instructor has made a marked success. The sooner we cease fretting about the lower half the better will be the scientific content of our courses. If a book were proclaimed "as a book which easily makes all things in psychology clear to the average student" I should have the suspicion that the book was superficial. As for the bright students-well, they will get a good deal out of a course in spite of the teacher or the text. I advocate the giving of a brief and 'surface-study' course in psychology in the high school which may serve as an introduction to the college work. If this were done we could then, as in physics and chemistry, turn in college to be serious and laborious business of presenting technical and scientific courses. But even if this were done, I should not feel optimistic about making psychology 'function' in the lives of our students. In order that this ideal may be accomplished, two conditions are necessary: first, the student must have a good mind; and secondly, he must be willing to pay the price by hard persistent study. Unfortunately, both of these conditions are fairly rare. A criticism which Dr. Schoen neglected, and which is the chief point of this note, deals with the general practice in our colleges and universities of making the laboratory work in psychology optional. In chemistry, physics, zoöloyy there is no choice; the student must take the laboratory in conjunction with the lecture course. Even the poorest colleges uphold this scientific ideal in respect to the teaching of these courses. But when we come to psychology how different is the case! Few departments of psychology require the laboratory work. I for one am firmly convinced that it is a mistake to grant the students this option; and in the institutions where psychylogy is counted as science credit the omission of the laboratory requirement is more than a mistake, it is a breach of faith, it is a violation of the well established scientific ideal. Unfortunately there are many institutions of higher learning-not limited to the poor benighted colleges where the student secures a 'soft science credit' by attending one lecture and two 'quiz' sections a week in psychology. I should like to see the day come when the American Psychological Association will go on record as recommending that no science credit be given in psychology unless the laboratory work accompanies the text-book course. College of the City of Detroit E. B. SKAGGS THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PSYCHOLOGY The eighth International Congress of Psychology, under the presidency of Professor G. Heymans, was held at the University of Groningen, Groningen, Holland, from Sept. 6-11. There were 242 names listed as members with about three-quarters of this number present. The meetings were held in the University buildings which were most admirably adapted to the needs of the Congress. The Congress was in every sense an international one. The following is a list of the more prominent psychologist who were present: N. Ach, F. C. Bartlett, L. Binswanger, Ch. and K. Bühler, E. Claparède, O. Decroly, G. Ewald, A. Fauville, M. V. Gopalaswami, G. Heymans, E. Jaensch, P. Janet, D. Katz, F. Kiesow, O. Klemm, K. Koffka, W. Köhler, Mrs. C. Ladd-Franklin, G. R. Lafora, H. S. Langfeld, J. H. Leuba, A. Ley, M. Levy-Bruhl, J. Lindworsky, W. McDougall, A. Michotte, A. Meyer, E. Minkowski, C. S. Meyers, H. Piéron, W. B. Pillsbury, É. Rignano, F. Roels, E. Rubin, F. Sander, O. Selz, C. Spearman, E. Spranger, W. Stern, H. C. Warren, M. Wertheimer, H. Zwaardemaker. The Congress opened on Monday, Sept. 6, with a reception in the University. The presidential address was delivered on Tuesday morning by the president, Professor G. Heymans. The program of the Congress was so arranged that every morning was given over to a symposium. In the afternoons, the Congress was divided into two or three sections for the presentation of special papers. The first symposium was on Intensity Differences of Sensations with papers by C. S. Meyers and H. Werner. The Psychology of Religion was the second of the symposia participated in by Pierre Janet, Ernest Jones, J. H. Leuba, and R. H. Thouless. The subject under discussion in the third symposium was Verstehen und Erklären with papers by L. Binswanger, Th. Erismann, E. Ewald, and Eduard Spranger. Kurt Koffka, A. Michotte, E. Rubin, F. Sander and C. Spearman contributed papers to the symposium on Gestaltwahrnehmung. The last symposium was on the subject, The Psychology of the Lower Races with topics by F. C. Bartlett, M. LevyPruhl, W. Mayer-Gross, and A. Storch. Of the symposia, the one upon Gestaltwahrnehmung seemed, as at the seventh congress at Oxford, to arouse the greatest interest, and, at the same time, the greatest antagonism. This meeting had to adjourn without giving opportunity to all those who wished to speak upon the subject. The papers in the afternoon sections were devoted largely to theoretical and experimental topics. There seemed to be an absence of papers upon subjects in applied and educational psychology. In general, it may be said that many of the papers were of such a general nature, dealing with particular theories or with particular controversies, that the discussion was of a very general sort and very limited in extent. The question might well be raised regarding the programs of the