An analysis of certain characteristics of recent widely distributed psychology books for the lay reader

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NAME AND ADDRESS

DATE

northwestern university

AN ANALYSIS 07 CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS 07 RECENT WIDELY DISTRIBUTED PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS TOR TRE LAY READER

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT 07 THE REQUIREMENTS for the degree DOCTOR 07 PHILOSOPHY

SCHOOL 07 EDUCATION

BY GARRY ROBERT AUSTIN

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS AUGUST 1950

ProQuest Number: 10060850

All rights r e s e r v e d INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The q u ality o f this r e p r o d u c t i o n is d e p e n d e n t u p o n t h e q u a lity o f t h e c o p y s u b m i t t e d . In t h e unlikely e v e n t t h a t t h e a u t h o r d id n o t s e n d a c o m p l e t e m a n u s c r i p t a n d t h e r e a r e missing p a g e s , t h e s e will b e n o t e d . Also, if m a te r ia l h a d t o b e r e m o v e d , a n o t e will i n d i c a t e t h e d e l e t i o n .

uest. P r o Q u e s t 10060850 P u b lis h e d b y P r o Q u e s t LLC (2016). C o p y r ig h t o f t h e D issertation is h e l d b y t h e A utho r. All rights r e s e r v e d . This w ork is p r o t e c t e d a g a i n s t u n a u t h o r i z e d c o p y i n g u n d e r Title 17, U nited S ta t e s C o d e M icroform Edition © P r o Q u e s t LLC. P r o Q u e s t LLC. 789 East E ise n h o w e r P a rk w a y P.O. Box 1346 A n n Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER

I,

II,

III,

IV.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION

.................

1

The Problem.................................... ....... The Method............................................. Dellmitat ion. ................. .................................. Value of the Study. Definition of Terms............................... Final Note, .........

1 ** 5 5 & S

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE..................................

10

Previous Study of the Suitability of General Non-Fiction Books for Informal Adult Education Purposes........... Previous Study of Extensively Distributed Books. ...... ..... Other Content Analyses. Kappel rs Study, .................................... Research on Psychology Material................. Summary.....

10 14 16 IS 19 2&

TYPOLOGICAL AND QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF POPULARIZED PSYCHOLOGY BOCKS..........................................

29

The Psychology Theme Among popular Non-Fiction ..... Inspirational Types Before 1900..................... Advent of the Scientific Point of View........... More Recent Inspirational Emphases....................... Metaphysical Volumes................................... Present Day Types............... Relative Quality of Generally Read PsychologyBooks........ Summary........................

y) 3® 42 44 46 48 51 6l

READABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS.......

65

Past Attempts to Measure Readability..................... 65 Derivation of Present Formula ............... 70 Explanation of Present Index........ 71 Readability of Various Types of Books. ................. Detailed Readability Analysis of PsychologyBooks.. ....... 9^ Summary. ...... 107 V.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READABILITY AND MATURITY CHARACTERISTICS OF PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS....................................... 110 Jackmanfs Study.... The Present Procedure

111 112

iii CHAPTER

PAGE

Outline of Findings......... ........ .................. Comparison of Levels of Psychology Books As to Maturity and Readability.................................... Summary, ........................ VI*

DETAILED DESCRIPTIVE READABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF SAMPLE PSYCHOLOGY BOCKS OF VARIOUS TYPES: SUPPLEMENTARY "CASE STUDY" DATA,.... ............... ........................ Examples of Art of Living Types................... Two Religious-Psychology Syntheses...................... Examples of Popularized Books ByPsychologists............ Examples of Psychology Texts...... ................ . Summary....................................... .

VII.SUMMARY* GENERALIZATION* IMPLICATIONS* AND NEEDED RESEARCH.... Summary.............................................. Generalization. ....... ............................ Implications. .......................... .............. .................... Needed Research. BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................

116 127

134

1

144 146 150 151 153 153

160 169 176

list op tables TABLE I*

PAGE ANALYSIS OP SUBJECT MATTER OP ARTICLES IN CERTAIN POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY MAGAZINES..... ....... .......................

22

STATUS OP AUTHORS WHO CONTRIBUTE TO CERTAIN POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY MAGAZINES,...................................

23

III.

THE ORIGINAL PLBSCH SCALE OP READABILITY..................

26

IV.

THE READABILITY SCORE AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL OP SELECTED PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS........................................

27

NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OP BOOKS IN EACH CATEGORY OP BEST SELLERS...........................................

jg

TYPES OP BOCKS IN PUBLISHERS1 WEEKLY NON-FICTION BEST sbt.t.fp LISTS OP EACH YEAR 1912 TO 1949, SHOWING YEARLY TRENDS......

34

BEST SELLING PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS IN PUBLISHERS* WEEKLY LISTS CLASSIFIED AS TO TYPE AND YEAR...T.71".V .......

37

PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS LISTED IN 1948 CUMULATIVE BOOK INDEX UNDER VARIOUS DIVISIONS............. “ .V.....

49

TYPES OF BOCKS INCLUDED IN APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY AND PERSONALITY CLASSIFICATIONS OP 1948 CUMULATIVE BOOK INDEX..............

50

II,

V. VI. VII. VIII. IK.

X, PERCENTAGE OF BOOKS IN EACH BEST SETTLER CATEGORY 1926-1945 WHICH ARE INCLUDED IN DICKINSON AS BEST BOOKS.............. XI. THE MEAN NUMBER OF PLUS VALUES FOR EACH CATEGORY OP BEST SELLERS AND FOR THE AVERAGE NON-FICTION TRADE BOCK......... XII. XIII.

XIV.

XV. xvi.

53 56

ANALYSIS OP SAMPLING OF NON-TECHNIGAL PSYCHOLOGY BOCKS TAKEN PROM 1948 CUMULATIVE BOCK INDEX.........

53

PROFESSIONAL STATUS OP AUTHORS OF THE SIXTY BOOKS IN THE 1948 CUMULATIVE BOOK INDEX CLASSIFIED UNDER APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY AND PERSONALITY......

^

PROFESSIONAL STATUS OF WRITERS OF BEST KNOWN PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS FOR THE LAYMAN COMPARED WITH STATUS OF WRITERS OP THOSE LISEED IN 1948 CXMDIATITO BOOK INDEX................. 61 INTERPRETATIVE INFORMATION CONCERNING HEADING vuffia SCORES....

75

interpretative information concerning hcman interest scores. .

76

V TABLE XVII.

XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. yyty AAJlAg

XXX.

XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII.

PASS BEADING EASE AND INTEREST OF VARIOUS LEVELS OF PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS COMPARED WITH BEST SELLERS OF OTHER TYPES AND AVERAGE NON­ FICTION TRACE BOOKS OF NONTECHNICAL NATURE..............

79

COMPARISON OF APPROXIMATIONS OF READING EASE OF VARIOUS TYPES OF NON-FIGTION BOOKS WITH MAGAZINE LEVELS..................

88

COMPARISON OF APPROXIMATIONS OF READING INTEREST OF VARIOUS TYPES OF NON-FICTION BOCKS WITH MAGAZINE LEVELS.............

89

READING EASE AND HUMAN INTEREST SCORES OF SELECTED NON­ PSYCHOLOGY BEST SELLERS. INCLUDING DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION....

92

READING EASE AND HUMAN INTEREST OF SELECTED NON-FICTION TRADE BOOKS INCLUDING, DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION....................

93

READING EASE AND HUMAN INTEREST OF SCORES OF ADVANCED PSYCHOL­ OGY TEXTS, INCLUDING DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION...............

96

HEADING EASE AND HUMAN INTEREST SCORES OF INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY TEXTS, INCLUDING DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION. ......

97

PERCENTAGE OF BOOKS OF VARIOUS TYPES IN EACH OF THE SEVERAL RANGES OF READING EASE.............

101

PERCENTAGE OF BOCKS OF VARIOUS CATEGORIES IN EACH OF THE SEVERAL RANGES OF HUMAN INTEREST..........................

102

HEADING EASE AND HUMAN INTEREST SCORES OF BEST SHILLING PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS........................

IO3

READING EASE AND HUMAN INTEREST SCORES OF BEST SELLING PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS FOR THE LAYMAN...........................

l0 i*

RELATIVE RANKING OF FIFTY-TWO POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS OH READING EASE, HUMAN INTEREST, AND MATURITY.................

117

RATING OF SELECTED PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS ON ELEMENTS COMPRISING SCIENTIFIC MATURITY INDEX.................................

1 2£

COMPARISON OF APPROXIMATIONS OF PROXIMITY TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVITY, VALIDITY, AND PRECISION OF VARIOUS TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGY WORKS.............................

i2 9

PERCENTAGE OF PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS IN VARIOUS RANGES IN THE SCIENTIFIC HIERARCHY AT EACH LEVEL. ......

130

DETAILED READABILITY AND MATURITY DATA ON PSYCHOLOGY BEST SELLERS INCLUDED AS EXAMPLES..............................

I35

SUGGESTIVE LIST OF BROAD INVESTIGATIONAL AREAS IN RESPECT TO NON-FICTION BOOKS......................................^

^

CHAPTER I

IHTR0DUCTIOH The problem This investigation represents a pioneer approach to the scientific study of popular non-fiction trade books, regarded as one segment of modern media of mass Impression. As will be duown subsequently in the review of the literature, social psychologists, educators, and communication specialists have in past years studied the content of such media as the motion picture, the radio, periodi­ cals, newspapers, and books— the major agencies of communication providing the chief sources of information to the adult public today. The printed matter which has received most attention has been news­ papers, magazines, and textbooks.

Recently, however, students have begun to

take increasing interest in the realm of the best selling trade books; but these advances have dealt for the most part with the fiction classification. The present contribution took the recent non-fiction best sellers, particularly the psychology category, as the province of Its concern; it undertook to analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the general non­ fiction psychology books which have been distributed most widely over the years, especially the last twenty years. The popular psychology or "adjustment** group was submitted to an e»tended scrutiny in order to Indicate, in the ease of this particular category of trade best sellers, typological trends and general quality (Chapter III),and popularization or readability techniques utilized (Chapter XV); these selected books for the layman were parallelized with academic works in repect to readability and psychological maturity" (Chapters V and VI).

2 la the determination of the readability of popular psychology content--specifically the redding ease of the writing (based upon a count of words per sentencef and syllables per one hundred words) and the reading inter** est of it (as based upon the percentage of personal words and personal sen­ tences)— the objective was to ascertain the suitability of the readability level to the reading standard of various segments of the population structure. Comparisons were made of the readability of various descriptions of psychology boohs (advanced texts, beginning texts, and best selling popular discussions), best sellers on other subjects, and the average trade book. An endeavor was also made to assay, in some measure, the over-all quality and the soundness of the same material in order to show the appropriate­ ness of the substance for popular consumption and to indicate to what extent psychology matter can be at once readable and sound. Numerous facets were explored more incidentally, but the fundamental problematical emphases are those as hereabove sketched. Abstract of the problem.

With a view toward enabling Interested

persons to capitalize on certain descriptive characteristics in the selection of presently available books and adventageously produce future volumes, the ultimate aim of this study has been to bring to light particular facts regard­ ing the number and types, readability, and maturity of recent psychology books of various kinds, especially those communicating psychology to the general reader. These qualities were selected for study because they have especial meaning for mass impression. In summary and specifically then, the research reported in this dis­ sertation was planned to secure data relative to certain characteristics of popular psychology books and was centered around these questionss

3 1. What place do psychology hooks occupy in the group of non-fiction hooks read in greatest numbers hy the general public, what kinds of hooks hare been and are included among these highly distributed popularized volumes, and what is the relative quality of the matter? (Chapter III is devoted to this question). 2 . To what extent is the content of present day psychology volumes for the general reader suitable in texms of readability (i.e., reader understanding and interest) for purposes of mass consumption; and how does it compare in this respect to academic psychology books, to other types of trade book best sellers, and to the average trade book? (Chapter 17).

3. What is the relative readability and maturity (or soundness) of popular psychology books of various kinds— i.e., does the possibility exist of presenting sound psychological content in readable form? (The results from the study of this part of the problem are set forth in Chapter V.) Content analysis of the typological description resulted in the data pertaining to the first question.

The data were secured by means of the

normative method, utilizing standard reference volumes such as the Cumula­ tive Book Index and the Publishers1 Weekly in classifying editions available at various periods.

In respect to the second question, the readability of

the sampled subject matter was determined by means of the Plesch Readability Index, described later.

The qualitative aspects were evaluated with the aid

of a rating scale to be discussed.

The readability and quality of other

groups of best sellers were accessorily assessed for comparative ends. .Antecedent to the central presentation, a resume of germane pre­ vious study was appended. In Chapter 71 readability and maturity data on several individual psychology books of each of the several kinds are presented in^case study8 form, serving to augsent group averages on readability aid maturity set forth in Chapters 17 and 7.

The volumes chosen were among those which

seemed to attain the desired criteria for mass impression— relative reada­ bility and soundness, in keeping with the particular objectives of the book.

4 These critiques illustrate how selected features of non-fiction content might he analyzed and synthesized relatively objectively as opposed to the tradi­ tional evaluations founded less upon factual matter than upon subjective opinion* The methods followed in securing the data relative to the problem are discussed more completely in the next section* The Method The research technique applied in the central portion of the thesis may be looked upon as a type of content analysis— typology* readability* 1 and qualitative analyses being so regarded by Lazarsfeld and Berelson In their manuscript dealing with the analytics of communication content* The recent revision of the Flesch Readability Index was used in ar­ riving at the estimations of the individual books making up the category readability scores; an index of category quality was employed which was a combination of an adaptation of the Rappel Index and an original method based upon the multiple listings of Dickinson* The ((adjustment a books were submitted to a precise, detailed* and protracted perusal along the lines above indicated, with particular atten­ tion to individual variations in interest scores and reading ease scores* The ((psychological maturity* ratings were based upon an original rating scale subsequently described* and standard correlational techniques were put into use to correlate the Ilesch Reading Base scores with the Baling Interest scores* and each of these with the maturity index*

These proced­

ures aided in ascertaining differences in popularization techniques at various levels in the hierarchy of psychological maturity. 1* Rani Lazarsfeld and Bernard Berelson* *The Analysis of Communica­ tion Content* (Unpublished Manuscript* Bureau of Applied Social Research* 19*9). 1*9 pp.

5 The methods, techniques, and devices for eliciting the data will he explained at greater length in the appropriate sections following* Delimitation The study did not deviate from the province of non-fiction trade material as indicated and from the time span as specified*

Furthermore,

the hooks were studied only from the frames of reference as cited*

As a

consequence, numerous avenues of possible approach were of necessity exclud­ ed:

as for examples, concentrated content analysis; Journalistic, rhetori­

cal, and stylistic analyses of differing sorts; and extended examination of specific categories of books other than the psychological.

The psychology

volumes were considered chiefly from the standpoint of thematic trends and readability (the human interest and reading ease of the content}. The degree of maturity, or of scholarly and informational approach, was ap­ praised somewhat more incidentally; and undoubtedly there is great need for future meticulous attention to this aspect alone*

Finally, no effort was

made to reveal the percentage of space devoted to each of the various topics within the single volumes* Further qualifications will be specified as separate problems are Introduced*

Moreover, at various Junctures, suggestions will be given

regarding desirable avenues for further exploration, special attention being thus directed in the concluding section of the thesis under the title "Reeded Re search«. Value of the Study Rooks are among the dominant agencies through which the attitudes and concepts that find expression in our collective thinking and behavior are impressed;

they have possibilities for either the accomplishment of selfish

ends, commercialism, and the promulgation of low order, misleading, biased, and controlled material; or they present potentialities for social selfcontrol and powerful education means* When certain books sell into the hundreds of thousands and are read by and presumably Influence millions of persons, data on the characteristics of this material become important*

Though^ scholars are not in agreement

upon the exact effects of the printed word, best sellers undoubtedly have vast effect in the reciprocal role as models for the "life pattern* of the masses and as reflections of it*

Persons read these highly promoted books

for entertainment and education, i*e,, increased skills, knowledge, attitudes and appreciations; and impressions are undoubtedly imparted* These volumes are bought by the millions to be read for informative purposes; therefore the suitability of the matter for the purchasers should be revealed.

