CHAPTER II
SOME FEATURES OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DEFECTIVES
Although this book is specially intended as a guide to the admission of mentally defective children to special schools or classes, we cannot commence by an exposition of the methods of recruiting such children. We must first describe the children and indicate their principal characteristics, mental and moral. We must also discuss the question what a mentally defective child really is--a very important question, upon which depends everything else, the organisation of the schools and the special methods of education. Every educational method depends upon a theory, formulated or implicit, which is at once its point of departure and its justification. One would run the risk of falling into a blind empiricism if one were content to apply an educational method independently of the theory which is its soul.
There are two conceptions of a totally different nature, either of which may inspire the training of defective children. Let us examine each of these in turn, and find out which is the more reasonable.
According to the first, the defective child is practically the same as a normal child several years younger; or, in other words, he is a child who has been retarded in his development. A backward child of twelve years of age, who has not yet been able to learn to read, would thus be comparable to an ordinary child of six, who is just beginning to spell. It is evident that such a comparison must not be pushed too far. Many reservations must be made. On the one hand, the defective has not so much time in front of him for development as a normal and younger child. He is then not strictly comparable to the latter. On the other hand, the very fact of his age has given to the defective of twelve a bodily and even a mental development never attained at six. For example, he is nearer puberty; his vocabulary is more extensive; and he possesses greater general knowledge. But these reservations once made, the theory that the defective is the victim of a retardation of development has seemed reasonable to many competent people. As a rule one just accepts it without taking the trouble to formulate it in precise terms. Perhaps it is for this very reason that one accepts it so easily; it is the classic theory. To the cursory reader it may seem that we adopt this theory ourselves, for we shall frequently use such phrases as "defective of eleven who is at the level of a child of nine." But the sense in which we use such an expression must not be misunderstood, because it is only intended to imply that a certain standard has been attained. It has no bearing on the cause of the retardation, nor upon its particular nature, nor upon the means of rectifying it.
Now for the educational consequences of the preceding theory. If the backwardness is only a slowness of development, it will suffice to apply to the backward the same methods as to the normal. One will make them follow the same course of study and go just as far as possible. Every defective must work towards the primary school certificate. To attain that end, he ought to pass through seven regular stages, one each year. The teacher of defectives cannot hope that he will bring his pupils to the last stage. He will stop half-way. One day, at the agricultural colony of Vaucluse, when some foreign doctors were visiting the establishment, the teacher showing his class to the visitors remarked with naive pride: "Our pupils follow step by step the curriculum of the primary school."
A second and totally different theory is tenable, and this one appears to us to be much nearer the truth. It is that a defective child does not resemble in any way a normal one whose development has been retarded or arrested. He is inferior, not in degree, but in kind. The retardation of his development has not been uniform. Obstructed in one direction, his development has progressed in others. To some extent he has cultivated substitutes for what is lacking. Consequently such a child is not strictly comparable to a normal child younger than himself. So far as certain faculties are concerned, he remains at the level of a younger child; but in respect to others, he is on a level with normal children of his own age. An unequal and imperfect development is consequently his specific characteristic. These inequalities of development may vary to any degree in different subjects. They always produce a want of equilibrium, and this want is the differentiating attribute of the defective child. But to draw a faithful picture we must add yet other traits. According to general opinion, mental deficiency is a disease, and although the idea of disease is very vague, we are inclined to fall in with this general opinion. In the first place, we frequently find in such children defects of speech. Besides, in studying their mental condition more closely, one finds in some cases peculiarities of understanding, reasoning, imagining, difficult to define, but which do not appear to have their equivalent in younger normal children, and which therefore do not result from simple retardation of development. Here is a boy, twelve years of ago, who tries to answer our questions, and succeeds pretty well; but hardly has he finished his answer when he deserts the subject altogether and begins to talk a lot of nonsense. This want of coordination in thought constitutes a special defect, and not a retardation of development. Possibly one would not find analogous features in other backward children, who tend rather to be laconic; but it is also possible that a careful analysis of their mental state might reveal in them other mental symptoms, and, indeed, such are very obvious in the variety called "unstable" or "ill-balanced."
To sum up, we are of opinion that the defective child usually exhibits the following characters: (1) A retardation of development; (2) a defect of equilibrium--_i.e._, the retardation is more marked in some faculties than in others; (3) individual peculiarities of a pathological kind in the mental powers.
