Mentimeter No. 20READING: DIRECTIONS

Scores from 0 to 8 indicate Inferior AbilityScores from 9 to 14 indicate Low Average AbilityScores from 15 to 24 indicate Average AbilityScores from 25 to 29 indicate High Average AbilityScores from 30 to 40 indicate Superior Ability

Scores from 0 to 8 indicate Inferior Ability

Scores from 9 to 14 indicate Low Average Ability

Scores from 15 to 24 indicate Average Ability

Scores from 25 to 29 indicate High Average Ability

Scores from 30 to 40 indicate Superior Ability

In the United States Army an officer frequently calls one of his orderlies to his desk and issues orders somewhat as follows: “Present my compliments to Lieutenant Smith and ask him to report at my office to-morrow afternoon at 3.15 for his orders regarding the disposition of garbage from the kitchen of Company E. Tell Corporal Jones in Barracks 17 to take a detail of four men and report at 5.00 o’clock this evening to Sergeant Katz at the Second Battalion Officers’ Mess. Deliver this package to the Adjutant of the Base Hospital and ask him to let meknow at once what should be done with the S. C. D. papers brought to me this morning by Lieutenant Johnson.” The orderly must be able to carry out these orders without their repetition or explanation. He should reply, “Yes, sir,” by way of making it clear that he has understood and will obey the directions, but should say nothing more.

The first test in the Alpha series used in the Army was intended to measure how complicated a series of directions could be grasped by the soldier and executed without errors. The Mentimeter test differs from its military counterpart in that the directions are to be printed rather than spoken, and in that the increasing difficulty arises from the increasing complexity and obscurity of the words employed rather than from the length of the directions to be held in mind. Whether these changes will increase or decrease the value of the test cannot be stated in advance of actual trials.

As soon as the candidates have been provided with pencils, writing surfaces, and comfortable seats, the examiner should distribute the examination leaflets with the instruction that the blanks at the top of the title page be filled out at once and that no one should turn the leaflet until the direction to do so be given.

The test should be introduced by the request from the examiner that everyone look at the directions on the title page while they are being read aloud, “When you are told to turn your leaflet and go to work, you will find on the other side very full directions as to what you are to do. This is a test to find out how well you can understand directions, so read them carefully and do exactly what they tell you to do. Ready! Turn your leaflets and go to work.”

Exactly three minutes should be allowed for this work. At the end of three minutes the examiner should call “Stop! Thetime is up! Turn over your leaflet and hand it to me.” The test sheets should be collected at once.

1. Write your name on this line. ..........

2. Make a cross in the square.□

3. Make a cross in the circle and a dot in the square.

□ ○ ▭

4. Make a figure 1 under the letter M and a figure 2 under the letter W.

A N W V H M Z U Y

5. If Decoration Day comes in the winter, write the word “No.” If not, write the word “Yes.” ..........

6. Cross out the shortest word in this sentence and draw two lines around the ninth word.

7. Look at the three blanks printed below. On the first blank write the number of days in a week, on the second the number of months in a year, and on the third the number of years in a century. __________ ___________ __________

8. Write in the square on the left the right answer to the question: “How many dimes make a dollar?” In the second square make a small circle, and in the third triangle write the letter “C.”

□ △ □ △ □ △

9. If a peck is a greater magnitude than a bushel, cross out the word “pint” unless a pint holds a smaller quantitythan a quart, in which case draw a line under the first word after bushel.

QUART BUSHEL PECK PINT

10. If a centimeter is more than half as long as an inch, write in the square the number of inches in a yard. If a meter is more than three feet, then write in the circle the number of meters in a kilometer.

○□

11. If the oscillations of a pendulum were not facilitated by any other force than gravity, what would be the effect upon their amplitude? Check the best reply:

It would gradually be

☐ augmented.☐ flagellated.☐ diminished.☐ swaged.

☐ augmented.

☐ flagellated.

☐ diminished.

☐ swaged.

12. If ontogeny invariably ingeminates phylogeny, circumscribe the word giving the location of the OURCQ; if not, underscore the word that locates the MANDIBLE.

