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Chemical Digest CAN EDUCATION INCREASE INTELLIGENCE?
The much mooted question of increase in intelligence through education is again made the point for discussion in a recent number of the Forum' Dr. William McDougall, as his title, "Mental Capacity Fixed at Birth," implies, is of the opinion that education does not increase intelligence. He says:
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Attendance a t a good school disciplines the character, imparts respect for persons, institutions, and ideals, and teaches the art of getting on with our fellows Further, i t is the best way yet devised for securing to children n rnasse a vast amount of knowl.. edge and s k i , indnding those three most useful arts, reading, writing. and arithmetic, without mmmand of which no man is fit to take his place as a citizen of a modem State. And the art of reading, thus acquired, is the indispensable means to the acquisition of an indefinitely great mass of other knowledge, historical, scientific, and literary. Education, then, brings immense benefits: and a public system of free schooling is indispensable in the modern State. But, recognizing all this, we may still be in doubt as t o the answer to our problem-Can e d n d o n increase i n t e l l ' i c e ?
We might hope for some consensus of opinion in the matter, according to Dr. McDougall, if we could find some generally acceptable way of defming intelligence. "Intelligence is what the inteuigence tests test" is about as close as we have come to a real definition. Speaking of the various views as to the meaning of the term, Dr. McDougall says: Such speculations are of great theoretical interest; and some day perhaps we shall he able to define intelligence more confidently and niore exactly. In the meantime we have only opinions, founded in the main on mmmon observation of human life. And in my opinion the best opinion is that according to which intelligence, in the strict and narrow sense of the word, is not increased appreciably by education. If we use the word "intelligence" in a large and loose sense to mver all that mntributes to render a man well fitted for the battleof life, all knowledge and all skill, then of murse edumtion docs increase intrlligence. nut "intelligence"so wed isa word that obstructs, rather than aids. dear thinking. Intelligence is that factor which is displayed most elearly in the acquisition of knowledge and skill, and should not be identified with these products of its operation. There does seem to be some factor, or mare probably several factors. of our inborn constitution. which in each man may play a prinapal r6le in determining the demee of ease with which he acauires knowledae and skill. and also the e5ectiveneG with which he makes use 01 the knowledge and skilidready a&uired. And t h o u ~ hit may he true that all our functions, including . our intellipence, require exercise for full development, there seems little reason to suppose that formal education of any kind can promote the development of this particular function more effectively than does the o r d i i r y murse of dailylife in home i d field and forest, in factory, and workshop.
"Can Education Increase Intelligence?" WilliamMcDougalland I. A. Richards,
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Forum, 76,49Ek5G9 (Oct.. 1926).
VOL.
3, NO. 11
CRBMICAL D~ogs~
1327
Dr. I. A. Richards takes for his subject, "But We Can Be Taught to Think" and .writes: Very nearly all the important questions of psychology have, a t present, to be answered in the same way-"Sometimessometimes not" Sometimes education does increase intelligence (in the oniy sense in which it is profitable to use the word) sometimes it does not, sometimes it may even denease it. This is not nearly so dull or so disappointing an answer as it looks; all our bowledge has come about thmugh just such answers, for they bring us down out of the clouds of verbal and abstract speculation which we so much enjoy. They deflate us, which is, perhaps, why we dislike them. After all "Education" like "Aspirin," "Chippendale," or "Literature." is only a label which guarantees nothing about the preise nature of the thing which is sold or handled under it, and it is only in view of this precise natnre that we can usefully discuss the matter. There are myriads of educational processes; no two teachers have exactly the same influence upon their pupils; no two families grow up in the same educational circumstances..
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Dr. McDougall and Dr. Rjchards disagree mainly in their use of the word "intelligence." In presenting the subject under discussion they swerve away from it to contention over the true meaning of intelligence. Again quoting Dr. Richards: "Intelligence" even in the stricter sense in which Dr. McDougall uses it, is a word which wrecks the whole discussion. One man acquires skill and knowledge more easily then another. He handles new situations better than the other, and we can say he has more "intelligence" if we wish Lo point out kbis observable fact. This is the only use we should make of the wordif we are not to be the victims of verbal abstractions, But if we shift the word from this use, as ahnost all psychologists do, and make it the name of a supposed factor, or small group of factors, which cxpbins this supaior capacity, or i s displayed by it, we are assuming a quite hypothetical extra entity. something which may no1 and probably does not exist a t all, something which we cannot observe. We go on to discuss this supposed something regardless of the fact that its origin is in a linguistic convenience. Dr. McDougall admits the great importance of pre-school years in the development of character while denying it for the development of intelligeace. But this distinction between character and intelligence, though popular and useful for some pumas=. is a very doubtful affair. Neither Plato nor Aristotle would have thought much of it. Is it not likely that some of the main factors governing intelligent behavior are to be found in character? There are such things, for example, as intellectual diEidence and intellectnal audacity. Often what we call stupidity is merely panic a t the sight of the mw new. More often still it is a l e. . left by early bewilderment and indecision. The impulse of curiosity, the impulse to "try for oneself" rather than to wait to be shown. the imDulse to lead in mental experiment rather than to follow passively. all the varying degrees of self-reliance with which we meet the unfamiliar, all these belang to the sphere of character. And who will deny that they are of immense wnseqnence h dctermining whether our conduct shall he inWligeat or not?
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Dr. Richards concludes thus: If we get rid of the notion that "education" means a single intluence Iike a trade h d blowing in a single direction, and if we are on our guard against "intelligence" as the
name for an abstract "faculty," we shall see abundant reason to think that the difference between able and stupid persons is to be explained by the early accident of their lives rather than by an inborn unchangeable endowment.
W. R. W.
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SCIENCE IN PRACTICAL AFFAIRS
The search by the Government for domestic supplies of potash of snfficient extent to render the United States independent of foreign producers of this essential material will commence in Uptown County, Texas. This area, which has been recommended by the United States Geological Survey for potash exploration, is located in a territory now developing as an oil field, oil production being obtained a t an average depth of 2000 feet. The depth to the top of the potash-bearing salts is 435 feet. The enabling act authorizes the expenditure of $100,000 per annnm during a period of five years, to be expended by mutual agreement of the secretaries of the Interior and Commerce for the purpose of determining the location, extent, and mode of occurrence of potash deposits in the United States, and conducting necessary laboratory tests.
Nearly $15,000 has been raised for the establishment of a research bureau for the scientific investigation of vital problems of the drug trade. The proposed bureau will operate as a national clearing house for the investigation of facts, figures, and information pertaining to all branches of the drug industry. An investigation of the actual value of window displays, and a test of the individual selling ability of retail and clerk members were two researches suggested for the bureau's f i s t year. It has been proposed that the bureau be located in New York City and controlled by a committee composed of representatives from the National Wholesale Druggists Association, the National Association of Retail Druggists and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
Theaverage hydro-electric installation is five and one-half times as efEcient as the average steam plant but, according to A. H. Horton, chief of the Power Resources Division of the U. S. Geological Survey, the greater cost of construction of the water power unit offsetsthis advantage, and the cost of producing hydro-electricity is not lower than the cost of fuel generation. The average efficiency of fuel-burning public utility power plants is about 12'1%per cent. That is, for every 100 horsepower in the coal
