902 



SCIENCE 



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



children than either the psychiatrist or 

 neurologist or even the class-room teacher. 

 This fact should occasion no surprise when 

 it is stated that the study of psychology as 

 a science has been practically ignored in 

 the medical curricula throughout the 

 country. The clinical psychologist, how- 

 ever, as I have already said, should be able 

 to detect the chief physical defects found 

 in school children, so that if the laboratory 

 of the clinical psychologist assumes the 

 function of a clearing house for the excep- 

 tional child he may be able to refer all sus- 

 pected eases to proper medical clinics for 

 expert examination and treatment. 



4. Clinical psychology is not pediatrics. 

 To be sure, the pediatrician deals with 

 children. But his attention is focused on 

 the physical abnormalities of infants; his 

 interest in the phenomena of mental ex- 

 ceptionality is liable to be incidental or 

 perfunctory. In fact, one may read some 

 texts on pediatrics from cover to cover 

 without so much as arriving at a suspicion 

 that there is a body of unique facts con- 

 verging on the phenomena of departure 

 from the limits of mental normality which 

 require intensive, specialized, expert study 

 and diagnosis. So far as the physical ail- 

 ments or disabilities of young children are 

 concerned the pediatrician is in a position 

 to render valuable service to the psycho- 

 clinicist; likewise so far as concerns the 

 mental deviations of children the psycho- 

 clinicist is able to render valuable aid to 

 the pediatrician. But one must not eon- 

 fuse pediatrics with clinical psychology. 



5. Clinical psychology is not the same as 

 introspective, educatioyial or experimental 

 psychology. It differs from these in its 

 method, standpoint and conceptions. 

 While the clinical psychologist should be 

 grounded in introspective and, especially, 

 experimental, educational and child psy- 

 chology, expertness in these branches of 



psychology does not in itself confer expert- 

 ness in practical psycho-clinical work. 

 Such expertness comes only from a tech- 

 nical training in clinical psychology and 

 from a first-hand prolonged study by ob- 

 servation, or experiment, or test of various 

 kinds of mentally exceptional children, 

 particularly the feeble-minded, the epilep- 

 tic and the retarded. The skilled specialist 

 in experimental or educational psychology 

 or experimental pedagogy, is no more qual- 

 ified to clinically examine mental cases, than 

 is the skilled zoologist, physiologist or anat- 

 omist able to clinically examine physical 

 cases. Clinical work, both in psychology 

 and medicine, requires clinical training. 

 The assumption that any psychologist or 

 educationist is qualified to do successful 

 psycho-clinical work, after learning how to 

 administer a few mental tests, is prepos- 

 terous and fraught with the gravest conse- 

 quences. Clinical psychology can have no 

 standing in the professions as long as we 

 permit this absurd notion to prevail. 



J. E. Wallace Wallin 

 Psychological Clinic, 

 University op Pittsburgh 



PENSIONS IN THE ROCKEFELLER 

 INSTITUTE 



Pensions for its members and associate 

 members have been provided by the governing 

 boards of the Rockefeller Institute for Med- 

 ical Research, and have been financially se- 

 cured by the generosity of Mr. John D. Rocke- 

 feller, who has with this purpose in view 

 increased the endowment of the institute by 

 a gift to it of securities amounting to about 

 $500,000 in value. The pension rules which 

 have been adopted provide tliree-quarters-pay 

 pensions for members of the institute retiring 

 at the age of 65 after fifteen or more years of 

 service, and pensions of from one half to 

 three quarters of full pay, according to the 

 length of service, for members and associate 

 members who retire at 60 years of age. There 

 is also a provision for total disability after ten 



