ABSTRACT
This differentiation of saying and doing is important when considering mental differences such as attitudes and motivation, because people can ‘say one thing and do another’. When assessing differences between people, it is, therefore, important to distinguish between assessments based on some measurement of ‘doing’ and those which are based only on what people say about themselves. Some examples are given below. • A person can claim to be able to drive a particular kind of fork-lift truck. Only by observing the person
driving this type of fork-lift truck can this claim be checked. • A person can claim to like children (or cats or dogs) but this can only be checked by observing his or her
behaviour when confronted by children (or cats or dogs). This sort of assessment is further complicated by the fact that people’s behaviour is likely to be different if they know they are being observed, so that an accurate assessment requires observation when the person concerned does not know that they are being assessed.
