898 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 963 



tion consists fundamentally in providing a 

 right educational regimen. 



Then there is (3) a smaller proportion 

 of retardates who are mentally retarded 

 because of environmental handicaps, such 

 as bad housing, home and neighborhood 

 conditions, bad sanitation, lack of humid- 

 ity, lack of pure air or excessive tempera- 

 ture in the schoolroom, vicious or illiterate 

 surroundings, frequent moving or transfer, 

 emigration which may cause linguistic mal- 

 adaptation, etc. With svich retardates the 

 problem is partly sociological, partly hy- 

 gienic, and partly pedagogical. 



We have a final group of children (4) 

 who are mentally retarded because of some 

 physical defect. With children of this type 

 the problem is partly medical and partly 

 educational. The first efiiorts made in be- 

 half of such children should be medical 

 and hygienic. Undoubtedly the removal 

 of physical handicaps will restore some 

 pupils to normal mentality, while in the 

 case of other pupils the results will be neg- 

 ative. Unfortunately there are very few 

 scientific studies available of the ortho- 

 phrenic effects of the correction of phys- 

 ical defects.^ Many of the studies in this 

 field have a questionable value because of 

 the obvious, but evidently unconscious, bias 

 of the investigators. Some desire to show 

 favorable results and, therefore, uncon- 

 sciously select only the favorable cases; 

 others are swayed by the opposite motive 

 and accordingly tend to select the negative 

 cases. Hence, at the present time we find 

 considerable diversity of opinion as to the 

 orthogenic influences of the correction of 



^ However, see an attempt at the scientific meas- 

 urement of the orthophrenic effects of the correc- 

 tion of dental defects in J. E. Wallace Wallin's 

 "Experimental Oral Euthenics, " The Dental Cos- 

 mos, 1912, pp. 404-^13, 545-566. Also, "Ex- 

 perimental Oral Orthogenics," The Journal of 

 Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, 

 1912, pp. 290-298. 



physical disorders. The opinion of John 

 J. Cronin, M.D., probably approximates 

 the truth: 



The successes simply mean that a large number 

 of children were perfect except for some one ab- 

 normality. . . . The alleviation of any single kind 

 of physical handicap is merely one step towards 

 the successful result sought, and many other fac- 

 tors must obtain before some measure of success 

 is assured. 



Likewise A. Emil Schmitt, M.D. : 



It should constantly be borne in mind that if 

 every physical defect has been successfully re- 

 moved the mental unbalance or deficiency can 

 remain unaltered, inasmuch as it was primarily a 

 mental defect and can be reached only by methods 

 of education or psychological treatment. 



While I am quite convinced that all men- 

 tally retarded children should undergo a 

 careful physical examination, and that 

 such physical corrective measures should 

 be applied as are indicated by expert med- 

 ical opinion, yet it needs to be re-empha- 

 sized that the removal of a physical disa- 

 bility is frequently only the first step 

 toward restoration. If the child has fallen 

 behind pedagogically or mentally, he will 

 in many cases need special pedagogical at- 

 tention if he is to catch step with the class 

 procession; moreover, after a certain crit- 

 ical age has been passed the removal of phys- 

 ical obstructions exercises only a slight 

 orthophrenic influence, and the reestablish- 

 ment of effective mental functioning, if it 

 can be done at all, will require the pro- 

 longed application of a special corrective 

 pedagogy. 



III. The Super-normals. — Both of the 

 above types of children come on the minus 

 side of the curve of efSciency. On the other 

 side we find the plus deviates — the bright, 

 brilliant, quick, gifted, talented, precocious 

 children. These children may present no 

 peculiarities on the physical side, if we ex- 

 cept the type of nervously unstable, pre- 

 cocious children. With the supernormal 



