Psychology of the Normal and Subnormal
Book Reviews. , by Henry Herbert Goddard, A.M., Ph.D. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd. 25s.
Most psychologists would agree with Dr. Goddard when in his introduction he refers to the limitations of simple introspection, and when in his second chapter he lays stress on the fact that ‘psychology has been compelled always to go somewhat beyond the limits of consciousness in attempting to explain mental phenomena,’ but such statements invite en- quiry into his selection of an alternative or supplementary basis of investigation.
Attempts to supplant or supplement the in- trospective method fall roughly into three groups, one of which takes leave of psycho- logy as a self-supporting science with its own data, laws and concepts, in favour of what is really a special province of physiology, while the behaviouristic and the psycho- analytic groups seek respectively to supplant introspection by a study of the external re- actions of living organisms or to re-inforce it by a special technique. Dr. Goddard’s choice is distributed between a frank switching over into the subject matter of physiology and re- liance on the data has been obtained from a close study of the behaviour reactions of sub- jects under his care. Since his book is mainly concerned with an organically deter- mined group of mental conditions the excel- lent and lucid account he gives of the neurological aspects of these conditions can- not fail to be of considerable use to the stu- dent, but has clearly no claim to be styled psychology, and the critic has a right to grumble when a book with this title is not only packed with neurological data but con- sistently interprets in neurological terms thie writer’s valuable psychological experience. It is a further indictment of the use of such a title to point out that the writer ignores the important contributions of the psychoana- lytic school to the elucidation of both normal andrabnormal psychology. It is conceivable that when writers on these subjects have come to grips with this new body of knowledge there will b(* less temptation to fill large gaps in their psychological discourse with borrow- ings from other science as when the writer explicates thought with the help of the physiological conception of neurochyme.
That the writer is out of touch with these important trends in modern psychology is further shewn by statements such as ‘intellect- ual life controls to some degree emotional life and probably is capable of complete control of action no matter what the condition of the emotion.’ The compulsive action of the highly intellectual compulsion neurotic offers the most striking contradiction of a statement which psychoanalysis has shown to be also un- true of the actions of everyday life.
When his book is regarded not as the psychological treatise the title leads vis to expect, but as an expert and practical contri- bution to the study of Mental Deficiency; the mood of critic sm is replaced by one of appreciation of the writer’s unique practical experience and his success in attaining the ideal of clearness in presentation which he prescribes for himself in his introduction. Students of Mental Deficiency will find his discussion of mental testing valuable, although designedly elementary. The critical reader finds his optimism on this subject better based when he applies it to his findings within the limits of mental defect than when he extends it to a comprehensive sorting out of the com- munity at large. In spite of notable advances it is still true that, as Dr. Wells reminds us, “Better reasons can now be given for regard- ing a boy John as defective than for saying that James will do best as a teacher, lawyer, or business man.”
By far the most valuable section of the book is that devoted to the pedagogy of the Men- tally Defective which should be read by everyone who has any personal dealings with members of this class. One could wish that his discussion of punishment could find a wider circle of readers.
James Glover, M.B, Intelligence and Social Valuation. R- A. Berry, M.D., & S.D. Porteus. De- partment of Research, the Training School Vinelands, New Jersey, 1920. P. 100. Any methods which will add to the arma- mentarium of those who have to diagnose or care for the defective are sure of a ready welcome. At one time physical examination played a predominant part, but it gradually lost ground when it appeared that only a minority of defectives belonged to special types. Estimation of the size of the head, useful as a guide in certain instances, fell into disuse when it was shown in the mass to shew little correlation to general intelligence. Prof. Berry, of Melbourne, sets out in the first part of this volume the results of thou- sands of measurements of the head with calculations of the cranial capacity by the use of the formula devised by Miss Alice Lee. He adopts the method of percentile tables for each age so that an individual may be readily compared in his own age group. He finds the average capacity of the head of defectives is less than that of normals, but testing samples from each percentile range he has established that children in the lowest ten percentile group present about 50% at dull or feeble-minded levels with only 5% above normal, while of the 90 percentile group 14% were subnormal and 25% supernormal- The existence of defectives in the higher groups in excess of those in intermediate capacity groups is due to the fact that the size of the head may be increased by over- growth of non-nervous tissues in Hhe brain.
Some help in diagnosis may be obtained by noting the capacity of the head in a subject and noting the percentile group in which it would come, though the general adoption of this method with reasonable certainty would involve the working out of similar percentile tables in each country. A study of the grip and of the vital capacity of this large group of children shewed that the defectives had a marked inferiority in psycho- physical development.
A study on the Porteus maze tests investi- STUDIES IN MENTAL INEFFICIENCY. 23 gates characters of prudence, forethought, capacity to learn from practice, and adapt- ability to new situations not so fully tested by the Binet Simon method. The correlation ?f the results by the two scales is high and justifies the use of these tests, but as the author points out rather for purposes of supple- menting than of replacing existing methods of testing. It must be appreciated that there are no mental tests of the simplicity of the reactions in chemical analysis; they serve as indications, but diagnosis rests on the experi- ence of the observer. This volume should be widely read from its suggestive and critical nature and for its extensive summary of the literature of the topics discussed. F.C.S.
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