ABSTRACT
The topic o f self-perception is a vast one ; as vast in a sense as philosophy
and psychology com bined. The experiments I now have left deal only w ith tw o o f its corners. In this chapter, I w ant to consider the narrow
area o f divergent thinking, and to examine some subtle changes in the experim ental situation w hich can transform the m ental pow ers that
boys display. These effects, sometimes quite dramatic, have a bearing
on the concept o f m ental ability, and also less directly, I believe, on the
relationship o f ability to the perception o f self. There are tw o o f these
studies, each carefully planned; and a third that was an accident. Together, they are the pivot on w hich m uch o f m y general argum ent
turns.
