EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 



appears that the vast majority of persons with inverted 

 sexual inclinations (that is, homosexuals) are made so by 

 their early experiences. Parent fixations are common 

 causal factors. As from 2 to 5 per cent of the general 

 adult population show more or less marked homosexuality, 

 either overt or latent, it is evident that the problem is 

 much more serious than it is usually supposed to be. 



Generally speaking, it is in the cultivation of desirable 

 traits of personality that education can exert its greatest 

 influence upon original nature. The best of training over 

 and above that which is now commonly available in the 

 schools is not capable of adding so very much to a child's 

 intellectual stature. By suitable methods of instruction 

 the dull may be made to learn a little more than they 

 otherwise would, and by the choice of suitable curriculum 

 material they can be equipped for life far better than they 

 usually are, but their ability to carry on complicated 

 intellectual processes remains practically unchanged. And 

 just as dull children are not made bright by good teachers, 

 so bright children are not made dull by poor teachers. In 

 the case of personality traits the situation is very different. 

 There is reason to believe that it is possible to make a 

 child deceitful or truthful, honest or dishonest, fearless 

 or fear-ridden, fair-minded or prejudiced, religious or 

 non-religious, masculine-minded or feminine-minded, al- 

 most at will. It is unfortunate that education neglects 

 most the very things it can do best. 



Psychometric Methods. Since individual differences are 

 so important for education, and since they cannot prop- 

 erly be taken into account without quantitative methods 

 of measuring them, it is desirable to give the reader a more 

 definite idea of the technique which such measurements 

 employ. There are now hundreds of psychological measur- 

 ing instruments, commonly known as mental tests, and 

 it is manifestly impossible to describe them all in this 



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