A basic assumption of the inquiry is that books for the general

public are needed for informative purposes, but that the content of them must be at once available, readable (easy and interesting), and sound*

The study

has value in that it provides data on these qualities which are essential if our population is to profit

the books; and it establishes if, and to what

degree, such a combination of these qualities can be achieved. 1. Joseph Klapper, "The Effects of Mass Media" (Unpublished Manu­ script, Bureau of Applied Social Research, 1949), unnumbered. This manu­ script is one of the Public Library Inquiry series. Klapper was assigned the task of separating the fact from opinion on one particular problem— that of the effect of mass communications— and has dealt with it admirably v A f e * °f &enera^isetions— overs tap!ified— foliow s 1. The amount which a person learns from a communication is related to the intellectual ability and attention of the reader. 2. It is most probable that mass communications maintain established public taste and predispositions, but there is no data to show that attending to such media bars the development of higher levels of taste or cannot contribute to it* 3 . These media can broaden artistic and informational tastes, but such tastes are not unlikely to be not as wide as those developed by certain other means* 4* There exists an interaction between the communication media and society each reflecting the other*

7 While some facts have been gleaned in respect to the "earmarks" of fiction best sellers, little work has been done on the qualities of the non­ fiction group,

This study Is an initial attempt In filling this need for

determining the appropriateness of the content for self-initiated or informal adult education purposes, All the categories of non-fiction best sellers could not have been submitted to a rigorous, individual probing within the limitations of the usual thesis; so one particular division— that of psychology— was selected for extended review,

The other headings need further attention also, and

there is a multitude of problems within the self-help type which offer fruitful material for research.

Numerous phases for further exploration, suggest­

ed by this inquiry, are outlined elsewhere.

It is hoped that such an

evaluation will serve to help show the quantitative and qualitative status of mass reading matter in the psychological area, and that it will lead to insights into the improved production and selection of future books.

The

thesis is, then, of the nature of a pilot contribution in suggesting how the gap might be better bridged between an academic

discipline (psychology) and

popular consumption as well as between present material and that of future, Improved works, furthermore, the thesis fills a need, it is felt, in that it repre­ sents the first extensive application of a readability formula to non-fiction books. While the readability characteristics were evaluated by the Hesch formula, the maturity characteristics were Judged by a rating scale which represents one of the initial steps in developing aids for the more object­ ive study of non-fiction content.

8 Again,the utilization of these aids in characterizing the diction of selected "books (Chapter VI) can he considered a contribution in the relative­ ly more scientific evaluation of non-fiction matter. The inquiry should be of interest and value to publishers, authors, journalists, adult educators, psychologists, future research workers, and others dealing in language and communication. Definition of Terms Although certain words and phrases will be clarified as needed at appropriate points in the succeeding discussion, something should be said here in regard to the terms "trade book" and "best seller", used frequently in the thesis* The word "trade book" is a publishing term used synonymously with "general literature".

The word had its adoption at the time when such books

were produced by the usual suggested by the publisher.

trade publishers and sold at bookstores at a sum Specialized scientific treatises and academic

monographs, texts, annuals, government publications and documents, and cer­ tain other of such issues are not generally subsumed under the term. The "best sellers" assessed in this inquiry are those listed annual­ ly in the Publishers1 Weekly, a publishing trade organ, the compilations being based ‘upon retail bookstore sales figures only.

Thus books such as

the popular paper-covered editions and mail order items were excluded; but, of course, a limitation was necessary, and the lists chosen for study are usually regarded as the best known and most reliable of such records. Pinal Hot© Lucidity, objectivity, precision, and parsimony have been the object­ ives throughout the course of the presentation.

Because the problem encompassed

9 was not a narrow one, it was necessary to strive especially for a scientific succinctness.

Tabular and graphic aids have been used wherever practicable

to further these aims.

10 CHAPTER II HEYEfiW 07 THE LITERAT0HE 1

As pointed out by Waples* one can approach the topic of reading from three broad references• 1* Study of the publication Itself 2 * Study of distribution 3» Investigation of groups of readers The bulk of this report is primarily concerned with the first approach: is

astudy ofpublication content attacked from

terization rather than

it

the level of generalcharac­

that of influence of the content* evaluationof

it* or

a view reflecting control factors* general cultural patterns or historical processes* In this review of past investigations* the discussion has been cen­ tered around previous study of content only and has been ordered in the following manner:

prior exploration of the suitability of books for adult

self-education purposes Is first summarized and then earlier studies of the character of widely read books are examined: a closely related scientific study of the quality of books is next reviewed; and finally, past inquiry into the characteristics of printed matter disseminating principles of human behavior is discussed at length* Previous Study of the Suitability of general Non-Fiction Books Tor Informal Adult Education Purposes Initial Studies*

The adult education movement was first popularized

1* Douglas Waples* Research Memorandum on Social Aspects of in the Depression (Hew Yorks Social Science Research Council* 1937), p. 28.

11 in the United States in the early 1920‘s, the Carnegie Corporation under­ taking to

subsidize the study of the topic in 1923.

During the course of the

first ten years, this corporation expended approximately $3 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 . in the promotion of activities of great latitude, of which sum about $2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 . was applied to research and experimental ventures.

A wide variety of enterprises

was submitted for study within the frame of reference of adult education, both formal and informal?

formal adult study classes, club activities, cor­

respondence courses, museums, all the agencies of mass communication, many others*

In the resultant literature, the role of libraries, books, and

publishing in mass education received abundant and recurrent attention, some of the articles being reported in the official organ of the American Adult Education Association, The Journal of Adult Education* A manuscript by Learned} former member of the staff of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, is at once one of the earliest and most scholarly of such contributions.

This book suggests the need—

subsequently reiterated with great frequency— for more books that are simply written and suitable for persons seeking to advance their knowledge through self-effort; it shows the demand for more research in determining the sub­ jects on which books are needed, as well as style, method, language, length, and form best suited to the average reader. More Becent Developments.

Numerous books with similar emphasis have

since made their appearance at one time or another? very important among them are the series of compilations of papers presented before the Library 1. William S. Learned, The American Public Library and the Diffusion of Knowledge (New Yorks Harchourt, Brace and Company, 192^), S9 pp.

12 Institute at the University of Chicago* and the volumes edited hy John Chancellor, Adult Education Specialist, American Library Association.

The

latter deal with the problems of the library in advancing self-initiated o education by patrons. The American Library Association, in addition to publishing such books as just mentioned, has produced since 1935 the very worthwhile "Reading With A Purpose" and "Exploring the Times" series of reading courses on a variety of subjects, of which there are now over one hundred.

Also,

many briefer book—lists and lists of reading suggestions are prepared and distributed by libraries and by the Association. Workers in the publishing and book distribution field occasionally comment in their journals on the importance of their role in adult voluntary education, as is evidenced by the following quotation from an editorial in the trade organ Publishers1 Weekly? We cannot help feeling that those who are endeavoring to organize every possible force to make education a continuing process cannot afford to overlook this long established and most effective agency (publishing and bookselling). Since the advent of the adult education movement, much has been written concerning the popularization of the academic disciplines. James 4 Harvey Robinson* s T h e ^ issued over twenty-five 1. See especially, Louis R. Wilson, ed., the Hole of the Library in Adult Education (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937), 321 pp., Library Trends (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1 9 3 6 ), 388 pp., and Leon Carnovsky and Lowell Martin, eds., The Library jq the Community (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 194h), 23© pp. 2. John Chancellor, ed., Helping Adults to Learn (Chicago: American Library Association, 1939)» 296 pp., and Helping the Reader Toward S*lf Education (Chicago: American Library Association, 1 9 3 8 ), 270 pp. 3.

Publishers* Weekly, 119:2201, May 2, 194l

4. James Harvey Robinson, The Humanization of Knowledge (Hew York: George H. Doran & Company, 1923), 119pp.

13 years ago, has become almost a classic in this respect*

His thesis is, of

course, that there is great need for the dissemination of knowledge to the layman hut that it must he divested of its abstract and professional charac­ ter and framed in a manner which is at once simplified, pleasing, not mislead"* ing, brief, fluent, and literary*

Host of the succeeding references perpetuate

this view* Over the years educators, psychologists, and others have begun more comprehensive studies of readability.

The Initial work of Orly and Leary1

is monumental, and the professional and popular writings and the formulas of Plesch2 have received very wide attention and practical application? Like most of the publishing literature, the material on adult educa­ tion has consisted mainly, not of "pure research**, but of descriptive, derivative, and philosophical substance* Thus, while we discern an awareness upon the part of adult educators, librarians, and publishers, that books must be appropriate for persons seek­ ing to advance their knowledges and skills through self-initiated efforts, little has been done in actually “putting general literature to the test** in respect to the desired qualities of readability and soundness.

This study

serves as one of the starting points in filling this deficiency in our know­ ledge of the qualities of highly distributed books. 1. William S. Grfer and Bernice E. Leary, What Makes a Book Readable (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935), 358 pp. 2. See Rudolph Flesch, Marks of Readable style Contributions to Education Ho. 89 7, Teachers College, Columbia University (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 19 ^3 ), 68 pp., (see other titles later). 3* See w. T. Charters, “Pretesting a College Textbook,** Educational --- -Research Bulletin. 129:85-95, .April 12, 1950, and Bibliogrjphy.

14 In the following section other analyses of widely read works will he summarized* Previous Study of Extensively Distributed Books The literature on widely read hooks or so-called best sellers falls into three general categories. 1. Short literary essays in various periodicals— popular* trade and literary— the publishers1 Weekly being particularly rich in such articles 2. Three or four semi-popular compilations in hook form of much of what is known 3* Academic contributions— some in the form of articles, but the plurality appearing as theses Most of these contributions deal either with concomitants in high sale or with listings of the hooks which are numbered among those broadcast most widely.

Prominent studies of this sort are those of Berreraan^ Taylor?

Hart? Stevens* and Pitkin?

1. Joel Van Meter Berreman, "Factors Affecting the Sale of Modern Books of Fiction" (ifapublished Doctoral Thesis, Department of Economics, Stanford University, 1939), 340 pp. 2. Mary Taylor, "Elements of Popularity in Fiction Since 1930,« (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Library School, University of Illinois 1930), 150 pp. 3. Elizabeth Hart, "Elements of Popularity in Representative Cur­ rent Fiction," (Unpublished Master*s Thesis, Department of English, University of Chicago, 193°)» 9^ PP* 4. George Stevens, "Lincoln's Doctor's Dog," The Saturday Review of Literature. 17s3-4, 14-16; lS-1 9 , January 23, I93 S 5. Walter Pitkin, "A New Survey of the Best Seller," Publishers' Weekly, 20:27^-2750, June 1 5 , 1 9 2 9 . --- ------

15 Social psychologists, particularly, hare become interested in cor­ relating the best seller topics with evidences of the stream of public opinion, tastes, and attitudes.

Inquiries along such lines are those of

Allen} Vaughn? and Watson? The two excellent books on best sellers, by 4 5 Hackett and Mott, consist of compilations of lists plus literary type essays. Although the bibliogrsphy of this thesis may be consulted for additional studies of widely read books, the above-mentioned material is suggestive of what has been accomplished thus far.

It is to be noted that the scientific

investigations have dealt with the fiction category, and that, actually, no study has yet been instigated along the lines of a content analysis of widely market non—fiction.

In fact, the non-fiction trade books have been almost,

if not entirely, neglected,

This is ev® the more surprising when one takes

into account the change from class to mass book publishing and that non-fiction is now actually outselling fiction?

In spite of the deluge of such matter

1, Fredrick Lewis Allen, “Best Sellers: 1900-1935.“ Saturday Review of Literature, 1 3 : 3-4, 20, 24, 25» December 7 , 1935. 2.

Way!and P. Vaughn, Social Psychology (New Yoik:

Odyssey, 1948),

9 5 6 pp.

3. Goodwin Watson, Youth After Conflict (New Yoiki Associated Press, 1947), p. 152-163. 4, (New York:

Alice Payne Hackett, Pifty Years of Best Sellers R. R.Bowker and Company, I9 S5 ) 140 pp,

1895-1945

5, Prank Luther Mott, Golden Multitudes (NewYork: The Macmillan Company, 1947), 357 pp. 6 . Publishers» Weekly, 1 5 7 s 280-281, January 22, 1948. It is com­ monly believed that the large part of book publication consists of fiction and that the years have seen an increase in this category. Actually, however, the facts are that the proportion of fiction to the total books, and the actual number of fiction titles, is yearly on the decrease. In the year IS9 0 , fiction accounted for fully 24 per cent of the whole number of titles published; in 1906 for 16.4 per cent, in 1916 for 8 .9 1 per cent, and in I949 for only 6,5 per cent, (publishers* Weekly. 14*5: 109. February 20, 1941). ----- ------— — ’

16 on the commercial market, the present undertaking apparently represents the first descriptive content analysis of non-fiction of extreme popularity. Other Content Analyses.

That analyses of totaL content similar to

the present one are becoming increasingly frequent is evidenced by a recent 1

article, “Theses in Journalism Completed at Columbia,1* in which almost forty studies of total contait are listed.

This is exclusive of sundry “content

analyses1* under other headings such as influence of the content, evaluation of it, and the like* Another recent bibliography, listing doctoral dissertations now 2

being completed in education, reveals that the interest in such studies in applied social research is quite great; and if the listing is compared with earlier ones, it will be seen that this concern is a new and growing one* The following titles, selected from the list, are Indicative of the type of inquiry now being undertaken in this regard. Alfred Azevedo, “The Content, Readability and Readership of a Teachers' Association Periodical,** California Thomas Bolivas, “The Reading Difficulty of Historical Material in School Textbooks, “ Pittsburg Jeanne, Chall, “Readability;

An Appraisal « Ohio

Robert DeBoas , “An Analysis of Adjustment Materials in Juvenile Periodicals, “ Northwestern Clarke Poster, “The Adult Education Movement in the United States: Status and Progress, « Ohio Sidney Reisberg, “Pulton Lewis, Jr.; An Analysis of a Radio Hews Commentary, “ Hew York 1. Stanley Bignan, “Unpublished Journalism Theses at Columbia, “ Journalism Quarterly* gjz 2S-45, Winter, 1950. 2. Carter V. Good, “Doctoral Dissertations Under-Way in Education. I9 H9 -I5O,w The phi Delta Kappan. 3 1 S2 6 S»?9 2 , Pebruary, 1950.

17 Henry A* Singer, WHuman delations and Haas Communications: A Human-Rel&tlong Motion Picture Training Series, 0 He* York John H. 2tandt, "Radio end Television Programs in Public Education Today, 0 Temple Among doctoral dissertations which have been completed consisting of total analysis of a quantitative or qualitative nature, several germane to the present effort can he mentioned here. Thurston1* analysed the materials in twenty—one general teaching methods and educational psychology texts published from 1925-192S*

The

approach was quantitative, the types of materials, trends, and the over­ lapping of the two fields being the central concern*

The bibliography is

valuable for students working on allied problems as numerous articles on educational text analysis are there listed* Using techniques of a less quantitative sort, Mohr^studied inten­ sively elevai popular books directed toward the laymen.

She sought to

ascertain the objectives of the authors, the techniques of writing utilized, and the methods and devices of presentation* finally, Street *s content analysis of the Reader*^ Digest^iiiustrates the qualitative, more literary type of study.

After a numerical breakdown

of the agglomeration of 607 articles in eighteen issues of the school edition, he cited examples of various rhetorical and stylistic patterns frequently found therein* 1* Oscar Thurston, **An Analysis of General Teaching Methods and Educational Psychology Textbooks** (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Education, University of Texas, 1939), 23*4-pp* 2 * Jennie Mohr, WA Study of Popular Books on the physical Sciences*1 (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University.

19*2), 7* PP. 3* Paul Street, “The Reader»s Digest. Educator0 (Unpublished Doc­ toral Dissertation, School of Education, northwestern University, 19*47), his pp.