If this second theory is correct, there follows a very important practical consequence--namely, that the curriculum drawn up for normal children is very imperfectly suited to the defective. We cannot force the latter to fit the ordinary course. To attempt this would be quite as unreasonable as to make our teaching appeal to the ears of the deaf or the eyes of the blind.
The first duty of the teacher is to take account of the faculties already developed, the aptitudes which are already apparent. His work is thankless and difficult; he would be foolish not to take advantage of the indications of nature. If a pupil show a special taste for any subject, it is evidently towards such a line of study that he should be directed. Consequently, in conformity with these ideas, we would reject on principle any programme of special instruction which would rigorously include all the children in a common plan. On the contrary, we would prefer for the defective a scheme which would take the most account of their natural aptitudes.
Such considerations lead us to put the following question--What are the most common aptitudes in children of this class? We say "the most common," because we have not to do with a single well-defined type, for there are as many varieties as there are individuals; but in spite of the number of those varieties, which shows the need for individual teaching, it will always be possible to establish categories in which those most nearly alike may be grouped It is also possible that the aptitudes most frequently lacking are always, or almost always, of the same nature.
To solve the question which we have just raised, we shall employ two methods--
_The questionnaire._ _Direct observation._
A printed questionnaire containing thirty-eight questions has been distributed through the agency of M. Belot, school inspector, to the heads of all the elementary schools in two districts of Paris--one central, the other suburban. Nothing would be gained by reproducing here the questionnaire, which has served its purpose. We shall simply lay down the conclusions we have reached, after studying the replies with the greatest care.
The replies confirm the division, which we have ourselves suggested, of all the abnormal into three groups: (1) The mentally defective; (2) the ill-balanced; (3) a mixed type which includes those who are both mentally defective and ill-balanced. The simply defective do not present any well-defined anomaly of character, but they do not profit, or profit very little, from the ordinary school teaching. The ill-balanced, who might also be called the "undisciplined," are abnormal chiefly in character. They are distinguished by their unruliness, their talkativeness, their lack of attention, and sometimes their wickedness.
=The Distribution of Defective Children in the Public Schools.=--In which school divisions do we find these several varieties of children? Let us begin with the mentally defective. These are found chiefly in the junior division, as might be expected. Some manage to reach the intermediate division, but scarcely any reach the senior. The exact distribution is as follows: 75 per cent. in the junior department; 25 per cent. in the intermediate.
Let us be more precise with regard to two points--the age of the child and his school position. Some heads of schools, not all, have taken the trouble to satisfy our demands, and have fixed to almost a year the mental retardation of the child as compared with normal children of the same age. The following table summarises these replies, and shows that the majority of cases present a retardation of three years:
Mentally defective children with a retardation of--
0 0 1 year 6 2 years 12 3 " 12 4 " 9 5 " 0 6 " 4 7 " 1
According to a convention, of which we shall speak more fully later, we regard as defective in intelligence a child who shows a retardation of three years, when he himself is nine years of age or more. The results shown above agree with this convention. Moreover, one may draw the conclusion, which is of practical value, that one need not seek children of this group in the senior division of a primary school.
The distribution of the ill-balanced in the divisions of the primary school is quite different. In the first place, one is surprised to find none, or practically none (only two out of forty-five) in the senior division. We did not expect this. _A priori_, we should have supposed that, in spite of their defect in character, the unstable were not without intelligence, and that a fair number of them would succeed in passing the gates of the senior division. If none are found there, this shows clearly that instability must be associated with some mental defect, unless some independent condition, such as inveterate laziness, has checked the child on the way. The ill-balanced, like the simply defective, are to be found in the intermediate and junior divisions, but their distribution is different. While 75 per cent. of the simply defective are in the junior division, and 25 per cent. in the intermediate, 45 per cent. of the ill-balanced are in the junior, and 50 per cent. in the intermediate: practically, they are divided equally between these two divisions. This indicates a degree of intelligence superior to that of the defective, as one would expect. But, on the other hand, their absence from the senior division shows that the intelligence of the ill-balanced is in general below the average. As this conclusion is new, and may be open to question, let us examine it more closely:
The amount of the retardation of the ill-balanced, as shown in our returns, is as follows:
Mentally ill-balanced children with a retardation of--
0 14 1 year 16 2 years 14 3 " 2 4 " 1
These figures show, in a novel form, that the mental retardation is much less clear in the ill-balanced than in the defective properly so called, since in the former group are to be found many pupils--about a third--who, in the opinion of their teachers, are not at all backward; but the majority are backward, while none are in advance of their years. Consequently, the whole group shows a slight retardation, averaging about one year, which confirms and makes more precise our original conclusion. We may therefore affirm that mental instability or want of balance is usually accompanied by an intellectual retardation of about one year.
