PSYCHOLOGY IN USE

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21646, 3 December 1935, Page 7

PSYCHOLOGY IN USE

PROFESSOR SHELLEY'S RESEARCHES COMMENT BY A VISITOR "In Professor James Shelley, professor of education at Canterbury University College, this province has an expert whose services should be.used to the utmost," said Mr W. Shakespeare Blnks, lecturer in psychology for the Universal Opportunity League. "Professor Shelley," said Mr Binks, "is quoted in many, parts of the world, through his successful experiments and findings, and he is noted as a man of outstanding character, a fearless advocate of freedom of expression, a =ayer, and a doer. The fact that he is greatly interested in the amateur drama as being of use as a vicarious mean's of expressing life, is all to his credit." . . ,i. Mr Binks told an interviewer last night that he had received stirring reports of the work done at the Canterbury College psychological laboratory. The findings of psychologists the world over amounted to showing people and, of course, primarily, their children, the vocation and general life best fitted to them. Parents had gone to Professor Shelley, and his former assistant, Dr. C. E. Beeby, for direction concerning their children, said Mr Binks. They found themselves in the midst of apparatus for measuring rapidity of thought, the exploration of the, emotions, investigation of the causes of fatigue, tests of eye and ear reactions, and analyses of abnormal fears and mental conditions. The use of such apparatus and tests was thoroughly up-to-date.

Help for Retardates

"The problems of children known as 'retardates' have been explored and great assistance has been given to teachers, parents, and, above all, the children themselves," Mr Binks declared. "The main problem has been scientifically to define the greatest aptitudes of children and so arrange their lives that they may grow harmoniously and_ along the lines of their strong inclinations." The whole problem, Mr Binks stated, was that people who had become more or less. mature had not fitted themselves to understand their vocations and environment. They were far too apt to decide, quite recklessly, what sort of work they should do, and took a chance of being in their right element or otherwise. As a matter of fact, the appalling thing was that most people were not in their right "lines." "The work of Professor Shelley and of Dr. Beeby has been exceedingly interesting. It has gained them praise far beyond New Zealand," Mr Binks continued. "They are pioneers in New Zealand, and they have laid the foundations of a new order of relationships. Their doctrine, simply, is—'know thyself, know the truth, know thy fellows, and be free'." To accommodate the many hundreds who were unable to gain admission to the last series of addresses, Mr Binks, who is lecturing under the auspices of the Universal Opportunity League, will speak again, on the all-absorbing subject of self-advancement, at the Caledonian Hall to-morrow night. His subject will be "Happiness in Love, Marriage, and Home." Admission is free.

Continuing his free addresses, Mr Binks will take entirely different subjects for his talks on the evenings of December 5. 6, and 7, at the Radiant Hall, each commencing at 8 o'clock. . At the St. James' Theatre, on Sunday afternoon and evening next, the psychplogist will discuss still different matters concerned with everyday life. He will use lightning sketches on the stage and coloured pictures on the screen to illustrate the salient points.