290 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



norms indicative of what the children of each mental age are capable 

 of doing. Each individual is then assigned daily lessons and duties 

 according to the norm for his mental age. The veork has not yet been 

 carried far enough to fix final norms, but the very introduction of the 

 principle of seeking such adaptation has had a most wonderful effect 

 on the institution. Thus, a boy who has had eighteen birthdays and is 

 of normal size enters the institution as a helpless dependent; he is 

 tested under the direction of the psychologist and is found to be men- 

 tally of the calibre of an eight-year-old and is therefore classified with 

 the group of that age. The norm shows that a lad of eighteen but 

 mentally developed only to the age of eight, and with slight, if any, 

 prospects for further development, can not read, nor write nor figure 

 serviceably, but he can feed himself, make his bed, fold his napkin, 

 keep himself clean, help a crippled brother, lead a horse, carry water, 

 pitch hay, hoe the garden, toss a ball, do small errands, etc. (the items 

 specified are fictitious). He cares little for play, but is an automaton, 

 glad and effective in repeating the same simple tasks. His program 

 for each day is therefore mapped out according to the norm showing 

 the upper limit of what he can do. The result is that he is busy all 

 day, industrious and useful and therefore happy and good. The secret 

 of it all is that he has found his level and is allowed to live on it. His 

 ambition is realized and he is proud and grateful for what he can do. 

 He is an illustration of scientific adjustment. Compare this boy with 

 his equal in the ordinary institution for the feeble-minded where he is 

 detained as an inmate out of adjustment, irritated by the things he 

 can not do. Adjustment transforms an institution of detention into a 

 house of happiness and usefulness; and, instead of being expensive, it 

 makes the institution more nearly self-supporting, for every individual 

 is assigned to the place of his greatest efficiency. 



In conclusion, let me sum up this all too brief appeal. Applied 

 psychology can not always live by the crimibs that fall from the pro- 

 fessor's table, nor can it get its full vitality from the non-psychological 

 professions. It must be fostered by the specialist who devotes himself 

 to it for its own sake. It must recognize itself, its own peculiar tech- 

 nique, its vastly varied fields, its diversities, its stupendous difficul- 

 ties, its essential limitations, and withal its promise and worth. 



