Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and MethodsHollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Science
Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and Methods
Hollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Psychophysiology
The greater number of the tests had to do with more strictly mental
characteristics. Poincare had no visual images or memories, except in the
transition state between waking and sleeping, when he had frequent visual
hallucinations of remarkable distinctness. In his waking life he relied
chiefly on motor images and tendencies, thinking of geometrical forms in
terms of optical or manual movements. He had no visual "schemes," but
represented time, in his thinking, by a rotation of the eyes on their axes.
In his youth he had pronounced colored hearing, which was evoked not by the
form but by the sound of letters and words. He had no other synesthesias.
Tests of recognition memory for length of lines, reproduction of drawings
seen once, etc., are said to have shown exceptional memory capacity. The
memories were held with the aid of motor imagery, and the reproduction was
often not from the image but on the basis of an analysis of the material
which had been presented to him. He had a memory span for digits of about
eleven, as compared with the ordinary record of about eight. In the case of
letters he had an auditory memory span of nine, and a visual span of seven.
Mechanical memory did not seem to be particularly good, and much emphasis
is laid on Poincare's tendency to use memory devices when remembering this
non-logical material; he employed analysis and incidental schemes whenever
possible. He had a "remarkable facility in mental calculation," which is
said not to be the rule with mathematicians. In tests of logical memory he
was superior to both Zola and Dalou, and here again his memory was found to
be analytical and artificial rather than mechanical. All material was
arranged in a coherent scheme or system, and it was this system, rather
than the material, that was remembered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account