April 9, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



355 



montlis been formulating a comprehensive pro- 

 gram of researcli on industrial personnel, and 

 welcomed suggestions regarding psychological 

 aspects of the problem. 



From two branches of the "War Department 

 had come requests for advice and suggestions 

 with reference to the psychological service in 

 the army and the development of tests and 

 standards for use in the new army educational 

 system. An Advisory Committee on Problems 

 of Military Psychology was at once appointed, 

 consisting of Colonel Walter Dill Scott, Major 

 C. S. Yoakum, and Major G. F. Arps. This 

 committee has already been of service, in con- 

 ference with officers of the General Stafi. 



These activities of the Division of Anthro- 

 pology and Psychology are illustrative of a 

 type of usefulness which does not entail the 

 raising or the expenditure of funds. This also 

 holds true of our assistance in formulating a 

 research program for the Washington Diet 

 Kitchen Association, an agency which main- 

 tains eight stations to which are brought for 

 examination some 2,000 infants a month. 

 While its research, past and future, focuses 

 primarily on psychological problems of nutri- 

 tion and growth, it was recognized that here is 

 an exceptional opportunity to gather also data 

 of value in the study of infant psychology, 

 anthropometry and eugenics. 



Meanwhile we have been assembling sugges- 

 tions regarding scientific enterprises toward 

 the promotion of which the Division might 

 wisely bend its eilorts. Improvement of facili- 

 ties for prompt publication of research is a 

 need which several have advanced. Others, 

 particularly among the psychologists, have 

 stressed the growing necessity for a journal to 

 publish a cumulative system of analytical ab- 

 stracts, such as are available in chemistry, bot- 

 any and some of the other sciences. 



Development of the supply of competent re- 

 search personnel is another need of our science. 

 This might be accomplished by urging the es- 

 tablishment of more and better fellowships with 

 which to attract and hold for our science the 

 abler minds. Parallel with such a program 

 should go a systematic search for promising 

 student material in the senior classes of the 



colleges. Such an inventory of talent would 

 be a matter of interest to all the sciences, and 

 should be administered by the Division of Edu- 

 cational Relations. The contribution of our 

 own Division should be merely in supplying 

 the technique of the student survey. 



Suggestions regarding specific research proj- 

 ects are being considered. From among them, 

 the Division will select a few of the most prom- 

 ising and important, and bend its efforts toward 

 promoting these. One or more of these proj- 

 ects are to be cooperative undertakings which 

 do not cost money, because the Division wants 

 early to demonstrate its usefulness simply as 

 an agency for correlation of eSort. The stand- 

 ardization of procedure in making anthropo- 

 metric measurements of college students may 

 be a project of this sort. 



Other projects of limited scope will require 

 the raising of certain funds as well as the co- 

 operative effort of research workers, such as 

 the determination of the predictive value of 

 various forms of examinations and tests for 

 students entering colleges and engineering 

 schools; or the recording by means of motion 

 picture films of the industries and ceremonies 

 of the North American Indians, to insure a 

 permanent record and permit analytical study 

 of actual movements. 



Other proposals are still more elaborate and 

 would call for larger funds. A systematic sur- 

 vey of archeological material and sites in Indi- 

 ana, Dlinois, Iowa and Missouri is an under- 

 taking which could be completed within five 

 years at an annual cost of from $5,000 to 

 $7,000. The function of this Division in such 

 an enterprise would be, first, throug'h a special 

 committee to map out the program in detail, 

 and then, probably through the Division of 

 States Relations on which we are represented 

 by Dr. Fewkes, to encourage state legislatures, 

 historical societies, universities and museums 

 to supply the requisite funds and personnel. 



It is intended to select and concentrate on 

 some one major research which is of interest 

 to both anthropologists and psychologists, 

 which can be brought to completion within a 

 relatively short period of one or two years and 

 which gives promise of substantial scientific 



