The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-24
MEASUREMENTS OF Mind
The Opinions of Scientist Cor
corning Mental Structure.
Suggestions for Examinations of
Subjects to Ascertain the Work of
TENS by Which the Brain Power
OF Nations May he Asccrtnined.

! mental powers OF man may De accurately
measured by means of his perceptions OF
| sight. sound, etc.
Prof Wilson has not yet disclosed the
details of the instruments or methods
which he will employ in his somewhat
novel undertaking, but the arguments and
general raison d'etre upon which he bases
his investigations and results he discusses
| freely.
| Man" says the professor holds COM
munication with the outside world through
| his five senses. The action of either OF
| those produce a sensation. Sensation pro-
| duces perception, and perception intelli-
gence. If we can measure the sensation
| we are on the road to measuring the per-
| ception, and so on to the understanding
and intelligence, and possibly the mind in
| its more subtle and abstruse operations.
What a conquest of science would fol-
| low if we could be able to measure the
sensations produced upon the mind. and
| passing through the upward scale to cal
| culate the mental force expended. say by
| Webster in his great constitutional argu-
| ments, or by determining the vividness
| and depth of perception, and so of under
! standing; to be, in short, able to calculate,
| by mathematical formulas, the reserve
| mental power necessary to make such ar
| guments.
Decision requires an entire mental OPP
Grafton. 1t presupposes choice; choice,
| discrimination discrimination, impression
or sensibility; and this sensation is OBJ
| tanned through one of the organs of sense.
| The operation of this organ. say of sight,
| can be easily measured, and one step is
accomplished. Is it not possible to con-
| tinue it further? May not the differences
in this organic physical perception in diff
| ferent individuals denote their differences
| in mental calibre?
| lone child knows q letter or figure re-
members it. understands it. on seeing it
once; another requires twenty times, while
| the learned pig can only spell or count on
| being shown the same letter or figure a
| hundred maybe a thousand, times.
Animals can be taught many mental
| operations. / myself can recall, in this
connection. performing elephants, dogs,
bears. monkeys, birds, even the fly and the
| flea, while Sir John Lubbock has ascer-
tained the sensibility Of the ant in the
matter of sight hearing and smell, aud
has shown that he can receive impressions
| through these senses which lead up to per-
ception understanding, and decision.
| Sir John discovers that the ant has a
| government and consequently a governor.
| He will emigrate to any country can or
| ganize an army. make raids, fight battles.
| and take prisoners. whom he enslaves. 1t
| is highly interesting to count the needed
sensations, impressions, and perceptions re-
| quired to perform all these mental opera
tions.
The same system by which this can be
measured or counted in our experiment
| with the animal may be applied to man.
l bat nl1N ,fpa rrsI-
| lege commandments" continued the pro-
| fessor but tests by measurement or count
| ing Of the mental capabilities Of the stu
| dents? They may be only for comparison
| one with another. but that comparison is
made by measurement more or less indei-
| mite. At West Point and Annapolis the
| comparison is made with an absolute
| standard. in which 1000 is perfection. The
| system may be anomalous. for unblacked
| shoes and unkempt hair may so reduce it
| as to defeat the Students promotion.
But, to return more Immediately to our
| subject, it may be said that the measure
ment Of a mental sensation is something
actually accomplished, and my purpose IS
| merely to enlarge and refine upon what
| is now being done in this line.
Examine the subject for the truthful
ness. the fidelity of his sensation. First
as to his sense of color. The question may
| be what sensation Is produced upon his
mind by the sight Of a strand of worsted
| of a given color? Does green give the
| proper sensation, or purple, or red? This
| is test of the correctness OF the impress
sion as to color. The operation is done
| leisurely. Rapidly is not now required; II
| is accuracy which is being tested. AS the
| examination of the subject progresses
mark on the chart his successes or fail
| ures. The fault in his sense of color may
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| We test his sensation as to size. form, etc,
| which is not affected by disease. but is a
question purely of truthfulness OF sensa-
| ton or impression. Show him a yard stick
and let him mark the middle Of 1t. Divice
| it into feet or inches. Let him do 1t slow
| ly but correctly. Compare two lengths:
| draw parallel lines. some true and some
| untrue-try him with angles right and
| other than right. Invent methods to test
| the correctness OF his impression on his
mind as derived from the operation on the
| sense OF sight
"As a second lesson in the course give
| him the chalk and let him make on the
| board the lines which he has just tried.
| Let him make a straight line of certain
| length; an inch, foot, yard; a right
angle, square. circle. parallel lines etc.
Having exhausted the subject of cor
rectness, test him for rapdity; have him
| do the same things. and. in addition to cor
| rectness, require rapidity.
ITO correctness and rapidity in such ele-
mentary matters let us add the test OF
| power Of observation; that is, the capacity
| to see things. to see them correctly, rap
| idly. and to note their number position
| quality, etc. This is only to note the SEN
sation obtained from larger view than the
sticks and lines first shown. 1t is still.
! however the mental impression derived
| from the operation of the sense of sight.
March the candidates or class whom
| il is intended to examine, in this mannes
for the purpose of ascertaining their
spective capabilities, into room. allow
them to stay therein a given period, and
out again; then made them describe every
| article seen. Lessen the period of their
remaining in the room to. say, one minute.
Try unfamiliar rooms, try a picture; con-
| duct them past an open door at slow
| pace, and then ask them, of course. ind-
vidually and privately. to describe every
| article seen in the room.
| IAN these tests can be registered for
each candidate, and the result will be his
mental capacity in each of these regards.
| correctly expressed in figures
Then try him with the sense Of hear
| ing. of touch, possibly of smell. You will
| say this will sharpen his senses / prefer
! to say it will sharpen his wits-that 1t edu-
| Gates him, causes him to correctly tote
| the impression OF an object as presented to
| the senses and as correctly to report 1t or
| carry it in his mind. All this is but the
| exercise of the mental quality called atten-
| ton. After attention. the fundamental
| mental quality of the human being. comes
memory. Thus We may measure by an
| thropometry. the mental qualities of SEN
| sation, impression, attention, and memory
These are the faculties by which the
mind OF man receives its communications
from the world. BY their means 1t obtains
h. al 4