IS Kappel *s Study

A study reported ina 1947 issue of Public Opinion Quarterly by Kappel* at that time a research associate of the Bureau of .Applied Social Research at Columbia University, is very close to the present one in topic and methodology*

His investigation had for its purpose the assessment of

the quality of the best sellers chosen by the book clubs* especially those selected by the Book of the Month Club*

Toward this end he devised a formula

utilising the Book Review Digest plus and minus evaluations*

This formula

expressed algebraically is

s I* injwhlch **att equals the plus values of the £b individual titles* *IM equals the yearly index number of an individual book* and **b* is equivalent to the corresponding minus values in the Digest* He

found* however, because books are ordinarily evaluated on their own level* i.e., in comparison to others of the same category* that a mystery story is likely to receive a total index mark of similar quality to that of more serious works*

Accordingly* he revised the above formula to include the (a) _ number of reviews of a book. This revision is expressed thus: N (b) — X, where

equals the number of plus values* "b* the number of minus values*

the number of reviews* and HXW the index number for the individual book* Employing this formula as a base, he could easily carry it a step further in taking samplings of the best sellers* the book club selections* and the average trade books in any given year* follows:

The formula thus adapted is as

X £b « I* in which the symbols are equivalent to those in the

preceding base formula* except for the addition of MX,f equaling the total 1. Joseph Kappel, *»Book Clubs and the Evaluation of Books, w Public Opinion Quarterly, 12:243-252, Summer, 1948.

19 number of books*

He found by applying the formula to the samplings of the

three types of books mentioned, that the Book of the Month Club has con­ sistently chosen the best of the best sellers and has encouraged the best— as estimated by critical reaction— of the books which subsequently became best sellers*

The foregoing evidence in no way proves, as Klapper hastens

to say, that the Book of the Month Club has been instrumental in raising the level of best sellers*

The Publishers1 Weekly best seller lists were

also used here, but only the fiction category was studied.

An adaptation of

the instrument developed by Klapper is used later in the presait undertaking* Research on Psychology Material We now come to the point where a review of the previous studies of psychology books is in order. of study obtains

In general, two (but not dichotomous) types

the non-quantitative historical, evaluative, or factual

essay; and the quantitative approach.

Our survey treats them in that order.

Some further discussion is included in the main body of the thesis. Hon-Quantltative Study*

The Publishers1 Weekly occasionally rune

a short rudimentary article on one particular type of non-fiction of book— religious, medical, historical, hobby, and the like— and every few years there appears such a composition on the self-help type of book^

Usually

something is mentioned of the vast increase in non-fiction book production and sale during the past four decades and of the trend toward the more Inexpensive editions of authoritative books made available to the public in order to satisfy this "hunger** for self-improvement. 1.

If the gamut of such

See «Self-Help Books,** Publishers* Weekly. 13:1330, March 30, 1930.

20 books is reviewed, an interesting, if not unequivocal,array of topics is revealed, Including medicine, psychology, public speaking, general outlines of knowledge, letter writing, etiquette, anthologies of quotations and verse, one volume encyclopedias, and vocabulary builders* Ho concentrated paper has been written on the popular psychology book*

However, every few years in the academic and scientific journals,

a narrative or critical essay on this subject, centering usually around the author*s opinion as to the value of this material, makes its appearance* 1

Typical of these articles is *»The Success Bookss Phony Guidance?**, Stylised in a highly entertaining manner by a person who was at the time a

high school teacher and counselor, it shows much more evidence of extensive background research than many similar evaluations*

The history of such

volumes is briefly traced, the books being regarded as an outgrowth of the works of William James*

The author concludes that although thinkers have

always praised sincerity, honor, and hard work, these books often do not encourage the reader toward sincerity in the application of the maxims. Dr, George Lawton, consulting psychologist and American Psychologi­ cal Association member, has contributed a similar essay in the Journal of 2

Adult Education*

It is his own opinion that the usual book on psychology

can **contribute much to the insight of a person who already is able to examine his behavior and relationships with some attachment, but it can offer little to the man or woman with pronounced conflicts. **^ 1* Phillip JSU Jenkins, **The Success Books: Clearing House, 13*336-339# February, 1939*

phony Guidance?**

2. George Lawton, **Does Psychology Deserve Its Popularity?** Journal of Adult Education. 12:138-1^1, April 19^0. 3*

Ibid., p. 138.

21 This psychologist stresses that the quality of such a hook is depend­ ent upon the professional ability of the writer, which is to he established by his professional education and experience; and that this competence in turn can be judged by his membership in scientific and professional societies, his technical contributions, and the repute he has with his professional associates*

It is unfortunate, Dr* Lawton goes on to say, that **the most

competent practitioners are not always the best and most zealous of popularisorst hence the market tends to be loaded with **bootleg psychology** Finally, he opines that as more persons become aware of what academic psy­ chology is and what it can do, psychology will become increasingly less popular as a quick method of personality change and will be regarded more generally as providing insights into human behavior end aid in and treating irregularities of adjustment* Librarians and technicians have been attending recently to what they have chosen to call "Bibliotherapy**, i.e., the use of books— psychology m d others— in the amelioration of certain personality and mental anomaLies. Allen, New York psychiatrist, reported his experience in using cer­ tain pertinent fiction and psychology books with a grotp of highly intelli­ gent patients— those of sufficient ability to comprehend The Psychoanalysis of the Total Personality by Deutsch and The Mentally 111 in America by Homey* His observation is that such scientifically sound material can be helpful. 2 1* Edward B. Allen, **Books Help Neuropsychiatric Patients, ** Library Journal. 71:1671-1675* December, 1946. 2* For an extended discussion of Bibliotherapy gee Catherine Gr* Eeneally, **Therapeutic Value of Books,** in Youth, Communication and Libraries (Chicago: American Library Association, 19%), 231 pp* — ---------- “

22 Quantitative Approaches. Perhaps the most comprehensive of the pre­ vious scientific investigations in this realm is reported in the Journal of Applied Psychology by Lewinski and FederJ -both psychologists of repute.

The

study was initiated in an attempt to gain an overview of the authors and type of information included in the popular and •‘practical* psychology magazines. For this purpose, eight issues of three such magazines were examined— three issues each of the Modern Psychologist and Psychology and two issues of Current Psychology and Psychoanalysis. The following table adapted from the article gives a picture of the material in the magazines*

p

TABLE I ANALYSIS OF SUBJECT MATTER OF ARTICLES IN CERTAIN POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY MAGAZINES Classification Abnormal Mental Conditions Love and Sex Success Formulas Personality Marital Affairs Psychoanalysis and Allied Phenomena Graphology, Fortune Telling and Allied Phenomena Telepathy and Allied Phenomena Suggestion and Hypnosis Physical Defects Child Culture Avocations "Colorology" Miscellaneous

Number

Per Cent

22

21.2

15

14.4

11 10

10.6

9 5 5 5 4 3 3

2 2 S

9*6 8.7 4.S 4*6 4.6 3.8 2*9 2*9 1*9 1.9 7.7

1. Robert Lewinski and Daniel Feder, ^Science Versus Sensationalism in Psychology for the Layman," Journal of Applied Psychology. 16s429-435. August, 1939* 2. Ibid., p. 430

23 From this data, it is to be observed that articles on "abnormal mental conditions" headed the list, followed closely by "love and sex", after which come, in order of frequency, "success formulas", "personality", and "marital affairs". Table II summarily describes authors and reveals only four contri­ butors to be members of the American Psychological Association.

Four were

listed as having the Ph. D. degree, but the field of study in which the degree was granted or the name of the institution conferring it were never specified.

Nine such persons, nonetheless, were physicians, but no indication

was given that they were authorities in human behavior.

Two of the writers

possessed the "Ps. D." (Doctor of Psychology)— a degree obtained through correspondence and not recognized professionally. TABLE II STATUS OF AUTHORS WHO CONTRIBUTE TO POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY MAGAZINES

Status or Association Members of APA* Authors not in APA, but recognized in the field Number listed as having Ph. D. or M. A. degree (no specifications) Number listed as having "Ps. D." degree Number listed as psychologists (no APA affiliation) Number listed as physicians (M. D«) Number about whom no information was given

No. 4 3 5 2 10

9 26

♦APA - American Psychological Association It was found that these magazines carry numerous advertisements offer­ ing various degrees by correspondence.

Por illustrative purposes, a number of statements at variance with known psychological facts are quoted. HIt is small wonder, " say Lewinski and Peder, "that the layman "believes that psychology is interested primarily in the investigation of the abnor­ mal, the supra-normal, instantaneous character analysis, sexual perversions, 1

mind reading,and fortune telling." They assert, in conclusion,that they believe the information in the articles is apt to be misinterpreted disasterously by the reader, and that there is frequent exaggeration of the benefits ensuing from the practice of the precepts. Although the authors deprecate the current popular psychology material, they are not opposed to the dissemina­ tion of scientifically grounded literature by persons of professional standing, and are compelled to suggest that further neglect of the area by recognized psychologists leaves the field open for charlatans.

They believe that a

magazine similar to the .American Medical Association*s Bygeia (Your Health) would be helpful in remedying the situation. An article by Emme^ in the Journal of Psychology, a content analysis of recent general psychology texts, is closely related to the present study. The books were compared in composite ratings on the basis of five criteria: reliable scholarship, experimental literature included, amount of teaching and study aids, attention to student interest and needs, and physical design and art quality. 1. Ibid.. p. h33.

2. Earle E. Emme, "Content Analysis of Nine Most Recent Textbooks in General Psychology," Journal of Psychology. 11:257*260, April ighl.

25 A last effort anticipatory to the present one is that of Stevens and Stone of Harvard^ who applied the original FLesch Formula to the writings of twenty-four selected authors in the field of academic psychology.

This pro­

cedure necessitated taking numerous samplings in each hook of the average sentence length, number of affixes per 100 words, and number of personal references per 100 words.

The two investigators found that the books ranged

from a score of 3*5^ $0* Boring*s Psychology for the Fighting Man. represent­ ing the Standard readability level with a potential audience at the seventh grade level, on up to Mortimer Adler*s What Man Has Made of Men having a score of 7*15 ia the Extremely Hard category— typical of scientific journals— *

and with a potential audience of college graduates, or equivalent, only. The philosophical works proved most difficult, (Table IV) followed by physiological woxks, advanced psychology texts, general psychology texts, and general outlines, in that order.

The average book fell in the group with

scores of five to six at the hard level typical of academic journals and hav­ ing a potential audience of at least high school grade level or equivalent. No book in the group fell below the three-to—four score or Standard category into the first three difficulty levels:

Very Easy, Easy, or Fairly Easy.

However, no extremely popularized books were included. 2

The following tables adapted from the article present more completely the specific factual matter, but the above interpretation should suffice in explaining the tables. 1. S. S. Stevens and Geraldine Stone, ^Psychological Writing, Easy and Hard, w The American Psychologist. 2:230-235, June 19%. 2.

Ibid.. p. 231 and 232

26

TABLE III

m s original flesch scale of readability Typical

Score

Dp to I

Level

Magazine

Potential Audience (Grade Completed)

Very Easy

Comics

4th

1-2

Easy

Pulps

5th

2-3

Fairly Easy

Slick Fiction

6th

3-4

Standard

Digests

7th

4-5

Fairly Hard

Quality

5-6

Hard

Academic

Very Hard

Scientific

6 & Up

Some High School High School College

27

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60 TABLE XIII PR0EESSI0NAL STATUS OX AUTHORS OX THE SIXTY NQN-TECHNICAL BOOHS IN THE 19^8 CUMULATIVE BOOK IHBBX CLASSIFIED T3NXSSR APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY ABU PERSONALITY Professional Status of Author Hon AFA* Members AFA Members Psychiatrists Theologians Total

Number

Per Cent

45

10 3

75.0 16,7 5.0 3.3

60

100.0

♦American Psychological Association

When the professional status of the writers of the non-technical materials listed In the Oamulatlve Book Index is compared with that of the writers of the hooks which have received the widest distribution, some interesting figures result.

These data are displayed in Table XIV*

Of the hooks in the Cumulative Book Index* representing the whole of the hooks published in 194-7, 75 P*** cent are written by the Inspirational writers (non-professional persons), 21,7 per cent by psychologists (Ph.D., AFA) or psychiatrists, and only 3*5 Per cent by theologians and philoso­ phers,

Of the best sellers, 37-5 per cent are produced by Inspirational

writers, 37*5 Per cent by psychologists and psychiatrists, and 25*0 per cent by theologians and philosophers. Thus the best selling non-technical books are superior to the ^general runw of similar books In respect to the professional qualifications of the authors.

Also, there is a larger proportion of the religio-psychological

type, accounted for by the recent popularity of these items.

TABLE XIV PROTESSIOKAL STATUS 07 WRITERS 07 BEST EHOWN PSYCHOLOGY BODES TOR THE LA322AH COMPARED WITH STATUS 07 WRITERS 07 THOSE LISTED IK 19*S CUMULATIVE BOCK IHBBX

Those with Highest Distribution (Beat Known) Ko* Per Cent

Those in 19*18 Cumulative Book Index Ho* Per Cent

Inspirational Writers

12

37.5

1*5

75.0

Psychologist (Ph.D., APA*) or Psychiatrist Psychologist (9) Psychiatrist (3 )

12

37.5

13

21.7

Theologian, Philosopher, or Educator Total

J5

25.0 100.0

J2

Classification

32

60

h i

100.0

♦American Psychological Association

Summary This chapter has been devoted to a discussion of the first question posed in Chapter III:

wihat is the -place of the psychology theme in the non­

fiction hooks sold in the greatest quantity- what kinds of books have been included r and what is the relative quality of the matter!**

In other words,

in this section the most general quantitative characteristics have been re­ viewed*

It

was

found that boohs of the psychology category occupy a prominent

place In the non-fiction book reading of the population, such volumes placing third in popularity aaong best sellers of the last thirty-five years from 1926 to 19^8, and being ®toppedw In frequency on the lists only by the books

under the Biography and Autobiography, and Social and Economic Problem headings* fiie importance and availability of the psychology theme was thus demonstrated.

62 The first *>0035:8 were those imported fro© England, the writings of Samuel Smiles being of the greatest renown* Of the early volumes issued in the United States, those of the prolific writer Orison Swett Harden gained extreme prominence, (his Power of Personality. 1 9 0 6 , being one of the most prodigious sellers of all time) as did those of

Frank C* Haddock. Books of this earlier period were of two types?

(1) those outlining

avenues for the all-round personal development of the reader in many areas and imparting, for the most part, pieces of advice, precepts, examples, and the like; (2 ) those dealing with vocational success particularly, i.e., accord­ ing young men advice in how to advance in the world of business. The first books of the psychologists, unlike those of their predecessors, were more in the clinical, therapeutic and personality realm and suggested not singly a modification in “outward behavior* as in the precedent volumes, but rather a kind of “self analysisN. The titles by the non-professional inspiration authors have sold by the millions through the years, and exerpts from some of the more recent of such products were given.

Most books of this type seek to stimulate the reader

toward an alteration in his pattern of thought, from one of fear to one of con­ fidence. Popular adjustment books for the general reader were classified into six chief categories?

simplified treatments of the psychological discipline

by psychologists and others, the practical philosophy or Art of Living type, •humanised* philosophical works, psycho-religious integrations, metaphysical books,and academic approaches.

63 All psychology hooks of a given year were assorted as to type.

Of the

325 titles published in 1946, about 215 were professional and textual in char­ acter, the remaining portion, about one-third, being so designed as to be of use to the lay reader.

Psychology books comprised 3 .3 per cent of the total

titles published 19 *+S* The largest portion of the general treatments for the public are classi­ fied in the Cumulative Book Index under the heading Applied Psychology and Personality.

The sixty books under these two categories were classed as to

major emphasis,

Twenty-seven, or 45 per cent, stressed motional and clinical

problems, 26 per cent were related to .matters of human relations, 1 1 ,7 per cent dealt with health problems, S*3 per cent were concerned with character change, and the remaining were either of a vocational or general non-technical sort. The comparative quality of the widely distributed psychology books, when Judged alongside non-fiction titles of other categories on the basis of the evaluation of critics, was seen to be very low, along with that of humor and game books*

Pully 75 per cent of the individuals authoring such volumes

were not professional psychologists but were “inspirational writers'*.

Ten,

or 16 per cent, were affiliated with the American Psychological Association, 5 per cent were psychiatrists, and 3*3 per cent were theologians* Thus, while the demand for books in the psychological realm is very great and the volumes have always been available, as is apparent by the rela­ tively large per cent of such books currently on the market, it is to be deplored that such a large proportion of the books are not the products of professionally recognised personnel.

