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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

Nevertheless,  it  is  subject  to  considerable  improvement.
To  begin  with,  it  is  not  sound  proof.  In  fact,  it  does
nothing  to  keep  out  sound,  because  it  is  open  above  and
below.  It  remains  for  some  one  to  construct  a  portable
room  which  shall  be  sound  proof.  Such  a  room  would
increase  the  scope  of  the  tests  to  a  very  great  extent,
especially  in  the  field  of  audition.  A  sound  proof  room
would  also  make  possible  a  greater  uniformity  of  conditions, ­
  because  each  subject  could  then  be  tested  under
the  same  sound  conditions  instead  of  being  tested  in  the
midst  of  the  various  noises  which  go  on  in  the  shops.
This,  however,  is  a  doubtful  advantage  to  say  the  least.
To  bring  a  subject  from  a  shop  ringing  with  the  noise  of
hundreds  of  machines  into  the  sudden  quiet  of  a  soundproof ­
  room  might  easily  upset  him  much  more  than  allowing ­
  him  to  perform  the  tests  amidst  the  noises  to
which  he  has  become  accustomed.  In  fact,  one  of  the
greatest  difficulties  to  overcome  is  the  danger  of  putting
a  subject  into  a  state  of  initial  nervousness  so  that  it  becomes ­
  impossible  for  him  to  give  a  characteristic  performance ­
  in  the  tests.  In  order  to  avoid  this  difficulty  which
is  ever  present,  the  utmost  skill  and  sympathy  must  be
exercised.  It  is  also  a  serious  question  whether  a  soundproof ­
  laboratory  will  make  it  possible  to  give  tests  under
more  uniform  conditions  than  would  otherwise  be  the
case.  It  is  altogether  too  easy  to  confuse  the  technique  of
the  chemical  and  physical  laboratory  with  that  of  the
psychological  laboratory.  To  give  an  example:  the  laboratory ­
  conditions  for  producing  nitric  acid  are  always  the
same.  Given  the  standard  apparatus,  and  substances  of
the  proper  kind,  the  results  are  always  the  same  as  long
as  the  standard  method  of  procedure  is  carried  out.
But  individuals  are  infinitely  more  complex  and  more