THE CHILD MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 103, 4 May 1931, Page 9

THE CHILD MIND.

"GOSPEL OF INDIVIDUAL" PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC. EXPERIMENT IN WELLINGTON. "There is an urgent need for some of us to preach the gospel of the individual child,. to urge, to realise, that no two children are alike," said Professor W. H. Gould, Professor of Education at Victoria College, when addressing the Wellington branch of the Association of Psychology and Philosophy. . Although there was a sufficient measure of uniformity in children to allow 01 a certain amount of uniformity of education, said Professor Gould, there remained the matter of the individual child. Schools as we had them to-day were so built and so constituted that it Was a matter of increasing difficulty in .a room containing perhaps 50 or 60 children to give that special attention needed by the backward children. .

■ The occasion for these remarks was a symposium upon the work of the psychological clinic which is in operation. Dr.. Ada Paterson, dealing with the physical examination of the child, said that, they came in contact with the children through the primary school medical service, and the patients ranged from brilliant children, misunderstood and emotionally unstable children, down to dull children, with an inherent lack of mental capacity, and feeble-minded children. She traced the steps of a child's development, from the possibilities iat birth, and' described the routine preliminary examination of the subject at the clinic.

Misguided Parents. Professor T. A. Hunter spoke of the interview with the parent, in which the object was to find as much about the child's history and environment, and nature as possible. One of the difficulties of the interview was, that the parent often tried to hide the skeleton in the cupboard; things of which they .were rightly or wrongly—and 'generally wrongly—ashamed. The parent might "ot like to express opinions upon what lie,regarded as his own private business. Sometimes it was found, that, a child was the sufferer from misplaced kindness, as for example, when one woman complained tktfc her boy; coeld not do

anything for himself. It was then found that she did everything for him, even to putting his boots on for him. Parents might be quite honest, but they would hide, or actually forget, disagreeable conditions and experiences.

Intelligence Tests.

Dγ, I. L. G. Sutherland dealt with mental tests and intelligence tests which were used to discover native ability. He held no exaggerated opinion of the value of these tests; there were many mental factors which might go to modify the estimate of native ability. "Goodness knows what the child has been told about the psychological clinic," he said, and allowances had to be made for the fear which the child might have. Professor Gould, completing the symposium,, said that having found the trouble and prescribed for it, the treatment had to-be applied, and this was done in the home and in the school. He had found the teachers remarkably sympathetic and regretted that they could not have a section attached to the clinic where the remedies could be put into operation. There was no hope of getting the Government to institute, one, but if someone had £20,000 to be given away the clinic would be very glad of it.