Review of Psychotechnik und Taylor--system

Abstract

Reviews the book, Psychotechnik und Taylor--system by K. A. Tramm (1921). Tramm begins with an outline of the general factors which apply to all work, such as physical environment, work periods, living conditions and habits of life, individual and team work, supervision, and the elements into which all these factors are subdivided. He discusses them merely in order to indicate their importance, without any attempt to show how they are to be controlled. Most of his book is devoted to the discussion of experiments and methods calculated to show how particular occupations can best be arranged with reference to the worker. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed not only on the details or steps by which an occupation can be best performed, but upon the construction of the tools and apparatus peculiar to it as well. The description of the laboratory devices for measuring the performance of individuals brings out vividly the contrast between the German approach and that of the followers of Taylor in this country. Instead of the lonely stop watch from which time is recorded only by a fallible observer, Tramm describes in addition a half dozen other devices of varying degrees of refinement, devices which record operations graphically and which can be adapted to a wide range of occupations. Gilbreth's motion study technique is also fully discussed, though without any explicit reference to its originator. The psychologist will undoubtedly find much to criticize in this book. Nevertheless, the book as a whole is an admirable attempt to visualize the problems of production, not only in relation to output but in relation to human capacities and abilities as well. As such it is an excellent critique of Taylorism as it exists in this country and should be of considerable suggestive value to psychologists, industrial engineers, and others who are interested in industrial practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)