Even so, the material is apparently

superior to that promulgated in certain “popular psychology* magazines as

64 studied by Lewinski and Feder

(discussed in the **Beview of the Literature*

section)* We have thus shown the importance and the availability of this widely purchased literature, we have delineated the motifs which have prevailed and which now prevail, and we have shown the relative critical judgment of it as compared to that of other classes of books* Wow that this broader numerical picture has been presented of the place in popular culture that the volumes occupy, further qualities of the volumes will be described in subsequent chapters*

Particularly, the char­

acteristics of readability and scientific soundness will be evaluated, as these are the all-important criteria for popular culture or self education* For mass use it is imperative that books be both readable and sound. can such an optimum combination be achieved?

But

Whether or not this is possible

will also be established*

1* Bobert Lewinski and Beni el Feder, ^Science Versus Sensationalism in Psychology for the Layman,* Journal of Applied Psychology. l 6 i429-435, August, 1939*

65 CHAPTER 17 READABILITY CHARACTERISTICS 07 POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY BOCKS In the previous chapter the general over-all thematic and qualitative characteristics of the most widely distributed non-technical psychology hooks have been described In response to the first question posed in Chapter I. The chapter at hand seeks to throw light on the second question guid­ ing the study* anent the readability characteristics of the titles.

The

readability features of reading ease and reading interest of best selling non-technical psychology books are compared with those of other types of best sellers* more academic psychology works* and the average non-technical book on the market.

In reporting the data* the readability of the books is

Interpreted in the light of the percentage of the population and the educa­ tional level for which it is estimated that the books are applicable.

The

individual psychology titles are then more minutely compared in respect to variation in interest and difficulty. Popular psychology books could be studied from many points of view* as can any segment of a communication medium:

control and regulation* con­

tent and meaning* dynamics of audience composition* channel flow and distribu­ tive aspects, and the effects.

But our concern is within the second category—

the content— the study being descriptive of the typology, readability, and maturity of psychology content. Readability* then, may be regarded in the broad framework of the term *®content analysis'*.

Berelson and Lazarsfeld^ for example* have classified

1. Bernard Berelson and Paul Lazarsfeld, The Analysis of Communication Content (Unpublished Manuscript, Bureau of Applied Social Research* 19^6), pTTT.

66 content analyses into three denominations* to be distinguished by their pur­ poses:

(1 ) those designed to clarify the personal and cultural conditions

under which the communication was produced* i.e.* the preconditions which detemine the nature of the communication; (2 ) those designed to study the characteristics of the content without a direct concern as to origins and effects of it; and (3 ) those planned to determine the "effects of communication upon the attention* attitudes* or acts of the audience." Readability analysis would fall within the second group.

Some specific

uses under this category are: To To To To To To To To

describe trends in communication content trace the development of scholarship disclose international differences In communication content discover stylistic features measure the "readability" of communication materials expose propaganda techniques compare media or "levels" of communication construct and apply communication standards.

We can achieve an informed public in part by increasing reading inter­ est and ability level and by producing readable or "layman" books.

The

preponderance of these layman books are not original contributions to know­ ledge* but are concerned* for the most part* with the promulgation of this knowledge in an interesting manner and are used by adults for the purpose of self education*

They are distinguished from textbooks in that the latter

are employed, usually, in group learning of a formal type and are written in such a way that the informative purpose far outweighs any consideration of entertainment.

Like the non-technical work* they are frequently not

original contributions in the sense that they establish new facts* but their contribution lies more in the synthesis of available or Important data in suc­ cinct form end in a scholarly fashion.

67 Philosophical and theoretical works, reports of scientific and research studies and other compendlums of "new" knowledge are usually less readable than textbooks.

Each has its purpose and place, of course.

Textbooks are

read by large numbers of students and scholars and are influential in the education of future scholars and the intellectually advanced sectors of the population.

The works of popular culture* especially those in the best seller

category, with which we deal, are read widely by the masses and undoubtedly have influence on the comglomerate.

The scholarly and philosophical types—

the voice of the contributors to knowledge— are, in the long view, the most inqportsnt of all to society. We have* however, concentrated on the exoteric non-technical book of the psychological type.

They are read for purposes of adult informal educa­

tion, are looked to by many for psychological and popular-philosophical guidance, and are read also simply for diversion, entertainment, and identi­ fication.

Tor an account of the readers of such volumes see Baumgartner.^

The present study was Initiated not from the point of view of the audience commanded by the books or the effects of them but from the perspec­ tive of the content of the material itself.

Because the books are read widely

for serious purposes, the following questions concerning their content should be considered.

Are they of such level of difficulty that they will be compre­

hended by those who venture to read them?

Are the qualities of writing and

content such that they will be read with interest? utilized in this respect?

What are the techniques

Which of the books are relatively readable and

which are the more difficult?

That is to say, how do they compare in degree

1 . Harriet Baumgartner, "A Study of the Readers of Popular Psychology

Books" (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Library Science, Columbia University, 1943), 173 pp.

68 of difficulty or reading ease and in reading interest?

How do the books in

this category compare in readability with the average trade books and with best sellers of other divisions?

What is the estimated percentage of adults

that can read each psychology book and each type of psychology book?

In other

words* books of varying difficulty may reach what educational level© and what percentage of the population? The data presented in this chapter will aid in answering questions of this sort— most significant ones in terms of mass culture or education in the realm of psychology and insistent ones if we are to have an informed society.

Past Attempts to Measure Readability Many workers have attacked the problem of producing a formula by means of which readability might be appraised more objectively. For an historical 1 view of the nineteen or twenty major efforts see Chall. From such reviews it will be discerned that the contributions of the following persons loom large— Pressey (1923) who conducted one of the first experiments in measuring the vocabulary difficulty of books; Kenoch (1927) who analyzed the vocabulary level of history textbooks* utilizing the Thorndike lists; Dolch (1928), Vogel, and Washburn whose contribution was a formula relating difficulty factors in the written word to individual reading levels; Dale and Tyler (193*0 who conducted an experiment in readability by using adults of limited reading ability; and McClusky (193*0 whose experiments were pointed in the direction 1. Jeanne S. Chall, "This Business of Readability,” Educational Research Bulletin, 26:1-8, January 15, 19*0* o r Rudolph Flesch, Marks of A Readable Styl~(New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College Columbia University, 19**3) Contribution to Education No. 897* 68 pp.

69 of determining the characteristics of reading matter in various content fields* In 1931 Bernice Leary conducted a study at the University of Chicago which dealt with analytics of adult magazine material and was a precursor of the subsequent basic volume by Gr^r and Leary, What Makes A Book Readable. ®he latter investlgatore2 to0 k; as their point of departure a liet of eighty-two assumed elements of difficulty and finally established five which correlated most satisfactorily with tests of comprehension*

These factors

proved to be the number of various difficult words, the count of personal pronouns, the amount of different words, the number of prepositional phrases,and the sentence length*

They justified, in part, the problem they were studying

by citing evidence that many adults are not able to read the book material available, that about one-sixth of the adult population read on the proficiency level of the high school graduate, that another one-sixth read at an attain­ ment level equal to that of pupils in the lower elementary grades, and that the majority fall between these extremes*

A check list of factors thought to

be associated with difficulty in reading was prepared for presentation to adult educators, librarians, and publishers* under three general groups* (3) fectors of content*

The list was composed of elements

(1 ) factors of style, (2 ) agents of format, and

Content was designated as the most influential of

the constituents, with style, format, and gener*d organization important in the order named.

1* Bernice Leary, »Aa Analytical Study of Certain Elements in the Heading Material of Adult Magazines, 18 Master1® Thesis, University of Chicago, 1931* 2* William S. Grey and Bernice E. Leary, What Makes A Book Eeadable (Chicago* The University of Chicago Press, 1935), 35S pp.

70 Derivation of Present Pormula In 19^3 Plesch reported research which led to the development of his well known readability formula measuring sentence length, number of affixed morphemes, and references to persons; it attempted to overcome the apparent failure of previous formulas to conspicuously estimate readability nuances at the higher levels of reading matter difficulty.

His index saw wide appli­

cation both in efforts to make mass printed media more readable and in v all dative research study of written material.

A ^Layman1s Book** by Plesch further popu­

larized the concept and the formula.

The original formula was submitted to

a revision in 19hS, the details of the modifications being reported in the 2 literature in an article appearing in The Journal of Applied psychology* it found a popular presentation in the author*s book. The Art of Readable_____ The new formula differs from the primary one in that the affix count of the original index is discarded for purposes of ease of calculation in favor of the measurement of average word length in syllables, expressed as the quantity of syllables in a hundred-word passage.

This procedure yields

essentially the same results as the previous affix count. As a further test of human interest added to the percentage of personal words in the original formula, the newer formula also incorporates the average percentage of personal sentences in the sampling. 1. Budolph Plesch, The Art of Plain Talk (New Yorks Brothers, 19^6), 210 pp.

Harper and

2. Rudolph Pleach, ttA New Yardstick of Readability,Journal of Applied Psychology. 32s221-223, June, 19*W3« 3. Rudolph Plesch, The Art of Readable Writing (New Yorks Brothers, 19^9)» 237 PP«

Harper and

71 Finally, another original element, the average sentence length in words, is still utilized; hut an error in previous computation is corrected, The formula is, in part, a test of the level of abstraction,

Tersely,

Pleach* s plea is one for simple, easily comprehensible but appropriate style, actualized

the use of short sentences, easily understood words, and human

appeal, Sxplanation of Present Headabillty Index The revised Slesch formula, as outlined by Plesch^ was employed in analyzing the books comprising the basis for this study*

The formula and the

procedure which was put into explication in procuring the data follow. The original formula upon which the present revision had its founda­ tion can be stated thus:

.33a XB 4 .00+5 ail - .0659 Xh . .7502 _ x, where Xs equals the average sentence length In words, 3^, equals the average *™»her of affixes per hundred words, and where Xh equals the average number of personal references per hundred words, and where X equals Heading Difficulty. The outstanding featureisof the new revision have been outlined in a previous section.

In effect, the formulas are two!

one furnishing an indica­

tion of the Heading Difficulty of a piece of writing and a second designed to be an approximation of the Human Interest.

The Heading Ease formula used in

this chapter is symbolized as follows.

1.

Plesch, The Art of Readable Writing, op. cit., p. 221-233,

2*

Flesch, Marks of A Readable Style, op. cit., 68 pp.

3#

Flesch, The Art of Readable Writing, op, cit., p, 216.

72 206.835 (1 .0 1 5 ) 4 b (.846)J* X, where a equals the average sentence length in words, where b equals the number of syllables per hundred words, and X equals the Reading Ease score. The measure, one of the length of words and sentences, places any communication content on a scale of reading difficulty between 0 (practically incomprehensible) and 10 0 (easily comprehensible to any literate person). The Human Interest content of writing can be approximated by the use of this formula, instrumental in estimating the appeal of books selected for study in this chapter:

c (3«635) 4 d (.31*0 a Z, where c equals the average number of personal words per hundred words, d equals the average number of personal sentences per hundred words, and Z equals the Human Interest score. The application of this formula will place the content of a comnrunicatiotn medium on a hierarchical scale of from 0 (no human appeal) to 100 (replete with interest).

This measure is then one of the percentage of personal words

and sentences in a piece of writing— the greater the percentage, the greater the interest. The validity of the instrument has been informally established, in that augmented readership has been found to accompany increased reading ease andinterest, as appraised by the foruralaj The approximations of readability asderived by the formula were found also to

be in agreement with the opinion

of Judges. Analyst to analyst reliability has been determined recently by Hayes, 1.

25s339-3^3.

C. E. Swanson. ^Readability and Readership. ^Journalism Quarterly.

73 Jenkins and Walker*

The results were as follows:

PW .8 8 , PS *85, HI .92.

WL .95, SL *99* RE .98,

The analyst to malyst reliability on Word Length,

Sentence Length, and Reading lase were accordingly found to he quite high; the reliability on Personal Words, fair; hut on Personal Sentences (and, as a result, on Human Interest as a whole) It was found to he slightly lower than perhaps desirable,

The authors concluded that for practical purposes

the formula and the directions for its use are of a degree of objectivity sufficient to warrant its use by even inexperienced analysts in determining interest and ease of written content. The procedure of application as outlined by Plesch2 was followed, with some deviation, in the readability analyses which appear in this chapter. Sampling was made of the writing of each book— approximately twenty-five passages of one hundred words each--the sample taken, if possible, from the second paragraph of each tenth, page. When the number of words (one hundred) for each sample had been counted, the average sentence length was calculated by dividing the number of words in the sentences In the totality of specimens

by the frequency of

sentences in the sample total. The syllables within the hundred-word samples were then counted by dividing the total number of syllables by the frequency of sampling (twentyfive). 1. P. Hayes, J. J. Jenkins, and B. J. Walker, Reliability of the Plesch Formulas, B Journal of Applied Psychology. 3^*22-28, April, 1950. 2.

Plesch, The Art of Readable Writing, op. cit. pp. 213-216.

7* After the Human Interest aspect was next appraised by the calculation of the number of personal words in the hundred-word sample, this sum was then divided by the number of samples, personal words being regarded as all first, second, and third person pronouns excepting third person neuter if the refer­ ence is to that other than persons— all words of masculine or feminine natural gender only, and the group words, folks and people (the latter with plural verb). The quantity of personal sentences was then figured in the hundredword sampling by dividing the number of personal sentences in all samples by the number of sentences in the universe of specimens.

Personal sentences are

regarded as all spoken sentences, requests, interrogations, commands, all sentences of which the reader is the referent, and incomplete sentences. At the conclusion of the above procedures, the ease and interest scores were calculated by substitution of the totals in the formula structure. Ail scores were rounded off to the nearest vhole number. When the Heading H&se formula is applied to a sample of communication content, the result can be located In the following table; and the reading ease indices which were derived from the application of the formula to the books in our study may be interpreted in terms of Table XV, adapted from Pleach.1

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The Human Interest Indices derived from applying the Homan Interest formula to the hooks sampled in the investigation are interpreted on the hasis of this table adapted from Jlesch:^ TABLE XVI INTEBPBETATIVE INFORMATION COKCEENING- HOMAN INTEREST SCORES

Description of Style

Per Cent of Personal Words

Per Cent of Personal Sentences

Human Interest Score

Typical Magazine Scientific

Bull

2 or Less

0

0 -1 0

Mildly Interesting

4

5

1 0 -2 0

Trade

Interesting

7

15

20-40

Digests

Highly Interesting

10

*3

40-60

New Yorker

Dramatic

10 or More

6 0 -1 0 0

Fiction

5S or More

Any readability formula is not to he regarded as an infallible gauge of all elements of readability but is to be thought of as an approximation of certain components of readability or an aid to evaluation.

Undoubtedly,

many diversified elusory aspects need additional probing— physical factors, content Ingredients, density of idea (or fact or idea '"load11), circuitousness of circumlocution of wording resulting in a dearth of idea or fact, levels of conceptualization, and others. Because of individual differences in abilities, past experiences, motives, and interests of various persons, the same material is not equally 1.

Ibid., p. 1 5 1 .

"readablew for all.

Tims readability research should he

coordinatedtoin­

clude study of the reader as well as of the material. There is exigency not only for further research on the measurement of readability of written materials, hut for application of the present formulas to the matter available.

Only a few efforts have been made in

applying the Plesch formula to books. Wallace,

One of the most recent is that of

which made use of the initial Ilesch formula in placing a group of

books of general interest according to grade level. The need for readable books and lists of them isevidenced by the data cited in the "^Foreword" by Plesch, who contends that nearly one-half the population are non-readers of books and that about 1 3 .5 per cent are functionally illiterate. .An earlier study of academic psychological materials was mentioned in the review of previous studies, but the present work is the first exten­ sive readability analysis of a sampling of all levels of psychological conceptualization* We are not highly concerned here with the readability of the scho­ larly works for the specialist, who is ordinarily equipped to "combat» with volumes of great difficulty; but our interest is primarily in the readability of the layman books, which venture to convey facts, ideas and attitudes to those wishing a comprehensible grasp of psychological concepts.

