Page:Mental Traits of Sex.djvu/15



object of the present monograph is to furnish some accurate information on the much-discussed question of the psychology of the sexes. The main part of it consists in the report of a series of experiments carried on in the psychological laboratory of the University of Chicago during the years 1898-99 and 1899-1900. To have an adequate setting, such a study should be prefaced by a review of the historical aspects of the problem, a critical summary of the large mass of argumentative literature on the subject, and a discussion of the facts of anatomy and physiology which are supposed to have a bearing on the psychology of sex. The mass of material to be dealt with is far too great, however, to be satisfactorily treated within the necessary limits of the present work. It has therefore been necessary to restrict this monograph to a report of the experimental work which forms the real contribution to the field, a review of previous experimental work bearing on the subject, and a brief discussion of the results.

The present research is the first attempt to obtain a complete and systematic statement of the psychological likenesses and differences of the sexes by the experimental method. Needless to say, the goal has not been reached within the limits of such an investigation. All that has been done is to gather together some evidence bearing on the problem, which is