372 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— J. 



SECTION J.— PSYCHOLOGY. 



(For references to the publication elsewhere of communications entered in the 

 following list of transactions, see p. 434.) 



Thursday, September 1. 



Joint Discussion with Section L on The Psychology of Special Scholastic 

 Disabilities. Miss G. Hume, Miss E. Wheeler, and Miss A. H. 

 McAllister. 



Miss G. Hume. — Disability in Reading. 



The Complexity of the Reading Process. — Reading is a highly complex activity, 

 involving the acquisition of skill in the mechanics of the process and also the ability 

 to comprehend meaning. Acquisition of the mechanics of reading depends upon 

 the ability to perceive and synthesise the contributions received from the eye, the 

 ear and the muscles. Ability to comprehend what is read involves the apprehension 

 of the right relations between the various elements of the sentence. 



Ability to acquire the mechanics appears to be more loosely correlated with 

 intelligence than ability to comprehend meaning. 



An Investigation into Backwardness in Beading among Elementary School Children 

 in London. — Selection of cases ; definition of reading ability ; below 85 per cent, of 

 mental age ; method of study, intelligence tests, educational tests, trait rating 

 schedule, personal history. Analysis of results obtained : (a) frequency of cases, 2-3 per 

 cent. ; (6) causes, (1) extrinsic 50 per cent, of the cases — e.g. irregular attendance, low 

 culture or poor vocabulary at home, physical defect in early childhood, inappropriate 

 teaching methods, emotional disturbance, e.g. shock or fright ; (2) intrinsic, e.g. 



(a) weak specific ability, i.e. weakness of immediate or long-distance memory for 

 verbal symbols, inability to discriminate between simple letter and word forms, &c. ; 



(b) innate emotional instability. 



Disability, however, is not a simple but a complex condition, and is commonly 

 due to a plurality of causes. 



Illustrations from individual cases. 



Conclusions and suggestions for pedagogical treatment. 



Miss E. Wheeler. — Backwardness in Arithmetic. 



An investigation into backwardness in arithmetic was carried out in sixteen 

 elementary schools. In twelve of these schools cases of special backwardness in 

 arithmetic were selected by the head teachers ; in the remaining four schools cases 

 of backwardness were determined by means of tests of intelligence, and educational 

 attainments, given to the whole school. Certain selected cases were studied with a 

 view to discovering the causes of backwardness. 



They are classified as follows : — - 



1. Conditions in the child's environment as they affect not only his background 

 of experience, but also his emotional life. 



2. Physical conditions — -physical defect — nervous conditions, &c. 



3. School conditions — defective school organisation— teaching methods unadjusted 

 to needs of exceptional individuals. 



4. Intellectual disabilities — defects of ' attention,' memory, <fco. 



5. Temperamental difficulties — emotional instability — general apathy. 



General conclusion — emotional factors seem to be most potent in producing and 

 maintaining a condition of backwardness. 



Miss A. H. McAllister. — Speech Disabilities. 



An investigation into the speech of 21,000 school children, made for the purpose 

 of finding the frequency of speech disabilities and their effect upon educational 

 progress, showed that 5-6 per cent, were suffering from some form of speech disability, 

 and that of these 70 per cent, fell below the class average in scholastic attainment- 

 There was a distinctly greater proportion of disability at age3 six to seven and eleven 