England Foot Utah Face Peru France Arm India

The score is the number of directions which were perfectly obeyed without error. A failure to do any part of the thing directed or the performance of extra things not asked should act to withhold credit for an element. The total number of credits should be entered in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the test leaflet.

Scores from 0 to 2 indicate Inferior AbilityScores from 3 to 5 indicate Low Average AbilityScores from 6 to 8 indicate Average AbilityScores from 9 to 10 indicate High Average AbilityScores from 11 to 12 indicate Superior Ability

Scores from 0 to 2 indicate Inferior Ability

Scores from 3 to 5 indicate Low Average Ability

Scores from 6 to 8 indicate Average Ability

Scores from 9 to 10 indicate High Average Ability

Scores from 11 to 12 indicate Superior Ability

Mentimeter No. 21READING: INTERPRETATION

This test is a specially devised method of determining the ability of an individual to secure from the printed page the ideas which are expressed in sentences and paragraphs. It is probable that no single test of reading can be devised which would measure all phases of the subject equally well. This particular test attempts to measure the special ability to interpret the meanings of sentences and paragraphs, although it assumes that the words of which these larger units are composed are recognized and understood by the reader.

The test is arranged with very simple sentences at the beginning followed by more and more difficult sentences until at the last there are statements the meaning of which very intellectual people might fail to grasp at first sight. The questions which are asked regarding the paragraphs likewise increase in difficulty so that the ultimate score obtained by the candidate indicates rather distinctly how difficult are the sentences or paragraphs he is able to understand and answer questions about.

It is not probable that a great field of usefulness will be found for this test in industrial life, although it might very well be used in any establishment where the question of the degree of literacy in the employee was of any importance. Tests fashioned on this order would be tremendously valuable as a basis for classifying according to degree of literacy the immigrants entering this country. Some such objective measure as this is very much needed in the taking of the census. Where at present almost any man or woman who can barely write his or her name is entered on the census records as being able to read and write, the crude examination for literacy which was employed by the psychologists in the U. S. Army illustrates conclusively that about three times as many people are unable to make any practical use of reading and writing as the censusfigures would lead one to believe. It seems certain from the facts obtained in the Army that at least one half of the population of the United States would be unable to answer more than eight of the sixteen questions included in this Mentimeter.

It is particularly desirable that the room in which the test is given should be well lighted and comfortable. Before distributing the tests the usual caution, “Do not open this booklet until you are told to do so,” should be given. One test booklet should then be given to each candidate. As soon as all have received their blanks the examiner should give the directions for filling out the information blanks on the title page of the booklet. If very young children or very dull adults are being examined it will be necessary to give specific directions about these blanks. As soon as the blanks are filled the examiner should ask the group to read silently the directions as he reads them aloud.

“When you are told to turn the page you will find on the inside three paragraphs of printed matter. You are to read these paragraphs very carefully and then, turning the page once more, you will find sixteen questions about the three paragraphs you have just read. You are to write the answers to the questions on the blank lines provided for the purpose. You may turn back to the printed matter and look for the answers as often as you need to, but you will only have ten minutes in which to do your reading and the answering of the questions, so be sure to answer all the questions you can. The first questions are easier than those which follow, so answer them in the order in which they come.

“Remember that when I say ‘Go’ you are to begin reading and to read as fast as you can, then to answer as many questions as you can on the next page. Ready, Go.”

Exactly ten minutes after saying “Go” the examiner should call “Stop! The time is up! Close your papers and hand them to me.” All papers should be collected at once.

FIND THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS BY READING WHAT IT SAYS BELOW

Boys like to run and play in the street. Girls like to stay in the house and play with their dolls. As the girls grow older some of them learn to cook and to help their mothers in the home, while others learn to work in shops, mills, and offices. Some boys learn as they grow up to work on the farms, while others obtain positions in stores, mines, and factories. Even before they grow to be men and women, people differ in the things they enjoy and in the things they are able to do.

