Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-09-25
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

| by the symbols G and W-constitute,
respectively, the basic elements Of a hu-
man beings mentality and character
| Such is the conclusion of DR.. Charles
H. Spearman. celebrated British psy-
biologist, now in Washington as guest
professor at Catholic University. He is
best known az the discoverer Of G. the
concept of which. sustained by intensive
mathematical analysis. is deeply affect
| ing scientific ideas of human intelli-
| gence.
The character element w comes as a
later development of Or. Spearman's
psychomathematics and promises TO be
OF even greater significance for an I'M
Outstanding of the fundamental nature
of man.
Human character. DR.. Spearman ex-
plains, may be considered as made up
of considerable number of separate
traits Important among them are
trustworthiness, perseverance and sta
biltty. Generally the person who is
trustworthy tends to be perseyering, but
in any given individual one trait may
exist markedly in excess OF the other.
The unequal balance has peen great
enigma for students of character, and
history Is strewn with the tragedies Of
great men with some particular charac-
ter weakness.
Basic Structure OF ALL
DR.. Spearman's w is not any partiC
ular trait, but the basic structure Of all.
He believes it to be innate in the indi-
vidual and unaffected by training or
environment. Upon it discreet character
qualities are built up Some may be
purely the product Of training and
others may be due to separate inner
tied factors. Thus, an individuals CHAR
acter can be described as his basic sup
ply of w plus his equipment of all the
separate character qualities.
The basic factor, as conceived by DR..
Spearman. is far from metaphysical.
Its existence. he explains. is demon
strated by the most intensive mathe-
NAUTICAL analysis of human behavior
with method which Is approved by
mathematicians, but which cannot
easily be explained to the layman II
a man has poor supply of w at the
start he is unlikely ever to develop a
very strong character. although ne Is
far from hopeless The special quail
Ties can be intensively developed and
the individual protected against storms
and stresses which are likely to demol-
lsh them because of their weak foun-
dation. The individual Is somev hat in
the position OF the chronic invalid who,
in sufficiently sheltered environment.
often lives to ripe old age. But with
plenty of w. as conceived by Dr. Spear
man, he doesn't need sheltering.
At present. Dr. Spearman says. there
Is no satisfactory objective measure
which can be applied to w. He and
MS followers now are chiefly interested
in the development of such a measure
which will differentiate an individuals
basic. innate character stuff from the
special qualities developed by training
and experience. The date for the
mathematical analysis which reveals the
existence of this factor has consisted
largely of character estimates by teach
ers and others.
Quality of Intelligence
The other great basic factor, G, is
now more clearly understood. DR. Spear
man explains, and is generally accepted
as the basic quality of intelligence
close to but not altogether synonymous
with the intelligence which is pur-
ported to be measured by such tests as
are used in public schools. In fact. he
believes, such tests actually serve as
rather crude measures of G.
G. as he sees it, underles human
abilities just as w underlies human
character, being supplemented in any
individual ty vast number of special
abilities for which it serves as the sub
structure. BY the development of some
special ability an individual may develop
considerable skill. even with poor sup
ply of c. but, since he lacks the basic
quality. probably never will 60 very far
Examples cited by Prof. Spearman are
verbal mechanical and musical ability.
They are independent of G. vet depend
ent on it as a building is dependent on
its foundations
Thus a person with a high amount
of G. may be almost entirely lacking in
musical ability, lacking the special
qualities which must be added to the
basic factor to constitute this particu-
lar structure. On .he other hand. a
person who has an exceptional supply
of the musical ability qualitles-among
which would be such things as sensi-
tivenezs of ear-and only a poor supply
of G is unlikely to reach very great
heights musician
Pioneer -tudies are indicating. Prof.
Spearman says. that there is very low
but positive relationship between G. and
W. The person who has good supply
OF one Is more likely than not to have
a good supply of the other. The ex-
tremely intelligent man may be scoun-
drel but he seems slightly less likely to
be a scoundrel. it is indicated at the
present stage of the investigation, than
his dumb" companion.
At present, DR.. Spearman says, G
NAV be designated as the amount OF
mental energy a person possesses. Very
recent investigations. he points out,
give promise that eventually definite
physiological basis may be found for it
in the brain. 1t is akin to the mass &C
ticn of the brain. University of Chicago
experiments have shown that mutilation
of those large, apparently undifferentia-
ted areas of the parietal and frontal