Educational film magazine; (19-)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

RESEARCH IN SOCIAL HYGIENE AN important basic psychological study of motion pictiires has been undertaken in relation to venereal disease cam- paigns. It is published in extracts in the April issue of Social Hygiene. The report is from the pens of Drs. Karl iS. Lashley and John B. Watson, of the psychological laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, and can be obtained in its com- plete form from the American Social Hvgiene Association, New York. j We can call attention only to some of the high lights in this ■eport by quoting mainly the words of the investigators. The eport throws light upon the entire problem of the psychological ;ffect of motion pictures, and is therefore of paramount im- jortance. The motion picture, say the investigators, within the last few i'ears has come to reach a wider optience than any other educa- lonal agent, with the exception of the press and the public chool. It is still largely recreational in character, however, and te possibilities for educational propaganda have yet to be ex- ploited. One finds discussion in popular and educational writ- ogs of the merits of the motion picture as an educational agent, .lUt this discussion seems to be based chiefly upon vague and ubious psychological notions that visual presentation is superior J auditory, that the interest of movement will be efifective in jxing the material presented in memory where less vivid pre- ?ntations might fail — speculations which have at present no ictual support. They fail to take into consideration the passive hitude of the subjects in viewing the pictures, the seeking of le theater for amusement, and the trifling character of the ma- •■rial which the public has been educated to expect from ordinary 1ms. The investigation of the educational effects of sex-hygiene ictures should give rather valuable data, therefore, upon the '^al educational value of motion pictures in general as com- •ared with other educational methods. The investigators 'easured the information of the optiences before the pictures ere shown and after the performance, and compared the results, I decking the data gained from questionnaires by personal inter- : lews. I From a number of films treating the same subject one called il tit to Win was selected for extensive treatment. It was originally > 'tended for use in the training camps. The reasons for selecting is film were: first, that it seeks to impart both the information d a definite emotional attitude; second, it employs dramatic :. Bthods for emphasizing some educational features and yet con- • ins a certain amount of data presented without pictorial illus- i 1 htion; third, it is so organized that it may be used without any . 1 xompanying lecturer and without verbal introduction of any rt; fourth, it is perhaps the most direct in its method of pre- station of any film in use. One of the general observations was this: certain temporary Irmful effects were noticed only when the film was shown to u'Jii'xed optiences of men and women. Whenever it was shown men or women only, no such effect could be registered. Emotional Reactions rhe chief emotions aroused immediately are horror at the lured effects of the disease and fear of infection. But in gen- ' 1 the persistent emotional effects of the picture were slight, mbers of the optience were aroused temporarily but, as is true all educational measures that are not followed up continu- ly, interest quickly died out, and the studies showed that the ■cts of the film upon subsequent behavior were too slight to detected. One of the criticisms directed against the film was this: The picture appeals primarily to the fear of disease and does no', take into account the most important instinct of which advantage might be taken for moral education. It makes no appeal to that "deep-seated reverence of every man for a pure woman," to the parental instinct, with the desire for protection of the weak and pity for the suffering. The data obtained show that this criticism is justified. The scenes showing lesions are second in frequency of mention. Those making appeal to other emotions come far down in the list. Admiration for the strength of will, the most effective of them, falls into seventh place, the appeal of the "sweethearts at home" reaches seventeenth place, and those involving parental feelings excite equally slight attention. (Continued on page 11) COMMITTEE ON PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH IN VISUAL EDUCATION Working under the auspices of Educational Film Magazine Maximilian P. E. Groszman, Ph. D., Chairman, 107 West 87th Street, New York. Lawrence Augustus Averill, Ph. D., Prof. Mass. State Normal School, Worcester, Mass. A. G. Balcom, Assistant Supt. of Schools, Newark, N. J. Dr. A. A. Brill, 1 West 70th Street, New York. Hon. Charles L. Brown, President Judge, Municipal Court, Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. Woodallen Chapman, Chairman of Motion Pictures, General Federation of Women's Clubs, 220 West 42nd Street, New York. Ernest L. Crandall, Director of Lectures and Visual In- struction, Board of Education, 157 East 67th Street, New York. Dr. Frederick J. Famell, 219 Waterman St., Providence, R.I. Dr. G. Clyde Fisher, Associate Curator, Am. Museum of Natural History, New York. Dr. T. W. Galloway, Associate Director, Dept. of Educa- tional Activity, The Am. Social Hygiene Ass'n, 105 West 40th Street, New York. Charles F. Herm, Harrison, N. Y. Hon. Franklin K. Hoyt, Presiding Judge, Children's Court, New York. Dr. Huber W. Hurt, Scout Executive, Boy Scouts of Amer- ica, 203 South Dearborn Street, Chicago. Dr. Edward J. Kempf, 100 West 59th Street, New York. Prof. James E. Lough, Extramural Division, New York University, Washington Square, New York. Everett Dean Martin, Director, Cooper Union Forum of the People's Institute; Chairman, The National Bd. of Review, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York. Prof. J. L. Meriam, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. Geo. E. O'Dell, Ethical Society, All Souls Church, Grand Rapids, Mich. Dr. A. M. Rabiner, 354 So. Third Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Rowland Rogers, Vice-Pres., Picture Service, Inc.; Chair- man, Curriculum Committee, N. Y. Visual Instruction Ass'n, 51 East 42nd Street, New York. Dr. Alfred H. Saunders, The Educator's Cinematograph Co., 70 Fifth Avenue, New York. J. W. Shepherd, Director of Visual Instruction, University of Oklfihoma, Norman, Okla. David R. Sumstine, Ph.D., Principal Peabody High School, Pittsburgh, Pa. Joseph J. Weber, 195 Claremont Avenue, New York. J. H. Wilson, Supiervisor, Visual Instruction, Board of Education, Detroit, Mich. William Wesley Young, The Friar's Club, New York.