OCR Text |
Show Body's Chemistry Is Being Studied Novel Field of Research at Pennsylvania "U." Philadelphia. A new field of scientific sci-entific research is being developed by the psychological clinic of the University Uni-versity of Pennsylvania. The introductory course in the new study, called "metabolism and behavior," be-havior," was completed recently by a class of 30 students under the direction di-rection of Dr, Henry E. Stair in the department of psychological chemistry and toxicology in the medical school of the university. "Metabolism and behavior," a statement state-ment given out by the university states, includes a study of the chemical chem-ical changes taking place in the body, which determine the emotional makeup, make-up, efficency and even the philosophy of life of the individual. The course presented a survey of the. field, emphasizing em-phasizing research rather than attempting at-tempting to lay down any premature dogmatic correlation. During ' the last few years Doctor Starr has conducted a number of biochemical bio-chemical investigations of psychological psycho-logical problems in co-operation with Prof. Lightner Witmer and Prof. Ed- I win B. Twitmyer of the department of psychology. What is said to have been the most striking work of the chemical changes is saliva characteristic character-istic of fatigue and emotional excitement. excite-ment. In the course of this research, Doctor Doc-tor Starr said he discovered that, under un-der psychologically controlled conditions, condi-tions, the saliva of an individual may serve as an index to his emotional stability and resistance to fatigue. With the co-operation of Doctor Twitmyer, Twit-myer, director of the clinic for the correction of speech defects at the university, this method was applied to the study of the metabolic etiology of stammering, involving the examination examina-tion of 290 individuals. The findings huve been of great value, indicating, it is said, the curative cura-tive measures to be employed in the treatment of stammerers thus examined. ex-amined. Doctor Starr believes that, as a method of investigation, physiological chemistry has proved of inestimable value to the physician, and should be of equal value to the psychologist. With this thought in view, the psychological psy-chological clinic of the University of Pennsylvania is developing biochemical biochem-ical research of psychological problems prob-lems under its own direction. |