International Congress whether it would not be better to have a selection made of the papers offered for the Congress, and thus materially reduce the number of topics presented. At this Congress there was an average of about twenty papers each day. With a fewer number of papers, and more time for each, it might be possible to discuss psychological problems without indulging in vague generalizations and personal antagonisms. The Congress was organized and conducted in a most excellent manner under the direction of the first secretary, Professor F. Roels. The government of Holland and the city of Groningen coöperated in the arrangements so that from the time the border was crossed, one was graciously received and assisted. It was a true hospitality on the part of the national government, the municipality and residents of Groningen, and the members of the University. A number of very pleasing social affairs were arranged by the local committee. On Friday evening, the municipality of Groningen tendered a reception to the members of the Congress at the Stadspark which was most pleasant, and to the American visitors at least, most memorable. The dinner on Saturday evening, with speeches from several members, brought the Congress to a close. The following were present from the United States: Miss Olga Bridgman, Miss Psyche Cattell, David Fryer, H. M. Kallen, Mrs. Christine Ladd-Franklin, H. S. Langfield, J. H. Leuba, William McDougall, Adolph Meyer, L. J. O'Rourke, W. B. Pillsbury, Rudolf Pintner, M. S. Viteless, Seth Wakeman, H. C. Warren, and K. Żener. Smith College SETH WAKEMAN ON BLUFFING IN EXAMINATIONS In the Summer School of 1926, at the University of Pennsylvania, a class of 29 showed evidence of more than the usual bluffing in a quiz. A trap was set for them in the next examination in an attempt to determine just how much and how frequently the college student would bluff. To this end, the class was asked to discuss ten terms devoting not less than one page to each. The seventh term in the list was made up out of the whole cloth-Psychoterminality. Of the group of 29 men and women, only 2 made the positive statement that they did not know what the term meant. Six others left the question blank without a definite negative statement. The other 21 students made some sort of an answer ranging from one-half to three pages in length. Many of these answers showed a good deal of originality and most of them were based on an attempt to get at the etymology of the word. A brief analysis of the types of answers may be of interest: automatism, 1; vitalism, 3; prediction (of end), 4; to what end does mind exist, 2; resumé of psychological terms, 3; hypnosis, 2; behavior of lower organisms (lower end of animal scale), 2; the limits of psychology, 2; reaction time, 1; and causes, I. Do these results indicate that bluffing is as prevalent as this in all college groups or is it a beautiful example of what W. H. Burnham, of Clark University, would call a lack of 'intelligent ignorance.' University of Pennsylvania S. W. FERNBERGER INDEX OF THE FIRST THIRTY VOLUMES OF THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY An Index of the first thirty volumes of THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY has just been issued (Dec., 1926). The Index is divided into four parts: I. List of volumes with their publication dates and editors; II. Original articles; III. Books reviewed; and IV. Subject matter. The contents of these volumes are thus made readily available. Now that this beginning has been made the editors of the JOURNAL hope to issue a similar comprehensive index after the completion of every succeeding ten volumes. The burden of the present undertaking has been borne by many psychologists thereby making possible the preparation and publication of the Index at a moderate cost. The price of the Index is low. Orders should be sent to D. R. Knight, Morrill Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY K. M. D. Since the publication of the October issue of the JOURNAL we have received the first and second numbers (dated January and April, 1926) of the Indian Journal of Psychology, which is published quarterly by the Indian Psychological Association. The Journal is edited by a board of editors consisting of Owen BerkeleyHill, European Mental Hospital, Ranchi; Haridas Bhattacharya, Dacca University; G. C. Chatterjee, Government College, Lahore; J. M. Sen, D. H. Training College, Calcutta; and N. N. Sen-Gupta, University of Calcutta. It is published in English so the work of our Indian confreres will be readily accessible. The articles in the first two numbers-which will be reviewed elsewhere in the JOURNAL-are of a quality that deserves attention. ERRATUM K. M. D. Through the misreading of a sentence in some correspondence on the subject, I unwittingly misrepresented the amount of psychological apparatus manufactured annually by the C. H. Stoelting Company as stated on p. 583 of my recent article on the "Development of Laboratory Equipment in Psychology in the United States" (this Journal, 37, 1926, 582-592). It turns out that the figure $500,000 covers apparatus from all sources, including foreign markets, and also test-material published by book concerns in this country. Of this business the Stoelting Company receives, of course, its share. University of Iowa CHRISTIAN A. RUCKMICK |