=Age Distribution.=--It is worth while making another remark about the ages of these children. The simply defective are of all possible school ages, while the unstable are usually young children. Here is the distribution:
-------------+------------------+----------------- Age. | Defectives. | Unstable. -------------+------------------+----------------- 7 years | 2 } | 1 } 8 " | 5 } | 9 } 9 " | 5 } | 7 } 10 " | 3 } Total, 31 | 10 } Total, 43 11 " | 6 } | 11 } 12 " | 10 } | 5 } 13 " | 9 } | 4 } 14 " | 2 } | 0 } 15 " | 3 } Total, 15 | 0 } Total, 4 16 " | 1 } | 0 } -------------+------------------+-----------------
The defectives remain in the schools till the end of the prescribed terms, whilst the ill-balanced hasten to leave before the time. Thus the defective, like an inert mass, become a dead weight which encumbers the school. They adapt themselves as well as they can to their environment. Their parents are apt to leave them at school as long as possible, because they do not know what to do with them, and probably the teachers do not complain very much, but are ready to put up with these defectives who do not interfere with discipline. The ill-balanced, on the other hand, find the school environment irksome, the discipline hostile. They do not wish to stay at school; their parents do not keep them there, owing to the constant complaints of the teachers; and the teachers do not want to have anything more to do with them. Conclusion: The ill-balanced leaves school early, and takes his place in society, where, owing to his character, he may very easily become a danger. To sum up, the simply defective remain at school, while the ill-balanced leave early.
Another observation may be made. Since the ill-balanced are so numerous at ten years of age, and even at eight, we conclude that in many cases the mental instability is not the result of the perturbation which precedes puberty. This physiological explanation is not of such general application as is sometimes supposed.
=The Frequency of the Mixed Type, at once Defective and Ill-Balanced.=--The third category of defective children which we have suggested includes those of a mixed type, who are at once mentally defective and ill-balanced. We shall not be surprised to find that these subjects have characters which are the mean of those of the defective and the ill-balanced, since they unite in themselves the two different forms of abnormality. Thus, as regards their intelligence, one finds that none of them are in the senior division; the majority are in the junior division (71 per cent.), and the remainder (29 per cent.) in the intermediate division, which proves that they are on the average less intelligent than the simply ill-balanced, and more intelligent than the simply defective. But we need not dwell on such details, which are easy to understand and even to foresee. The most important question is the number of the mixed cases. The groups of the two simple types are almost equal in number.[2] On the other hand, we find only twenty-one mixed cases in a population where the ill-balanced which have been notified to us amount to forty-four, and the defective to fifty-seven, so that the mixed cases represent only a fifth of the whole, whereas the simple cases form four-fifths. These very different proportions indicate that as a general rule mental instability and mental deficiency are quite distinct. They are not aspects of a single pathological condition, but are two quite independent pathological conditions which may coexist in the same subject, just as happens, for example, in the case of alcoholism and epilepsy, but which are none the less distinct, since as a rule they do not coexist.
=Psychological Description of the Mentally Defective.=--Now let us take a closer look at the children who are going to be pupils in our schools for defectives. In looking over the replies to our questionnaire, we are struck by the recurrence of certain phrases, by which the teacher attempts to sum up the defective child. Here are some examples of such phrases. They represent only general impressions, but the frequency of similar impressions arrests one's attention.
_Charles_ does the best he can.
_Augustine_ is very attentive.
_Emile_ is very obedient and gentle.
_Paul_ is always making himself useful in little ways.
_Marcelle_ is obliging and polite.
_Jeanne_ blushes on the slightest occasion.
Severity paralyses _Ernestine_ and makes her lose what little wits she possesses.
_Camilla_ smiles whenever anyone speaks to her, and immediately does what she is told.
_Louis_ is very biddable.
_Angela_ does not answer back when her companions tease her, and takes the blame herself.
