Behaviourism on its Best Behaviour
The Foundations of Experimental Psychology. Edited by Carl Murchison. (Oxford University Press. 27s.) Tux mass production of psychological works must rank high among the academic industries of the U.S.A. One great concern, founded by Thorndikc and J. B. Watson, dominates- the field and has promoted a considerable amount of trustification among the laboratories. Animated by the single purpose of demonstrating the suitability of psychology
for experimental treatment, the psychologists practise an astounding degree of specialization. The various parts are periodically . assembled in a symposium and given to the world as the new model for the year, much like- Ford cars. Professor Murchison has already shown his enterprise as
the Henry Ford of psychology by the Psychologies of 1925, issued under his editorship, of which we are promised a new edition this spring. In the present volume he has collected
the work of twenty-three writers, all but two of whom are American.
American conditions seem to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of psychological science, as they are to the pro- duction of films, and for very similar reasons.- There is an absence of that academic tradition -which ties psychology in other countries to the wheels of logic and epistemology. The restless imitativeness of one successful newcomer by another, the: spirit of emulation, the command of great wealth and of large _numbers of human subjects lead to
investigation on a large scale ; while popularity is assured to a young science -by a young nation, credulous and con- fident, which- likes to make generalizations about human beings, to label -motives and people- and to rationalize its
cOnditet in .terms of high-sounding theory. Amongst so
many practitioners some must be plausible impbstors, but ninny also are genuine innovators and industrious investigators. For one reason or another- American. psychology leads the world to-day. Typical of the best work done in the subject is this vast symposium of nine hundred pages, well-planned and erudite,.4esiealing an astonishing -range of topics-, com- pactly -tfeatetrand --ofganiied to the 'end that psychology should be on a parity with the other biological sciences in precision and dependability.
The comprehensive scope of the book makes it an impossible task for one reviewer to comment adequately on the majority of the topics dealt with. But the plan and intention can be briefly referred to. It was Professor Murchison's intention to include all the topics which in the judgment of most psychologists could be dealt with profitably in an experimental way. These appear as heredity, tropistic behaviour, the mechanism of reaction, the various sense- organs, feeling, emotion, learning and intelligent social behaviour as evinced in infancy, school-life and the com- munity. It is easy, as in the parallel case of an anthology, to make criticism regarding sins of omission and commission. Thus it is- difficult-to conceive on -what grounds Mr. - Clark Wissler's verbose and obscure account of the conflict and survival of cultures was included in a book on experimental psychology, since his subject is entirely historical and indeed speculative. Mr. May's treatment of social psychology, 09, suffers from the absence of properly experimental studies, and he is reduced to giving a mere catalogue of the various problems involved. On the other hand, one wonders why no account is given of recent American work on language and thought, in which considerable experimental studies have been made by Allport and Markey and by Professor Piaget of Geneva.
The best papers are on compact topics of a highly technical nature, in which excellent descriptions are given of the more recent achievements of experimental technique. Such are that of Mr. W. J. Crozier on the study of living organisms, which, in effect, is an account of the work of Loeb and his successors on the various tropisms, and two studies by Lashley and Hunter, the best-known of the post-Watsonian Behaviour- ists, on Learning. Mr. Crozier makes an observation that will surprise many who believe that mathematical analysis has made little headway in the study of living organisms. He points out that in some of the problems he has studied a degree of complexity is discovered which baffles the mathe- matician. This occurs in an essay which bristles with equa tions ! Mr. Crozier is a mechanist who declines to infer that this exposes biology to the challenge that extra-naturalistic ex: planations are necessary. Equations concerning the reactions of organisms in terms of physical forces can, he declares, be conceived and stated with ease, even where their solution is difficult.
It remains to be said that the papers are admirably equipped with references. For example, T. H. Morgan's account of heredity is followed by a bibliography of more than two hundred items. There are also two excellent articles on the statistical methods in common use in dealing with psycho- logical material. In short, the book shows Behaviourism on its best behaviour.
Sir John Adams' book is of a very different order of impor- tance. No one can read his introduction without wishing to find out how he has Succeeded in his difficult task of dis- cussing psychology " with the chill off." That the chill is taken off soon becomes abundantly evident, but the kind of warmth that is imported may not be to the taste of everyone. Cheerful, chatty and playfully patronizing writings about science have no doubt their public, but the teacher has good reason to distrust the Wodehouses of psychology who only amuse and mis-instruct. Sir John has obviously no intention to mislead, but lie is a victim to the theory that facetiousness is a good educational technique, a view which is not uncommon among educationists who are engaged in a vain attempt to teach children the wrong things.
There is room for popular books like Dewey's Ilow We Think or Professor A. E. Heath's How We Behave, but this one of Sir John Adams' is out-of-date and reactionary, and there is a miss of implicit prejudice in it which robs it of any scientific value. Sir John has a bee in his bonnet about Herbart, who was a great psychologist, but has been dead nearly a hundred years. Psychology, after all, marches.
J. L. GRAY.
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