Studies in Experimental Psychiatry. V: “W” and “F” Factors in Relation to Traits of Personality

Abstract

Miss Simmins and Dr. Stephenson in their recent articles in this Journal have given some account of the “g” and “p” factors of the Spearman school, studied in relation to psychiatry. The part of the present writer in the research was to find some means of assessing factors in the field of conation and volition. The research consisted of two parts, a first tentative experiment carried out at Horton Mental Hospital in 1930–31 and a final experiment in 1932 at the Maudsley Hospital, Bethlem Royal Hospital and at Horton, by the courtesy of Dr. E. Mapother, Dr. Porter Phillips and Dr. Nicol, to verify the results of the first experiment and to secure more finely-graded results. The cases were carefully selected by the psychiatrists concerned, and the writer is greatly indebted to them for their generous assistance, particularly in the matter of supplying detailed estimates of personality traits.