DESCRIPTIVE TECHNIQUES 121 



stance which is highly malleable, melting at 1075°, having 

 a specific gravity of 19.3, and so on, which would contrast 

 with its explanation in terms of atomic structure. Descrip- 

 tion may be inventive in character in case one wishes to 

 devise a symbol for a property not yet adequately symbol- 

 ized in the language system. This occurs commonly in the 

 naming of heavenly bodies, chemical elements and com- 

 pounds, scientific instruments, and animal and plant forms. 

 Or description may involve simply the application to the 

 event of a symbol which is already a part of the language 

 system and used to represent an event of the same kind as 

 that under consideration. Concepts fluctuate in meaning 

 by virtue of this general applicability. In the cases both of 

 invented and of borrowed symbols the presumption is that 

 the event as a whole, or certain of its apparent qualities, 

 has been directly observed, and that the symbolic activities 

 of the mind are then called into operation with a view to 

 constructing a representative of the event which will preserve 

 it in a more permanent and communicable form. 



The particular form which the symbol takes will be deter- 

 mined by the problem. It has already been seen that there 

 are different types of symbol, each having its own function. 

 If one is interested in the vividness and accuracy of his 

 symbol, he will employ an icon, i.e., he will form a clear 

 image, or draw a picture or diagram, or construct a model. 

 But if one is interested rather in talking or writing about 

 the event he will employ the symbolism of ordinary language, 

 i.e., he will employ concepts or propositions. 



Supposing that one has adopted linguistic symbols, he 

 then finds that there are at least three important descriptive 

 techniques. These are classifying, ordering, and correlating. 

 These may be called operations, since they are of essentially 

 the same kind as the manipulative operations in the physical 

 sphere. They are various things which one does to events. 

 But they should properly be called mental operations, since 

 they clearly are not operations on events in the ordinary 

 sense of the word, i.e., they do not transform the events 



