468 SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

14. Some students have difficulty getting suitable ideas for a

project.15. Projects may produce a nervous strain upon some stu-

dents.

PSYCHOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

S. EDMUND STODDARDScience Instructor, High School, Blackfoot, Idaho

In meditating upon the biological education of a people thistruth presents itself to me�that secondary schools must shoul-der a grave responsibility. In its classes millions must be giventhe opportunity to learn the many really important facts andprinciples so necessary to successful living. These facts andconcepts cannot be attained and developed in one year’s studyof general biology.To assist our senior students in acquiring some of the informa-

tion modern biological science is unfolding, we have for the pastthree years added psychology to our curriculum. During theseyears the author has developed definite conclusions as to thematerial necessary for senior high school students. This articleis presented with the hope that these conclusions may be ofvalue to other instructors presenting, possibly for the first time,a course in psychology to senior students.

MATERIALThe author has found that high school students as well as the

majority of adults have formed definite concepts of what psy-chology is and should be without having studied the subject.Some pupils think psychology is a storehouse filled w^th mys-tery and magic. They wish to delve into its secrets in order tosee beyond the workings of the human mind. Such misconcep-tions must be eliminated from the students’ thinking. They mustbe made to realize that psychology, to be a worth while study,must first be objective and scientific. To aid in this develop-ment a brief history of psychology is found helpful.The author includes in this history a discussion of animism,

Plato and Aristotle, the concepts held by the early ChristianChurch, Descartes, Herbart, Wundt, Freud, Watson, Thorn-dike, Lashley and Bentley. Several other names are added to the

PSYCHOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 469

study as the course progresses. It is also explained to the stu-dents that psychology was first the study of the soul, then themind, and now, becoming scientific, the study of behavior.Some books begin their study by presenting various ideas of

mind as held by philosophers and psychologists. For the pasttwo years the author has experimented with the reaction of highschool seniors to different concepts of mind. These results con-vince the present writer that, although the students are for themost part intellectually capable of many such discussions, theirinterest is far from being centered in these studies. Conse-quently it seems desirable to merely explain that the majorityof psychologists define mind as bodily responses.

In a discussion of the mechanism of bodily responses the stud-ies should not be too detailed. A brief study of the effectors,connectors, and receptors including the ductless glands seemsvery necessary. These studies are paramount for the develop-ment of the concept of nerve transmission and the formationof the idea of stimulus and response. It is a revelation to moststudents to study the various receptors. In the majority of in-stances the students had always thought of the senses in termsof sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste.

Following the above studies it seemed important to the au-thor to study in some detail the concept of conditioning. Thestudy of Pavlov’s first experiments was followed by discussionsconcerning positive and negative conditioning, the time factor,and methods of unconditioning. Watson^s experiments withchildren were reviewed and various illustrations from life werementioned to clearly aid the student in an understanding of thistype of bodily behavior.At this stage in the study of pscyhology the students had de-

veloped scientific attitudes and were ready for the perusal ofthe following topics: individual differences, reflex and instinct,emotion, intelligence, thinking, memory, development of de-terminations (ego, success, failure), and socializing an indi-vidual.

It is the belief of the writer that part of the remainder of thecourse is somewhat new in high school classes in psychologyand should therefore be reviewed in more detail. Our school islocated near a state asylum for the insane. Many students askedquestions concerning the inmates of this institution. Their in-terest was an outgrowth of having,visited the asylum sometimein the past. It was a logical decision that students of seventeen

470 SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

and eighteen years of age should study problems of personalitybreakdown. The following outline indicates the sequence of ma-terial studies.

I. NormalityII. Borderland types

1. Emotionally maladjusteda. Neurastheniab. Hysteriac. Psychasthcnia

2. Emotionally unstable3. Mentally peculiar

III. Functional psychoses1. Dementia praecox2. Manic-depressive psychoses3. Paranoia

IV. Organic psychoses1. General paresis2. Toxic psychoses3. Senile psychoses4. Brain diseases5. Epilepsy

V. The feeble-minded1. Idiots2. Imbeciles3. Morons

VI. Mental hygiene

At the close of the classes in psychology an inquiry was madein the attempt to discover student reactions to the varioustopics studied during the year. Seventy per cent of the studentsenjoyed the persual of the abnormal psychology more than anyother topic. The next most enjoyed was the subject of condi-tioning.The classes were taken through the asylum and the psychia-

trist in charge talked to the students, stressing the relationshipbetween the normal and the abnormal. By such proceedings thestudents developed an objective and scientific outlook on theproblem of personality breakdown. It seems evident that theintegration of the concept of the development of psychopathictraits and a survey of the field of mental hygiene is one of themost important topics that the pupils might peruse in thismodern world.

LABORATORY

During the course the following experiments have been per-formed by each student:1. Distribution of the four sense qualities of the skin�pressure, pain,

warmth, coolness.

PSYCHOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 471

2. The two-point threshold.3. Tactual localization.4. Determination of steadiness of pupils.

a. Apparatus constructed by students.5. Determination of perception of depth.

a. Apparatus constructed by students.6. Mapping blind spot.7. Color mixing.8. After images.9. Perimeter.

10. Psychogalvanic reflex.11. High-relief finger maze.

a. Apparatus constructed by students.12. Word association tests.13. Intelligence tests.

a. Compared results of taking tests as seniors with records as fresh-men.

14. Mirror star tracing.15. Rats learning the maze

a. Work done by two students who cared for the rats at their homesbringing them to class to demonstrate to the other pupils.

The above outline is presented to illustrate the type of ex-periments that might be included in a course in high schoolpsychology. The students have developed, under supervision ofthe instructor, a number of pieces of apparatus which haveworked very well. The material needed may be found in thescience department of most high schools; the cost of constructioncan therefore be held to a minimum. It has been found that stu-dents take interest and considerable pride in building their ownapparatus.

In addition to the laboratory work described above, thewriter has been experimenting with the recording of a psycho-graph for each student. The hope entertained by the author isthat these studies will form a basis for guidance for senior stu-dents in our high school.

CONCLUSION

After three years of experimenting with psychology in highschool it seems a certainty that senior students are capable ofunderstanding its basic concepts. The presentation of elemen-tary abnormal psychology and mental hygiene has proved verysuccessful. Almost any high school will have material for theconstruction of various types of apparatus which will materiallyaid the value of the course. It then seems a salient fact that thestudy of the effect of environment on the formation of ourchanging lives should be presented to senior high school students.