Classics in the History of Psychology
An internet resource developed by
Christopher D. Green
York University, Toronto, Ontario
ISSN 1492-3173
(Return to Classics index)
James Gibson Hume (1895)
First published in Psychological Review, 2, 172.*
Posted August 2000
In the University of Toronto we begin the work in Psychology, etc., in the Sophomore year. Up to that time the students are engaged in language studies, mathematics, English history, chemistry, biology, etc. After the Sophomore year they still continue some of this language study as supplemental to the philosophical course. The latter, beginning with psychology, logic and theory of knowledge in the second year, psychology, logic, theory of ethics, history of ethics and history of philosophy in the third year, keep extending until, in the fourth year, those who have selected this course give all their time to the subjects of the course without any supplemental work, taking, in the fourth year, psychology, ethics, history of philosophy, special reading in the original of various selections from the whole period of modern philosophy, giving special attention to Kant and Lotze.
In experimental psychology: Second year 2d part of the year: Demonstrations from the Director, explanation of methods and practice. In the third year, during the whole year, the class, divided into groups, is under the charge of the Director of the Laboratory. In the fourth year they are supposed to be able to undertake experiments of an independent character. Some of the inquiries started in the fourth year are continued in post-graduate work.
In the present fourth year there are sixteen honor students conducting four sees of experiments, that is, in four groups, with four in each group: I. On Time reactions (Mechanical registration instead of the Chronoscope); II. Discrimination of Geometrical Figures and Letters in the Field of Indirect Vision; III. Discrimination of Color-saturation; IV. Discrimination and Reproduction of Rhythmic Intervals. In post-graduate study there are two enquiries being continued from last year: I. Estimation of Surface-magnitude; II. On Certain Optical Illusions. The Director of the Laboratory, Dr. August Kirschmann, has in the press a recently finished investigation upon the nature of the perception of metallic lustre. [This account was presented in the absence of Prof. Hume.]