1. Viola Wallace, ©t ©1., Books for Adult Beginners (Chicago: .American Library Association, I9 M9 )", 56 pp.

n Readability of Various Types of Books In order to answer the questions posed previously, it was necessary to apply the readability formula, previously described, to many sorts of books' various types of psychology books, non-fiction best sellers of all kinds, and finally, non—fiction trade books. Many of the tables in this chapter show the readability (Reading Base and Reading Interest) of individual books making up these various groups* Less confusion will probably result if the data is abridged at the outset: the readability of the books in the psychology categoiy can then be discussed more meticulously* Table XVH summarizes much of the data displayed in the later tables of the chapter and shows the Reading Interest and Base scores of various levels of psychology books compared with best sellers of other types and the average non-technical, non-fiction trade book. Advanced Psychology Texts. As one would expect, psychology texts of an advanced order are at once the most difficult and the least interesting of the several types of psychology books differentiated. In order to estimate the difficulty of the sixteen books sampled, the average sentence length in number of words was calculated along with the mean number of syllables per hundred words; these numerical values were sub­ stituted in the formula previously described. An average Reading Ease score of 3^ resulted, placing the books in the difficult stylistic category, typical of the academic magazines.

Such

a level of abstruseness is approximately equivalent to the reading level of grades thirteen to sixteen, or college level.

Only about 33 P6** cent of the

adults in this country have the ability to read this material*

TABLE XVII HEADING EASE AND INTEREST OP VARIOUS LEVELS OH PSYCHOLOGY BOCKS COMPARED WITH BEST SELLERS OP OTHER TIPES AND AVERAGE NON-PICTION TRADE BOOKS OP RON-TECHNICAL NATURE No* of Volumes in Type of Book Psychology Texts: Advanced Advanced & Elementary Elementary

Average Average Average Length No* of Reading of Syllables Ease Sentences Per 100 Words Score

(College) Difficult Academic 13-16 R R 13-16 Pairly Difficult Qpality 10-12 (H. S.) 8-9 Digests Standard (Pairly Easy)

Typical Magazine

Style

8

2 2 3

0 1 2

7 9 12

Mildly Interesting Trade

S3

6

17

27

Interesting

Pairly Difficult Academic 13-16

33

4

7

16

Mildly Interesting Trade

77

Pairly Easy

7

ss

9

22

40

Interes ting— Very Digests Interesting

149 143 1**5 145 142 142 13s 139

55 62

Pairly Difficult Qpallty Digests Standard

5* S3 33 33

0 4 10 10

12 12 15 17 14 15 25 25

Mildly Interesting Trade

S3

3 3 4 4 4 4 6 6

3 4 3

61 0+ 63 65 66

10-12 8-9 8-9 8-9 8-9 8-9 8-9 8-9

26

165

41

Difficult

Academic 13-16

53

2

0

7

50

24

140

57

Pairly Difficult Quality

10-12

54

3

8

13

100

23

142

63

Standard

8-9

33

4

4

15

20

140

68

8-9

S3

4

20

21

30 56 26

27 25 24

172 10+ 155

34 43 52

Psychology Best Sellers (Publishers* Weekly Lists)

20

22

135

70

Popularized Psychology Books by Psychologists

25

24

150

56

"Art of Living" Type Psychology 20 Best Sellers

21

127

Best Sellers: History Science Economics & Social Problems Biography Philosophy Geography & Travel Humor War

10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

25 24 23 23 22 23 24 23

Texts - Sampling of all Published Texts

12

Average Non-Piction Trade Book (Non-Technical) All Best Sellers

Style

Estimated Estimated per Cent Per Gent Per Gent Human Typical Reading of U.S. Personal Personal Interest Magazine Grade Adults Words Sentences Seore

Reader's Digest (PLesch's Count)

a

Slick

R

R

II

R

II

R

N H

n

R

R

R

R

Digests R

33

33 33 33

8

Doll

Scientific

R

R

Digests

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

R

Interesting

R

Digests H

R

Scientific

Dull

Mildly Interesting Trade R

Interesting

R

R

Digests

so

The average sentence length is very long— twenty-seven words— and the syllable content is exceedingly great— 1 7 2 per 1 0 0 words— occasioned, for the most part, by the numerous technical and “abstract** words. The interest of the books was judged by counting the percentage of personal words and the percentage of personal sentences» as previously set forth, resulting in a “Human Interest Score* of 7, which, in terms of style, can be described as “Dull", and typical of scientific magazines. The content is practically devoid of personal words, such as first, second and third person pronouns (excepting neuter with the qualifications previously stated), words of a masculine or feminine natural gender, group words such as “people”; and it is almost void of the sentence which one might term as personal, i.e., spoken sentences, questions, commands, requests and others addressed to the reader, exclamations, and grammatically incom­ plete sentences (with qualifications on all counts as antecedently expressed) All Texts Combined*

Psychology texts of all designations (advanced

and beginning conjointly) were second highest in the gradations of difficulty of psychology books J their standard Heading Ease score was 43, resulting from a mean sentence length of twenty-five words and average sum of syllables per hundred words of 164,

The average Heading Ease score of these books is

in the same difficulty group as that of the advanced texts, termed as Diffi­ cult, typical of the academic magazine and of the grade level of from thirtem to sixteen, reaching about 33 per cent of United States adults. The books are only slightly more intriguing than the advanced texts alone and have a Human Interest score of 9, which still falls within the Dull Stylistic groi^», typical of scientific magazine content.

The limited

difference in interest is created by a few more sentences of a personal character.

SI Elementary Texts.

Taking the beginning psychology text category, we

find a higher Reading Ease index, 3^» indicative of easier material than that admitted under the above headings.

Sentence length here is twenty-

four words on the average, and the mean number of syllables per hundred words is also lower, 155.

The Reading Ease index of this content falls in the

next lower descriptive group, that of Pairly Difficult and typical not of academic magazines but of those of the "Quality** type, a level accessible to about 5 ^ per cent of adults in this country* In looking at the Reading Interest count of these books, it can be seen that it is 1 2 , or mildly provocating in style, having a slightly greater percentage of personal words and sentences than that of the two preceding types of psychology texts*

The emotional appeal of the subject matter is

equivalent to that of the trade magazine* Popular Books*

If we next inspect the Reading Interest and Ease of

the popularized psychology books for the lay public, which have been written by persons who are professional psychologists (Doctor of Philosophy or the equivalent), we find that they have an average Reading Ease score of 56, which is only slightly higher and indicative of slightly more facile reading material than that Unbodied in the elementary texts; the average sentence length is the same, while the syllable load, which is slightly lower, accounts for the difference* Thus, the expression is identical with elementary texts as is the read­ ing grade and estimated percentage of adults capable of reading the matter, being respectively, Pairly Difficult, I3 -I6 , and 33 per cent*

The Human

Interest score is a little higher, 16, accounted for mostly by a little higher percentage of personal sentences*

Por all practical purposes, the

62

Res.ding Ease and Interest of popularised books for the layman by psychologists are no higher than that of beginning psychology texts, The psychology best sellers on the Publishers * Weekly lists, a group of “self-help** books of a non-technical nature for the lcyman, the titles of which were written mostly by non—psychologists (but included some works by psychologists), have a Reading Ease score of 70, which is much higher than the group of “humanized*1 books just described, authored by psychologists. The sentence length of these best sellers is only twenty—two words on the average, while the mean number of syllables per hundred words is only 135* making for expression which can be described in terms of Plesch*s norms as Standard*— Pairly Easy, typical of the Digest type of magazine, and with an estimated reading grade of 8 to 9» u comprehension level reaching S3 per cent of adults.

The sentence length of these books is not so very much

shorter than the popularized works by psychologists, but

the much lower

syllable burden Is indicative of a content style with a greatly decreased amount of technical and otherwise longer (or more difficult) words. The interest of the matter is also seen to be higher, since it has a score here of 27# described as Interesting and typical of digest articles. The material contains a few more personal words per hundred words and con­ tains over twice the average percentage of personal sentences than that produced by the academic psychologist in his popularized effort. The last type of psychology book to be analyzed was that which we have denominated the “Art of Living** order, included in the Publishers* Weekly best seller lists and written by non—psychologists.

Illustrative

of such books are Live Atone and Like It by Hill is, How to Win Friends and

83

Influence people lay Carnegie, and Wake Up and Live lay Brande. These hooks are relatively very easy to read, having an average Read­ ing Base score of 77, placing them in the Pairly Easy category.

The average

sentence length is only twenty-one words, and the number of syllables per 1 0 0 words, 127*

Thus, they are the easiest of all kinds of popularized

psychology-type books, being equivalent to "Slick** type magazines In diffi­ culty standard, and as a gro*q> are on the 7 th Grade level.

Eighty-eight

per cent of our population is capable of reading them. These volumes are notable for the high interest level of idiom, being on a plane with digests.

The percentage of personal words is nine and

the percentage of personal sentences is twenty-two, resulting in a Human Interest score of 40, represented as Interesting to Very Interesting.

The

absence of non-technical words as revealed by the low number of syllabes per hundred words is especially to be noted, as is the very hi$i percentage of personal sentences and personal words. Readability of Other Types of Books. Presented for Comparative Purposes. The average Reading Ease quotient of all non-fiction trade books on the Pub­ lisher *s Weekly lists is 63? this is of Standard style, similar to that of digest magazines.

The average sentence length of the books is twenty-

three, while the average syllable count per hundred words is 1 4 2 . Thus best sellers as a whole are less difficult than those of the psychology division and much more difficult than those of the "Art of Living** best seller sub-type of the psychology group.

The average best seller could

reach 83 per cent of the population in terms of reading difficulty and is of the 8 th and 9th Grade level.

8k

As to Reading Interest, the mean score is fifteen, being designated as mildly stimulating, or at the trade level,

Thus the average is approxi­

mately the same as the popularized trade hook of the psychologist, hut much less animating than the Art of Living category of the psychology hest sellers. Of the various types of hest sellers, some differences in Reading Ease and Reading Interest are to he discerned.

The History group is more

formidable than the other varieties on the average, having an ease score of 62, and thus falling into the Fairly Difficult gradation, equivalent to quality magazines. The Reading Interest of these History volumes is rated as 12, or Mildly Interesting (trade level of interest).

Although the Reading Ease

scores of the other hest seller types are rather contiguous, slight differ­ ences are evident. The Humor and the War categories are the highest in Reading Ease, due to a less onerous syllable load,

Groups which receive the more favorable

average critical reaction tend to be the less readable. Thus the History classification, the most difficult in diction, is also the highest in terms of favorable critical reaction, the volumes having a mean number of Book Review Digest plus values of nine, while the Social Problems grouping, second in terms of favorability in critical response, is second in respect to reading difficulty. Conversely, the Humor and Psychology categories, with a mean number of plus values of 3 ,3 and

respectively, are also the least difficult,

occupying second to last and last places respectively in regard to diffi­ culty rank*

85

The War category is an exception, however*

The books of this designa­

tion are readable (many being journalistic and humorous in emphasis) and also were very well received by the critics. The average non-fiction trade book falls in the Fairly Difficult cate­ gory, having a Reading Ease sum of 57» similar to that of quality type maga­ zines , Thus they are on a level of Reading Ease similar to material of the high school or 10th to 12th Grade level, having a reading—audience potential of 5* P®r cent of the population. best selling non-fiction*

They are significantly more difficult than

However, in respect to Reading Interest, the dif­

ference is not as pronounced since both fall into the Mildly Interesting group.

The best sellers have a score of 15, and the average non-technical

books have 1 3 , which places both at the trade magazine level of phraseology. The Reader *s Digest can be cited also for comparative purposes.

The

content here usually attains a Reading Ease score of about 68, or Standard difficulty, reaching a possible audience of S3 P®r cent of the population. This magazine can be termed as Interesting, including about four per cent of personal words and twenty per cent of personal sentences in the content, A readability count of selected texts, other than those of psychology, showed that the reading interest aid reading facility of these materials were not appreciably different from the psychology group, having a mean Reading Ease score of hi (Difficult) and a Reading Interest score of seven (Dull), equal in interest to scientific-type magazine content. Summary, In summary, we find a hierarchy of reading difficulty and reading interest in the diction of psychology books, the psychology texts ior being the most difficult but no more less readable than the average text of

86 other subjects*

The differences between elementary and advanced psychology

texts in Reading Rase and Reading interest are very evident, the technical and otherwise difficile word burden, especially, being much less in the elemen­ tary texts , and the sentence length being three words shorter also*

The

abstraction level of these texts is such that they can be read by approximate­ ly 33 per cent of the adult population*

The elementary texts, when taken

alone, are easy enough to be comprehended by 54 per cent of the population and are as interesting as the average trade magazine. The efforts of the scholastic psychologists to popularize psychologi­ cal knowledge have resulted in books which are a little more laborious to read than elementary psychology texts, but also slightly more appealing (still in the Mildly Interesting category of the trade magazine level, however).

These

books are too recondite to be read by 67 per cent of the population. The best sellers of the psychology classification, which subsume within their province mostly books by non-psychologists as well as some approachable volumes by psychologists, are very much more readable than the traditionally "humanized" endeavors of the academic men*

They are,

as a group, at the JJigest gradation of reading difficulty, and the Reading Rase can be described as from Standard to Fairly Rasy in difficulty style and Interesting in regard to interest category.

The difficulty measure

is on a par with reading material ordinarily offered at the eighth or ninth grade level and is suitable for the comprehension of S3 per cent of the population* When we take only the Art of Living books, we see that they are very "popularized®, being Very Interesting and similar to Slick magazines in Reading Ease (Fairly Easy), being on a seventh grade level and enabling

87 88 per cent of the population to read them. Psychology hest sellers are more intelligible in terms of Reading Ease and Heading Interest than other types of best sellers— excepting the Game and Humor subdivisions which are about equivalent to the latter— and are approximately as comprehensible as the Header1s Digest magazine. The average non-fiction book of a technical nature is not very attractive, being equivalent to magazines of the Quality description and being too difficult for 46 per cent of the population to read*

The inter­

est of these books is low also. The books of the psychologists, then, directed to the lay public are relatively difficult and uninteresting and can be read by only 33 per cent of the population, while the inspirational books of the non-psychologists are Very Easy, suitable for the needs of 88 per cent of the population, and highly Interesting, sometimes approaching the near-fiction level as we shall see. Tables XVIII and XIX are pictorial portrayals of the information summarized in the foregoing paragraphs, Table XVIII displaying a comparison of the approximations of Heading Ease of various types of non-fiction with magazine levels, and Table XIX showing a comparison of the approximate the Heading Interest of/same types of non-fiction works. It can be seen that in the case of both Reading Interest and Heading Ease, the same hierarchy of both divisions is in evidence.

The vast difference between the popularized

book of the psychologist and the inspirationalor Art of Living type by the non-psychologist, both in respect to Heading Interest and Ease, is distinct­ ly shown.

COUPiRISOH 07 APPROXIMATIONS 07 H&ADUK} EASE 07 VARIOUS TTFES 07 N0H-7ICTI0K BOCKS WITH MiflAZniB LEVELS

TABLE Xflll.

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105 Ten Seconds That ffill Change Your Life by Falvey (not a psychologist), More Zest for Life by Laird, How to Think Straight by Thouless, Keeping Mentally Fit by Jastrow, and On Being A Heal Person by Fosdick,

Though

the Reading Ease of these works is not materially different, the Reading Interest varies to a considerable extent, but only within the two group differentiations, Doll and Mildly Interesting, It usually follows that the books with the higher Reading Ease coefficients are those with the higher Reading Interest,

Discovering

Ourselves is an example of a book which9 although not particularly invit­ ing as popularizations go, is mildly stimulating, having an index of 12. More Zest for Life by Laird and Keeping Mentally Fit by Jastrow are a little easier, having a less involved sentence structure and fewer diffi­ cult words; but they are of still more interest, as measured by per cent of personal words and personal sentences. Proceeding up the Reading Ease hierarchy, volumes with Standard Reading Ease equivalent to Digest subject matter include Carnegie»s How To Stop Worrying, The Montes sori Method by Montessori (a rather special­ ized educational tome). What Men Live By by Cabot, Basic Teachings of the Great Psychologists by Sargent, Release from Nervous Tension by Pink, Personal Problems in Everyday Life by Travis and Baruch, and How Never To Be Tired by Rey.

