ABSTRACTS OF PERIODICAL LITERATURE Motor Phenomena and Action... 21, 137, 252, 373, 479, 600, 670 Attention, Memory and Thought.. 25, 140, 257, 380, 482, 605, 674 Social Functions of the Individual. 28, 145, 264, 385, 487, 609, 675 Special Mental Conditions. 30, 150, 270, 389, 491, 615, 679 Nervous and Mental Disorders....31, 151, 274, 392, 492, 618, 684 Individual, Racial and Social Psychology, Mental Development in Man... 42, 156, 279, 396, 515, 635, 696 Vol. 19, No. 1. January, 1922. JAN 4 100 LIBRA PSYCHOLOGICAL BULLETIN I. GENERAL 1. FLETCHER, J. M., Geneticism as a Heuristic Principle in Psychology. J. of Philos., 1921, 18, 421-433. The chief contention of this paper is that in scientific treatment fact and value should be kept separate. The historical method of interpretation of anything is not to be confused with the value of the thing as independent of history. In psychology historicism is known as geneticism. The logical outcome of a genetic interpretation of psychological facts as well as all vital facts is that all shall be based on mechanical laws. The genetic explanation does not exhaust the underlying facts. At times it may seem to be more logical. Psychologists should be able to sense the infallibility of logic, in the first place. In the next place if they begin to agree to a genetic explanation they must give over to those who work with mechanics only. Then history is one thing and evaluation is another. Value must change with time. A thing may have been once important, valuable but merely running it back in its temporal order cannot just be what we would want. Again we have what may be called analyticism. Titchener's assumption that experiences capable of being "analyzed into organic sensations are complexes of organic sensations," is an illustration of this tendency. It is probably back of the contention for imagelessthought. Lastly psychology has for its chief purpose inquiry into the functional efficiency of mental process and any confusion of fact and value will produce serious consequences. T. R. GARTH (Texas) 2. SHELDON, W. H., Is the Conservation of Energy Proved of the Human Body? J. of Philos., 1921, 18, 589-600. Interaction between conscious process and bodily process is more easily believed than parallelism. Experiments cited by the writer afford no ground for preferring one explanation to another, however interaction appeals to common sense and comports with natural experience as a basis for a view. The philosopher and psy. chologist need not decamp from the tenability of the view of interaction since such would not necessarily be unscientific. Mind might in exceptional cases produce an amount of energy exceeding the volume of the amount taken in. T. R. GARTH (Texas) 3. PICARD, M., A Discussion of "Mind Discerned." J. of Philos., 1921, 18, 701-713. The writer in discussing a paper in this journal by Professor Woodbridge by the title "Mind Discerned" says he feels the "haunting suggestiveness" of it all. True all kinds of men deal with the same "subject-matter," but there must be a congeniality between the reacting organism and the subject-matter reacted to. Animal bodies are not on a par with objects of study such as bodies having chemical reactions since we cannot predict their total reactions. Emotions and feelings are subject-matter located in time and space but they are evident to individuals by introspection immediately and only mediately as nerve tissue. No supernatural mind is implied when I know a "green" as a "green-sensation" but only as it functions in my reacting organism. Objects, animal bodies and among them human bodies possess a matter and form having characteristics of their own. T. R. GARTH (Texas) 4. BOND, C., The Position of Psychological Medicine in Medical and Allied Services. J. Ment. Sci., 1921, 67, 404-449. The author discusses public interest in mental disorders and the existing legal restictions on the treatment of mental disorders. Under the second subject he takes up the restrictions as to inpatient treatment; the meager extent to which voluntary treatment is permitted; the necessary extension of the system of voluntary admission, especially to county and borough mental hospitals; the absence of legal restrictions upon out-patient treatment; the dependence of legal restriction upon "certifiability" and the difficulty of its definition; the vagueness of alleged "uncertifiability" as a guide to arrangements; and certifiable cases either without volition or hostile to treatment. He mentions further the need for more propaganda and gives the outline of the Consultative Council's scheme for the supply of medical and allied service. He discusses the projected local health authority and domiciliary service. Under this second heading he speaks of the relation of general practitioners to psychological medicine; the influence of the general practitioner in promoting mental hygiene; the family doctor and certification; the unnecessary use of existing emergency procedure and the need of improvement in emergency procedure for admission to county and borough mental hospitals. He follows this with a discussion of institutional services, stating that the primary center should be available for out-patient treatment of mental cases. He enlarges upon the importance of this type of treatment. The secondary center, he says, should be available for mental cases both as out-patients and as in-patients. The university center should provide a psychiatric clinic and thoroughly organized teaching in psychological medicine, as well as treatment facilities. Institutions for mental disorders must be hospitals in fact as well as in name. Classification of patients is important. Unnecessary institutional customs should be avoided. The dietary should be suitable. There should be freedom of discharge. There must be clinical records and facilities for clinical work. There should be a visiting medical staff and the organization of the resident staff should be given much care and attention. "Fluidity" of service is absolutely necessary. The author closes by discussing at some length psychological medicine and its relation to the school medical service, to criminology, to industrial hygiene; psychological medicine in the naval and military medical services; and the importance of "health visitors." R. E. LEAMING (Pennsylvania) 5. DODGE, R., A Mirror-recorder for Photographing the Compensatory Movements of Closed Eyes. J. of Exper. Psychol., 1921, 4, 165-174. Attempts to photograph reactive compensatory eye-movements have hitherto been seriously embarrassed by the technical difficulties of securing records in the dark or from closed eyes. These difficulties, however, are not insuperable. It is possible to place a surface against the eye-lid in such fashion that it will tend to assume a tangential position with respect to the underlying cornea. A mirror on the reverse side of this surface will reflect a recording beam of light in accordance with the rotation from side to side produced by the passage of the apex of the cornea underneath. The angular displacement of the mirror depends on the angular displacement of the eye, the relationship between the radius of curvature of the cornea and that of the eyeball, the relative position of the mirror with respect to the apex of the cornea, the thickness and stiffness of the intervening lid, and the intercurrent movements of the lid. The recording mirrors are held against the closed lids by light forked, steel bars projecting inward from the sides of a supporting frame secured firmly to the subject's forehead by means of adjustable nose-piece, temple supports, and ear bows. A commercial 100-watt nitrogen-filled incandescent lamp with a horseshoeshaped filament is a satisfactory source of light for the recording beam. The light from this lamp is reflected to the concave mirrors of the mirror-recorder which, in turn, project the image across the slit of the recording camera. C. C. PRATT (Clark) 6. LAIRD, D. A., Apparatus for the Study of Visual After-images. J. of Exper. Psychol., 1921, 4, 218-221. Author describes simple device for securing an intense and even illumination from reflecting surfaces covered with colored linings for the purpose of studying positive and negative visual afterimages. C. C. PRATT (Clark) 7. DUNLAP, K., An Improvement in Voice Keys. J. of Exper. Psychol., 1921, 4, 244-246. Author reports an improvement made in his model of the voice key by means of a contact operated by gravity alone. C. C. PRATT (Clark) 8. BRAHN, M., Wilhelm Wundt und die angewandte Psychologie. Praktische Psychol., 1920, 2, 1-3. Die angewandte Psychologie verdankt Wundt die Möglichkeit ihres Daseins; er ist ihr jedoch nicht mehr Führer geworden. H. BOGEN (Berlin) 9. HÖFLER, A., Meinongs Psychologie. Zeits. f. Psychol., 1921, 86, 368-374Nachruf auf den verstorbenen Psychologen und Analyse seiner Werke. H. HENNING (Frankfurt a/M.) |