Before approaching psychoanalysis, I shall say a word about a new school of experimental psychology which is arousing interest at present in America. It cannot be neglected because of the light which it throws on the contemporary novel. It is called Behaviorism--the science of action or conduct. This system is based on the theory of stimulants and reactions or response. It takes back to empiricism and to psychophysics (mind-and-body relationship). It makes a clear sweep of our mental life, conscious or subconscious, and consents to know the Self only through its relations and reactions to the exterior world. Behaviorism appears in the form of a vast inquest, a sort of referendum on the possible motives of human actions. It replaces the interior observation of classical psychology and the Freudian divination by a peculiar Socratic-like examination, a tight network of questions which claim to capture in their meshes the secrets of the Self. Here are a few examples of this method of investigation. They resemble strongly a catechism,--what we call in college slang a “quiz.” This is the questionnaire proposed to diagnose the general emotional aptitude of a subject. Does the subject manifest a normal amount of curiosity? Has he initiative? What are his particular inclinations and hobbies? What is the history of his sexual initiations; of his liaisons, etc? Are his emotional reactions well balanced? To diagnose the disposition towards activity, the questionnaire is modified as follows. Is the individual lazy or industrious? Is he loquacious? Is he given to frequent laughter and to loud conversation? Are his movements effectual or awkward? For social fitness the following questions are asked: How many intimate friends has the individual? What is the history of his family relations? How easily does he form friendships? How much loyalty has he? How much tact? Is his society sought by others? This is the method of behavioristic investigation. It appears very summary. Its critics accuse it, not without reason, of letting escape, through the gaps in its questions, that which is most worth knowing. Do not the answers to the questions of the behavioristic catechism consider already discovered the secret which one expects to obtain from them, so that all this display of questions is only a _petitio principii_? The attempt of behaviorism to construct our personality from without and to wring from us, by our acts, the secret of our thoughts is, however, interesting. It will help us to understand better the psychological realism and the reporting methods of Theodore Dreiser, for example. We shall bear it in mind for that reason. * * * * *