Most of these are the work of professional psycholo­

gists and illustrate cases where a popularization may be both readable and fairly sound.

This degree of Reading Ease enables 83 per cent of the

population to read the content with little difficulty, for it is of ths eighth and ninth grade level.

Some of the writing may be at a fairly high

106 level of abstraction, including quite a number of technical terms; but it may still be easily penetrable by virtue of the use of very short sentences. Release from Nervous Tension by Fink is an example of this:

the syllable

count is 1 5 1 » which is fairly high; but the mean sentence length is only seventeen.

Basic Teachings of the Great Psychologists by Sargent affords

another illustration, having a syllabic burden of 152 and an average sen­ tence length of eighteen words. Books which number among the least complex, finding admission in the Fairly Easy division are the following:

Outwitting Our Nerves by Jack­

son, Live Alone and Like It by Hillls, The Art of Thinking by Dimnet, Wake Op and Live by Brande, Laugh and Live by Fairbanks, How To Live On 24 Hours A Day by Bennett, and Lefs Explore Your Mind by Wiggam.

Most of these

books are of the Inspiration or philosophy of Living designation, which tend to accent an entertaining or witty style more than any attempt to con­ vey psychological concepts of great number.

Eighty-eight per cent of adults

should be able to read such material, which is on the seventh grade school level and of the Slick magazine difficulty.

In degree of interest, the

writing is usually in the Interesting or Highly Interesting areas, cog­ nate to Digest and Hew Yorker magazine subject matter. It is noteworthy that two of the aforementioned academic populariza­ tions are among the titles with this extreme simplicity of linguistic style and high degree of personal approach.

The books, of course, are Outwitting

Our Herves and The Art of Thinking. Although such editions may be almost, but not quite, equal to the Art of Living type in Reading Ease, they are usually not comparatively as high in Reading Interest. Finally, three books on the list are of linguistic mode denoted as

107 Easy, or of such, difficulty as to he accessible to 91 per cent of the adult population.

This style conforms to that in pulp magazines and is of a sixth

grade reading level.

The volumes are Life Begins At Forty by Pitkin,

A Fortune to Share by Young, and How To Win Friends and Influence People by Carnegie.

The first two mentioned are of the Digest level of interest and

How to Win Friends, of the Hew Yorker standard, having a very high propor­ tion of both personal words and personal sentences (as we have previously defined them)——namely, 13 per cent personal words and sentences.

per cent personal

This volume is then much higher in Heading Interest and Heading

Ease than the author*s more recent volume How To Stop Worrying.

Both Pitkin

and Carnegie use a style characterized by very short sentences:

How To Win

Friends has a mean sentence length of only sixteen words and Life Begins At Forty, an average sentence length of seventeen.

The syllable burden of the

material is likewise low. The elucidations by psychologists previously mentioned— Letfs Explore Your Mind by Wiggam, Release From Nervous Tension by Fink, Personal Problems in Everyday Life by Travis and Baruch, and Basic Teachings of the Great Psychologists by Sargent— are almost equal to these very popular philosophy of living denominations due to the absence of long sentences; but they are much more esoteric, however,

in respect to vocabulary as measured by syllable

count.

As a whole this thesis represents a report of certain characteris­ tics of well known psychology books.

Thus far, selected general numerical,

qualitative, and thematic features have been disclosed.

This chapter reports

particularly the features coming under the heading of readability.

108 The place of readability within the broader framework of content analysis was first established.

The past investigations of readability were

then reviewed, taking into account both attempts to produce formulas and studies in the application of them.

The monumental work of Grey and Leary,

in particular, was considered in some detail. After an explanation of the derivation of the Flesch formula applied in the present systematization had been given, the results of the application were presented.

The difficulty status and humen interest of psychological

material was shown, with special respect to estimation of the percentage of the population that can read each of the several types differentiated. Readability estimates of other types of material, other best sellers, and average non-fiction books to which the identical formula was applied were displayed for comparative purposes.

Examples of books of various levels of

Human Interest and Reading Ease within the psychology groups were introduced. As it would be expected, psychology types of the advanced order were seen to be the most formidable and the least provocative, followed by a group of psychology texts of all gradations, and then by elementary texts alone.

The first two categories are too difficult to be read by 67 per cent

of the population and are Doll in respect to interest style.

The elementary

psychology texts had a mean reader potentiality of 54 per cent of adults and were in the Mildly Interesting denomination. Psychology best sellers of the non—technical type were found to be more readable than any other group of best sellers sampled.

The mean Reading Difficulty score of the twenty books

sampled of this type was seventy, placing the books in the Fairly Easy category, or in the Digest style.

The content of these books measures on

an average of eighth and ninth grade reading level and is appropriate for

109 2>3 per cent of adults*

The interest of the group, as measured by percent­

age of personal words and sentences, was also congenerous to digest content. Hon—technical psychology volumes written by psychologists were shown to be quite complex, being at a level of difficulty inappropriate for 67 per cent of the population,

^hese books were demonstrated to have little appeal in

respect to Human Interest*

The books with the **techniques of living1* empha­

sis written by non—psychologists had, on the other hand, a large measure of reader appeal, approaching dramatic proportions in certain instances*

they

were of a Heading Ease level comprehensible to fully 88 per cent of the popu­ lation* Data were presented which corroborated the view of Flesch that the content of the average non-technical book is not particularly yielding or interesting to the average lay reader.

Best sellers tend to be more appeal­

ing and little less recondite than the averse non-technical work of tanta­ mount proportions. The concluding section was given to a discussion of certain individual variations in psychology books at the various levels of differentiation.

110 CHAPTER V

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE READABILITY AND MATURITYCHABACTERISTICS OP PSYCHOLOGY MATERIAL In the foregoing chapter the results were presented from the appli­ cation of the Plesch Formula to various levels of psychological writing in order to determine the readability traits (reading ease and interest) of differing kinds of psychology hooks (especially those of a non-technicaL nature) and. to reveal the suitability of the differing kinds of psychology content for our various population gro^s.

(Question II, Chapter I)

This chapter is devoted to a report of the data resulting from the correlation of the degree of scientific or informational approach of the content of psychology hooks and the readability (Human Interest and Reading Ease) of the content.

(Question III, Chapter I)

Ideally, psychology books

should be both at the appropriate reading level of the intended audience and as psychologically sound or mature as possible, in accordance with the purpose of the book* As will subsequently be seen, psychology books tend to be either rather technical, exact, abstruse, and uninteresting* or of the "behavioral guidance" varieties which are highly entertaining, very directive, and con­ crete but not particularly informative and occasionally misleading. of these extremes Is desirable for mass impression:

Neither

on the one hand, al­

though the content is sound, it is beyond the acquisition of the multitude; on the other hand, although the matter is eminently readable, the content is most frequently not informative aad not infrequently quite wanting in psycho­ logical soundness* Our assumption is that although books, of necessity, must reflect a variety of purposes, any existing psychology books which meet the mass (v1 i Vv ■w

Ill

culture criteria of readability and soundness must be designated in order that additional books of that kind may be written, provided such writing can be achieved* In the ensuing discussion an attempt will be made to show which books of each purposive type achieve the desired optimum combination of relative readability and relative soundness at their own levels.

In particular, we

desire to know to what extent the primarily informative book can be inter­ esting and easy.

Can a person of some professional status by availing him­

self of scientific source material write a book in relatively objective, precise linguistic style and give a fairly exact reference to the objective world and objective operation (in conformance to scientific technical and academic writing) which will concomitantly be comparatively simple and ar­ resting to read (suitable for mass reading or self-education purposes)? After a brief resume of a precursive study consanguineous to the present one, the procedure followed in the correlation between readability aad academic approach is outlined, followed by a succinct summary of the data.

Jackman^ Study A study to determine the commutuality between the maturity of con1 tent and simplicity of style In books of fiction was conducted by Jackman. One hundred books of fiction were ranked on the basis of judged maturity, and the rankings were compared with the rankings of the same books on the basis of a readability index as estimated by the Grey-Leary formula.

The

1. Mabel E. Jackmaa, "The Relation Between Maturity of Content and Simplicity of Style in Selected Books of Fiction," The Library Quarterly, 11:303-327. July, 19^1. ' -----

112 maturity was judged on these criteria:

plot complexity, number of charac­

ters, fineness of character delineation, use of philosophical concepts and figurative expressions, and generally distinctive style.

By use of the

previously mentioned formula, the simplicity of idiom was estimated by the complexity of sentence structure and difficulty of vocabulary.

In compar­

ing the two lists, the investigator concluded that there is little, if any, relationship between the maturity of content of fiction works and the struc­ tural complexity or difficulty as estimated by the formula employed. Present Procedure In order to discover to what degree psychology content may be at once readable and scientific (or informational in approach), the Human Inter­ est and Heading Hase of fifty-two popular books on psychology were correlated with the level of scientific maturity of the books.

Axi attempt was made to

include a sampling of books at all levels of technicality.

The Heading

Sase and Heading Interest were, of course, determined by the Ilesch formula. The technical and scientific objectivity, validity, or precision (or status in the scientific hierarchy) was approximated by the use of an originally devised rating scale which incorporated three factors. 1. Quantity, quality, and selectivity of source material of a scientific psychologies! nature. 2. The degree to which the book approached a scientific objectivi­ ty aad exactness in statement, as opposed to ex^geration, omission sensationalism, distortion, oversimplification, dogmatism) or less true to fact expression. 3. The authority of the writer, i.e., educational and professional psychology background qualifying him for the authorship of scien­ tific psychology books of merit. Originally, a fourth

criterion, the critical reaction as based upon Book

113 Review Digest plus-minus evaluations was to have been included.

The degree

of favorability was calculated by the process of subtracting the number of minus reviews from the plus.

The hypothesis was that the more scientific

the approach of the book (the more psychologically sound) the greater would be the positive sum from the subtraction process. ever, were not entirely in accord with this reasoning.

The results, how­ It was found that,

true to the conjecture, the effective living type books had a rather low index— 2.3 pluses, the most popular psychology books for the layman as a whole had a plus rating of 3*0» sad the popularised books by scholastic psychologists had a plus index of 4.0.

However, progression in the hier­

archy of technicality from el^sentary t exts through all psychology texts and on to advanced psychology texts did not reveal a corresponding increase in favorable critical reaction.

In fact, few textual treatments found

inclusion at all, and of those that did, the average finaL plus rating after subtraction of the minus counts was only 2.7. This criterion was not utilized in the first analysis for the inten­ tion of comparing quality of the works but only as an additional factor loading for the final rating of scientific technicality*

Because it failed

to serve as a differentiator of value, it was discarded and the remaining elements were retained. Hollowing is a sample of the scale.

It is graphic in character,

each book being rated on each of three criteria on scale from zero, the lowest possible degree of inferiority on the respective element, to a possible 100, representative of the highest.

114 EATING SCALE FOR THE DETEBMB9ATIOH OF PBOXIMITY OP PSYCHOLOGY BOCKS TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVITY, VALIDITY, AND PBECISIOH. A SCALE OF SCIENTIFIC HIERARCHY

Source Material (quantity. Quality, and Selectivity of Scientific Psychological Data) o inferior .- . No use of Source Material

25 Below Average

•

50 Average

•

75 » Above Average

100 Superior Highest Quality and Quantity of Source Material* Informational or Textual Approach

2* Degree of Objectivity and Exactness of Treatment _0 * 25 Inferior Below .. Average Journalistic Sensationalism Exaggeration Overslmpl ification Distortion Superficiality

1

50 Average

«

75 » Above Average

100 Superior Scholarly Technical Exhaustive Objective Factual True to Heallty Informational or Textual Approach

3. Authority (Educational and Professional Background of Author) (qualifications for Writing Psychology Books of a Scientific Mature) ^ ---- * 25 Inferior Below _ Average Ho Qualifications for Writing Scientific Material -

»

50 Average

*

75 f Above Average

100 Superior Highest Professional Status

A book is rated on each of the above factors and the average score is calculated In computing the final numerical index* 0 20 40 60

-

20— 40— 60 — SO—

Inferior*— At extreme variance with scientific works Below Average— Popular!nation by inspirational writers Average— Average popularisation by scientists Above Average— Text level (elementary) and high level popularisations by scientists SO -100— Superior— Text level (advanced) and high level elementary texts

115 After each, of the fifty-two hooks was rated on each of these three counts, the final numerical Index was computed by calculating the average score of the hook on the three factorial scales* She rating scale and its use may further he described as follows* The rating scale was designed for express use in evaluating psychology hooks* It is not adaptable to the evaluation of philosophical and religious matter in that the source material criterion is not particularly applicable in such cases* The scale is to he used as an aid in judging what has been called the "scientific maturity" of psychology content; that is* the degree to which the content approaches that of the informa­ tional books of a scientific sort* In using the scale, it is imperative that the judge meti­ culously examine each book to be rated* All books should he first rated on one criterion only, next on another, and final­ ly on the third* Like the Flesch. indices, this scale is partly a gauge of the level of abstraction* A high degree of correlation is thus obtained between the scores found by the use of the two Instruments* The Flesch index is much the more precise, how­ ever. In judging the source material, it is important to bear in mind that the criterion is the scientific source material in­ cluded* The scale is in no sense a test, but rather, an aid in recording impressions in a more systematic and uniform manner* The scale was therefore employed, not in any sense as an index for estimating the quality of the books, but only as an aid in judging the relative scientific authority of the works so that some means could he had for comparing that element with readability*

While it is not as refined

an Instrument as the Flesch Index, some confidence can be placed in it, as will be shown* Quite naturally one would believe that a negative relationship

116 exists between readability and the degree of scientific maturity of a work, as judged by the authority of the writer, the scientific exactness

ob­

jectivity of linguistic usage, and quantity and quality of psychological data embodied in the volume*

As has been said, the present research at­

tempted to establish to what degree this assumption is true, if such is the case, and to what degree a volume may possess qualities of scientific soundness, reader Interest, and reading ease* Fifty—two books of all grades of "popularisation" from the least technical to the most were included; an approximation of the Heading Interest, Heading Ease and Scientific Maturity was obtained in the pre** Tiously outlined ways*

The books include all those having the greatest

sale in bookstores over the last thirty years (those on the Publishers1 Weekly lists) and In addition, a sampling of the most widely used academic volumes of all gradations of difficulty as well as a number of "runner up* best sellers, i.e., those not having placed on the Publishers1 Weekly lists but having come very near it* Outline of the Findings A summary picture of the data is presented in Table XXVIII, in which the relative ranking of the fifty-two books In Heading Ease, Reading Inter­ est, and Scientific Maturity is shown*

117 At

TABLE m i l l RELATIVE BABKINS Of HITT-TWO POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS ON BEADING EASE, HOMAN INTEREST,

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1 bility. A notable contribution to the study of rhetorical style is that of

2

Schrader, in which an endeavor is made to approach expression analytically rather than by subjective judgment or evaluation by the critic.

The merit

of this essay lies in the histories! discussion of concepts of style and in the bringing together of the literature dealing with the distinctions between literary, bookish style, on the one hand, and rhetorical, colloquial or spoken diction, on the other— in other words, possible differences in the use of learned forms and grammatical structures, as opposed to those of the vernacular.

Divarication was seen in respect to verbs, nouns and pronouns,

adjectives and adverbs, prepositions, verbals, the total sentence structure,

1.

Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (New York:

The Viking Press, 1931 )* PP* 395-^06 . 2. Helen Schrader, "A Linguistic Approach to the Study of Rhetorical Style" (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Speech, Northwestern University, 19^9)* 289 pp.

173 and clauses.

This non-quantitative discussion forms a sound base for future

statistical treatments. Psychology Material.

A thorough content analysis of the space devoted

to the diversified topics within the several denominations of psychology books, especially within the non-technical works, is quite urgent.

The

1 research of Tyson represents a starting point here.

This worker found that

the content of popular presentations is more "directive" than that of the scholastic volumes, and that the subjects of the directives are not material­ ly different in either of the two classes of books, the highest number of such prescriptions falling within the classifications of "anxiety", "method", "social", and "marriage and sex". A more detailed study of the degree to which "humanized" composition results in oversimplification, superficiality, distortion, and the like would be profitable.

