X. Applied Psychology
Returning to the opening point of the previous chapter: pure science is the search for knowledge without a sense of how it might be put to use, whereas applied science has a specific objective in mind and seeks the knowledge to accomplish it.
In a general sense, inquiry into psychology has been pure science, as theorists attempted by various methods to understand the workings of the human mind without a particular purpose. (EN: This is not entirely accurate, as it can be seen even as far back as Aristotle that philosophers were interested in the mind - but it was often in the context of another inquiry. To Pyle's point, psychologists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were philosophers who made the mind the focus of their inquiry, rather than a component of it.)
Pyle feels that the general body of knowledge was sufficient in his time to begin seeking to put all of that self-involved research and pontification to practical use, applying it to a number of real-world challenges, and uses this final chapter as a means to illustrate how this may be done in various fields.
Education
Pyle has emphasized educational applications through this book, as it is an area of primary interest for him. "There is little left to say here except to summarize the facts."
Since education itself is concerned with conveying information to the student - getting him to recognize, remember, and apply knowledge - cognitive psychology is critical to doing so successfully.
A teacher must know the practices, based on psychology, that will cause a student to pay attention, record in memory, relate memories to one another, and bridge the gap between abstract concepts and practical application.
To be successful, a teacher must recognize the methods by which a student can be inclined to recognize and assimilate the details of a lesson - which means understanding the mental abilities and capacities of the students.
If he is to be partially successful, it is sufficient to have partial knowledge and regard the students as a roughly homogenous group; but if he is to be fully successful, then it is necessary to have detailed knowledge and regard the students as individual learners.
Medicine
Psychology is generally considered only in the context of mental disorders, in instances in which there is no physical explanation of a patient's dysfunctional behavior. But psychology can also be of service to a general practitioner in the diagnosis and treatment of physical disorders as well.
The diagnosis of a physical condition often requires knowledge that cannot be gathered by an examination of the patient, but relies upon questioning the patient to determine the cause of their disorder. This relies upon memory, and a physician would be well served by developing a diagnostic technique that is effective in enabling patients to recall and report details that are germane to their condition. A good physician must be a good interrogator.
The practical treatment of an injury or disease often depends on the patient changing his behavior. He must understand and accept that he must refrain from certain activities to avoid aggravating his condition or causing it to recur, as well as to administer or participate in his own therapy. A good physician must be a good teacher and a good persuader.
Finally, it is generally observed that "the state of mind of a sick person has much to do with his recovery." An individual who is in good spirits will more quickly heal than one who is in poor spirits. A good physician must therefore be a good counselor.
The roles of interrogator, teacher, persuader, and counselor are not strictly necessary to medicine - one may treat the body alone and ignore the mind that occupies it, though this tends to be less effective and less precise.
(EN: What is also being discovered in a competitive system is that doctors who are attentive to the "non-medical" aspects of the doctor-patient relationship also tend to attract and maintain more patients in addition to being able to treat them more effectively.)
Law
The court system depends to a very large degree on the testimony of witnesses in a case and the decision-making process of the judge or jury who evaluate the evidence presented to them in making a decision. Both have very strong ties to psychology.
Pyle does bemoan the conservatism of courts: psychology being a new science, "it will be a long time" before they make much use of it or show a willingness to accept its methods.
One of the greatest benefits of psychology is in assessing the credibility of evidence. Witnesses on the stand "swear to all sorts of things" and speak with great confidence in their memory of events that occurred months or years in the past. Because a person swears an oath does not mean they will then tell the truth, and even when they do speak honestly it represents the best of their memory, which may be incomplete or even fabricated. Feeling sure of a memory is not a guarantee that it is accurate.
The accuracy of memory can have a significant impact on a case. It is not merely whether someone has an accurate memory that an event truly occurred, as guilt or innocence often hinges on very precise details: whether something occurred two minutes later, was two feet further way, and so on may determine whether the case is won or lost.
Witnesses may be biased in favor of a defendant or against him, and it is necessary to assess whether their memory is intentionally or accidentally biased. The testimony of the accused about his own activities is obviously to be regarded with some suspicion, as is the testimony of those who are socially connected. But even complete strangers may have prejudices that cause them to misrepresent the facts, or to misinterpret them.
Also, not all witnesses are particularly intelligent or observant. A witness may have an actual mental disorder, or a mental tendency that is not dysfunctional but impacts their testimony, or may even be limited by their mental capacities of memory, recognition, logic, etc.
Pyle suggests that it should be the court, and specifically not the attorneys, who should employ psychologists to assess the validity of evidence. The attorneys are often concerned with winning their case, regardless of the truth, and psychology can be abused to subvert the credibility of valid evidence or bolster the credibility of fabrication.
