FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[74]SeeIX, 5, andXII, 4.[75]Columbia University Contributions to Education, no. 37, 1910.

[74]SeeIX, 5, andXII, 4.

[75]Columbia University Contributions to Education, no. 37, 1910.

ProcedureandScoring, as in previous vocabulary tests.[76]At the average adult level sixty-five words should be correctly defined.

Procedure.As inyear XII, test 6. Use the same fables.

Scoring.The method of scoring is the same as forXII, but the total score must be 8 points to satisfy the requirements at this level.

Remarks.For discussion of test, seeXII, 5.

Procedure.Say:What is the difference between:—

Scoring.Three correct contrasting definitions out of fourare necessary for a pass. It is not sufficient merely to give a correct meaning for each word of a pair; the subjectmust point out a difference between the two words so as to make a real contrast. For example, if the subject definesevolutionas a “growth” or “gradual change,” andrevolutionas the turning of a wheel on its axis, the experimenter should say: “Yes, but I want you to tell me the difference between evolution and revolution.” If the contrast is not then forthcoming the response is markedminus.

The following are sample definitions which may be considered acceptable:—

(a) Laziness and idleness.“It is laziness if you won’t work, and idleness if you are willing to work but haven’t any job.” “Lots of men are idle who are not lazy and would like to work if they had something to do.” “Laziness means you don’t want to work; idleness means you are not doing anything just now.” “Idle people may be lazy, or they may just happen to be out of a job.” “It is laziness when you don’t like to work, and idleness when you are not working.” “An idle person might be willing to work; a lazy man won’t work.” “Laziness comes from within; idleness may be forced upon one.” “Laziness is aversion to activity; idleness is simply the state of inactivity.” “Laziness is idleness from choice or preference; idleness means doing nothing.”The essential contrast, accordingly, is thatlaziness refers to unwillingness to work; idleness to the mere fact of inactivity. This contrast must be expressed, however clumsily.(b) Evolution and revolution.“Evolution is a gradual change; revolution is a sudden change.” “Evolution is natural development; revolution is sudden upheaval.” “Evolution means an unfolding or development; revolution means a complete upsetting of everything.” “Evolution is the gradual development of a country or government; revolution is a quick change of government.” “Evolution takes place by natural force; a revolution is caused by an outside force.” “Evolution is growth; revolution is a quick change from existing conditions.” “Evolution is a natural change; revolution is a violent change.” “Evolution is growth step by step; revolution is more sudden and radical in its action.” “Evolution is a change brought about by peaceful development, while revolution is brought about by an uprising.”The essential distinction, accordingly, is thatevolution means agradual, natural, or slow change, while revolution means a sudden, forced, or violent change. Non-contrasting definitions, even when the individual terms are defined correctly, are not satisfactory.(c) Poverty and misery.“Poverty is when you are poor; misery means suffering.” “Only the poor are in poverty, but everybody can be miserable.” “Poverty is the lowest stage of poorness; misery means pain.” “The poor are not always miserable, and the rich are miserable sometimes.” “Poverty means to be in want; misery comes from any kind of suffering or anguish.” “The poor are in poverty; the sick are in misery.” “Poverty is the condition of being very poor financially; misery is a feeling which any class of people can have.” “One who is poor is in poverty; one who is wretched or doesn’t enjoy life is in misery.” “Poverty comes from lack of money; misery, from lack of happiness or comfort.” “Misery means distress. It can come from poverty or many other things.”(d) Character and reputation.“Character is what you are; reputation is what people say about you.” “You have character if you are honest; but you might be honest and still have a bad reputation among people who misjudge you.” “Character is your real self; reputation is the opinion people have about you.” “Your character depends upon yourself; reputation depends on what others think of you.” “Character means your real morals; reputation is the way you are known in the world.” “A man has a good character if he would not do evil; but a man may have a good reputation and still have a bad character.”

The essential contrast, accordingly, is thatlaziness refers to unwillingness to work; idleness to the mere fact of inactivity. This contrast must be expressed, however clumsily.

(b) Evolution and revolution.“Evolution is a gradual change; revolution is a sudden change.” “Evolution is natural development; revolution is sudden upheaval.” “Evolution means an unfolding or development; revolution means a complete upsetting of everything.” “Evolution is the gradual development of a country or government; revolution is a quick change of government.” “Evolution takes place by natural force; a revolution is caused by an outside force.” “Evolution is growth; revolution is a quick change from existing conditions.” “Evolution is a natural change; revolution is a violent change.” “Evolution is growth step by step; revolution is more sudden and radical in its action.” “Evolution is a change brought about by peaceful development, while revolution is brought about by an uprising.”

