College News, 1929-06-03, Vol. 15, No. 24

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VOL. XV, NO. 24
/   ;' 3RYN MAWR (AND WAYNE), PA., TUESDAY, JUNE 3,1929
PRICE,   10 CENTS
Dr. Kohler Shows That
Apes Are Intelligent
(Contributed by I'. 1'ahl. '29.)
Within the year the chief protagonists
of the two most recent movements in
psychology have spoken at Br-yn Mawr:
last November, Dr. John B. Watsbn,
Behaviorist, champion of the "condi-
tioned reflex." and enemy of conscious-
ness, and on Saturday. May 25, Pro-
fessor Wolfgang Kohler, Configuration-
ist, and observer of the behavior of apes,
whom he credits with true insight. Dr.
Watson's method of investigation is to
present his children and aniriials with
simple problems, in the solution of which
there is no opportunity for insight; Pro-
fessor Kohler begins with problems de-
manding insight for their solution, and
yet not beyond the limitations of the
apes' equipment. It is not surprising,
therefore, that the BehaViorist's conclu-
sion should be that behavior consists of
a mechanistic concatenation of simple
units, each dependent upon the one pre-
ceding it, and functioning according to
the laws of chance; and that Professor
'Kohler's experiments should indicate for
him that his animals have an ability to
grasp the significance of a total situa-
tion, thereby exhibiting intelligence.
Further,  Professor Kohler substitutes a
dynamical-physiological basis of experi-
ence for Dr. Watson's mechanical-
physiological explanations. The replace-
ment of a mechanical by a dynamic
hypothesis involves consequences which
can be best understood from a quotation
from* Professor Kohler s book, Gestalt
Psychology:
"Instead of reacting to local stimuli by
i local and independent events, the organ-
ism reacts tdPan actual constellation of
stimuli by a total process, which, as a
. functional whole, is its response to the
whole situation. This is the only view-
� � point which can explain how to a given
local stimulus there may correspond
altogether different experiences, as soon
as the surrounding stimulation is
changed."
This conception of response to a total
situation, its form rather than its ele-
ments, is the central thesis of Gestalt
psychology, the psychology of shape. In
this respect, Gestalt has adopted the con-
cepts of the newer physical science: the
Einstein theory * of Relativity and the
psychology of Con figuration ism have
-assumed cosmic interdependence and
psychic interdependence, respectively;
both theories claim to conform better to
the facts than the assumptions of the
older Newtonian physics and mechanistic
psychologies; and both have united
under one common explanation facts that
previous theories regarded as discon-
nected anomalies. Finally, as a conse-
quence of this very parallelism, Gestalt
psychology tends to view the physical
and psychological as a single system, and
hopes thereby to throw new light on the
old problem of mechanism and vitalism,
matter and spirit.
In his Jecture, Professor Kohler dem-
onstrated the application of Gestalt psy-
chology in the field of intelligence hy
describing a number of experiments with
apes. The tasks which he set his animals
were tests of intelligence in "delayed
reactions," discrimination, imitation, and
original problems.
The apes were permitted to watch the
experimenter as he buried food in the
ground outside their cage, and fourteen
hours afterwards they were allowed to
leave the cage, whence they went imme-
diately to the exact spot where the food
had been hidden. On another occasion,
the animals watched while   a stick was
placed out of sight above the rafters in
their cage, and the next day, when they
had need of a tool to get food which
was out ot their reach, they remembered
the hidden stick, climbed up, took it
down, and used it. Both the ability to
remember the hiding place, and the reali-
zation that the stick would enable them
to reach the food, Professor Kohler in-
terprets as evidence of intelligence.
In problems of discrimination the ape
shows himself particularly able. Rats,
when presented with two stimuli of dif-
ferent brightness, can learn to go to the
brighter (or darker), where they are
rewarded with food A graph of the
learning of rats in such experiments gen-
CONTINUED  ON   THE  SECOND   PAGE
Dr. Park Emphasized
Living For Posterity
Both Sermon and Procession of
Baccalaureate Were
Impressive.          .
NEED       FOR        PURPOSE
Summer School Plans�1929    Schools in America
All day long one. Saturday in April
the�-Admissions Committee of the
Bryn Mawr Summer School sat
around a long table in the Summer
School headquarters considering a big
pile of application blanks. Chairmen
from 'the nearby districts were pres-
ent, to give information about their
own candidates, and many letters had
come from the far West, from cities
in the South, and from European
countries. Former students of the
Summer School had helped in inter-
viewing new applicants and had sent
in their recornmendations.
