164 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 
by years of activity in a given occupation, and that therefore interests are 
responsible for choice of occupation rather than a resultant of it. 
Older men are no more catholic in their interests than younger men, 
but their likes and dislikes are not identical with those of younger men. 
Thus the older men are not so interested in situations involving physical 
hazards, or in anything which interferes with established habits. This 
factor appears to be of great significance for both employer and employee. 
Many an employer is unsuccessful not so much for lack of abilities, but 
owing to a disinclination to introduce a change, and the old employee 
often becomes unemployed not on account of inability, but because he 
has no desire to change his methods when changes are deemed essential 
by the management. 
I now turn to the extraordinarily interesting book of Prof. Charlotte 
Buhler, Der Menschliche Lebenslauf als Psychologisches Problem, which 
was published in 1933. ‘The investigations were aided by a grant from 
the Rockefeller Foundation. The course of man’s life is studied by the 
aid of 200 published biographies of poets, writers, inventors, scientists, 
statesmen, musicians, painters, theologians, business men, financiers, 
actors, singers, sportsmen, and philosophers. For comparison, fifty life- 
histories were obtained from the Old People’s Homes in Vienna. 
Life is regarded from several aspects: as a biological phenomenon, 
as a series of events and experiences, and from the standpoint of work 
produced. Its normal structure—ascent, culmination, and decline—is 
discussed. It is impossible to do justice to this pioneer study in a brief 
sketch, and I will only single out what appears to be the importance of age 
in athletic records. Here, then, Prof. Bihler has at hand the severe tests 
of the athletic field as substitutes for psychological tests in order to 
ascertain when various motor abilities are at their maxima in the case of 
the best athletes. On analysing the best lists for the year 1930 the 
following were the results : 
Individual Sports. Group Sports. 
Age. Age. 
A. Sprint run. ; »es-5 oA. Boxing : : a 2G 
Long jump . age Wrestling . : SWE ec 
Throwing the javelin or 2A Football. ; BE 
B. Medium run. é . 24°3 B. Jiu-jitsu . : -nc26:9 
Hurdles : d DiiaAays Hockey . ; 2 926FX 
High jump . : . 24°8 Tennis . : 2285 
Pole vault. : ana 4: 
Putting the weight. As 254 
C. Long run. : a 28-6, Ct O10 
Rowing Re Riding : : up to 50 
Throwing the discus. 26-9 Trotting 
Weight lifting : sone lots 
Throwing the hammer . 31:0 
It is characteristic of Group A that the activities demand a maximum 
expenditure of energy per second. Economy of effort plays no part here. 
