Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and MethodsHollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Science
Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and Methods
Hollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Psychophysiology
position demands, and thus, in the case of the simpler tasks, afford a
means of vocational guidance as well as vocational selection.
CHAPTER IV
THE PSYCHOGRAPHIC METHODS
THE INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOGRAPH
Another application of mental tests has a very direct interest for
vocational psychology. This is the method of the "psychograph," as it is
commonly called. The French and German psychologists especially have been
active in advocating the practice of submitting to careful and detailed
experimental examination the physical and mental characteristics of men who
have achieved marked success in their chosen vocations. By the application
of this clinical method to men of superior attainment it is hoped that
light may be thrown on the psychological foundations of their genius and,
in general, on the relation between mental traits, as shown in the results
of psychological tests, and actual success in life's work. This
psychographic method represents the earliest methodical attempt to
differentiate the various vocations from one another on the basis of
special aptitudes and characteristics, as distinguished from the factor of
general intelligence. Dr. E. Toulouse has already published reports of
such examinations or psychographs in the cases of Zola, Dalou, and Henri
Poincare. It is the intention of this investigator to continue this line of
work, utilizing from time to time such refinements of technique as may be
available. As an illustration of the psychographic method, an account of
the study of the eminent mathematician, Poincare, may be given in some
detail.
The investigation of Poincare took account of such special topics as
heredity, development, physical condition, sensory acuity, various kinds of
memory, attention, imagery, reaction time, association of ideas, language
and handwriting, character, habits and opinions. Although the tests
followed a technique which the investigator recognized to have been quite
imperfect and fragmentary, they are said to have yielded results quite
sufficient to characterize the intellectual type of the man. The account of
the tests is followed by a synthesis in which is attempted a general
picture of Poincare's type and an interpretation of the conditions of
invention and speculative genius.
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