Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology

Dearborn, G. V. N.

doi: 10.1037/h0075036pmid: N/A

An indispensable factor or aspect of every true psychosis is mental deterioration. It has been unduly neglected by theoretical psychiatry in diagnosis, although it has been given at least a modicum of its real psychiatric value by the legal profession, by jurists, and by rating boards. The use of intellectual deterioration as the deciding criterion would make the diagnosis more certain because it can be determined by an "instrument of relative precision." No psychosis exists without its intellectual sag. Some of the ways in which this is shown are lessening of the power of memory and of recall, derangement of conceptual association (giving rise to a tendency to avoid concrete thought), lessening of personal purposiveness, impairment of judgment, and terminal dementia to almost the vegetative status.

Travis, L. E.; Malamud, W.; Thayer, L. R.

doi: 10.1037/h0070205pmid: N/A

Using some of the methods of Kretschmer, a study was made of the physical types presented by 47 unselected adult male stutterers and 128 unselected adult male normal speakers. A majority of the stutterers as compared to a minority of the normals fell into the leptosome and leptosome-athletic groups. A minority of stutterers as compared to a majority of the normals fell into the athletic, pyknic, dysplastic, mixed and uncharacterized groups. The great majority of the stutterers showed introvertive tendencies. Because of the striking relationship between stuttering and physical habitus it seems reasonable to assume that constitutional determinants play an important role in stuttering.

Street, R. F.

doi: 10.1037/h0075865pmid: N/A

This study shows definite inferiority of functional mental cases and marked inferiority of organic cases in the capacity to succeed on the Gestalt completion test. The scores give no indication, however, of the exact nature of the deficiency. There seems to be a tendency for younger children to juxtapose elements of the picture rather than to attempt to synthesize them into a whole. If it were found that the inferior scores of the mentally ill were the result of a greater tendency to juxtaposition than to synthesis it would suggest regression rather than mental clouding.

Saadi, M.; Farnsworth, P. R.

doi: 10.1037/h0070349pmid: N/A

Dogmatic statements are more likely to have greater verbal acceptance when they are attributed to well-liked personages than in situations in which they are attributed to disliked people.

Rhine, J. B.

doi: 10.1037/h0075206pmid: N/A

A brief report is made of 37,377 tests in card guessing made under conditions planned to exclude the known sensory functions from aiding in obtaining successes. The subjects were, with but few exceptions, students at Duke University. For the group, there were 1343 successes above the chance expectation. Two subjects stood out above the rest with scores about double the chance expectation. With these two, it was found that extra-sensory perception of the type displayed in the card guessing was easily interfered with by a narcotic drug, and roughly in the degree to which the drug affected the higher mental processes in general. Considerable evidence was given to show the subjects' ability voluntarily to control their responses to obtain results either above or below chance expectation.

King, L. S.

doi: 10.1037/h0070555pmid: N/A

The concept of instinct implies that intervening between certain stimuli and certain responses there is, among other forces, one which is innate, propulsive, and concerned with purposes, ends, or goals. This explanatory concept has been widely attacked. Instinct is of no use in proximal explanation for any specific event; this should be in physico-chemical terms. But as a general term it implies a hormic biology which is a valid concept, not inconsistent with mechanistic data. By insisting on the importance of the goal it unites separate disciplines of biology and forms a unified field of psychobiology where function is stressed. Such a "horme" can be used as a well-defined explanatory concept, with the merits of generality and absence of inconsistency.

Patrick, J. R.; Sims, V. M.

doi: 10.1037/h0074781pmid: N/A

Literature shows that some investigators find race differences on some personality traits, while others find differences on other traits. None of the studies show as definite consistent differences in personality between negroes and whites as have been found in intelligence. This study reports racial and sectional differences in intelligence, as have been found by other investigators. Race differences between negroes and whites were found on only one trait, namely introversion. The white males tend more towards introversion than do the negro males. Negro males tend to be more self-sufficient and more dominant than are white males. The white women scored higher on the neurotic scale than the negro women; yet the latter indicated more dominance than the former. The whites showed more variability than the negroes.

Hartmann, G. W.

doi: 10.1037/h0073108pmid: N/A

With the possible exception of the finding that unhappy people are mildly inclined to be neurotic, most of the definite contributions of this study are negative in character. The low correlation between happiness self-estimates and the ratings of others is a fundamental limitation, which in conjunction with the inevitable factor of attenuation, is probably responsible for most of the negligible r's reported. A college population may be a poor group upon which to base generalized conclusions concerning humanity. Most of the subjects considered themselves happier than the average, which may be literally true in view of the relatively sheltered existence of the American undergraduate. The absence of any relation between estimated happiness and vocational interest may hold only for adolescents not yet economically self-sustaining.

Cutler, T. H.

doi: 10.1037/h0070670pmid: N/A

171 individuals of two mid-western business concerns checked a list of 25 definitions or general descriptions of what 107 individuals (in a preliminary study) thought the subject of psychology consisted in. Those individuals having no academic training in the field of psychology listed the study of "the mind" as first choice, while those having one or more courses listed it as fourth. Those individuals with academic training in psychology listed the study of "human behavior" first, while those without academic training listed it as third. The "reaction to mental stimuli" ranks as second for both groups.

Goldschmidt, T.

doi: 10.1037/h0071664pmid: N/A

Evidence is produced that women have not observed very closely the effects of the menstrual period upon themselves. This factor points to the conclusion that its effects are in part mental and traditional rather than biological, that women are still under the spell of the primitive taboo. This paper does not intend to discount the biological factors, but to point out the possibility of the strong effects of superstition.