Much research remains to be done on the problems

involved in the more adequate communication of psychological concepts to the public*

Is the "story" rendering in science subjects of Pitkin, Car­

negie, de Kruif, and Laird more "satisfactory" than the comparatively more factual approaches of Thompson, Singer, Welles, Jeans, Eddington, Slossen and Sargent?

The guidance articles in newspapers and magazines should be

appraised in regard to content, readability, and soundness.

Editors of

newspapers, especially, have been concerned with keeping the writing at a level commensurate with the reading abilities of their readers; i.e., their problem is whether or not the psychological-medical matter is too 1. Robert Tyson, "The Content of Mental Hygiene Literature," 5 5109-11 h, February, 19^9, and "The Content of Mental Hygiene Literature," Part II, 6:155-159, April, 1950. Journal of Qlinical_Psychology.

17* abstract for the intended audience. An investigation testing the alleged relation of the tenor of scien­ tistic books to changes in the social scene could well be undertaken with profit. In the existing inquiry, the stress was on the readability of the vocabulary and phraseology, with but secondary study of the informational nature of the subject matter; the scientific validity of the humanized volumes warrants further searching. in such evaluation.

General semantic concepts would aid

One such study would be a numerical investigation

into the extent of the use of qualifiers in the occult and other widely distributed matter as opposed to that in more academic writing. A study of the factors contributory to the popularity of psychology books would be worthwhile.

It could be patterned after the Berreman study

and might compare two groups— one of known best sellers and one comprising books which had a low sale— on such points as author prestige, physical components, reaction of reviewers, and vigor in advertising, promotion, and marketing. The reading audience commanded by the "uplift" books would make Interesting study.

Who reads the books and for what ends?

The effects of the self-improvement volumes warrants further deter­ mination.

Are they effective therapeutically?

Harmful?

Would an organ in psychology, comparable to Hygeia (Your Health), the American Medical Association periodical for the general reader, be feasible or advisable?

175 Schema off Areas for Future Research.

A number of broad areas in

the province off non-fiction books warranting additional attention were set forth in Table XXXIII.

The codification is suggestive, the accent being

placed on the content field pertinent to the present research which had to do with analysis of total content and limited phases of the expressional facets of readability.

176 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books Aiken, Janet, English Present and Past, New Yorks 1930.

The Ronald Press Company,

American Library Association, One Thousand Useful Books. Library Association, 1930,

Chicago:

American

Beals, Ralph A., and Leon Brody, The Literature of Adult Education. American Association for Adult Education, 1941. Berelson, Bernard, The Library*s Public. Press, 1949.

New York:

New York:

Columbia University

Bergener, Carl, A Contribution to the Study of Conversion of Adjectives into Nouns in English. Lund: H. Ohlsson, 1928. Betts, Snmett, and Thelma Betts, An Index to Professional Literature on Reading and Related Tonics. New York: American Book Company, 1945. Boynton, Percy H., Literature and American Life. 1936.

Boston:

Ginn and Company,

Brewster, William T., editor, Representative Essays on the Theory of Style_._ New York: The Macmillan Company, 1928. Briggs, Harold, Language. Man and Society. 1949.

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Hhinehart and Company,

Britton, Karl, Communication. A Philosophical Study of Language. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939.

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Brown, Stephen, The World of Imagery: Metaphor and Kindred Imagery. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Company, 1927. Bryson, Lyman, editor, Communication of Ideas. Brothers, 1949.

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Harper and

Canby, Henry S., and others, editors, Literary History of the United States. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1948. Caraovsky, Leon, and Lowell Martin, editors, The Library in the, C.OCTmMty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1944. Cartwright, Morse. Jen Years of Adult Stocatisa. Company, 1935.

York:

Macmillan

Chancellor, John, editor, Helping the Header, Toward Self-BducaU o n . Chicago: American Library Association, 1938.

177 (Slen®7 » °* H *» Iconpmlc Survey of the Book Industry 1930-1931. National Association of Book Publishers, 1931. Dickinson, Asa, Best Books of our Time. 1901-1925. New York: Doran and Company, 1928. — ______________ Best Books of the Decade. 1936-1935.

New York: Double day,

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H. W.

New York:

H. W.

Wilson Company, 1936. ________ _ lest Bootes of the Decade. 1936-1946. Wilson Company, 1946. Doob, Leonard, Public Opinion and Propaganda. Company, 1948.

New York:

Duffers, Robert L ., Books: Their Place in a Democracy. Mifflin and Company, 1930. Edge, Sigrid, Books for Self Education. Association, 1938.

Chicago:

Henry Holt and

New York:

Houghton,

American Library

Ely, Mary L., Handbook of Adult Education in the United States. Institute of Adult Education, 1940. Farrell, James, The Fate of Writing in America. Mifflin and Company, 1927.

New York;

FiMe, Pauline, and others, Bootes for Adult Beginners. Library Association, 1946.

New York:

Houghton ,

Chicago:

American

Flesch, Rudolph, Marks of a Readable Style. Contributions to Education No. 897, Teachers College, Columbia University. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1943. ____________ _______________ 1949.

The Art of Plain Talk.

New York:

The Art of Readable Writing.

Harper Brothers, 1946*

New York:

Harper Brothers,

Gardiner, A. H . , The Theory of Speech and Language. Oxford: Press, 1932.

Clarendon

Gayley, Charles, and Fred Scott, An Introduction to_ the Methods and Materials of Literary Criticism. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1901. Glover, John and William Cornell, editors, The Development of American Industries* New York: McGraw-Hill Company, Inc., 1932. Goldman, Regina and Nina Thompson, editors, Ounralatiye Book Index. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1948.

17S Grey, William S*, and Ruth. Monroe, The Reading Interests and Habits of Adults,. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1929. i and Bernice Leary, What Makes a Book Readable. University of Chicago Press, 1935. Hackett, Alice Payne, Fifty Years of Best Sellers. Bowker Company, 1945.

New Yoifc:

Chicago:

R. R.

Haines, Helen, Living With Books: The Art of Book Selection. Columbia University Press, 1935.

New York:

Haldeman - Julius, E., The First Hundred Million. Shuster, 1928.

Simon and

Hawes, Marion E., What to Read on Psychology. Association, 1942.

New York:

Chicago:

American Library

Hawkins, R. R., Scientific. Medical, and Technical Books Published in the United States of America* 1930-1944. Washington: National Research Council, 1946* Henne, Frances, and others, Youth. Communication and Libraries* American Library Association, 1949. Horton, Marion, American Library Association Catalog. 1932-1936. American Library Association, 1938* Hungerford, Herbert, How Publishers Win. 1931.

Washington:

Chicago: Chicago:

Ransdall Inc*,

Institute of Adult Education, Suggested Studies in Adult Education. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1942. Jespersen, Otto, Analytical Syntax.

London:

Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1937.

Johnson, Alexander Bryan, The Meaning of Words,. Milwaukee: Chamberlain, 1948* (Original publication in 1854). Kant or, J. R., An Objective Psychology of Grannaar* Indiana University Bookstore, 1936.

John Windsor

Bloomington:

Korzybski, Alfred, Science and Sanity. New York: International NonAristotelian Library Publishing Company, 1941. Krapp, George, The English Language In America. Company, 1925. La Piere, Richard, Collective Behavior. Company, 1938.

Hew Yorks

New York:

The Century

McGraw-Hill Book

179 Lazar sfeld, Paul, Radio and the Printed Page. and Pearce, 1940. --

New York:

Duell, Sloan

and Prank Stanton, Communications Research. Harper Brothers, 1949.

New York;

Learned, William, The American Public Library and the Diffusion of Knowledge.. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1924. Lehman—Haupt, Helmut, The Book in America. 1939.

New York:

Link, Henry, and Harry A. Hopf, People and Books. Manufacturer's Institute, 1946.

R. R. Bowker Company,

New York:

Book

Lowry, R. G. , The English Sentence in Literature and In College Freshman Composition. Nashville: George Peabody College for Teachers, 1928. Lundberg, George, and others, Leisure: Columbia University Press, 1934.

A Suburban Study. New York:

Mencken, Henry L., The American Language. Merton, Robert, Mass Persuasion.

New York:

New York:

Alfred Knopf, 1938.

Harper and Brothers, 1946.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Social Theory and Social Structure,* Press, 1949.

Glencoe:

The Free

Miller, William, The Book Industry. New York; 1949.

Columbia University Press,

Millett, Fred, Contemporary American Authors. & Company, 1940.

New York:

Harcourt Brace

Monroe, Walter, Editor, Encyclopedia of Educational Research.. The Macmillan Company, 1950. Morris, Charles, Signs. Language, and Behavior: Mott, Frank Luther, Golden Multitudes. 1947. New York:

New York:

New York:

New York: The Macmillan Company,

. and Ralph D. Casey. Interpretations of Journalism. F.sT Crofts and Company, 1937.

Muller, F. Max, The Science of Language^ Sons, 1891.

New York:

Charles Scribner's

ISO Rafzinger, Ralph 0*, and Marcus Wilkerson, An Introduction to Journalism Research. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1949. Rational Opinion Research Center, What,- Where - Why - Do People Read. Report Rumber 28, Denvers University of Denver, 1946. Rotch, Prank, Ring Mob.

Rew Yorks

Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1931*

Pillshury, W. B. The Psychology of Language. Company, 1928.

Rew Yorks

Pitkin, Walter, The Art of Useful Writing. 1940.

Rew York:

Pollack, Thomas, The Rature of Literature. University Press, 1942.

Princeton;

Reynolds, Paul, The W ri ti m Trade. 1949.

Rew Yorks

Appleton Book Whittlesey House,

Princeton

The Writer Incorporated,

Bichert, Edith, Rew Methods for the Study of Literature. University of Chicago Press, 1927. Robinson, James Harvey, The Humanization of Knowledge. George H, Doran Company, 1923. Schram, Wilher, Mass Communications. Press, 1949.

Urbana;

Sherman, A. L., Analytics of Literature. 1893.

Chicago;

Rew York;

University of Illinois

Rew York;

Ginn and Company,

Smith, Bruce, and others, Propaganda. Communication. and Opinion. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1946. Sorkin, P. A., Social and Cultural Dynamics. Company, 1937.

Cincinnati:

American Bock

Sturtevant, E. H., Linguistic Change: An Introduction to_ the Historical. study of Chicago; The University of Chicago Press, 1917. Thorndike, Edward L., and others, Adult Learning. Macmillan Company, 193®. Thorndike, Edward L . , Adult Interests. Company, 1935.

Rew York;

Unwin, Stanley, The Truth About Publishing. and Company, 1927. Vaughn, Wayland, Social Psychology,,

Rew Yoric;

The Macmillan

Rew York:

Hew York:

The

Houghton Mifflin

Odyssey Press, 1948.

Wallace, Viola, and others, Books for Adult Beginners* Library Association, 1949.

Chicago: American

1S1 Waples, Douglas, Research Memorandum on the Social Aspects of the Depression. Hew York: Social Science Research Council, 1937. Waples, Douglas, and others, What Reading Does to People. University of Chicago Press, 1940.

Chicago:

Waples, Douglas, and Leon Carnovsky, Libraries and Readers in the stptg of Hew York. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939. Waples, Douglas, and Ralph Tyler, What People Want to Read About. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931. Watson, Goodwin, Youth After Conflict. Welland, James, H . , Book Selection.

New York;

London:

Associated Press, 1947.

Grafton and Company, 1936.

Willey, Malcolm and Stuart Rice, Communications Agencies and Social Life. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1931. Wilson, Louis, editor, Library Trends. Press, 1936.

Chicago:

University of Chicago

Wilson, Louis, editor, The Role of the Library in Adult Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937. The Geography of Reading.. Press, 1938.

Chicago:

University of Chicago

Young, Kimball, Sociology: A Study of Society and Culture. American Book Company, 1942.

New York:

Yule, G. V., The Statistical Study of Literary Vocabulary. Cambridge University Press, 1941.

Cambridge:

Zipf, George, The Psycho-Biology of Language.. Mifflin and Company, 1935.

Boston:

Houghton,

Periodicals Adams, S., and P. Powers, "The Psychology of Language", Psychological Bulletin. 26:241-260, 1929. Allen, Edward, "Books Help Neuropsychiatric Patients," 71:1671-1675, December 1, 1946. Allen, Fredrick Lewis, "Best Sellers, 1900—1935," Literature 13:3-4, 20, 24, 26, December 7, 1935. Aronstein, P., "On Style and Styles in Language," American Speech. 9:243-251, 1933-1934. Bergman, and K. W. Spence, "Operation! sm and Theory in Psychology," Psychological Review. 48:1-15, 1941.

182 Bigman, Stanley, "Unpublished Journalism Theses at Columbia." Journalism Quarterly 27:28-45 ---- — — Boder, D. P.,"The Adjective Verb Quotient: A Contribution to the Psychology of Language," Psychological Record. 22:310-343, 1940. Brett, George, "Are Best Sellers Getting Better?" 1925.

Colliers

75:23,

May 30,

Burton, Phillip W., "Can Mass Audiences Read Institutional Advertising?" Journalism Quarterly. 25:145-150, June 1948. Carnovsky, Leon, "A Study of the Relationship Between Reading Interest n/nfl Actual Reading," The Library Quarterly. 4:76-110, January, 1934. Cavers, Daniel P.,"The Simplification of Government Regulations," Federal Bar Journal- 8:339-356, July, 1947. Ghall, Jeanne, S., "This Business of Readability," Educational Research Bulletin. 26:1-8, January 15, 1947. Chall, Jeanne, and Harold E. Dial, "Predicting Listener Understanding and Interest in Newscasting," Educational Research Bulletin. 27:141-153, September 15, 1948. Chotlos, J. W* , "Studies in Language Behavior." Psychological Monographs 61:75-111, 1944. Crowly, Malcolm, "Classics and Best Sellers," New Republic. December 22, 1947*

117:25,

Dale, Edgar and Jeanne S. Chall, "A Formula For Predicting Readability," Educational Research Bulletin. 27:11-20, January 21, 1948* Dolch, E. U., "Fact Burden and Reading Difficulty," The Elementary English Review. 16:137, April 1939* Dollard, John, and 0. H. Mowrer, "A Method of Measuring Tension in Written Documents," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 42:1-32, 1947* Steme, Earle, E., "Content Analysisof the Nine Most Recent Textbooks in General Psychology, "Journal of Psychology. 11:257-260, April, 1941. Farr, James, "Readability and Interest Values in an Employee Handbook," Journal of Applied Psychology. 34:16-21, April, 1950. . James Jenkins, "Tables for Use With the Flesch Readability Formulas," Journal of Applied Psychology. 33: 275-278, December, 1949. Gallup, George, "The Favorite Books of Americans," New York Times Book Review. January 15, 1939.

1*3 Gil in sky, Alberta S., "How Valid is the Flesch Readability Formula?" American Psychologist. 3:261, September, 1948. Glicksberg, Charles 1., "General Semantics and the Science of Man," Scientific Monthly. 10:440-446, May, 1946. Good, Carter TJ., "Doctoral Dissertations Under Way in Education, 1949-1950," The Phi Delta Kaonan. 31:268-292, February, 1950. Goodman, J. A., and Albert Rice, "Big Books: The Story of Best Sellers," Saturday Evening Post. 207:31, 33 , 94, 96, 97, November 17, 1934. Gray, William S., "Progress In the Study of Readability," School Journal. 47:490-499, May, 1947.

Elementary

Hargrave, Victoria, "A Comparison of Reviews of Books in the Social Sciences in General and in Scholarly Periodicals," The Library Quarterly 18:206-217, July 1948. Hart, Homell, "Measuring Degrees of Verification in Sociological Writings," American Sociological Review. 12:105-113, January, 1949. Hart, Irving, "Best Sellers in Non-Fiction Since 1921," Weekly. 23:534-528, February 4, 1933. ___________ "Best Sellers in Non-Fiction Since 1875" Weekly. 125:1503-1505, April 21, 1934.

Publishers1

Publishers1

Hayes, P., J.J. Jenkins, and B. J. Walker,"Reliability of the Flesch Readability Formulas," Journal of Applied Psychology. 34:22-28, April, 1950. Hicks, Granville, "The Mystery of the Best Seller," 23:621-629, October, 1934. Hunt, Everett, "Rhetoric and Literary Criticism," of Speech. 21:564-568, November, 1935.