To choose one "hundred students
from almost two hundred applications
is a difficult task. The school has no
examinations. Entrance requirements
are extremely simple�sixth grade edu-
cation, two years in a factory, ages
between twenty and thirty-five, ability
to read and write English and good
health.- Mental ability and the appli-
cant's interest in industrial problems
are also taken into consideration.
Each district committee, now fifty
in number throughout the United
States, sends in a list of preferred
applicants. From every district those
students ranked by the committee as
first choice are accepted, usually about
sixty in all. About this group there
is no question. They are all rank-
and-ftle ,industrial workers,, or else
from the group of women leaders in
the labor movement. They meet the
sixth-grade requirement;' they fall
within the age limits for the school,
and they have hr some way demon-
strated their mental capacity and their
interest in industrial problems. An
analysis of their nationalities, trades,
districts and labor affiliations is made
on a big blackboard. On the basis of
this analysis the rest of the students
are selected. The school tries always
to keep a  certain proportion  of each
and France Contrasted
In chapel, on Wednesday, Mile.
I'arde spoke on the differences be-
tween the American and the French
educational system. Tlrfc speech was
in the nature of a farewell address
since Mile. I'arde is returning to
France for next year after ten years
at Bryn Mawr. where, as Miss Schenck
pointed'out, "every one has very keenly
appreciated her sympathetic under-
standing   of   American   things."
"It is extremely difficult to present
such a subject in a few minutes," be-
gan Mile. I'arde, "and,so I can only
use generalizations, which give very
incomplete impressions. Fundamen-
tally your system is very different froth
that in my own country. In America
there is a freedom and a variety aljout
education; in France it is strictly or-
ganized and centralized. The govern-
ment is in control of all the schools,
and thus there is great standardiza-
tion, so that one can find the same
type of school building, the same
curriculum and the same history class
in progress at the same time in almost
every village from Bordeaux to Brest.
"In France examinations�of course
you arc all very probably interested
CONTINtJED ON T<HB 8ECOND PAOE
trade, of students from each section
of the country, of union and non-union
workers. One-half the selected group
are union members; one-half do not
belong to any labor organization. If
a large number of union garment
workers have been seleced among the
first choices for the school, non-union
workers from other trades are chosen
to fill the remaining places. Bv ex-
perience the committee has learned to
select about thirty more candidates
tharf can be accommodated in the
school, knowing that for many reasons
CONTINUED  ON   THE THIRD  PAOE
Freshmen Rise to Occasion
The alumnae and older undergrad-
uates have recently clasj*�d unto their
hearts and bosoms the Class of 1932.
Inspired by a righteous sense of duty
and a vigorous enthusiasm aroused by
the oratory of Mrs. Collins, the late
freshmen have joined the ranks of
true Bryn Mawrters by subscribing to
the payments for Goodhart Hall. Per-
haps having the use of the building
tends to make those uninitiated dur-
ing the pre-Goodhart era take our
latest addition somewhat for granted.
Perhaps, on the other hand, the use
of the building makes them appreciate
more fully just how much the build-
ing adds to the daily life of the col-
legian. At any rate, 1932 has realized
what the Commons Room, the Music
Room, the Auditorium �and the other
nooks and crannies of the building
mean to them. They have pledged
themselves to pay for the rigging of
the. Goodhart stage, and the under-
graduates especially realize what their
generous contribution will mean �o<he
college.
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Important Notice
Students who are returning to take
condition examinations in September will
Be allowed to sfay in Radnor Hall begin-
ning September 25.' Breakfast will be
served in the Hall, but no other meals.
A charge of one dollar and twenty-five
cents -for. night and breakfast will l>e
made. Those who wish to stay in Rad-
nor should inform Miss Caviller of the
date of their return at the time wh
they write about their coiiditiorTexanu-
nations. Under special conditions an
undergraduate tutor will be permitted to
stay in Radnoc with the person that she
is tutoring, but permission for making
this arrangement should be obtained fn
Jthc Dean's office.
No other students, graduate or under-
graduate, will be allowed to return to
the halls of residence before Monday,
September 30; and those who come back
for condition examinations are not sup-
posed to go into their own halls except
when absolutely necessary.
MlLLICEN'T   CARKV,
Acting Dean of the College.
