Chronological Age vs. Quality of Literary Output
Harvey Christian Lehman, Joseph B. Heidler · The American Journal of Psychology · 1949
In 1937 the present writers attempted to ascertain the chronological ages at which various types of literature of the highest quality are most likely to be produced.' Since the present study is an attempt to deal with the same problem, it seems desirable to state precisely how this study differs from its predecessor. For English literature, the earlier study was based upon Ryland's Chronological Outlines of English Literature2-solely upon the judgment of a single literary historian. The data for the present study were obtained by a quite different procedure, i.e. by making a composite study of 50 well-known histories of English literature. In making this study the writers assumed that the composite judgments of many historians would yield more trustworthy results than would a study based upon the judgments of any single individual.