170 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1416 



that the general form of organization would 

 be desirable for any public service corporation. 



The directors of the Psychological Corpora- 

 tion are: 



James E. Angell, Yale University. 



W. V. Biagham, Carnegie Institute of Tech- 

 nology. 



J. MeKeen Cattell, The Psychological Cor- 

 poration. 



Eaymond Dodge, Wesleyan University. 



S. I. Franz, Government Hospital for the 

 Insane. 



G. Stanley HaU, Clark University. 



H. L. HoUingworth, Barnard College, Columbia 

 University. 



Charles H. Judd, University of Chicago. 



WiUiam McDougall, Harvard University. 



W. B. Pillsbury, University of Michigan. 



Walter DiU Scott, Northwestern University. 



G. E. Seashore, University of Iowa. 



Lewis M. Terman, Stanford University. 



Edward L. Thorndike, Teachers College, Co- 

 lumbia University. 



E. B. Titchener, Cornell University. 



Howard C. Warren, Princeton University. 



Margaret Floy Washburn, Vassar College. 



John B. Watson, The J. Walter Thompson 

 Company. 



E. S. Woodworth, Columbia University. 



E. M. Yerkes, National Eesearch Council. 



The Psychological Corporation proposes to 

 maintain adequate standards in applied psy- 

 chology, to assure opportunities and proper 

 payment to those competent to do the work, 

 and to use the profits for psychological 

 research. 



Psychology, owing to its recent progress and 

 war service, is attracting wide public atten- 

 tion. This publicity is being used for all sorts 

 of schemes, some of which may seriously injure 

 psychology, not only in its applications but 

 also in its academic standing. It is desirable 

 that the general public shall have some means 

 of learning what psychology can and what it 

 can not do, and who can and who can not do it. 

 An organized group of psychologists, whose 

 standing is recognized, can exert a useful 

 influence at the present time. 



There is much psychological work of eco- 

 nomic value that might at present be under- 

 taken to advantage and there are those com- 

 petent to do the work, but no satisfactory 



method exists for bringing them together. It 

 is desirable to extend the work and especially 

 to obtain a larger number of able workers and 

 to provide more adequately for those who take 

 up psychology, whether as an independent 

 profession or in universities and other institu- 

 tions. 



The support of research work in any science 

 has always been a difficult problem. In the 

 past such work has been carried forward mostly 

 by those earning their living by teaching. The 

 industrial laboratories are now helping to 

 improve the situation in chemistry, physics 

 and the medical sciences; men are being 

 engaged at relatively large salaries to do 

 research work, often without direct reference 

 to its useful applications. If research in psy- 

 chology can be supported as a by-product of 

 economic service, its progress will be accel- 

 erated in a geometrical ratio. 



Perhaps the greatest opportunity is the 

 investigation of problems directly or indirectly 

 of economic value to individuals or groups, of 

 which the work in industrial chemistry of the 

 Mellon Institute of Pittsburgh is an example. 

 Some seventy fellows, mostly younger men, 

 paid an average salary of about $3,000, are 

 engaged in research on problems of use to 

 manufacturing chemists. The Psychological 

 Corporation proposes to use the existing lab- 

 oratories, where the special work can be done 

 to the best advantage and thus to assist the 

 universities and their psychologists. 



The problem of selection for general intelli- 

 gence and for special aptitudes or training is 

 one in which psychology can be of gi'eat service 

 at the present time. If standard tests are 

 developed to be used everywhere, both among 

 employees in gi-oups and with individuals 

 seeking employment or advancement, the cor- 

 poration can give useful employment to many 

 psychologists and probably earn sufficient 

 income to carry on its work, and by research 

 improve and standardize the tests. 



The central offices of the Psychological Cor- 

 poration are in the Grand Central Terminal, 

 New York City. Branches have been estab- 

 lished, or are in course of establishment, in 

 Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, San 

 Francisco and other centers. The real work 



