[Review of the book The Application of the Auditory Memory Span Test to Two Thousand Institutional Epileptics: A Study in Relative Associability

Abstract

Reviews the book, The Application of the Auditory Memory Span Test to Two Thousand Institutional Epileptics: A Study in Relative Associability by Frederick Ward Ninde. The title of this monograph tells exactly the nature and extent of the investigation. It presents the method and results of a clear cut problem. Many other problems are suggested to the reader by the results which come from this clearly defined and restricted problem. He uses Humpstone's method and then compares his results with the data collected by Humpstone on normal children and adults. The two thousand epileptics tested cover all ages of both sexes from five to fifty, with twenty-five or more cases in forty-one out of the fifty-five age groups. The statistical evidence presented warrants the following general conclusions: 1) The epileptic, both the child and the adult has a Memory Span only approximately one-half that of the normal individual. 2) The epileptic adult shows a relatively far higher degree of associability than the epileptic child, and he is, therefore, far more capable of mental endeavor. The second conclusion being wholly contrary to the generally accepted contention that epilepsy causes mental stupidity and degeneration is discussed briefly by the author. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)