IO  EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY
as  that  which  the  body  receives  at  the  hands  of  physicians. ­
  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  mechanisms, ­
  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  actions ­
  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  actions ­
  and  thoughts  of  the  characters  which  he  is  portraying; ­
  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  problems ­
  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.