It is fortunate that people are so different, for the world has all sorts of work that must be done. Wheat, corn, and cattle must be raised to supply the world with food. Cotton and wool must be made into clothing to keep us warm, while wood and stone must be made into houses to protect us from the rain and the snow. The work of the world requires that some people be farmers, others manufacturers, others merchants, others doctors, and so on. If we were all exactly alike in our tastes and abilities, much of the world’s work would have to be done by persons whose inclinations and capacities were in fields of endeavour entirely different from those in which they would be required to labour. The fact that people are so different makes possible an adjustment whereby the ability and interest of the labourer may be in proportion to the difficulty of the undertaking to which he is assigned.

Perhaps nothing makes a larger contribution to the happiness and contentment of the world than this adjustment of the individual to his vocation, and yet the problem of securing such an adjustment is complicated by an enormous number of practical difficulties. One of the most annoying elements in this problem of adjustment has been the impossibility of making expeditiously an effectual classification of candidates according to native capacity and endowment. Psychologists and statisticians have, however, during the past decade evolved methods of intellectual measurement which demonstrate the feasibility and economic utility of the procedure and adumbrate to some extent the social satisfactions that will ensue when the science of personnel engineering has been consummated.

WRITE THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS

Directions for Scoring the Test.

The score in this test is the number of questions correctly answered. A stencil is provided with each set of test booklets by the aid of which it is fairly simple to mark an answer as right or wrong. An answer should be considered wrong if it does not prove in itself that the candidate had read the paragraph and obtained his information from it. Any answer which is true in general life but which is not suggested by the reading material on the previous page, should not be accepted.

Scores from 0 to 3 indicate Inferior AbilityScores from 4 to 7 indicate Low Average AbilityScores from 8 to 12 indicate Average AbilityScores from 13 to 14 indicate High Average AbilityScores from 15 to 16 indicate Superior Ability

Scores from 0 to 3 indicate Inferior Ability

Scores from 4 to 7 indicate Low Average Ability

Scores from 8 to 12 indicate Average Ability

Scores from 13 to 14 indicate High Average Ability

Scores from 15 to 16 indicate Superior Ability

Publishers and editors have for many years insisted upon having intelligent compositors and type-setters. The printer’s pi is probably as comprehensive a test of intelligence as any in the Mentimeter series. In the Binet tests, one of the most interesting parts of the examination is where children are asked to take certain words and rearrange them to make a sentence. This is not exactly the same problem that the type-setter faces with pi, but it is related to it. A disarranged sentence test was used in the military examinations, but in order to make the scoring simple and to include elements of intellectual capacity other than ability to rearrange words, the soldiers were asked to check the resulting sentence as “true” or “false.” Here again, without being able to read a single word of the sentences which had been disarranged, the soldiers would be able to make checkmarks in the correct place by mere chance in half the cases. The method of scoring used in the Army was calculated to overcome this difficulty, but even then the results were not as reliable as they should be in the case of the Mentimeter form presented below.

This test contains twenty-five sentences in each one of which the words have been mixed up and disarranged so that a real amount of imagination is necessary in order to guess what the sentence was in the first place. The first sentence contains only three words and is very easily arranged, while the later sentences are quite complicated and difficult. In order to indicate what the true arrangement of the original sentence was, each candidate is asked to place a period at the end of the word which would be last if the sentence were properly arranged. The resulting score may be taken as a fairly reliable index of ability to “unscramble” words in sentences.

This test is very closely related to several of the other tests which appear in the Mentimeter series in that it involves the ability to think about words and the things for which words stand and the relationships between these words and these things. The type of ability necessary for this test is the sort which makes for success in education and the learned professions, provided social and personal qualities are equal to the intellectual attainments.

This test is also very entertaining as a parlour game and may be used without offense to any one, if no mention is made of the relationship of the results to mental ability.

