successful application of them requires just as many years of practice.

The last paragraph leads us to a consideration of the general problem of influencing men. In all occupations and professions, one needs to know how to influence other men. We have already discussed the matter of influencing people to buy goods. People who employ labor need to know how to get laborers to do more and better work, how to make them loyal and happy. The minister needs to know how to induce the members of his congregation to do right. The statesman needs to know how to win his hearers and convince them of the justice and wisdom of his cause. Whatever our calling, there is scarcely a day when we could not do better if we knew more fully how to influence people.

Industry. The service of psychology here is four-fold: (1) Finding what men are fitted for. (2) Finding what kinds of abilities are demanded by the various trades and occupations. (3) Helping the worker to understand the psychological aspects of his work. (4) Getting the best work out of the laborer.

Finding what men are fitted for. In the preceding chapter, we discussed the individual variations of men. Some people are better fitted physically and mentally for certain types of work than they are for other types of work. The determination of what an individual is fitted for and what he is not fitted for is the business of psychology. In some cases, the verdict of psychology can be very specific; in others, it can be only general. Much misery and unhappiness come to people from trying to do what they are not fitted by nature to do. There are many professions and occupations which people should not enter unless they possess high general ability. Now, psychology is able to measure general ability. There are many other occupations and professions which people should not enter unless they possess some special ability. Music, art, and mechanics may be mentioned as examples of occupations and professions demanding specific kinds of ability. In industrial work, many aspects demand very special abilities, as quick reaction, quick perception, fine discrimination, calmness and self-control, ingenuity, quick adaptation to new situations. Psychology can aid in picking out the people who possess the required abilities.

The different abilities demanded. It is the business of psychology to make a careful analysis of the specific abilities required in all the various works of life. There are hundreds of occupations and often much differentiation of work within an occupation. It is for the psychologist of the future to make this analysis and to classify the occupations with reference to the kinds of abilities demanded. Of course, many of them will be found to require the same kind of ability, but just as surely, many will be found to require very special abilities. It is a great social waste to have people trying to fill such positions unless they possess the specific abilities required.

It should be the work of the high school and college to explain the possibilities, and the demands in the way of ability, of the various occupations of the locality. By possibilities and demands are meant the kinds of abilities required and the rewards that can be expected, the kind of life which the different fields offer. It is the further duty of the high school and college to find out, as far as possible, the specific abilities of the students. With this knowledge before them, the students should choose their careers, and then make specific preparation for them. The schools ought to work in close coöperation with the industries, the student working for a part of the day in school and a part in the industries. This would help much in leading the student to understand the industries and in ascertaining his own abilities and interests.

The psychological aspects of one's work. All occupations have a psychological aspect. They involve some trick of attention, of association, of memory. Certain things must be looked for, certain habits must be formed, certain movements must be automatized. Workmen should be helped to master these psychological problems, to find the most convenient ways of doing their work. Workmen often do their work in the most uneconomical ways, having learned their methods through imitation, and never inquiring whether there is a more economical way.

Securing efficiency. Securing efficiency is a matter of influencing men, a matter which we have already discussed. Securing efficiency is quite a different matter from that treated in the preceding paragraph. A workman may have a complete knowledge of his work and be skilled in its performance, and still be a poor workman, because he does not have the right attitude toward his employer or toward his work. The employer must therefore meet the problem of making his men like their work and be loyal to their employer. The laborer must be happy and contented if he is to do good work. Moreover, there is no use in working, or in living either, if one cannot be happy and contented.

We have briefly indicated the possibilities of psychology in the various occupations and professions. There is a further application that has no reference to the practical needs of life, but to enjoyment. A psychological knowledge of human nature adds a new interest to all our social experience. The ability to understand the actions and feelings of men puts new meaning into the world. The ability to understand oneself, to analyze one's actions, motives, feelings, and thoughts, makes life more worth living. A knowledge of the sensations and sense organs adds much pleasure to life in addition to its having great practical value. Briefly, a psychological knowledge of human nature adds much to the richness of life. It gives one the analytical attitude. Experiences that to others are wholes, to the psychologist fall apart into their elements. Such knowledge leads us to analyze and see clearly what otherwise we do not understand and see only darkly or not at all. Literature and art, and all other creations and products of man take on a wholly new interest to the psychologist.