St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-04-25
An EDUCATIONAL DISCOVERY.


York Psychologists.
The old theory Of education was that
al children had about the same mental
power. The chief difference was that
some were possessed to . greater de-
gree than others with the perversh
spirit Of Adam, and required, in con-
sequence, . more frequent and intense
application of the birch stick to
quicken their mental operations. The
present theory il that the difference
lies very largely in the quality of their
brains. The aim of Psychology now Is
to determine in some definite way the
amount Of this difference.
This science il called pathology. IL
10 pursued with great care in the
Psychological laboratory Of the New
York school of pedagogy. Frof. Scrip
ture, of Yale university. il investigat-
ing it also. INSTRUMENTS have been in :
vented that enable the investigator to
determine with absolute accuracy tho
rapidity of children's thoughts, the
extent to which they can bear pain.
the degree Of their nervousness, and
many other points Of interest relative
to their mental power. When su4I:-
cient data have been obtained 1t will b.
possible to grade pupils much better
than now. They will be graded accord
ing to the quickness Of their mental
operations-thc slow ones being
grouped in classes, and the quick ones
grouped in other classes. There will
then be no complaint that the former
are permitted to retard the progress
of the latter.
One of the instruments used In this
investigation is the graphic chronom-
eter. A child Is told to look at shut
ter, and, when it IL seen to fail, to
press q button. The interval between
the time that the shutter falls and the
moment that the button IL pressed
measures the child's power to respond
to IN optical impression. The inter-
val varies in different children. The
aim Of the experiment is to determine
IN average to be applied In grading
children. Another experiment with
this instrument is to determine the
time 1t takes . child to write the letter
20" and the letter e, the former being
the easiest and the latter the most diht-
cult to write.
The algometer IL the name OF the
instrument used to determine the
amount Of pain that = child can endure.
It IL described - resembling a small
pump, with a spring balance in the
handle. ~ piston" continues the de-
scription, 'with . metal disk about the
size of . silver quarter at one end. pro-
iects from the tube. The disk ia
pressed against the temporal Of the
child's forehead until . slight pain is
felt. The amount of pressure exerted
to produce this effect 10 indicated on
the spring Of the pressure gauge. and
shows the sensitiveness Of the child"
The third instrument 10 called the
plethismograph, which il used to test
the child's nervousness and general
emotional sensibility. It is little
rubber bellows, attached to . rubber
tube which carries small lever. The
lever is in contact with . revolving
drum. The bellows is applied to the
wrist just above the pulse. The heart
beats cause little pufYs Of air to pass
through the bellows into the tube to
the lever, which moves In response t.
them and records their rapidity on the
drum. The different degrees cf sen:
sitiveness of children to the same effect
may thus be accurately obtained. \
practical result of this information
will be the grading Of punishments.
There are other instruments, to test
the hearing, the eyesight and the touch
Spools wound with wire Of different
sizes are used to test the sense ol
touch. The more highly sensitive thu
touch, the smaller the size OF the wirt
that can be Observation-Disclosures Her
aid.