Delightful Program Monna
de Montoliu Dances
Monna de Montoliu, the daughter and
pupil of Placido de Montoliu, formerly
an instructor of dancing at the Thome
School, presented a recital of dances in
Goodhart auditorium, Wednesday, May
fifteenth. Miss de Montoliu was accom-
panied by Dorothy Hodge, violinist, and
Muriel  Hodge,  pianist.
The dances were prettily rendered, but
were uninteresting as they lacked origi-
nality, of form and interpretation. Miss
de Montolu was graceful and light-
frioted, although her movements varied
only within a lew types, and caught
little of the motif in the more subtle
music of her program. Common dra-
matic figures were introduced, and char-
acter costumes typified the various com-
positions. Miss de Montoliu is limited
in her power, and her art was best dis-
played in the clever but superficial
Allegro of Dittersdorf, in the peasant
gestures of Grieg's Norwegian Dance,
and in the lively /.ortico of Albeniz.
dancing it not developed to the
Her
sion of Strauss or Kreisler, but is suited
to the folk dance. Miss de Montoliu
was certain of herself and pleasingly sin-
cere, even if she did not realize the full
emphasis of the music.
The. dances   were   interspersed    with
several  violin  solos, and Miss   Dorothy
CONTINUED ON THE SIXTH  PAOE
*
On Sunday evening. June 2, at 8
|b'clock, the baccalaureate sermon was
delivered by Dr. Charles Edward
Bark, of the First Church, in Boston.
Before the services began the faculty
and candidates for degrees formed the
academic procession,* inarching from
the library, through Rockefeller arch
and entering Goodhart by the main
door. The scene was most impres-
sive, and the two holders of English
degrees gave a decided bit of variety
and   of atmosphere t<| the  procession.
After the regular services Dr. Park
Spoke upon the kind of lives "that we
should live in order to leave for those
who follow us "fat pasturage and
good." The descendants of the tribe
of Ham left "a country wide and
peaceable and good." simply because
they had inhabited it. The conclusion
drawn from snch a premise is most
significant. The kind of people who
have foresight and consideration for
others and vvljo lead a creative, gener-
ous and constructive life are tj^ose who
are an eternal blessing to mankind
and an asset to civilization.
IC is said by many, people that
Americans especially � have never
learned Lo lead this godly kind
of life. Their cities show no fore-
sight : "they were built first and
planned afterwards." In our world
today men are forced to be first de-
structive, in order that they may later
be constructive. This same failure
may be seen in the development of
laws and our institutions; we
have developed no definite, progress-
ing policy. "America," said Dr. Park,
"is a kind of enlarged Topsy. She
jus' growed."
This criticism is not unfair, because
we needit��The psychosis of a new
n Js a terrific ordeal. The in-
toxicating wealth of natural resource
and opportunity which was found upon
this continent made it impossible, at
first, for men calmly to think and to
provide. It is only now being seen
that our minds and spirits have not
been permanently unbalanced by flits"
phenomenon. We still can re-esttfb-
lish the poise and steadiness of a
nation' of   far-sighted   nation-builders.
CONTINUED ON THE SIXTH PAGE
Parade Hilarious
Monday was Alumnae Day, but the
Sun didn't seem to realize the intrinsic
importance of the fact. Or maybe,
being male, he was merely too sly to
face such a .compact and strictly
female gathering. The alumane knew
it was their day, however, even if the
Jotfa| old Sun didn't. In spite of the .
disillusioning November effect of the
weather gaiety prevailed. The band
was present, of course, and led the
parade from I'em Arch to the Gym.
Inside it blared away from the balcony
while the' various reuning classes
paraded   their costumes below.
And the costumes were good, too.
'98 and .'16 headed the list for Bohe-
mian atmosphere�'98 all wore dark
blue painters' smocks and '16 light
blue. Each person carried a palette
covered with most realistic spotches
of paint. "President Park's Portrait
Painters" was the'lsfbel they chose for
themselves. '97 carried out the red
motif with admirable thoroughness:
red berets, red-checked smocks, and
even red corkscrew curls. Other
highlights were the "1917 Vandals."
a bloody pirate crew, 1918 appeared,
merettes bearing a banner in-
scribed with the inspiring words. "We
were the great war class. We won
the war hoeing potatoes." Between
halves of the basketball game the
alumnae and the undergraduates
joined in an hilarious snakedance to
the stirring strains of "To the May-
pole."