IO EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
as that which the body receives at the hands of physi 
cians. To be sure, it is impossible to dissect the mind as 
the body can be dissected, and yet, in a way, it is quite 
possible; for to the psychologist, the mind is first of all 
the nervous system and the activities which it controls. 
In order to understand the mind, the psychologist must 
thoroughly understand that most intricate of all mech 
anisms, the nervous system. And in order to understand 
the workings of this mechanism, it is necessary to study 
not only its structure but its activities as well. The ac 
tions of people are the best clue to the nature of their 
nervous system, or their mental make-up. However, 
the study of these actions must be of a special nature. 
Not every study of the mind can be called psychology. 
The novelist, writing a so-called “psychological novel”, 
may make a very extensive and subtle study of the ac 
tions and thoughts of the characters which he is portray 
ing; but such a study would not be considered psychology 
by a psychologist, any more than the autobiography of 
an invalid would be considered a treatise on medicine 
by a physician. The psychological study of the mind 
applies to human actions the same scientific methods 
which physics applies to the study of matter, medicine to 
the study of the body, or chemistry to the analysis of 
compounds. The true psychology, and the core of facts 
around which the many nebulous ideas of psychology 
current to-day are clustered, is this exact psychology, this 
psychology of scientific methods. 
What are the applications of this science to the prob 
lems of employment? Before answering this question it 
will be wise to consider briefly what we mean by the 
scientific method; for, if any word is more constantly 
used and misused than psychology, that word is science.