SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— J. 411 



Mrs. F. M. Austin. — Some examples of suggestibility in university students 



(3-3°)- 



(1) The power and subtlety of suggestion. 



(2) The facts that when suggestion is accepted 



(a) conscious reasoning may be absent altogether ; 



(b) acceptance may take place in spite of the fact that the subject is 

 aware of what seems to him to be overwhelming evidence against 

 the suggestion ; 



(c) reasoning may reinforce suggestion. 



(3) Mal-perception, mal-interpretation, elaboration and supplementation. 



(4) Influence of 



(a) reluctance to admit ignorance ; 



(b) desires ; 



(c) preconceived ideas. 

 (5) Contra-suggestibility. 



Mr. T. A. Rodger. — A critical review of the present position of vocational 

 psychology in Great Britain (4.15). 



This paper is concerned mainly with psychological procedures at present 

 in use in vocational guidance work in this country, but some consideration 

 is given to problems of vocational selection, and to the relationship between 

 vocational guidance and vocational selection. 



The vocational guidance procedure adopted by the National Institute of 

 Industrial Psychology is reviewed, and some of its potentialities and limita- 

 tions commented upon. Data are provided concerning the types of indi- 

 vidual who, at the present time, seek the vocational adviser's help. 



The development of careers advisory work in schools is discussed, and 

 some suggestions made concerning the characteristics which the vocational 

 adviser might profitably possess, and the sort of training he might profitably 

 undergo. 



Some major research problems are outlined, and the desirability of 

 enlisting the aid of university and other organisations in the search for 

 the solution of them is stressed. It is urged that, during the next few 

 years, considerable attention should be paid to the analysis of occupational 

 requirements. 



Tuesday, September 15. 



Dr. E. J. Lindgren. — Methods of investigation in social psychology (10.0). 



Methods of investigation in social psychology are concerned with either 

 (i) the collection, or (ii) the analysis and interpretation, of data on social 

 behaviour. At the present stage of development of this branch of study, 

 more attention might profitably be paid to the problems raised by (i) than 

 to those involved in (ii), which have already inspired many stimulating 

 hypotheses. 



Social data may be collected by means of (a) the study of records, ranging 

 from census reports and legal proceedings to advertisements and folk-lore ; 

 (b) psychological tests and experiments, conducted in schools or laboratories 

 under controlled conditions ; (c) interviews and questionnaires, which 

 permit subjects to remain in a non-artificial social context, but still entail 

 partially controlled conditions ; and (d) the observation of subjects acting 

 under ' natural,' i.e., entirely uncontrolled, conditions, by a relatively 

 passive investigator who as far as possible avoids disturbing the culture in 

 any way. 



