444 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



LEARNING CAPACITY— AN IMPORTANT FAC 

 TOR IN EMPLOYMENT ADJUSTMENT 



Emery T. Filbey, University of Chicago 



We have heard much of late concerning the "human 

 factor" in industry and in commerce. We have been 

 concerned about the "square peg" in a "round hole" 

 and the "round peg" in a "square hole" and faulty 

 reasoning has sometimes led us to accept conclusions 

 not well founded in fact. It is well known that jobs do 

 shape themselves to the interest, capacity and peculiari- 

 ties of individuals filling them, and it is also recognized 

 that individuals do adjust themselves to the require- 

 ments of their jobs. Difficulty has arisen from the fact 

 that these adjustments have not always gone forward 

 with desired rapidity or because they have not been 

 carried to the desired level of accomplishment. 



If one were to follow a new employe from employ- 

 ment induction through the early stages of advance- 

 ment to positions of more and more responsibility he 

 would find, if both employe and job opportunity were 

 of a high order, almost constant demands for adjust- 

 ment along the following lines : 



The employe finds certain things to do which require 

 more or less skill, tasks which can be done well and 

 quickly only after motor controls have been established. 

 Some of these adjustments are very simple, others in- 

 volve periods of practice before the necessary controls 

 are perfected. The manipulation of office or plant 

 machines and the skillful handling of materials ordi- 

 narily require such capacity. The constant shift in pres- 

 ent-day plant and office practice necessitates a modicum 

 of such development on the job as well as through pre- 

 paratory training if the worker is to be employed 

 regularly. 



There is a second type of adjustment which necessi 

 tates the accumulation of information. This involves 

 the learning of codes, the memorizing of routes or sched- 

 ules, the details of manufacturing processes or the bring- 

 ing together of information along any one of many 

 lines. In any event the employe finds it necessary to 



