ESSAYS 133 



it a group-factor is found to lie between " Originality " and " Sense of 

 Humour " and to be nearer the latter. On this account it has been named 

 " Cleverness " — not, perhaps, a very happy choice. All qualities within this 

 group are therefore to be regarded as made up in varying proportions of 

 " general ability " and " Cleverness " and of these alone. 



A further step can be taken if the radii are drawn with definite lengths, 

 corresponding to the values of the qualities as measured on a uniform scale. 

 It will then be found, pleasingly enough, that lines drawn at right angles 

 from the ends of the radii will all intersect at a point. It should therefore 

 be possible to represent the whole mentality of an individual, so far as it is 

 contained in one group of qualities, by a single point whose position can 

 readily be defined by measuring its distance from the two co-ordinates, 

 that is, from the radii at right angles that represent the general and group- 

 factors respectively. Conversely, if this point be known, it should be pos- 

 sible to ascertain the value of any specific quality in the group by drawing 

 a perpendicular from this point to a radius whose angles with the co-ordin- 

 ates represent the known and presumably universal correlations of that 

 quality with the general and group-factors. 



In other words, we could predict the proportions that different qualities 

 will bear to one another in any given case. Thus, in Mr. Garnett's words, 

 when " Cleverness " (that is, the unfortunately named group-factor) "is at 

 a maximum . . . Sense of Humour is nearly at a maximum. . . . Originality 

 and Quickness are much above the average ; but Ability (g) is only 

 equal to the average." When Sense of Humour is " the most exceptional 

 quality . . . Cleverness, Originality and Quickness are all much above the 

 average, but Ability is slightly below the average. This does not of course 

 mean that very able men (men with very high g) may not have a great 

 Sense of Humour ; but only that, the greater their Ability (g) the greater 

 must be their Cleverness to produce a given degree of Sense of Humour." 

 Moreover the strength of the group-factor may be estimated from the 

 values of the more measurable specific qualities closely related to it ; thus 

 " Cleverness may be recognised in practice — as, for example, when interview- 

 ing a candidate for an appointment, to whose general Ability {g) testi- 

 monials or examination results bear witness — by noting his sense of humour, 

 general tendency to cheerfulness ... or quickness of apprehension." 



It is asserted that two well-marked types of mind are represented by 

 the preponderance of g and " Cleverness " respectively. The distinc- 

 tion is equated with William James's division of men of genius into the 

 thinkers, or analysts, on the one hand, and the poets and artists, or men of 

 intuitions, on the other, and is illustrated by Schiller's phrase : " The con- 

 straint which your intelligence imposes on your imagination." Other 

 writers also are invoked to confirm the reality of this distinction. Mercier, 

 for example, in an essay on " Cleverness and Capacity," has distinguished 

 between these qualities and argued that, unlike cleverness, capacity can be 

 educated. (Mr. Burt, however, has contended that g is innate.) Mc- 

 Dougall, in his Physiological Psychology, has argued that the mental differ- 

 ences between these types, especially in respect of their methods of reason- 

 ing and of associating ideas, are due to differences in the constitution of the 

 brain and of the neural systems. 



Dr. Webb has isolated another group-factor, independent of " Clever- 

 ness " and general ability. It is said by him to mean " consistency of action 

 resulting from deliberate volition or will," and has been named " Purpose " 

 by Mr. Garnett. Since it is a third " independent variable " we can repre- 

 sent it by a radius perpendicular to the other two co-ordinates, thus con- 

 structing a three-dimensional figure. In this figure, by proceeding as 

 before, we can obtain a point in space, measured from the three co-ordinates, 

 that represents the mentality of an individual in respect of two groups of 