When the candidates have been seated and supplied with pencils, the examiner should distribute copies of the test booklets with the direction that none be opened until the instruction to do so is given. After having the identifying information called for on the blanks of the title page filled out by the candidates, the examiner should ask that all candidates look carefullyat their papers and read silently the directions while he reads them aloud: “A sentence is a list of words which says something that we can understand. When you open the papers, you will find on the inside twenty-five sets of words which are not good sentences as they stand, but which would make good sentences and would sound sensible if they were changed around and put in a different order. Look at the samples given below:

Sample A: KILL MICE CATSSample B: HAS BOOK IT PICTURES THE IN

Sample A: KILL MICE CATS

Sample B: HAS BOOK IT PICTURES THE IN

“Sample A would make a good sentence if it were arranged in the order ‘CATS KILL MICE’ and therefore there should be a period after the word ‘mice’ to show the end of the sentence. In Sample B, we should have a good sentence if the words were changed around to read: ‘THE BOOK HAS PICTURES IN IT.’ The end of the sentence is ‘it,’ and therefore there should be in sample B a period after the word ‘it.’

“When you turn the page, begin with the first set of words and study out what the sentence would be, then put a period after the word which would come last. Work right down the page until time is called. You will have two minutes in which to put in the periods of as many sentences as possible. Ready! Open your books! Go to work.”

Exactly two minutes after saying the word, “work,” the examiner should call “Stop! Close your books! Give them to me.” The papers should be collected at once.

The score in this test is the number of sentences in which the period has been correctly placed. If a mark appears to be accidental, it should not be held against the credit of the candidate. The stencil provided with the test leaflets simplifies very greatly the marking of this test.

The total number of points credit should be entered in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the test leaflet.

Scores of 0 to 3 indicate Inferior AbilityScores of 4 to 7 indicate Low Average AbilityScores of 8 to 16 indicate Average AbilityScores of 17 to 20 indicate High Average AbilityScores of 21 to 25 indicate Superior Ability

Scores of 0 to 3 indicate Inferior Ability

Scores of 4 to 7 indicate Low Average Ability

Scores of 8 to 16 indicate Average Ability

Scores of 17 to 20 indicate High Average Ability

Scores of 21 to 25 indicate Superior Ability

Mentimeter No. 23COMPLETION OF SENTENCES

This is one of the most satisfactory group tests available for persons with a reading knowledge of the English language. The test consists of a series of sentences in each of which certain words have been omitted. Dotted lines appear at those places where words are missing. The persons being examined are asked to write on the dotted lines the words which have been left out. The blanks left in the sentences are all of the same length in order not to suggest the word to be used. The Mentimeter form of the test contains 20 sentences, graduated in difficulty, from very simple sentences which the average second-grade public school pupil can complete easily, to very difficult sentences which the average college student will be unable to complete satisfactorily within the time limit.

The ease with which one can understand what is to be done in this test makes it particularly useful with children in the elementary schools, and with adults of little education, as a measure of language ability and general intellectual capacity in the manipulation of ideas and words. Although it has been used by many teachers and supervisors as a test of reading ability, it should probably be classified rather as an intelligence test than as an educational measuring instrument. Teachers do not and should not give direct instruction in the art of writing missing words, for almost no situation will arise in practical life where this sort of skill would be necessary.

It is very difficult to determine just what mental powers are tested by the sentence completion test. Quite certainly the result obtained is a complex effect. The person who is successful in this test must first of all be able to read and understand the words which are actually present in any sentence; he must have certain habits of associating other words not presentwith those which do appear; from all of the words which come to his mind as associates of the printed words, he must choose those which fit most aptly the thought expressed; and from those words which would fit into the thought of the sentence he must use good judgment in selecting and writing the one which makes the smoothest and best sentence. Lack of mental ability or of familiarity with the English language will result in a poor showing at almost any step of the process and in a low score in the test as a whole.

This test will probably be found most useful in selecting those commercial and industrial workers who in the course of their work will be called upon to make extensive use of language and printed symbols, although it has been used successfully in many parts of the country in the selection of salesmen, shop foremen, firemen, policemen, and other non-clerical workers. The relationship between success in this test and general success in life is extraordinarily close.

