An introduction to psychology / by F. Aveling.

  • Francis Aveling
Date:
1932
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: An introduction to psychology / by F. Aveling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    sciences ; and, by insistence upon the racial derivation of individual mental characteristics, related the science closely to sociology. A second consequence of the acceptance of the Darwinian hypothesis was the application of the concepts of variation, selection and adap¬ tation to the study of individual differences. Though experimental work had shown that people differ in respect of sensory acuity, quickness of reaction-time, and the like, it was Galton (b. 1822) who first investigated the problem of individual differences on a large scale in his studies of hereditary genius, mental images, mental number-forms and similar matters. Even more important was his con¬ tribution of a statistical method, which was to prove of enormous service in psychological in¬ vestigation. In order to find the relation be¬ tween mental qualities, which cannot directly be measured, we require some device by which we can ascertain how far they tend to go to¬ gether. Such a device Galton provided in the “ coefficient of correlation,” which has since so been developed and perfected as to be of in¬ estimable value in psychological research. The raising of the problem of individual differences, and the creation of this instrument of research, entitle him to a foremost place as a pioneer of contemporary psychology.
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