THE RENAISSANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY 



of the Special abilities supported by the general level of 

 our intelligence. 



The nature of intelligence and of the variety of special 

 aptitudes can but be referred to as conditioning the problem 

 of the job; for it is far from so simple a matter as avoiding 

 square pegs in round holes, or the reverse. Human aptitudes 

 are of as many varieties as the geometric constituents of 

 design. The industrial psychologist has appeared upon 

 the scene, and personnel officers are attached to large 

 corporations. Their service depends upon psychological 

 findings. 



That modern industry sets problems for the psychologist 

 is a fact that need not detain us long. It may lead to a lack 

 of proportion between intrinsic interest and the accident 

 of economic worth, as is conspicuously true of the psy- 

 chology of advertising — a "shop" specialty that happens 

 to engage large financial investments. The true components 

 of that equation are the set of desires and motives on the 

 one side and the appeal that will direct them into the 

 spending budget on the other. Advertising may add needless 

 evidence to the familiar fact that a fool and his money are 

 easily parted; and it may offer minor illustrations of the 

 fluctuations and uncertainties of taste. The suspicion that 

 much of it is economic waste is growing among such 

 psychologically minded economists as Stuart Chase. As a 

 topic it has far less intrinsic interest than the psychology 

 of prestige or of persuasion, of which it forms a minor 

 chapter. 



By contrast, the psychology inherent in educational pro- 

 cedure or in industrial efficiency justifies the expenditure of 

 time and technique in its study. Lost motion, whether in 

 laying bricks, assembling a machine, or teaching children 

 the rudiments of arithmetic, geography, history, manual 

 arts, is a matter important enough to demand a proper 

 analysis of its causes and a search for its remedies. The 



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