MEDICAL TESTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27275, 29 December 1949, Page 4

MEDICAL TESTS

SOLDIER RECRUITS PSYCHIATRISTS VIEWS Army psychblogy had resulted in the recognition that men had different capacities for different functions, and before being put into a job, those functional capacities had to be taken into consideration, Dr Harold Palmer, psychiatrist at the Dunedin Public Hospital, told the Daily Times yesterday. He was commenting on the remarks made by Dr T. D. M. Stout, - of Wellington, on the mental or psychological aspects of the problem of testing recruits for the army. Dr Palmer agreed entirely with Dr Stout’s views and took the subject further. He said that until the 193945 war, it was assumed that when a State went to war every person eligible to fight had to do so. No regard was taken for their different capacities, he' added, and it seemed remarkable that no one had recognised that . humans varied in intelligence.

Although a highly intelligent man might not. make a good soldier, men of lesser intelligence might be as brave as lions, he continued. That was recognised, but the moat desirable type of fighting man .was the one with intelligence as well as courage.

An example given by Dr Palmer was the German Panzer unit. They realised that a division of highly intelligent fighting men could beat an army of mental defectives, he said. The 7th Armoured Division, which was sent to North Africa, were all preselected men and they had been a great fighting force. The outcome had been that while' it was recognised that every man was expected to fight, he was not expected to go beyond his capacity. It was therefore the psychiatrist's job to help find each individual's capacity, he said. The Canadians had gone a stage further, Dr Palmer continued. They had realised that it was useless to think of a man as a whole, and for the purposes of grading they had considered him as consisting of eight component functional parts. Their revolutionary system was known as Pulheems. After each man was classified in conformity with his ability, they discovered the types needed and graded the men accordingly. He added that the 21st Army Group had been selected by that system. Dr Palmer emphasised that the discoveries made were as important in civilian life as in war-time. England had recognised it and men for industry were being pre-selected in increasing numbers. A similar scheme could'be put into operation in New Zealand with advantage, he said. The shortage of man-power in Britain had forced the recognition that every man had to be used to his maximum capacity to fight a more powerful enemy. Britain was involved in an industrial battle, he said, and the same principles had to be continued in civil life.

While it was important to place a man according to his functional capacity, Dr Palmer said, it was equally important to find the correct job for him to do. It was just as necessary to analyse the job as the man. He illustrated the point by stating that a golfer, before making a shot, surveyed the hazards, and selected a club most suitable to his lie.