Page:The achievements of Luther Trant - Balmer and MacHarg - 1910.djvu/157

Rh yet arrived. The acting-president called them all to places at the desks.

"This gentleman," he explained, "is Mr. Trant, a psychologist. He has just asked me, and I am going to ask you, to coöperate with him in carrying out a very interesting psychological test which he wants to make on you as men working in the bank."

"As you all probably have seen in newspapers and magazine articles," Trant himself took up the explanation, as the banker hesitated, "psychologists, and many other investigators, are much interested just now in following the influences which employments, or business of various kinds, have upon mental characteristics. I want to test this morning the normal 'first things' which you think of as a class constantly associated with money and banking operations during most of your conscious hours. To establish your way of thinking as a class, I have asked Mr. Howell's permission to read you a short list of words; and I ask you to write down, on hearing each of these words, the first thing that connects itself with that word in your minds. Each of you please take a piece of paper, sign it, and number it along one edge to correspond with the numbers of the words on my list."

There was a rustling of paper as the men, nodding, prepared for the test. Trant took his list from his pocket.

"I am interested chiefly, of course," he continued, "in following psychologically the influence of your constant association with money. For you work surrounded by money. Every click of the Remington