_Eugenie_ is affectionate and is loved by her companions who make her join in their games. Although she herself is fifteen, it was a child of eight who taught her to read and write.
From all these remarks it appears that the defective is a likeable creature. He is so even in proportion to the degree of his defect. With this thought in mind, we have examined the various descriptions, and have reached this very curious conclusion: The more likeable the child is represented to be, the greater the amount of retardation one may safely attribute to him. Few, indeed, are the exceptions to this rule.
The defective child is praised for his sweetness of disposition. If he does not understand the work which is being done in class, at any rate he does not show his want of comprehension in any noisy manner. Sitting quietly in his place, he allows himself to be forgotten. The lesson can go on just as if he were not present, and usually that is just what happens. It would not be just on this account to accuse of negligence a teacher who has charge of forty to sixty pupils. The sluggishness, both mental and physical, of these children is a negative quality which an overtaxed master is sometimes weak enough to value. When the defective child becomes subject to discipline, we are told, he does not rebel; for he is obedient, respectful, and probably suggestible. Sometimes the teacher may even recognise in him the presence of qualities of a more positive nature. Some defectives are pleased, and even eager, to do little services. They are kind to their companions, affectionate, and grateful for attentions paid to them. As they are usually older than the other children in their class, the teacher often trusts them with little commissions. So far as one can judge of the morality of natures whose intellectual level is so low, the source of the altruistic sentiments appears to be well represented in the defective, but it remains to be considered whether his docility and complaisance may not mislead us as to the true value of his sentiments; for one characteristic of the defective is his tendency to repeat the polite formulae or moral maxims which have been taught him. He has a surface morality, possibly purely verbal. As a last trait, it may be noted that the defective is influenced by rewards and punishments, but, owing to his defective intelligence, the effect is very fleeting.
=Psychological Description of the Ill-Balanced.=--This description contrasts curiously with the preceding. In this there is nothing to be surprised at. In school the ill-balanced child is a perpetual nuisance. The teacher has no weakness for this naughty child, who is always disturbing the class and defying his authority.
As we have done in the case of the defective, let us quote some of the phrases by which our correspondents sum up the unstable.
_Charles_ cannot sit still, nor keep in rank, and his heedlessness prevents reproof having any effect.
_Albert_ never obeys but with a bad grace.
_Martha_ always puts on an astonished look when she is checked.
_Maurice_ receives any criticism with impatience.
_Susan_ receives it with anger.
_Eugenie_, by tossing her head. She mimics her teacher, and makes the others laugh, so that they have to hide their faces.
_Octavia_ replies, "What do I care!" She bursts out laughing and continues to do what she has been forbidden.
_Leontine_ quibbles, answers back, and expresses aloud her bad humour.
_Raoul_ flies into a passion when he is reprimanded. He poses as a martyr, a victim of injustice, and sometimes even utters threats. Punishment makes him give vent to intemperate language.
_Victor_ assumes an attitude of revolt, turns pale, and refuses to obey when anyone checks him.
_Lucy_ broke her pen in a fit of temper.
_Helen_ in the same circumstances upsets everything in her neighbourhood.
_Louise_ strikes her elbows on the desk, and one day she even kicked her teacher.
_Leon_ is quarrelsome and his companions are afraid of him.
_George_ does nothing but tease his companions. He destroys their copybooks, tears pages from their books, and puts the blame on them.
_Charles_, who is rendered obstinate by strictness and merely irritated by punishment, seems happy when one takes an interest in him.
_Eugenie_, who is greatly excited by punishment and who smiles at rewards, loves to be flattered and picked out to do some little service.