In the public schools this test is particularly valuable as a first means of identifying pupils of unusual ability. Any child who makes five or more points above the average for his grade should be further tested with the Number Series Completion (Mentimeter No. 9) and the Analogies tests (Mentimeter No. 24). If his scores in these tests are distinctly above the average, he should be sent to the psychologist for special examination, and if the psychologist’s findings agree with the findings of these tests, as they usually will, then the child should be given special opportunities for rapid progress and more varied activities in school. Similarly, if a pupil obtains a score which is five or more points below the average for his grade, he should be examined with the Completion of Form Series test (Mentimeter No. 6) and the Pictorial Absurdities test (Mentimeter No. 2), and if his scores in these tests are also below the average, he should be referred to the psychologist for special examination and recommendations as to type of instruction best suited to his mental abilities.

Directions for Giving the Test.

When all candidates have been seated and provided with convenient writing materials, one copy of the examination booklet should be given to each candidate. A general announcement should be given either before distributing the booklets or while they are being distributed, to the effect that no one is to open the booklet or turn it over until directed to do so. The candidates may be instructed to fill out the blanks on the title page if they are intelligent enough to understand what is wanted on these blanks. If young children are being examined, the examiner should state very clearly just what is to be done. For example: “Write your name on the dotted line after the word ‘Name.’ Write your age at your last birthday on the dotted line which follows the words ‘Age at Last Birthday’.” Care should be taken that no child gets an unfair advantage by opening his book and beginning work before the following directions have been read aloud by the examiner while the children read them silently from their booklets.

“When you open your booklets you will find on the inside twenty sentences, from each of which one or more words have been left out. You are to guess what words were left out and to write them on the dotted lines which show where these words should be. Be very careful to write the best word you can think of on each blank. Write only one word on each of the blanks. Make each sentence sound just as sensible as you can. You will have ten minutes in which to write. Work rapidly and carefully. Ready! Go!”

Exactly ten minutes after saying, “Go!” the examiner should call “Stop! Time up! Give me your papers!” All papers should be collected at once.

Write only one word on each blank.

Directions for Scoring the Test.

The score in this test is the number of sentences completed perfectly within the time limit. No credit should be given for any sentences in which the language is not smooth and meaningful, although errors in spelling should not be counted against the person tested. This test is intended to measure ability to complete sentences rather than ability to spell words. No credit should be allowed unless every blank in a sentence has been properly filled. One error in any one of the blanks will leave the sentence imperfectly done and therefore without credit.

The stencil for scoring this test is less convenient than those furnished with the majority of the Mentimeter tests. The reason for this is the very great possibility of new variations appearing, even after long experience in scoring the test. When more than one blank appears in a single sentence the question as to whether or not a certain word is proper for one of the later blanks depends entirely upon what choice was made in the first blank. It should be held in mind by those who score this test that the stencil does not give all of the possibilities, but only suggests the type of completion which should be considered correct. Anything that is as good as the completions appearing in the stencil should be given full credit, while anything which is not as perfect should be considered incorrect.

The final score obtained by counting the number of sentences perfectly completed should be entered in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the booklet.

Scores from 0 to 5 indicate Inferior AbilityScores from 6 to 9 indicate Low Average AbilityScores from 10 to 16 indicate Average AbilityScores from 17 to 18 indicate High Average AbilityScores from 19 to 20 indicate Superior Ability

Scores from 0 to 5 indicate Inferior Ability

Scores from 6 to 9 indicate Low Average Ability

Scores from 10 to 16 indicate Average Ability

Scores from 17 to 18 indicate High Average Ability

Scores from 19 to 20 indicate Superior Ability

Mentimeter No. 24ANALOGIES OR MIXED RELATIONS TEST

The Analogies test lends itself easily to wholesale or group administration. It cannot be used with illiterate candidates but requires at least three years of educational background in order to give a satisfactory index of mental capacity. The test blank presents the tasks to be done in a manner so easily understood that little explanation needs to be given orally by the examiner. It is also simple in its method of scoring and yields a very reliable measure of an individual’s clearness of thought about the relations of words and the things for which the words stand.

Psychologists have used various forms of this test for many years and have found it unusually accurate and reliable. It is considered particularly valuable as a test of ability to adapt one’s self quickly and accurately to new situations, which is undoubtedly one of the most important elements in what is called “general intelligence.”

