4i8 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— J. 



occupation appears to demand than by certain main underlying ' drives ' 

 or tendencies to actioi}. These function in determining many other of his 

 interests and pursuits, as well as his career. Consequently, if he be encour- 

 aged by suitable questions to describe these pursuits and his reason for 

 following them, as well as for his choice of career, his replies and his manner 

 of answering may throw some light indirectly upon the nature and func- 

 tioning of these drives. This paper describes an inquiry made along these 

 lines by interviewing women University students. 



Symposium on How people compensate or adjust themselves for lack of 

 ability (10.45). 



Mr. T. A. Rodger. 



Dr. E. Miller. 



Dr. John Rickman. — The processes governing psychical compensation. 



If ' outlet ' is blocked in one direction there is a ' compensatory ' develop- 

 ment in another direction — granted. But what are the causes of the 

 blocking ? Are they always external or environmental or is the deflection 

 of interest sometimes, perhaps more commonly, internal, i.e. arising within 

 the mind as a result of the interplay of inner (instinctive) forces and the 

 environment ? 



Short case histories illustrating the problem. 



The relation of this ' inner blocking ' to the question of the development 

 of culture. 



Tuesday, September 7. 



Dr. M. M. Lewis. — The origin and early functions of questions in a child's 

 speech (lo.o). 



A good deal of attention has been paid to children's questions, for the 

 light which they throw on the nature of children's thought. The topic of 

 the present paper is different : how does a child come to use this particular 

 mode of speech ; what is the place of questions in his early linguistic activity, 

 and what use does he make of them ? 



By considering serial observations of a particular child we find that we 

 must regard questions as a mode of action. They serve two purposes : 

 they are (i) play, (n) a social instrument, a means by which the child attempts 

 to satisfy his needs. Both purposes appear throughout the following stages 

 of development : 



Stage I. — Questions first arise as a means of dealing with the present 

 situation, that in which the child finds himself. 



Stage II. — Questions begin to refer to absent situations, either past or 

 future. 



Stage III. — Questions come to refer to possible situations : they are a 

 means of satisfying the child's curiosity. At first he uses them chiefly as 

 a means of corroborating the knowledge he already possesses, later as a 

 means of adding to this knowledge. 



Most discussions of children's questions begin with this Stage III. Here 

 we consider Stages I and II — the beginnings of questions and their early 

 functions. 



