American was a mystery to the student representative of 16 European nations before the Salzburg Seminar swept away many misunderstandings, said British Peter Mason, who attended the seminar last summer. "The rich tourists and the movies were the only indicators of the nature of the United States," he explained. "About the only news of America we got in the press" was the elections."

Mason was in Cambridge yesterday visiting former Harvard delegates to the Seminar. A native of Yorkshire, he came to the U.S. for the first time after the conference. He feels he never could have understood all the things he has seen in this country without the experience at Salzburg.

Cleared Misconceptions

"Europeans can appreciate the economic and political policies of the U.S. on an intellectual plane," Mason continued, "but on an emotional plane--never." The conference dispelled much misunderstanding and many false ideas, he said.

"One false notion the Europeans had was that Americans are naive, he recalled. "That was disposed of quickly."

Mason revealed there was much resentment on the part of the German representatives at the start of the Seminar. Although six weeks could not get rid of all their suspicion, the friendliness at the Seminar made great progress with the German.