The method of the Analogies test is known as the “controlled-association method.” Two words are presented having a very definite relation to each other. A third word is then presented, followed by a blank space upon which the candidate is to write a fourth word which will have the same relation to the third word as the second word has to the first. The relation between the first two or key words in each element of the test differs from the relation between the key words of the previous element, resulting in a constant change in the problem to be solved, which requires quick readjustments in the candidate’s thought processes. The candidate must be intellectually alert to discover the true relation between the key words, his mind must be well supplied by experience with words and ideas associated with the third word, and then he must use good judgment and discriminationin the selection of that word which has theproperrelation to the third word. A slip at any of these points will mean failure. The value of the present series as a test of intelligence is greatly increased by the fact that there is a progressive increase in the difficulty of the elements presented, so that thenumberof elements correctly supplied has a very definite relation to thedifficultyof the tasks the candidate can do.

Because of its relation to intelligence, the Analogies test will be found very useful in the classification of candidates for clerical and administrative positions in industry. Any group of tests selected for classifying such employees should contain a list of graded analogies such as that here supplied. Unless a candidate makes a record of at least fifteen correct responses out of a possible thirty in the three minutes’ time allowed in the test, he should be studied very carefully before being entrusted with a task where ideas and symbols must be handled quickly. Such a man might be able to work with things and people, but he will probably be found slow in his grasp of abstract principles and ideas.

In the schoolroom, the Analogies test may be used with some confidence in classifying pupils for instruction. If it is found that a pupil is far below his grade in ability in this test, and if he is also found below his grade in the Completion of Sentences and Number series, it may be assumed that the pupil will probably not succeed in the abstract work of the school. Such pupils should be sent to the clinical psychologist for special study, and a special type of training should be prescribed upon the basis of the psychologist’s diagnosis. In the same manner, pupils unusually brilliant in the handling of abstractions may be located through the use of this and other tests of this nature.

The Analogies test is also a very entertaining type of parlour amusement, especially when some of the absurd answers are read aloud for the amusement of the group. When it is so used, however, no suggestion should be made of the relation betweenability in this test and general intellectual quickness, lest someone should take offence. If the test is given without the exact and formal directions, and if the spirit of fun is introduced by the examiner, certain clever persons are quite certain to write words which have very amusing associations with the words which serve to set the problems in the various lines.

All candidates should be furnished with pencils and writing surfaces—either tables, chair-arms, or writing boards. One test booklet should be supplied to each candidate, the blank being presented unopened and with the title page up. The examiner should announce clearly as the papers are distributed that, “The booklets are not to be turned over or opened up until the signal is given to do so.” Candidates should also be directed to sign their names, ages, group numbers, and locations on the blank spaces provided on the cover of the booklet for this information. When each candidate has properly filled out the information blanks on the outside of the test booklet the examiner should speak as follows:

“This test is to find out how carefully and how rapidly you can think about the relations of words and of the things for which these words stand. Now look at your papers and read silently the directions, while I read them aloud.

“When you are told to open your booklets, you will find on the inside thirty lines of words—three words and a blank space being printed on each line. In each of these lines, the first two words are related to each other in a certain way which you are to study out. You are then to write, in the blank space at the end, a fourth word which has the same relation to the third word as the second word has to the first.

“Look, for example, at the first sample, in which the second word is the plural of the first. Boxes means more than one Box, so the fourth word should be Cats, meaning more than one Cat.

“In the second sample, the fourth word should be Out, because Up is the opposite of Down, and Out is the opposite of In.

“In the third sample, the fourth word should be Hear, for See tells what Eyes are used for, and Hear tells for what Ears are used.

“You will have three minutes in which to write the fourth word in the thirty lines on the next pages. Work as rapidly as you can without making mistakes. Be sure to stop as soon as I call ‘Time up.’ Now turn your papers and begin.”

Allow exactly three minutes (180 seconds) after saying “Begin,” and then say “Stop! Time up! Turn your papers over.” All papers should be collected at once to avoid corrections with resulting unfairness.

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