News and Commments
Semi-annual Meeting of the Feebleminded Club On Saturday, November 9, The Feebleminded Club convened at the Vineland Training School for its semi-annual meeting. The presence of superintendents from nearby institutions, of psychologists and psychiatrists interested in the experimental study of feeblemindedness, attested to the continuing interest on the part of the members of the club in the problems of the feebleminded. Contrary to the usual custom, the meeting of The Feebleminded Club Avas given over to a formal program consisting of reports by members of the staff of the Vineland Training School, of research which is at present being conducted under the auspices of that institution. The reports presented at this meeting are briefly outlined below. Sarah E. Crowell, B.S., University of Pennsylvania.
Genetic Development of Infants in Feebleminded Families. A field study of children under six years of age (from feebleminded stock previously investigated) for the purpose of determining (a) the present mental development of such children by means of standard scales of infant mental growth,, especially the Gesell Scale, and (b) the developmental histories of such children as far as they can be obtained with reference to the differential use of such data in the clinical syllabus. This study has two other aspects, (a) determination of present mentality of adults formerly examined when children, and (b) the quantitative aspect of heredity by comparing the intelligence level of one generation with another in the same families.
August K. Eccles, B.S., Columbia University.
An Abbreviation of the Behavior Score Card. An attempt to reduce the number of items in the Yepsen Behavior Score Card and avoid duplication of items in order that this instrument may be made more practicable for routine use.
Benjamin Frank, M.A., University of Pennsylvania. Social Adjustment of Discharged State Patients. An analysis of thirty-five State cases discharged from The Training School, whose social adjustment has been investigated by the Central Parole Bureau of the State Department of Institutions and Agencies, with special reference to living conditions, employment, economic supervision and social adjustment, including a correlation of these with age, mental age and length of residence, for the purpose of evaluating parole policies and training programs. Cecelia Gorsuch, M.A., Ohio Wesleyan.
Adaptive Behavior of Idiots. An experimental study of the adaptive behavior of low-grade feeebleminded children in problemsolving situations involving a comparison of their adaptive behavior with that of normal infants and anthropoids.
Carl Ingvolstad, A.B., University of Minnesota. Theoretical Study of Idiocy. A critical review of the literature on idiocy from the point of view of general orientation and theoretical exposition, for the purpose of providing a unified background for a series of research studies on various aspects of idiocy with some formulation of the research problems presented by this category. J. T. McIntire, A.B., West Virginia University.
The Emotions of Idiots. An experimental study of the emotional behavior of idiots, with special reference to the psychogalvanic reflex and with reference to the different types of idiocy and with attention to the outward display of emotions and possibly the factors conditioning emotional response.
Ruth T. Melcher, M.A., University of Kentucky. Mental Deficiency Following Birth Trauma. A descriptive study of birth injury as a category of mental deficiency, with special reference to the measurement of the mental and motor capabilities in this group and their improvement under muscle training. ^Gordon L. Riley, M.A., University of Minnesota.
The Personal Constant. A comparison of the relative values of the Intelligence Quotient and the Personal Coefficient proposed by Heinis, with reference to the curve of mental growth in feebleminded subjects, for the purpose of obtaining a better predictive index for mental prognosis.
In addition to these reports, a lively discussion of the research projects and informal chats served to add interest to the meeting. Morris S. Viteles University of Pennsylvania
With the resignation of Dean W. F. Fleming of Yanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, Dr F. C. Pasehall, formerly of the Psychology Department of the University of Pennsylvania, has been promoted from Associate Dean to Dean of the College. A laboratory of psychology has been opened at Mt. St. Joseph’s College, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. It will be in charge of J. Ellis Voss who was last year in the psychology department at the University of Arizona, and previous to that an Assistant in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
The next annual meeting of the National Vocational Guidance Association will be held on February 20, 21, 22, at the Hotel Chalfonte, Atlantic City, New Jersey. The program will include an extended discussion of psychological techniques in vocational guidance. Of particular interest to the clinical psychologist will be a joint meeting with the staff of the Vineland Training School, to be held at the Training School on the afternoon of Saturday, February 22, devoted to a discussion of the vocational guidance of the mentally defective. Institutional and clinic representatives will be found on the program, which is being arranged jointly by Dr E. A. Doll, Director of Research of the Vineland Training School, and Dr Morris S. Viteles, University of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Program Committee of the National Vocational Guidance Association.
The International Council for the Education of Exceptional Children will hold its annual convention in Philadelphia on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, February 20, 21, and 22, 1930. Arrangements for meetings and entertainments of the delegates are now being planned by Dr Gladys Ide, Director of the Department of Special Education in the Philadelphia Public Schools. The headquarters of the Council during the convention will be at the Hotel Pennsylvania, Thirty-ninth and Chestnut Streets. Some very interesting sectional meetings will be held, inviting discussion on such topics as The Physically Handicapped Child, The Gifted Child, and The Problem Child. Visits will be made to some of Philadelphia’s Orthogenic Backward classes and special class centers, and on Saturday afternoon there will be trips to nearby institutions?namely, Overbrook School for the Blind, Pennsylvania Training School for Feebleminded Children at Elwyn, and the Widener Memorial Home for Crippled Children.
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