Feelings and Emotions

These booklets, in a series called the Doubleday Papers in Psychology, are evidently intended for supplementary reading in undergraduate courses in psychology and as separate treatments of particular topics of interest to the general reader. The basic idea seems to me a good one, for an instructor, or a layman seeking enlightenment on a particular topic, could from such a series secure what he wants without having to use, purchase, or plow through other materials not of interest at the moment. The execution of this good basic idea is of course no easier than the writing of the perfect textbook. Thus it is that the three papers under review do not seem at all equal in quality or in likelihood of contributing to the purpose of the series. The paper by Frank treats of emotions first as a mammalian function, and as an aspect of homeostasis. The bulk of the paper, however, concerns emotional development, treated with enough generality that many would call this a discussion of personality development. Special attention is given to early processes of emotional response, to the socialization of emotion, to the role of language in emotional development, and to the major problems in adolescence. Much clear sense is made of the origins of emotional conflict , repression, and society's influence upon the learning of emotions. Emotional maturity and emotional integrity are given sensible and realistic interpretation. The chief intellectual influence is perhaps psychoanalysis, but elements of Lewin's psychology, the biology of growth, and other ideas are also apparent and well integrated into the author's view. His language is well selected, the technicalities of psychoanalytic terminology, for example , being avoided without losing the rich meanings of the concepts. To me, this paper is a fine example of how different disciplines and concepts can De brought to bear upon a selected topic so that an elementary student or a parent can read with little aid, but with substance enough that the experienced scholar can profit. Bischof's paper consists of a brief introduction to the history of intelligence testing and the I.Q., to selected quantitative theories of intelligence which are grouped as defining intelligence as problem solving, and then some elaboration of the Thurstone primary mental abilities approach, together with presentation of a sample test and a brief cataloging of available tests. The paper is rather clearly written. It utilizes a pictorial rather than a statistical presentation, …