222 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX, No. 1262 



Psychological service was rendered also 

 to the following divisions or departments in 

 addition to those named ahove: (1) the 

 Morale Branch of the General Staff, (2) 

 the Division of Military Intelligence, (3) 

 the Committee on Education and Special 

 Training of the War Department, and (4) 

 the Chemical Warfare Service.^ 



Eariy in the emergency it became clear 

 to psychologists in the military service that 

 the fundamental psychological problem of 

 the army is one of placement an.d that the 

 m'Ost important service psychologists could 

 possibly render would be to assist in so as- 

 signing every soldier that his mental (as 

 well as physical) ability should toe iised to 

 advantage. It was assumjed by the psycho- 

 logical personnel that intelligence, alertness, 

 the will to win, enthusiasm, faith, courage 

 and leadership are even more important 

 than are physical strength and endurance, 

 and that this fact must be scientifically 

 reckoned with wherever a strong military 

 organization is to be built quickly. Very 

 promptly it became the recognized purpose 

 of army psychologists to assist in winning 

 the war by the scientific utilization of brain 

 power. The achievement of this purpose 

 necessitated the preparation of special 

 methods of mental measurement in order 

 thait recruits should be properly classified 

 for elimination or assignment to military 

 training. 



The army, at first naturally and wisely 



2 For the United Statea Navy serviceable meth- 

 ods of selecting, placing and training gunners, lis- 

 teners and lookouts were devised and developed by 

 Lieutenant Commander Raymond Dodge. The 

 methods prepared by Dr. Dodge as -well as certain 

 instruments designed by him for naval use have 

 been extensively and profitably used, and the ap- 

 pointment of this psychologist as Lieutenant Com- 

 mander in the Naval Reserve is at once a fitting 

 recognition of his practical service and an indica- 

 tion of the appreciation of his work by the officers 

 with whom he has been associated. 



skeptical concerning the practical values of 

 psychological service and inclined to antici- 

 pate research instead of service, shortly 

 achieved a new point of view and opinion. 

 Skepiticism was replaced in some directions 

 gradually, elsewhere rapidly, by faith in 

 the practicability and immediate value of 

 various kinds of psychological work and 

 eagerness for its continuation and exten- 

 sion. In the end the psychological person- 

 nel of the army was completely swamped by 

 requests, demands and orders for help. 

 Scores of telegrams and letters from com- 

 manding officers testify to their hearty ap- 

 preciation of efforts towards scientific 

 placement within the army and their desire 

 for the introduction or furtherance of 

 psychological service in various depart- 

 ments or organizations. 



Skeptics, of course, still exist and there 

 are inevitable misunderstandings and pre- 

 judices, but the data at hand indicate that 

 at least seventy-five per cent, of the officers 

 of the United States Army have been won 

 by actual demonstration of values and first 

 hand acquaintance with psychological serv- 

 ice to its hearty support. 



It is extremely important to emphasize 

 at the outset that this article deals with 

 only one of the several important lines of 

 psychological military service, that, namely, 

 of the Division of Psychology of the Med- 

 ical Department. 



Purposes of Mental Examining. — As 

 originally conceived, psychological service 

 within the Medical Department was to as- 

 sist medical officers, and especially neuro- 

 psychiatric officers, in discovering and 

 eliminating men who are mentally unfit 

 for military duty. It appeared, prior to 

 actual trial, that reasonably well planned 

 methods of mental measurement should 

 enable psychological examiners to discover 

 mentally inferior recruits as soon as they 

 arrived in camp and to make suitable 



