August 17, ign] 



NATURE 



21 1 



in physics in the Oxford Natural Science School; 

 general standard adopted is somewhat lower than 

 that required for the examinations in physics for the 

 Intermediate B.Sc. of the University of London. The 

 book has been carefully written, and the diagrams are 

 well drawn and reproduced. A large assortment of 

 questions (without answers) is given at the end of 

 each chapter. For the rest, there is not much to 

 distinguish this book from many others on the market. 

 The ordinary ground is covered in a trustworthy but 

 somewhat uninspiring manner, and very little attention 

 has been devoted to display. One or two errors may 

 be mentioned. Ohm's law cannot be proved by the aid 

 of experiments conducted with the potentiometer, as 

 stated on p. 520 ; the use of the potentiometer is based 

 on the truth of Ohm's law. One of the diagrams on 

 p. 466 indicates that when a charged body is sus- 

 pended inside an insulated metal can, the distribution 

 t>f the lines of force radiating externally from the 

 can depends on the position of the body inside the 

 can. This conclusion is well known to be inaccurate. 

 A very bad example is set to students on p. 16, where 

 it is stated that — 



"A velocity of 20 miles per hour was gained in 

 15 minutes; if the acceleration had been uniform, 



= 1 "J miles per hour had been added in each minute, 

 •5 



or - 1 =002183 miles per hour in each second." 



One of the first things that should be impressed 

 on a student of physics is that recurring decimals 

 have absolutely no meaning with regard to physical 

 measurements. E. Edser. 



EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. 

 Lectures on the Experimental Psychology of the 

 Thought-Processes. By Prof. E. B. Titchener. 

 Pp. ix+318. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; 

 London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 

 55. 6d. net. 

 1 Text-book of Psychology. By Prof. E. B. Titchener. 

 Part II. Pp. ix + 303-558. (New York : The Mac- 

 millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

 1910.) Price 6s. net. 



IN these books Prof. Titchener has made two valu- 

 able additions to the list of excellent psvchological 

 text-books that already stands to his name. The first 

 takes its place by the side of his "Lectures on Feel- 

 ing and Attention " as another detailed and advanced 

 discussion going to the very heart of general psvcho- 

 logical theory ; the second is the completion of a new 

 "Text-book of Psychology," intended to take the place 

 of his well-known " Outline." 



The lectures on thought-processes are five in num- 

 ber, in which are discussed the general function of 

 mental imagery and its relation to thought, "objective 

 reference " as the universal characteristic of conscious- 

 ness, the modern methods employed in the experi- 

 mental investigation of the thought-processes (by 

 Marbe, Binet, Watt, Ach, Messer, Buhler, &c), and 

 the general conclusion as to the existence of a distinct 

 "thought-element" to which most of these investi- 

 gators find themselves driven. Titchener finds this 

 NO. 2l8l, VOL. 87] 



conclusion unjustified by the facts, and to be explained, 

 partly at least, by a confusion of the psychological 

 with the logical point of view. "Cortical set," i.e. a 

 purely physiological factor, together with a residuum 

 of mental imagery, a residuum so inappreciable that 

 it escapes introspection, are to be looked upon as the 

 more probable factors in the make-up of so-called 

 " imageless thought" than any ultimate thought- 

 element. 



The first lecture contains an excellent account of 

 the difference between modern psychological sensa- 

 tionalism and the older sensationalism of the associa- 

 tionist school. Whether the difference is so funda- 

 mental as Prof. Titchener imagines it to be is perhaps 

 doubtful. When, e.g. he writes: "The experi- 

 mentalists, on the other hand, aim to describe the 

 contents of consciousness not as they mean but as 

 they are," one may perhaps be allowed to demur. 

 Would not such a complete abstraction of mental pro- 

 cess from meaning make a theory of knowledge im- 

 possible? A distinction so rigorously drawn between 

 psychology and epistemology or metaphysics really 

 implies a denial of the existence of the latter sciences. 

 In Lecture II. an analogy for the reference to an 

 object implied in all thought is taken from physical 

 organisation. 



" Every constituent part of an organism points 

 to and implies all the other parts. In the same way 

 the ideational process which is the vehicle of con- 

 ceptual meaning is involved in a network of repro- 

 ductive tendencies; it points to and implies all the 

 special ideas that fall under the concept in question." 



Is it not more accurate to say that the "reference" 

 and implication in the former case is explicable on the 

 analogv of that in the latter, and not vice versa? The 

 complete identification of "meaning" and "context" 

 mav solve many difficulties, but does it not raise still 

 greater difficulties in doing so? Such doubts as these 

 may arise in perusing the lecture, but Titchener does 

 really come to close quarters and grapples with the 

 central difficulty in a way that does much to justify 

 his unshakable faith in psychology and its com- 

 petency to include the whole field of mental life. 



The later lectures are an excellent description and 

 criticism of experimental work on thought. The con- 

 ceptions of Bewusstseinslage and Aufgahe are fully 

 explained and the exact position of the problem up-to- 

 date made clear. In the " Notes," which fill more 

 than 200 pages, the original authorities are exten- 

 sivelv quoted, and many points are discussed in much 

 greater detail. The entire book will be found of the 

 utmost value to the advanced student. 



The "Text-book of Psychology," Part II., deals 

 with Perception Association, Memory and Imagina- 

 tion, Action, Emotion, and Thought, all in a clear and 

 straightforward way. The descriptions are based upon 

 experimentally-determined data, and give an excellent 

 idea of the extent to which Experimental Psychology 

 has widened and deepened the more general science. 

 Verv full references for further reading: are pjiven at 

 the ends of the chapters. By the device of type of 

 two different sizes the book has been made suitable 

 both for the beginner and also for the more advanced 

 student. W. B. 