English Journal. The Quarterly Journal

Jenkins, Phillip R., "The Success Books: Phony Guidance?" 13:336-339, February, 1939.

Clearing House.

Kaplan, Abraham, "Content Analysis and the Theory of Signs," of Science* 10:230-247, March, 1943. Kappell, Joseph, "Book Clubs and the Evaluation of Books," Opinion Quarterly. 2:243, Summer, 1948.

Philosophy

Public

Kennedy, Arthur, "The Modern English Verb-Adverb Combination," Stanford Studies in Language and Literature. Volume I, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1920. Kenton, Edna, "Best Sellers of Yesterday," 1916

Bookman.

44:128-137, October,

ish Kenyon, John S., "On an Idiomatic Order of Words." Notes. 27:212-213, 1912. Lambert, Mildred E*, "Modes of Predication." 1928.

Modern Language

American Speech. --------------

4:28—29.

Larson, Cedric, Book Review of Golden Multitudes. Public Opinion Quarterly. 12:338, Summer, 1948. Lasser, J. K . , "The Book Business," Saturday Review of Literature. 32:39-40, October 29, 1949. w Laughton, George, "Does Psychology Deserve It's Popularity?" Journal of Adult Education. 12:138-141, April 1940. Lewinski, Robert, and Daniel Feder, "Science Versus Sensationalism in Psychology for the Layman," Journal of Applied Psychology. 16:429-435, August, 1939. Lorge, Irving, "A Formula for Predicting Readability," Educational Research Bulletin. 27:11-20, January 21, 1948. Lostutter, Melvin, "Some Critical Factors of Newspaper Readability," Journalism Quarterly. 24:17-24, 1947. Lowenthal, Leo, "Historical Perspectives of Popular Culture," American Journal of Sociology. 60:323-332, January, 1950. McGranahan, D. V., "The Psychology of Language," Psychological Bulletin. 10:178-216, 1936. Meadows, Paul, "An Age of Mass Communication," Winter, 1947. Meaner, Robert, "Troublesome Relatives," 1931. Miller, Merle, "The Book Clubs,"

Psychiatry.

American Speech.

10:405-411,

6:341—341,

Harpers Magazine,. 433-440,

May, 1948.

Murphy, Donald R., “How Plain Talk Increases Readership 45$ to 65$," Printers Ink. 12:35-37, September 19, 1947. New York Herald Tribune.

October 24, 1928.

Patterson, D. G., and J. J. Jenkins, "Communication Between Management and Workers," Journal of Applied Psychology. 32:71-80, 1948. _______ Organs,"

* an* B.J. Walker, "Readability and Human Interest of House Personnel. 25.438—441, 1949*

Pitkin Walter, "A New Survey of the Best Seller," Publishers1 WeeKIg. 2745-2750, June 15, 1929, 2856-2859, June 22, 1929*

X85 Publishers1 Weekly.

"Self Help Books,"

13:1330,

» 145:109,

February 20, 1941.

. 83:194,

March 20, 1943.

, 53:286,

January 23, 1946.

March 30, 1930.

, 157:280-281, January 22, 1948. .» Annual Summary Numbers, Usually Third Issue in January, 1925 - 1946, Furike, Harold H . , "Cultural Change and Changes in Popular Literature," Social Forces. 15:359-370, March 1937. Scudder, Harold, "Sentence Length,"

English Journal.

12:617-620,

1923.

Schramm, Wilbur, "The Effects of Mass Communications: A Review," Journalism Quarterly. 26:397-409, December, 1949. Stevens, George, "Lincoln's Doctor's Dog and other Best Sellers," The Saturday Review of Literature. 17-3-4, 14-16, 18-19,rJanuary 22, 1938. Stevens, S. S., and Geraldine Stone, "Psychological Writing, Easy and Hard," American Psychologist. 2:230-235, June, 1949* Strang, Ruth, "Principles of Readability Applied to Reporting Research," Teachers College Record. 49:449-451, 1948. Swanson, Charles, E., "Readability and Readership," 25:339-343, December, 1948. Trinka, B., "Analysis and Synthesis in English," 10:138-144, 1928.

Journalism Quarterly.

English Studies.

Tyson, Robert, "The Content of Mental Hygiene Literature," Clinical Psychology. 6:156-159, April, 1950.

Journal of

U. S. Census of Manufactures, Newspapers. Periodicals, Books, and Miscellaneous Publishing. Government Printing Office, 1949. Weeks, Edward, "A Modern Estimate of Best Sellers," Publishers1 Weekly. 75:1506, April 21, 1934.

1875-1933,"

Wells, F* L., "Verbal Excess over Quantitation: Two Case Studies," Journal ef Psychology. 23:65—82, 1947.

186 Unpublished Materials. Berreman, Joel Van Meter, Factors Affecting the Sale of Modern Books of Fiction? A Study in Social Psychology. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Economics, Stanford University, 1939. Clemons, A., A Quantitative Study of Verbal Abstracting. Unpublished Master1s Thesis* Department of Speech, University of Iowa, 1939. Duncan, Hugh, An Annotated Bibliography on the Sociology of Literature. Mimeographed Manuscript, northwestern University Library, 1947. Hart, Elisabeth, Elements of Popularity in Representative Current Fiction. Unpublished Master1s Thesis, Department of English, University of Chicago, 1930. Hockey, Dorothy, The Good and the Beautiful; A Study of Best Selling Hovels in America. 1895-1920. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of English, Western Deserve University, 1947. Leary, Bernice, An Analytical Study of Certain Elements in the Heading Material of Adult Magazines. Unpublished Master^ Thesis, Department of Education, University of Chicago, 1931. Klapper, Joseph, The Effects of Mass Media. Unpublished Manuscript, Bureau of Applied Social Research, Hew York City, Hew York, 1949. Lazarsfeld, Paul and Berelson, Bernard, The Analysis of Communication Content. Unpublished Manuscript, Bureau of Applied Social Research, Hew York City, Hew York, 1949. Mohr, Jennie, A Study of Popular Books on the Physical Sciences. Un­ published Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Education, Columbia University, 1943. Bobb, Katherine, Some Standards By Which To Judge Children^ Books. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Education, University of Iowa, 1933. Bobinson, Thomas, Beading Difficulty of History Textbooks. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Education, Rutgers University, 1940. Sanford, F. H., Individual Differences in the Mode of Verbal Expression. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 1941. Skalbecfc, 0. M., A Statistical Analysis of ^ e e .Measures of .Word Length. Unpublished Master1s Thesis, University of Iowa, 1938. Street, Paul, The Readers Digest. Educator^ Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Education, northwestern University, 1947.

187 Taylor, Mary, Elements of Pouularity in Fiction Since 1930. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Library School, University of Illinois, 1930. Thurston, Oscar, An Analysis of General Teaching Methods and general Educational Psychology Textbooks. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Education, University of Texas, 1939. Vickers, Wallace, An Historical Study of the Concept of Case in English Grammar. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of English, Stanford University, 1926. Weaver, Ella, An Approach to Language Behavior. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Speech, Northwestern University, 1949. Psychology Volumes To Which Indices were Applied. Adler, Mortimer, How to Bead a Book. Hew Yorks Simon and Shuster, 1940. ______ , What Man Has Made of Man. Hew York: Longmans, Green

and Company, 1937 Allport, Gordon, Personality.

Hew York:

Henry Holt and Company, 1937.

Bennett, Arnold, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day. Doran Company, 1910. Bertocci, Peter, The Human Venture.

Hew York:

Hew York:

George H.

Association Press, 1949.

Boring, Edwin, Herbert Langfeld, and Harry Weld, Foundations of Psychology. Hew York: John Wiley and Sons, 1948. Brande, Dorothea, Wake U p and Livei Hew York: Burnham, William, The Wholesome Personality. Century and Company, 1932. Cabot, Richard, What Men Live By. Hew York: 1914. Cameron, Margaret, The Seven Purposes. 1919.

Simon and Shuster, 1936. Hew York:

D. Appleton

Houghton Mifflin Company,

Hew Yorks

Harper and Brothers,

Carnegie, Dale, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Simon and Schuster, 1938.

Hew York:

, How to Ston Worrying and Start Living. Hew York: Simon and Schuster, 1948. Chopanis, Alphonse, Wendell Gamer, and C. T. Morgan, Applied v-g-pft-Hmental Psychology. Hew York: John Wiley and Sons, 1949.

188 Conklin, Edmond,and Frank: S. Freeman, Introductory Psychology. Hew York:

Henry Holt and Company, 1939.

Coue, Snile, Self Mastery through Conscious Auto-Suggestion. Hew York: American Library Service, 1923* Dashiell, John, General Psychology. Company, 1937.

Hew York:

Houghton Mifflin

Davis, John, It Vs All in your Mind. Philadelphia: Dockeray, Floyd, Psychology. Hew York:

The Mind Digest, 1945.

Prentiee-Hall, Incorporated, 1945.

Drever, James, The Psychology of Everyday Life. Company, 1948.

London:

Methuen and

English, 0. Spurgeon, and Gerald Pearson. Baotional Problems of Living. Hew York: W* A. Horton and Company, 1945. Fairbanks, Douglas, Laugh and Live. 1917.

Hew York:

Fink, David, Release From Hervous Tension. 1943.

Hew York:

Fosdick, Harry Emerson, On Being a Real Person. Brothers, 1943. Franz, Shepherd, and Kate Gordon, Hill Book Company, 1933.

Britton Publishing Company,

Psychology.

Simon and Schuster,

Hew York:

Hew York:

Harper and

The McGraw-

Freud, Sigmund, The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud. Hew York: Library. 1938.

The Modern

Fryer, Douglas, and Edwin Henry, An Outline of General Psychology. Barnes and Hoble, Incorporated, 1937. Gould, Lawrence, Mirror of Your Mind. Hew York: 1949.

Frederick Fell, Incorporated,

Groves, Ernest, Understanding Yourself. Hew York:

Greenberg Publisher, 1935.

Groves, Ernest, and Catherine Groves, Dynamic Mental Hygiene. Stackpole and Veck, Incorporated, 1946. Guthrie, Edwin, The Psychology of Human Conflict. Hew York: Brothers, 1938. __________, and Allen Edwards, Psychology. Brothers,1949. Hebb, D. 0., The Organization of Behavior. Sons, 1949.

Hew York:

Hew York:

Hew York:

Hew York:

Harper and

Harper and

John Wiley and

189 Heidbreder, Edna., Seven Psychologies. Company, 1933.

Hew York:

D. Appleton Century

Hendrick, Ives, Facts and Theories of Psychoanalysis. A. Knopf, 19391-------------------------- --Hillis, Marjorie, Live Alone and Like It. Company, 1936.

Hew York:

Howard, Frank, and Frederick Patry, Mental Health. Brothers, 1935. Hubbard, Elbert, A Message to Garcia. 1898.

Hew York:

Hull, Clark, Principles of Behavior. Company, 1943. Jacobson, Edmund, You Must Relax.

The Bobbs - Merrill

Hew York:

Harper and

D. Apple ton-Century

Whittlesley House, 1933.

Jackson, Josephine, and Helen Salisbury, Outwitting Our Herves. The Century Company, 1921. Jastrow, Joseph, Keening Mentally Fit. Company, 1928. Kirkpatrick, Edwin, Mental Hygiene. Company, 1934.

Hew York:

Lee, Gerald Stanley, Company, 1913.

Crowds.

Hew York:

Whittlesey House, 1935.

Garden City Publishing

Hew York:

Link, Henry, The Rediscovery of Man. 1939. Mars ton, William, March Onl 1941.

Gorden City Publishing

Henry Holt and Company, 1944.

Hew York:

Liebman, Joshua, Peace of Mind.

Hew York:

Hew York: D. Appleton-Century

Klein, D. B., Mental Hygiene. Hew York: Laird, Donald, More Zest for Life.

Alfred

Bog croft Publishing,

Hew York:

Hew York:

Hew York:

Simon and Schuster, 1946.

Hew York:

Hew York:

The Macmillan Company,

Doubleday, Doran and Company,

Masserman, Jules, Behavior and Heurosis. Chicago Press, 1943.

Chicago:

McKinney, Fred, Psychology of Personal Adjustment. and Sons, 1941. Menninger, Karl, Man Against Himself. Company, 1938.

Hew York:

The University of Hew York:

John Wiley

Harcourt, Brace and

190 McGeoch, John, The Psychology of Human Learning. Green and Company, 1942.

Hew York* *

Morgan, John J. B., The Psychology of Abnormal People. Longmans, Green and Company, 1936. ------------------

Psychology.

Hew York:

Farrar and Bhinehart, 1941.

Munsterberg, Hugo, Psychology and Industrial Efficiency. Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1913. Mar sell, James, Streamline Your Mind. Company, 1936. Overstreet, Harry, About Ourselves. 1927.

Philadelphia:

Hew York;

Pitkin, Walter, Life Begins at Forty. More Power To Youl Popenoe, Paul, Marriage.

Hew York:

Hew Yoik:

J. B. Lippincott

W. W. Horton

Hew York; Hew York:

Hew York:

Company,

Whittlesey House, 1932. Simon and Schuster, 1933.

W. Funk, Incorporated, 1943.

Rennie, Thomas, and Woodward, Luther, Mental Health in M o d e m Society. Hew York: The Commonwealth Fund, 1948. Such, Floyd, Psychology And Life. 1948, 781 pp.

Hew York:

Sadler, William, The Mind At Mischief. Company, 1929.

Scott, Foresman and Company,

Hew York:

Funk and Wagnalls

Sargent, S Stansfeld, Basic Teachings of the Great Psychologists. Hew York: Garden City Publishing Company, 1945. Seabury, David, See Yourself As Others See You. Hew York: Whittlesey House, 1939. Shaffer, Laurance, The Psychology of Human Adjustment. Hew Yosk: Mifflin Company, 1936. ______________ r-T.and B. Gilmer , Psychology. Hew York: Brothers, 1940. Shellow, Sadie, How to Develop Your Personality. Brothers, 1933. Sperling, A. P. Psychology for the Millions. Incorporated, 1946* Stagner, Boss, Psychology of Personality. Company, 1937.

Houghton

Harper and

Hew York:

Harper and

Hew York: Frederick Fell,

Hew York:

McGraw Hill Bock

191 Strecfcer, Edward, and Kenneth Appel, The Macmillan Company, 1944. StT . t L L ^

Discovering Ourselves — ------

dI ; ^ legnS °f H'ama^ Adjustment‘

— New York:

Symonds, Percival, The Dynamics of Roman Adjustment, Appleton^Century Company, 1946* --- — —

Eobert» low to Think Straight.

Hew York:

Hew York:

Tiffin, Joseph, Psychology of Hoimal People. Company, 1940.

iorK:*

Harper and

Thorpe, Louis, Psychological Foundations of Personality. McGraw Hill Book Company, 19387 1947.

ifew

*

D.

Hew York*

Simon and Schuster, *

Boston:

D. C. Heath and

Tomkins, Silvan, editor, Contemporary Psychopathology. University Press, 1947.

Cambridge; Harvard

Trams,Lee, and Dorothy Baruch, Personal Problems of Everyday Life. Hew York: D. Appleton Century Company, 1941. Valentine, Willard, Experimental Foundations of Gr-grn^pi, Hew York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1941. Wallin, S. E. W., Personality Maladjustments. Book Company, 1949. Wiggam, Albert, Letts Explore Your Mind. Company, 1928.

Hew York:

Hew York:

McGraw-Hill

The Bobbs-Merrill

Woodworth, Robert and Donald G. Marquis, Psychology. Hew York: Holt and Company, 1948. 677 pp. Young, Vash, A Fortune to Share. 1931.

Hew York:

Henry

The Bobbs-Merrill Company,

HAMS:

Garry Robert Austin

PLACE OP BIRTH: BATE OP BIRTH:

Woodstock, Illinois October 4, 1922

R1XJCATIQN: Horthwestern University, Evanston, Illinois Bachelor of Science Degree 1946 Master of Arts Degree 191*7 Doctor of Philosophy Degree 1950 EXPERIENCE: United States Army 191*2-1945 Personnel, Training, and Special Services PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: American Adult Education Association National Education Association, International Society for General Semantics, National Vocational Guidance Association, American Sociological Society American Psychological Association (pending)