The three following traits are constantly met with in the descriptions of the ill-balanced: they are turbulent, boastful, and incapable of attention. To this may be reduced the psychology of the less strongly marked cases. They have an instability of body, of speech, of attention, which may result either from an excessively nervous disposition, or simply from a nature whose restlessness rebels against sedentary and silent study. But in many cases other features are present. In addition to the preceding symptoms, there are found impatience of discipline and a tendency to annoy their comrades. The ill-balanced are spoken of as brutal, deceitful, cruel; and as to their obstinacy, the abundant details in the questionnaires show that these children have left a disagreeable impression on the school staff. It is especially on their account that an outcry for special schools has arisen. The way in which these children react to discipline is very interesting. We are told that they are very little influenced by rewards, which they often receive with disdain, laughter, or irony, if they do not refuse them altogether. Punishments, on the other hand, produce a bad effect. The ill-balanced nearly always become angry, and rebel against punishment, so that the teachers strive to avoid coming into conflict with them. Here we have a trait which is very interesting for psychology, but very embarrassing for pedagogy. How, then, can the ill-balanced be subjected to any discipline whatever? This is an important question, which it will be all the more necessary to solve because it is the ill-balanced who profit most by special education; it is for them that one would have most hope. Our advice is that, in order to control these children, account should be taken, in the first place, of their dominant tendency. The study of the answers to the questionnaires shows us that the chief thing to which one can appeal in these cases is their amour-propre, their pride, their vanity--in a word, the whole range of the egoistic sentiments. On natures of this stamp punishment cannot have much effect, seeing that it is opposed by an often indomitable pride. The end may be reached more directly, not by breaking the resistance, but by giving it a different direction. It is better to praise the ill-balanced when he has done well than to punish him for his faults. It is desirable also to show him some appreciation, or even to trust him with some duty of a very modest kind, which he may perform under discreet supervision.
=Mental Aptitudes of the Defective.=--Having briefly sketched the moral aptitudes of the abnormal, let us now examine their mental aptitudes. We have here a very captivating subject of inquiry. The study of individual aptitudes ought to have been undertaken long ago in the interest of education. Everyone is crying out for it. No one, or almost no one, undertakes it. In the case of the abnormal there is even more urgent need that it should be undertaken, for the younger or less intelligent the pupils, the more depends upon educational methods. When a mind is of a superior kind, very little really depends upon the culture supplied to it. If a Berthelot or a Pasteur should even have had imbeciles as their first masters in chemistry, they would none the less have turned out men of genius. It is those of average intelligence who have need of good methods of instruction. It is the young children who really require intelligent methods. Consequently we should give the defectives the best teachers. Every fault of method committed in their education may have consequences which will prejudice them later on.
In order to discover the aptitudes of the mentally defective, we have three means of interrogating our questionnaires. In the first place these contain the following question: _Does the child show any particular aptitude either at school or outside?_ This question has evoked replies which vary very little, for amongst the aptitudes of the children scarcely anything is mentioned but bodily occupations--errands, domestic duties, gymnastics, sewing, and drawing. In the same questionnaire another question, placed on the following page, is almost identical in form with the first: _Is there anything in which the child is particularly interested?_ The replies to this second question have been a little more numerous than to the previous one. It is true that the two differ by a shade--the distinction between interest and aptitude. One may interest oneself in something for which one has no aptitude. The following table shows the distribution of the replies to the two preceding questions:
THE MENTALLY DEFECTIVE.
_Aptitudes._ | _Interests._ Pupils. | Pupils. None 19 | None 11 Practical life 7 | Writing 8 Sewing 7 | Drawing 7 Gymnastics 1 | Sewing 6 Drawing 1 | Gymnastics 5 | Arithmetic 3 | Recitation 3 | History 2 | French 1 | Music 1 | Singing 1 | Reading 1 | Object lessons 1
These two lists are not superposable, but if we take them together we shall notice that sensori-motor occupations, such as gymnastics, "practical life," sewing, writing, and drawing, are those which are most interesting to these pupils. Sewing, writing, and drawing are, indeed, their favourite lessons. We should have expected that singing would not have left them indifferent, for other investigations have shown us that the majority have a good voice; but it is quite apparent that singing is less attractive to them than drawing. A very characteristic feature is the absence of any mention of composition. Some of the abnormal are fond of arithmetic; none shine in composition. This fact, though negative, seems worth consideration. Speaking generally, we never find that a child who is good at composition is mentally defective.
We have mentioned that there is a third method of weighing the aptitudes of defective children. In our questionnaire we asked the teachers to give marks showing the relative ability of these children in the different subjects. From these marks it appears that in four subjects they are more successful than in others. These are gymnastics, drawing, writing, and reading. We regret that we did not include in our list sewing, manual work, and object lessons. Here are our results in figures. These indicate for each pupil the two subjects in which he has obtained the highest marks.
Pupils. | Pupils. Reading 23 | Arithmetic 6 Writing 18 | Spelling 5 Drawing 11 | Singing 3 Gymnastics 11 | Recitation 3
It is not at all uncommon for a defective to take the first place in writing or in drawing. This is quite a remarkable fact, although we must hasten to add that in such cases the defective is usually the oldest child in the class.
