BIOLOGY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 



less effect than the presence of an intelligent, competent, 

 interested, friendly supervisor. 



4. Of all the motives which lead American workers 

 voluntarily to restrict their output, the two which operate 

 most extensively are fear of rate cutting, and fear of layoff. 



5. Scientifically sound and feasible methods of investi- 

 gation in industrial psychology have been developed 

 and validated, so that many pressing problems of vo- 

 cational adjustment may now be entrusted to it with 

 confidence. 



Investigations such as those which have already been 

 made in this field, devoted to the understanding and im- 

 provement of human adjustments in the working situation, 

 are of benefit to both employer and employee, as two of 

 my European colleagues quite unwittingly showed. After 

 attending the Fourth International Conference for 

 Technopsychology in Paris in 1927, it was my 

 privilege to visit one of the leading industrial psycholo- 

 gists of Switzerland and to observe his work in the Suchard 

 chocolate factory in Neuchatel. I asked him how he defined 

 the field of industrial psychology. "What do you, as 

 psychologist, undertake to do in this factory?" 



"The aim of the industrial psychologist," he said, "is 

 to see that the workers leave the plant at night without 

 being fatigued, irritated, or nervous." 



"Good," I replied; "but just what do you do in order 

 to bring this about?" 



"First, I study the workers at their work to see in what 

 ways it is possible to rearrange the layout, simplify the 

 movements required, and so make it possible for them to 

 do more work with less expenditure of energy. Secondly, 

 I look to the training of the workers in order that they 

 may all be taught how to do their work in the best and easi- 

 est ways. Third, in cooperation with the employment de- 

 partment, I have used tests of various abilities, to help in 



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