The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-08-02
Curb Suggestibility
az n. ApplNcroN BRUCE,
Author Of The Riddle Of Personality"
"Psychology and Parenthood." etc.
ex X. AppINoToN BRUCE.

II you are a parent, and IL you wish your
child to grow up a really efficient and really
rational man or woman. there are many things
you ought to do. One of the most important
Ia to begin at the earliest possible moment to
train your child TO THINK FOR HIMSELF
Teach him to observe closely and accurately
and to reason things out. Only In this way can
you curb the SUCCESSFULLY which 10 inherent
IN all children, and which unless curbed. Is
likely to develop into Q lifelong habit OF accept
ing the thoughts and statements Of other people
instead Of forming well-grounded judgments OF
ones own
That pareuts--and teachers also-do not ut
present sufficiently appreciate the importance
Of curbing the excessive suggestibflity OF child
hood has been frequently demonstrated by
scientific experiment
IN one interesting set Of experiments the
German ssvant Kosog visited school-room be
fore the beginning OF lesson hour. On the
teachers desk he placed . penholder. pocket
hnife and = piece Of chalk l. Each Of these was
During recess he removed the three objects.
and after the pupils had reassembled he asked
them what they had seen on the desk the pre-
vious hour. Hardly one child had noticed the
penholder. the pocketknife or the chalk.
Next day, though he put nothing at all on
the desk during the first hour. he asked the
same question after recess:
Nov 70 Per cent Of the pupils were sure the
pocket-knife had been on the desk before they
ieft the room. 81 per cent asserted they had
seen the chalk and IS per cent the penholder.
This meant that the pupils were 80 suggest
ible. and % unaccustomed to observe closely,
that Kosog's question had caused them TO
TAKE IT FOR GRANTED that they had seen
that day what had actually been on the desk
the preceding day.
In another schoolroom the headmaster told
. class Of forty-two boys that he was going
TO test their memory Of the length OF lines
He then showed the boys series Of thirty.
six lines, one after the other. The first five
lines were each little longer than the one be-
fore II; the remaining thirty-one were exactly
@ long a. the fifth.
Yet when asked to copy the lines from mem
ory. NOT ONE BOY REACHED THE MAXI
MUM LENGTH AT THE FIFTH LINE.
Nine OF the boys, indeed. continued making
their lines longer up to the very last line in the
series.
Had the boys been trained to OBSERVE
CLOSELY they would never have taken II Tor
granted that because the first few lines In
creased in length. all must likewise increase
And had the boys tested by Kosog been
trained to make proper use Of their eyes they
would have successfully resisted the suggesti
bility Of the question he put to them on the sec
ond day.
II is because Of the absence OF proper train
Ing In childhood to counteract the effects Of
suggestion that SO many people go through life
credulous and gullible In the extreme.
They are the people who fall victims TO the
medical quack, the religious imposter. the 20
litical mountebank.
And until parents as a class appreciate the
the importance Of awakening the critical faculty
In early life. gullibility win always be a dis
tinguishing mark Of many men and women.