All these observations are sufficiently uniform, and lead to the same conclusion. The dominant features in the defective are the senses, the concrete perceptions, and motor ability. These are the faculties which are normally developed. His constant weakness in composition shows that the function of speech is quite evidently inferior to the sensory and motor functions. Let us weigh these facts and sum up. What a great mistake it would be to give to children of this kind the syllabus of instruction which has been made to suit normal children. This syllabus harmonises with the development of all the faculties. How, then, could one make children follow it whose aptitudes are limited?
* * * * *
Inquiries by questionnaire have one defect which has often been noted. They bring together statements furnished by correspondents who are often unknown, and whose judgment and accuracy it is impossible to estimate. Each of their observations, taken by itself, has little authority. It is the sum of concurring observations which should alone be taken into consideration; and even then it is necessary to be cautious before drawing any practical conclusion, because an agreement in the replies sometimes indicates nothing more than a general misconception.
Such doubts, which are known to all investigators, led us to decide to make direct observations on our own account upon abnormal school-children, and to compare them with normal children of the same age--a long and difficult task, as all pioneer work is. We have collected facts which we were not seeking, whilst we often failed to find what we expected. It would be impossible to summarise here everything which contact with reality has taught and suggested. We shall extract from our observations only what concerns the aptitudes of the abnormal, and shall even limit ourselves to a single category of these. It happens that we have methodical observations relating to twelve defective children of between eleven and twelve years of age. These form a sufficiently homogeneous group from the point of view both of age and of mental ability. We shall inquire what are the best marked aptitudes and the most apparent deficiencies of this little group. Without denying individual differences or forgetting that defectives cannot easily be reduced to a single type, we have thought it more interesting for the present to emphasise their resemblances rather than their differences. Let us, then, compare them _en bloc_ with a group of normal children of the same age and the same social position, attending the same schools, in the same district. This equivalence of conditions is necessary if we are to lay our finger on the distinctive characters of the defective child.
We have subjected our twelve defectives to certain tests as speedy and precise as possible.[3] We devised these tests before studying the returns furnished to our questionnaires, and the latter were tabulated before our observations. There have, therefore, been two studies absolutely independent, both in their mode of execution, and in their aim. Consequently, any points in which they agree will be very significant.
Our collection of tests of mental deficiency is already known to readers of the _Annee Psychologique_.[4] In vol. xi. we described at length the details necessary for making use of our method of experimentation. Since then Dr. Decroly, who specialises on defective children in Belgium, has tried our methods, and verified our conclusions. The end which we have constantly set before ourselves has been to bring to light the intellectual capacity of the child, taken by itself, as distinct from what the child actually knows. Our psychological examinations are consequently the very opposite of school examinations, which test chiefly the candidate's memory, his judgment very little.
We have made numerous observations in this way. The best way to explain our method, and more especially our results, will be to describe a few of the experiments.
_Memory of Pictures of Known Objects._--The children are allowed to look for thirty seconds at pictures of thirteen objects, which they are then told to enumerate from memory.
_Comparison of Short Lines._--Two lines for comparison are drawn in ink side by side on the same sheet of paper, so that they can both be seen at a glance. We have a whole series of such pairs. Between the lines, whose average length is 30 millimetres, there is a variable difference.
_Estimation of Weights._--Five little boxes, weighing respectively 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 grammes, are to be arranged in order of weight.
_Memory of Figures._--This test consists in repeating a series of figures immediately after having heard them.
_Memory of Phrases._--The child is asked to repeat a phrase of twelve to fifteen words immediately after having heard it.
We do not wish to insist on the details of these observations. They are still very incomplete. It will be necessary to experiment for a long time[5] before it will be possible to say exactly what it is that is wanting, or that is wrong, in the mental machinery of the defective. No doubt when the classes for defectives shall be under way, when a great many such children are brought together in conditions which suit the convenience of the experimenters, the latter will be able after persevering effort to see daylight in this matter. In the meantime we must be content with a general survey. But however superficial, however defective, our first attempts may be, they may at least give us a start.
