Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and MethodsHollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Science
Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and Methods
Hollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Psychophysiology
Progress in these vocations does not then imply, in fact almost never does
imply, merely increasing the quantity or quality of the work at which one
starts. The promotion of a teacher is often from teaching and disciplining
classes satisfactorily, to clerical assistance in the principal's office,
the principalship, general school superintendence, administrative
counselling and public lecturing, or the college or national presidency.
The case of the teacher of biology who becomes the principal of a
commercial high school is not at all unprecedented. For occupations of this
character and for this main group of average individuals it is indeed
hopeless to seek for vocational psychographs. It is here if anywhere that
the general principle holds that one who does anything well could have done
almost anything else well if he had cared to try. But the degree to which
one _cares_ is not measured by reaction time or cancellation tests. The
question of the degree to which ability of one sort implies ability of
other sorts is one of the several matters to be considered in a later
chapter.
This fivefold division of the vocations is based on the degree to which the
tasks involved require complete and normal psychological equipment. The
foregoing consideration of these five main occupational groups may be said
to constitute a brief summary of the present outstanding results of
vocational psychology. The mentally incompetent can easily be discovered at
an early age by the use of the graded intelligence scales. Their subsequent
direction into forms of useful work appropriate to their degree of defect
is not a psychological enterprise, but, rather, a civic obligation and
industrial economy. The apparently small group of individuals who are by
original nature fitted for the pursuit of work involving special or unit
characters will, whether otherwise incompetent or generally capable,
commonly demonstrate their unique abilities without the application of
psychological technique. The much larger group of unspecialized workers,
requiring rather higher degrees of mental competence, may be chosen without
difficulty with the aid of the standard mental scales and norms, their
academic records, and the judgments of their associates. These may be
guided into such tasks as involve mainly a moderate degree of intellectual
capacity and make no notable demand for the exercise of the social and
moral virtues. The vocational psychology of the future will find its chief
problems in dealing with the numerous and permanent tasks requiring workers
who, in addition to their varying degrees of strictly intellectual
proficiency, possess particular or complete instinctive, emotional and
volitional equipment, and who are amenable to those social and educational
agencies which seek to impress upon them the moral virtues of their
community and age.
FOOTNOTES:
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