200 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1339 



whole Btory, still it is a very convenient and 

 Tiseful way of indicating the alkali condition 

 of the treatment that is under investigation. 

 r. S. Harris 



Utah Aoricultural Expekiment Station, 

 Logan 



THE e6le of psychological factors in 



DIGESTION 



An experimental report on the relative 

 digestibility of palatable and unpalatable food 

 in a recent number of Science by Messrs. 

 Holder, Smith and Hawk,^ raises the im- 

 portant problem of the place of the mental 

 factors in such activities of the human being 

 as the partaking of food. In a general way 

 this is the problem of the vmified and com- 

 plete versus the partial functioning of the 

 organism. Now the title of the report in 

 question, namely, "Is Unpalatable Food 

 Proi)erly Digested," clearly indicates that the 

 question of the partial or incomplete func- 

 tioning of the organism is in point here. 

 For the question of palatableness is one which 

 concerns not merely the comparatively simple, 

 metabolic chemical reaction, but always in- 

 volves a highly integrated conscious organism 

 such as a human individual. 



When we study isolated phases of an 

 organism rather than observe the responses 

 of the organism as a whole, we naturally 

 arrive at different results, and so the report 

 based upon isolated physiological data reads 

 as follows: "If the stomach and intestine can 

 be cajoled into making the proper effort, the 

 unsavory concoction can be digested just 

 about as satisfactorily as can the food mix- 

 ture which makes a stronger appeal." This 

 conclusion is reached by the observation that 

 there is only one per cent, difference in the 

 utilization of nitrogen when taking palatable 

 and impalatable food. 



At this point appear some questions of ex- 

 treme importance. For example, has there 

 been sufficient time in the two days in which 

 the unpalatable food has been adminstered for 

 any change to take place in the functioning 

 of the organism? Would not a protracted 



1 LI., p. 299. 



period of subjection to impalatable food con- 

 ditions show marked metabolic deterioration? 

 It is decidedly an open question how long the 

 stomach and intestine can be cajoled into 

 making the proper effort for digestion when 

 the organism (person) perceives and objects 

 to the disagreeableness of the food. Indeed 

 the writers declare that this experiment 

 " shows how insulting we can be to the normal 

 stomach and get away with it, but this does 

 not necessarily prove this to be the wisest 

 policy." Why should there be any question 

 of policy? The answer is clear; the student 

 of psychopathology knows full well what are 

 the dangers of being compelled to respond to 

 food or other situations under unfavorable cir- 

 cumstances. The record of broken-down or- 

 ganisms with incapacitating digestive symp- 

 toms is too large to leave any room for doubt 

 as to what hygienic jwlicy should prevail with 

 respect to the palatableness as well as other 

 conditions of the food-taking responses. Fur- 

 ther, aside from the too brief period employed 

 in the experiment, one must not lose sight of 

 the fact that the subject was fully cognizant 

 of responding to an experimental situation, a 

 fact which greatly influences the stimulus- 

 response complex. 



When we consider the digestive functions as 

 isolated activities of the organism it is beyond 

 dispute that the absorption and utilization of 

 the materials will depend essentially upon the 

 chemical constitution or the food value of the 

 materials eaten, but can we so consider 

 human digestion? To consider digestion or 

 any other organic process as an abstract 

 activity is to overlook entirely the unitary 

 character of a biological organism. Of course, 

 no one can possibly fail to observe the value 

 of the hypothesis that the complex activities 

 of organisms are rather simple chemical re- 

 actions, for upon no other basis could prog- 

 ress be made in the investigation of such phe- 

 nomena. But, this in no wise implies that in 

 order really to understand the organism we 

 must overlook the functioning of it as a 

 whole. And when we do study the organism 

 as a unit we not only find that "psychic 

 stimuli " promote or retard the secretion of 