Outside of the courtroom, and in advance of crime, a knowledge of human nature may be used to prevent crime. If students in schools are taught morality and proper habits, they will be less inclined to commit crimes. And if it can be discovered that certain situations are prone to giving temptation to otherwise honest people to engage in criminal activity, the enticements can be minimized.
Pyle considers, briefly, the ability of psychology to predict criminal elements in individuals - in effect, to determine the likelihood a person who has done nothing criminal in the past might do something criminal in the future, and whether it is possible to be proactive in preventing this. (EN: Even today, that is a very dicey proposition because of the imprecise nature of psychology - the judicial system reacts to past events and does not incarcerate people for the things they might do in future.)
The penal system can also benefit from psychology, as a person "of low mentality" or who has formed poor mental habits is following in a pattern of behavior. Many criminals, upon release from prison, return to society to re-commit the very same crimes. This is because the penal system did nothing to change their way of thinking, hence their behavior remained unchanged.
It is believed that little can be done to "save" a mature criminal - but it would be more accurate to state that little has been tried in this regard.
Marketing and Business
The buying and selling of goods has a great deal to do with psychology, as it is requires making a person aware of the existence of a product, aware of its benefits, and interested in obtaining them - which all are closely related to attention, learning, evaluation, motivation, sentiment, and other mental phenomena.
Furthermore, selling to a new customer who has never had a personal experience of using a product requires the marketer to create these mental effects by the use of words and imagery rather than by first-hand experience, which is a difficult task to accomplish without a profound understanding the principles of psychology.
(EN: This is a gross overstatement, as many who are successful in sales are not particularly well educated or intellectual. From my various studies of salesmanship, it seems to suffice to know how to perform a variety of tricks that play upon psychology, but understanding the underpinnings that make these tricks effective is entirely unnecessary.)
Having started about marketing in specific, Pyle recognizes that the task of persuasion is a skill that is beneficial in any business affair, and a great many non-commercial ones, because getting things done in a society often requires convincing others to comply or assist. Moreover ongoing relationships require us to do this regularly, and in a manner that is not so offensive as to alienate others from us.
Human Resources
In any field of industry, it is necessary to assemble and manage a team of inividuals and persuade them to undertake certain behaviors that have no intrinsic rewards. All occupations make use of psychological abilities. Some make extensive and obvious use of them, but even the most menial and repetitive of tasks require some degree of attention, memory, and habituation.
Specifically, a manager must be adept at four skills related to psychology:
- Determining what mental skills are necessary to do a job
- Determining whether a candidate possesses those skills
- Instructing new hires in the activities they will perform
- Convincing existing employees to do their best work
In terms of matching men to work, the previous chapters have suggested various ways of considering and measuring mental capabilities - in short, to evaluate existing workers to determine which traits are possessed by those who are most productive, then to use that scorecard as a method by which to evaluate prospective employees for similar positions.
"Much misery and unhappiness come to people from trying to do what they are not fitted by nature to do," Pyle asserts. While a man can be trained to do any job, and may find in himself the motivation to do it, all of this comes easier if the individual in question has existing proficiencies and interests that align with the work.
He returns briefly to the argument that schools and colleges ought to train men for specific professions - which is a principle with which he disagrees. Young people should be trained in ways that develop their natural abilities and provide a basic level of competence in a wide range of subjects so that they may be prepared for the career of their choice. It is the responsibility of the employer to train a candidate with general skills in the specific tasks of a job.
Even for established employees, the task of training and development does not end. To manage a crew requires convincing men to work together, to continue those activities that are efficient, and to replace other activities with those that are more efficient.
The nature of competition in the marketplace means that survival of a firm requires it to be more effective and efficient than its competitors to deliver better products to customers, and the means of doing so is to constantly train and develop workers to perform better. Training is therefore an ongoing task.
The firm that is already in the lead may perceive that it has done enough in this regard, as the behavior of its employees is presently resulting in victory in the marketplace - but because competitors are constantly vying to unseat the leading brand, complacency is deadly in the long term.
The employer's need to make its workers efficient and effective dovetails with the worker's desire to be efficient and effective. Men are happiest when they feel competent and secure in their ability to produce good work - and so it is in the mutual interest of worker and employee to constantly seek opportunities for improvement.
The Quality of Life
The notion that human beings are happiest when they are competent at what they are doing applies to the time they spend in the workplace, but also extends to all aspects of life: being effective in one's role as a spouse, parent, neighbor, or citizen all add quality to the individual's life.
It is psychology that gives man the ability to appreciate the quality of life: to recognize and understand the world in which he lives, to be able to identify and accomplish the things he wishes to achieve, and the ability to appreciate and remember everyday experience.
(EN: This seems to me a typical conclusion to a book, in which the author attempts to create the lasting impression that the topic he discussed is the most important thing in the universe. But given that the "life" of man is largely a mental experience, Pyle may be entirely right in that assertion.)