Let us see, then, what results have been obtained from our tests. These results clearly separate the tests themselves into two groups. To the one set the defectives furnished replies practically equivalent to those of normal children. To the other, on the contrary, they gave answers which clearly exhibited their retardation, or rather their defect. This difference would be deprived of all significance if any of the tests presented no difficulty to a normal intelligence. But in all cases the difficulty was so great that even the normal made many mistakes, and we can affirm that, whilst for the one set the two groups of children were practically equal, for the other, on the contrary, the inferiority of the defective is quite clear.
The tests in which the defectives are on a par with the normal are--(1) The comparison of short lines; (2) the memory of pictures. Let us give some details of the latter test, which appears to us typical. Each child individually was shown a sheet of paper, on which were pasted thirteen pictures of known objects. These pictures, drawn in black and very simple, almost reduced to outlines, represented a nose, a head of hair, a rose, two cherries, a bed, a barrel, a nail, a key, an omnibus, some eggs, a bell, a sun setting in the sea, and a mouth. We have here a test of sense memory, for the child is asked to recall a visual impression. Something more, however, is necessary, for he must understand the picture and give it a name. But this constitutes no real difficulty, and the whole exercise is a test of sense intelligence. We were quite surprised to find that in this case our defectives were at the level normal for eleven years. The average of their replies is seven, which is exactly the normal value. This is shown in the following table, which gives the comparison between them and normal children of eleven:
NAMING BY MEMORY THIRTEEN PICTURES.
Number of pictures remembered-- Normal children 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10. Defective children 4, 4, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 11.
Have we not here a very interesting confirmation of what we have already learned from the questionnaires? The exercise is one which certainly presents some difficulty, since the normal children forgot some of the pictures. If it had been too easy, one would not have been surprised at the fact that the two groups--the normal and the defective--were equally successful. Now, in spite of the difficulty, the defective shows no inferiority as compared with the normal. Any commentary would diminish the eloquence of this result.
Without lingering over each of the other tests, let us select from the group one which forms a remarkable contrast to the preceding. Just as striking as the equality between the defective and the normal in visual memory of pictures is the difference between them in memory for phrases.
The latter is a test of immediate memory. One repeats to the child a phrase of about twelve to fifteen words, and asks him to repeat it immediately afterwards. For this memory is necessary, and also voluntary attention, and some power of comprehension into the bargain; for if some of these phrases are quite easy to understand (_e.g._, Germaine has not been good; she did not want to work; she will be scolded), others, again, are a little involved (_e.g._, The chestnut-tree in the garden casts the quite faint shadow of its new leaves on the ground). The number of phrases which the defectives managed to repeat correctly is very small. It averages only two. Here are the figures:
IMMEDIATE MEMORY OF PHRASES.
Number of phrases repeated exactly-- { 7 years 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5. Normal children { 9 years 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7. { 11 years 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7. Defective children, 11 years 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4.
If one examines these results, one is surprised to find that some of the defectives are superior to normal children of the same age, since they repeat four phrases, although some of the normal repeat only three. In all experiments on groups one finds exceptions of this kind. We are glad to give examples in order to show how complex everything is. In order to comprehend such anomalies, it is necessary to analyse the exceptional cases. One generally finds then that the defective who has broken the rule has made use of a pure sense memory, has repeated like an echo without understanding. If the repetition is delayed a little, he is lost. In other cases the defective is not far removed from the normal. Without stopping to discuss these exceptions, let us examine the group as a whole. When we do this we reach the important conclusion that our group of defectives resembles in a striking manner the group of children of seven years. On an average, they repeat practically the same number of phrases. The average for seven years is 3.1; that of the defectives of eleven years is a little less: it is 2.1.
Now, to sum up, let us compare just these two extremes, the memory of pictures and the memory of phrases. Is not the contrast remarkable? And does one not here hit upon one of the principal differences between the normal and the abnormal? Give the defective a piece of work which interests him, which appeals to his organs of sense, and which is concrete. If the work is not too difficult, he will acquit himself tolerably well. If, however, the work involves words, phrases, composition--in a word, abstract ideas expressed in speech--the defective immediately reveals wherein his inferiority lies. Abstract thought, and all other mental operations that involve it, are to him a closed domain. The replies of the teachers to our questionnaires had already led us to suspect this. Our tests are a confirmation, and even an exact demonstration, of it.
