Tests & Poison

Few psychologists and fewer psychiatrists could see any possible good in dianetics, the bestselling so-called "science of mind" concocted by science-fiction Writer L. Ron Hubbard (TIME, July 24). But no group, it seemed, wanted to be the first to denounce it publicly. Last week, the American Psychological Association decided that somebody had to do something.

At its annual meeting, the A.P.A. warned-its members not to use dianetics' weird and wonderful technique on their clients.*If psychologists want to play around with it, the association suggested, let them confine themselves to "scientific investigations designed to test the validity of its claims."

Meanwhile, one of the most vociferous converts to dianetics, Williams College's cause-chasing Professor Frederick L. Schuman, protested in a letter to the New Republic against an unfavorable review of Founder Hubbard's book, Dianetics. Snorted the editors in a one-paragraph reply: "While Dr. Schuman is a distinguished authority on political science, we do not feel that on issues involving psychiatry he is entitled to any more respect than any other layman. His suggestion that no one should write about dianetics without having experienced it seems to us like saying that no one can be an authority on cyanide of potassium unless he has eaten some."

*For news of another admonition issued by A.P.A., see EDUCATION.

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