Logical Aspects of Educational Measurement: By B. Othanel Smith. New York: Columbia University Press, 1938. 165 pp.

An interesting statement of the special problems of this specialized educational field, an adequate and thoughtful account is given of the foundation and the development of the science of measurement. The focus of attention is on mathematical

logic as it relates to appropriate materials and methods of study. The author works hard to add a sense of 'self' to behavioristic psychology, and the drama of the book consists of the reader's discovery that tests involve people, people who might have feelings. In considering the trends in quantitative versus qualitative testing, the author cautiously takes sides, in the vexing question as to whether behavior is to be viewed as a unitary process or as an aggregate of elements. He thus concerns himself with a problem which is gaining increasing recognition by educational psychologists—the effect on test results of 'phenomena usually classified as mental'. His frank inquiry leads him to suggest that because tests do not as yet reflect the manifestations of these phenomena, the 'validity of our instruments is seriously in question'.

The style, unfortunately, has the flavor of a Ph.D thesis. The text is cluttered with exaggerated acknowledgments to various authorities and is unnecessarily repetitious. And in spite of the author's humanizing conclusions, the book remains a far better reference on the discipline of mathematics than on the human beings whose behavior is in question.