The normal curriculum of primary education, as one can imagine, is therefore not suitable to the mental condition of the majority of defectives. Even by reducing it to its first elements, one would make only a bad fit, for if one were to diminish the abstract portion which is not intended for defectives, one would equally diminish the concrete portion, which, far from being reduced, when defectives are in question, ought to be amplified. It is necessary, therefore, to change the proportions of the different parts of the curriculum, and give the whole a special direction. We shall conclude our observations by remarking that, if we take the workshop in opposition to the class, as the symbol of concrete work opposed to the symbol of verbal work, the workshop ought in the education of defectives to become a more important place of instruction than the class.
A slight reservation, however, must be made as to the value of this conclusion. In spite of the existence for a number of years of institutions for the abnormal, we have yet scarcely begun our researches. Everywhere we are up against the same ignorance, and shall be so for a long time to come. Our knowledge of these children is very imperfect. We do not pretend that anything we are about to say is in any way complete.
Thus, having set forth a quite general principle relating to concrete, intuitive, sensory education, let us hasten to add that in practice this principle must be applied to children of widely differing temperaments, and that nothing is more complicated than the pedagogy of defectives, if one desires it to be adapted to the numerous ends which it is necessary for it to attain. One will certainly bear in mind that a greater place must be given to intuition than to abstraction; one will bear this in mind in the detail of the education of defectives, as well as in its general direction, but without forgetting the numerous interests which it is necessary to satisfy. There is no question but that there will be admitted into the special schools and classes many children only slightly defective, who are destined to return as soon as possible to the ordinary school; and one would put an obstacle in the way of this return, or even make it impossible, if, from the day the child entered the special class, a totally different direction should be given to his education from that of the ordinary school. This would be both serious and troublesome. The amount of abstract material in the lessons should be diminished simply in proportion to the mental deficiency. There is no reason why the slight cases should not be taught in the special class in accordance with a programme little different from that of the elementary school, except that it gives them the benefit of greater individual attention. Such individual attention is still more necessary in the case of the ill-balanced, of whom we have scarcely spoken in this chapter. It is not their insubordinate spirit which sets them against anything abstract, and one would do them a very poor service by depriving the more intelligent of them of the ordinary curriculum, and all the more as the majority of the ill-balanced are destined to improve considerably. Thus there are many reasons why, in the case of certain classes of the abnormal, one should not lose sight of the usual curriculum. These reasons are as follows: the slight degree of the deficiency in certain cases, or the existence of instability without retardation, or the necessity of sending the children who improve most back to the ordinary schools. Such are the reasons which are important from the school point of view. There are others with a social bearing which are more important still. At the present day it is necessary, especially in towns, that everyone should be able to read, to write, and to express himself in suitable language. It has been remarked, and justly, that reading is the triumph of abstraction, and that a defective may require two years to learn to read by syllables, and very poorly even then. No matter: if the thing is possible, even with considerable effort, such a defective ought to learn to read. This is demanded, not by the state of the child's intelligence, but by the society in which he lives, where illiteracy would bring shame upon him. In questions of this kind the indications of psychology and pedagogy should be subordinated to the needs of life. Necessity makes the law. All instruction given to defectives must be dominated by the question of its practical usefulness. A pedagogy which should be fitted easily to the measure of their intelligence would be dangerous, in that it might result in making them useless. It is evident, therefore, that the problem is very complex, and it would be quite useless to attempt to express it by a single formula. The nature of each individual case must be taken into account, and one must aim at an essentially practical training, a pedagogy of ends rather than of abstract principles. Our advice, consequently, is that in the meantime no definite curriculum should be fixed upon, but that the teachers of defective children should be allowed some freedom, under the cautious control of the primary school inspectors. We ask that all intelligent initiative should be accepted and encouraged, and that the teachers in special schools should frequently meet together in order that they may compare their experience. In short, we should give to the schools and classes for defectives such freedom and elasticity that the kind of education best adapted for such children would be able to evolve and perfect itself like a living organism.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] On the other hand, Dr. Abadie found 309 defective to 134 ill-balanced.
[3] At the _Laboratoire de Pedagogie Normal_, 36, Rue Grange-aux-Belles. For details of the work of this laboratory see _Annee Psychologique_, tome xiii., pp. 1, 233.
[4] [See vols. xi., 1905, p. 191; xiv., 1908, p. 1; xvii., 1911, p. 145. Also _Bull. de la Soc. pour l'Etude de l'Enfant_, 1911, p. 187.]
[5] [The results of later observations are embodied in the tests published in 1911, which are given complete in the Appendix.]