Had he made the right decision?  Would his training in psychology bring lesser rewards than his preparation for teaching in foreign fields?  Walter weighed the matter and decided that psychology would be his field.  There he would be a freer agent, intellectually and scholastically.  At least, he would not have the uncertainty of waiting for a call to some far-off land.

Why not, then, find a place in his own country, possibly in his own Alma Mater?  He knew he could count on the assistance of John and of Prof. Coe. They would not have too much difficulty in getting him placed, he was sure, since his record as a student was excellent.  As a tutor, too, he had demonstrated his deeply-rooted aptitude for the art and science of teaching.

Even more important was his awareness that psychology had an unexplored future, that it offered limitless opportunities to those who dared to tread new ground and lay out new paths.  This art-science of human behavior, just beginning to claim a domain of its own, appealed to him because he liked people, and he liked to study their actions and motivations.

Coe was a profound scholar and an idealist.  At the same time he had a deep sense of reality.  He did not question utilitarianism as long as it contributed to human well-being.  On the contrary, he welcomed practical psychology and foresaw its widely expanding future.

Coe’s attitude, coinciding as it did with his own, reassured Walter.  He could not then foresee the difficulties this point of view would bring-the recriminations and accusations over charges that he was exploiting psychology, that he was violating the scholar's creed of learning for learning's sake.

In Europe Walter and Anna were happy in their life together and found satisfaction in their studies.  They both worked hard, but they were no drudges.  The University of Halle was only 20 miles from Leipzig, and the young couple spent their weekends together., attending the theatre and concerts, hiking, and bicycling.  They visited Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, and England.  They mastered the German language.

At the end of two years Walter would have a doctorate in psychology from a famous European university; and his bride, too, was to acquire a doctorate in philology at the University of Halle.

He looked forward to joining the faculty at Northwestern and to settling down in Evanston, while she looked forward to establishing a home, rearing a family, helping her husband advance in his profession, and writing.

In Leipzig, Walter was following the footsteps of other men who had gone there and had returned to America to make psychological and educational history.  This distinguished company included James McKeen Cattell, G. Stanley Hall, Edward B. Titchener, and Charles H. Judd.  These and many others came from all parts of the world to study with Wundt and to conduct basic experiments in his laboratory.

Tall, bearded, and of medium build, Wilhelm Wundt was a modest and unimpressive personality who did virtually no traveling, attended no congresses, and avoided all public functions.  In his laboratory and at home he talked with his students, giving freely of his knowledge.  He was a superb lecturer and the first professor in the field of general philosophy to experiment before his classes.  Particularly adept at making philosophy and psychology interesting, he was extremely popular among students of medicine, theology, and even of law.

To Scott, study and work under Wundt's direction proved highly stimulating and helpful.  The experimental approach, in particular, appealed strongly to him and served to condition him for his subsequent pioneering work in applied psychology.  In this there was a bit of irony, since Wundt, like virtually all his academic contemporaries, was strongly opposed to the deliberate application of psychological knowledge in the work-aday world.  Even so, Scott never has lost the profound respect he acquired for Wundt in his student years in Leipzig, nor has he ever ceased to be grateful for what he learned from him.

Scott's doctoral dissertation was on Die Psychologie der Triebe Historisch-Kritisch Betrachtet (The Psychology of Impulses Historically and Critically Considered).  Informative and well-organized, it was characteristic of Scott-factual, lucid, logical, systematic, and unpretentious.

Equally imposing was Mrs. Scott's Ph.D. thesis, which bore the title: Uber das Verhaltnis von Dryden's "State of Innocence" zu Miltods "Paradise Lost" (On the Relationship of Dryden's "State of Innocence" to Milton's "Paradise Lose).

A balancing contrast to these formidable titles is provided by an incident that occurred in Paris.  One summer day in 1899, Walter and Anna, on vacation, stopped at a sidewalk cafe and decided not to order any of the old standbys.  Their understanding of French being virtually nil, they thought it would be fun to take a chance and order “blindly” simply by pointing at various items on the menu.

The waiter brought Anna a cow's ear and Walter pigs' feet and sauerkraut.
    "And he positively detests pigs' feet," smiled Mrs. Scott in recalling the adventure in gastronomy.

On returning to the United States in 1900, Scott decided to study at Cornell University under Edward B. Titchener before returning to Northwestern, where, on the recommendation of John and Prof. Coe, he had been appointed an instructor in psychology and pedagogy.

Under Titchener, who held a top-ranking position among American psychologists, Scott hoped to gain knowledge of psychological techniques that would enable him to establish a psychological laboratory at his Alma Mater.  He developed a deep regard for Titchener, and Titchener in turn returned the compliment.  He befriended Scott, gave him full freedom in the laboratory, and entertained him often in his large and pleasant home.

Later, they were to come to a parting of the ways, when Titchener castigated Scott for what he regarded as a betrayal of a sacred trust — the application of psychology in business and industry. Subsequently, however, Titchener conceded his error in judgment and agreed that the practical application of psychological knowledge had been truly a praiseworthy development.

While Scott is best known in the educational world as an administrator, it was as a psychologist that he pioneered and carried out his greatest number of innovations.  As a teacher, he constantly emphasized the importance of the functional application of knowledge.  Yet the men he respected and admired most when he started were primarily theoreticians and disciples of pure learning.

These men were Walter's brother, John, George A. Coe, Wilhelm Wundt and Edward B. Titchener.  Of the four only Coe made allowance for utilitarianism and practicality.  The others were unyielding in their pursuit of pure knowledge as an end in itself.