Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis III 1922 1.djvu/91

 BOOK REVIEWS §,

the second and larger part treats some of the more important general problems of psychology from the biological standpoint as already indic- ated. It IS mterestmg to note that in spite of this change in point of view, sensation, perception and thought still receive their fair share of attention (though not as so often before, a disproportionate share) Mrs. Brierley is far too good an all-round psychologist to neglect the important part played by cognition, as dealt with in the older text books; the cognitive processes are however everywhere treated as they actually appear in their conative and affective settings and as sub- serving biological ends.

Quite apart from the very stimulating and refreshing point of view from which this text book is writtbn, Mrs. Brierley's treatment of her subject has the advantage of being extremely lucid without being superficial (except of course such measure of superficiality as is inevitably imposed by the small compass of the book). The book is also for the - most part extremely accurate and careful in its statements, both of facts and theories. There are of course a few minor points which might perhaps advantageously be altered in a later edition Thus in the frequency curve illustrating grades of intelligence (p. 29) 'border-line deficient' would probably not be accepted by most authorities as a convement or accurate term to represent the equivalent on the sub- nonnal side to 'slightly superior' upon the super-normal side. Again It IS surely conb-ary to the practice of most psychologists to talk of pleasure sensations' (such as 'those aroused by taste and sexual stimulation') as being comparable to 'pain sensations' (such as toothache a burn, colic, etc.) (p. 63). ]n this respect Mrs. Brierlev, like a good many other writers, might have profited by the adoption of the distinctions made by Wohlgemuth in his recent valuable contributions to the subject There is also, it would appear, some lack of clearness or consistency in the concept of the horme and its distinction from the hbido Where as m the earher part of the book the horme is taken to signify die sum total of the 'bio-psychic' energy of an individual (and therefore to include ti.e hbido in Freud's sense), on p. 146 we read 'that it is not possible ... to make an absolute distinction between tiie horme and the libido, bet^veen the group instincts labelled "self-preservative" and tiiosc referred to as "sexual*"; where tiie horme seems to take the place of Freud's 'ego-impulses' and to be a co-ordinate and not a super-ordinate concept as compared with the libido

But tiiese and a few similar points are but very minor blemishes upon an excellent and useful piece of work. The chief regret that the reader is likely to feel is tiiat Mrs. Brierley, witii her undoubted gifts of clear thought, sound judgment and easy exposition, has not venhired upon a fuller and more ambitious presentation of her subject than tiiat contained in the present modest volume. I C F