In our Harvard laboratory we have now proceeded from such
preparatory mass experiments to subtle investigations on a small
number of persons well trained in psychological self-observation with
whom the conditions of the experiment can be varied in many
directions.[39]
It would seem probable that such experiments might also win
psychotechnical significance. A short series of tests which would have
to be adapted to the special situations, and which for the simple
wage-earner would have to be much easier than those sketched above,
would allow it to be determined beforehand whether an individual will
suffer from repetition in work. Even if we abstract from arguments of
social reform and consider exclusively the economic significance, it
must seem important that labor which involves much repetition be
performed by men and women whose mental dispositions favor an easy
grasp of successive uniform impressions. Experimentation could secure
the selection of the fit workmen and the complaint of monotony would
disappear. The same selection could be useful in the opposite
direction, as many economic occupations, especially in our time of
automatic machines, demand a quick and often rhythmical transition
from one activity to another. It is evident that those whose natural
dispositions make every mental excitement a preparation not for the
identical but for the contrasting stimulation will be naturally
equipped for this kind of economic tasks.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179