RECORDS OF MEETINGS 361 



A great sex difference was found in the variability measures, as cal- 

 culated for the various ages, appeals, social classes, and nationalities. 

 In every case but two, the girls exceeded the boys in their P.E. ; and 

 in these two exceptions the boys' P.E. was once greater than the girls' 

 by only 5 per cent., and another time exactly equal to the girls' P.E. 

 The amount of sex difference was, as a rule, anywhere between 12 per 

 cent, and 57 per cent. This held true in every scale, whether according 

 to age, appeals, social class, or nationality. The girls' average P.E. was 

 1.66; that for the boys was 1.36. 



Both girls and boys were least variable about the subjects they liked 

 best, i. e., religion and patriotism; but apart from these appeals there 

 was no correlation of variability with relative likes or dislikes. 



It is a noteworthy fact that in range of variability the boys far ex- 

 ceeded the girls. The limits for the boys' P.E. were .82 (patriotism) 

 and 1.60 (landscape), giving a range of difference of 78 per cent.; the 

 limits for the girls were 1.47 (religion) and 1.95 (animals), showing 

 a range of only 48 per cent. In this particular experiment this in- 

 dicates that boys are very much more agreed about some likes than are 

 girls, and yet quite as varied about others. In other experiments such a 

 range of variability may point to greater individuality of the male sex 

 among themselves while as a group they are relatively homogeneous. 



Another sex difference noted was the number of positive dislikes 

 expressed by each sex. The girls gave 161, or 6 per cent, dislikes as 

 against the boys' 65, or 2.4 per cent. Boys seemed to entertain relative 

 indifference toward the appeals at the bottom of the list. The things 

 the girls disliked most were (1) scenes of action suggesting death and 

 (2) pictures showing angry attitudes. The reasons given by the boys 

 for their dislikes were (1) gloomy, indistinct scenes, (2) sentimental 

 pictures, (3) costumes worn by men which were feminine in style or 

 left the figure partly nude, and (4) pictures suggesting illness. 



A certain age difference revealed itself in the remarks made by the 

 children about the pictures. The seven and eight year olds showed 

 limited powers of observation. Some detail, and, in landscape scenes, al- 

 ways the human detail, no matter how small, was jnade the focus of 

 attention to the complete overlooking of the larger subject. Unfa- 

 miliar details when pointed out to them received as many different in- 

 terpretations as there were children. As the children grew older their 

 remarks of both girls and boys. Emotional attitudes, actions and even 

 of the pictures and they drew upon all their known sources for filling 

 in their perceptions. At the ages between 11 and 13 the critical spirit 

 made its first appearance among the girls. Only at fourteen did it 

 occur in the boys' comments. At these ages the emotions prompted the 



