746 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION L. 
Doctorate in Literature at the University of London, has an all-important 
bearing on questions relating to the cultivation of memory. 
For a considerable time problematical arithmetic has, by common consent, 
been given a place early in morning school. A careful research recently pub- 
lished, however, gives an account of experiments which show that better 
results can be obtained by taking this subject at a later hour in the morning, 
except in the cases of poor children who do work before coming to school. 
Many such investigations could be quoted to show the great importance of 
bringing scientific methods of investigation to the questions of school organisa- 
tion. Such an investigation as that carried out by Mr. Ballard on ‘ What 
London children like to draw,’ published in the ‘Journal of Experimental 
Pedagogy’ for March 1912, is an excellent example of a stimulative and 
suggestive piece of work. 
From a long list of important questions, which need careful scientific 
investigation, may be mentioned :— 
The age at which a child should commence to read and write. 
The best method of teaching reading. 
The number of hours a child can profitably spend in school at a given age 
The most suitable length of lessons for children at different ages. 
The most satisfactory tests of intelligence. 
. The effect of handwork on other branches of instruction and on general 
mental efficiency. 
7. The varying attitude of children towards certain subjects at different ages. 
8. The advisability of intensive work at certain stages. 
9. The extent to which clever children mature late. 
10. The degree to-which the curricula of girls’ should differ from those of 
boys’ schools. 
11. The relative amounts of fatigue experienced in learning certain subjects 
at different ages. 
Saye He COUNTS 
It would be a great advantage if experimental work in the psychological 
laboratory could be brought into closer relation with that of the classroom. 
The results obtained in the classroom should be verified in the laboratory and 
vice versd. In the classroom the conditions are exceedingly complex and 
difficult to control, whereas in the laboratory the conditions are simplified as 
much as possible and may become somewhat artificial. Important results 
obtained in the laboratory should receive more attention in the school. 
Similarly, important experiments carried on in the schcolroom should receive 
the attention of the practical psychologist. It is this forward and backward 
movement from practice to theory and from theory to practice that will con- 
tribute most effectively to genuine advance in education. 
A paper read at the Conference of Teachers in London in January 1913, 
by Mr. Pear of Manchester, on ‘Recent Researches on the subject of Attention,’ 
affords remarkable evidence of the practical bearing of laboratory research in 
psychology on the problems of the schoolroom. 
The mass of valuable information which can be obtained from the papers 
written in connection with the examination of children of various ages in all 
large centres of population forms an admirable field for work from many 
points of view, but the statistics must be collected and their significance 
explained by experienced observers. In America much valuable material has 
been obtained from the evidence afforded by examination papers of children 
of different ages. 
The number of university students taking educational research for their 
thesis in higher examinations is increasing rapidly, but it is still in no way 
commensurate with the importance of this department of knowledge as compared 
with the amount of research carried on in other departments. The whole 
matter requires careful organisation, and increased facilities are needed for 
research. Research Fellowships in education would, in this connection, be of 
the greatest value to the community and a great stimulus to the science of 
education. : 
With advanced work of this kind the difficulties with regard to organisation 
are not serious, as the students carry on research under university professors 
in well-equipped institutions, but in more elementary work, for which there 
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