The essential distinction, accordingly, is thatevolution means agradual, natural, or slow change, while revolution means a sudden, forced, or violent change. Non-contrasting definitions, even when the individual terms are defined correctly, are not satisfactory.

(c) Poverty and misery.“Poverty is when you are poor; misery means suffering.” “Only the poor are in poverty, but everybody can be miserable.” “Poverty is the lowest stage of poorness; misery means pain.” “The poor are not always miserable, and the rich are miserable sometimes.” “Poverty means to be in want; misery comes from any kind of suffering or anguish.” “The poor are in poverty; the sick are in misery.” “Poverty is the condition of being very poor financially; misery is a feeling which any class of people can have.” “One who is poor is in poverty; one who is wretched or doesn’t enjoy life is in misery.” “Poverty comes from lack of money; misery, from lack of happiness or comfort.” “Misery means distress. It can come from poverty or many other things.”

(d) Character and reputation.“Character is what you are; reputation is what people say about you.” “You have character if you are honest; but you might be honest and still have a bad reputation among people who misjudge you.” “Character is your real self; reputation is the opinion people have about you.” “Your character depends upon yourself; reputation depends on what others think of you.” “Character means your real morals; reputation is the way you are known in the world.” “A man has a good character if he would not do evil; but a man may have a good reputation and still have a bad character.”

A little practice and a good deal of discrimination are necessary for the correct grading of responses to this test. Subjects are often so clumsy in expression that their responses are anything but clear. It is then necessary to ask them to explain what they mean. Further questioning, however, is not permissible. For uniformity in scoring it is necessary to bear in mind that the definitions given must, in order to be satisfactory, express the essential distinction between the two words.

Remarks.What we have said regarding the psychological significance oftest 2, year XII, applies equally well here. The test on the whole is a valuable one. Our statisticsshow that it is not, as some critics have thought, mainly a test of schooling.

The main criticism to be made is that it imposes a somewhat difficult task upon the power of language expression. For this reason it is necessary in scoring to disregard clumsiness of expression and to look only to the essential correctness or incorrectness of the thought.

This test first appeared in year XIII of Binet’s 1908 scale. The terms used were “happiness and honor”; “evolution and revolution”; “event and advent”; “poverty and misery”; “pride and pretension.” In the 1911 revision, “happiness and honor” and “pride and pretension” were dropped, and the other three pairs were moved up to the adult group, two out of three successes being required for a pass. Kuhlmann places it in year XV, using “happiness and honor” instead of our “character and reputation,” and requires three successes out of five.

Procedure.Show the subject a cardboard box about one inch on a side. Say: “You see this box; it has two smaller boxes inside of it, and each one of the smaller boxes contains a little tiny box. How many boxes are there altogether, counting the big one?” To be sure that the subject understands repeat the statement of the problem: “First the large box, then two smaller ones, and each of the smaller ones contains a little tiny box.”

Record the response, and, showing another box, say: “This box has two smaller boxes inside, and each of the smaller boxes contains two tiny boxes. How many altogether? Remember, first the large box, then two smaller ones, and each smaller one contains two tiny boxes.”

The third problem, which is given in the same way,states that there arethreesmaller boxes, each of which containsthreetiny boxes.

In the fourth problem there arefoursmaller boxes, each containingfourtiny boxes.

The problem must be given orally, and the solution must be found without the aid of pencil or paper. Only one half-minute is allowed for each problem. Note that each problem is stated twice.

A correction is permitted, provided it is offered spontaneously and does not seem to be the result of guessing. Guessing can be checked up by asking the subject to explain the solution.

Scoring.Three of the fourproblems must be solved correctly within the half-minute allotted to each.

Remarks.Success depends, in the first place, upon ability to comprehend the statement of the problem and to hold its conditions in mind. Subjects much below the 12-year level of intelligence are often unable to do this.

Granting that the problem has been comprehended, success seems to depend chiefly upon the facility with which the constructive imagination manipulates concrete visual imagery. In this respect it resembles the problem of reversing the hands of a clock. With some subjects, however, verbal imagery alone is operative. Tactual imagery would, of course, serve the purpose as well.

This is as good a place as any to emphasize the fact that the introspective study of mental imagery has little to contribute to the measurement of intelligence. Intelligence tests are concerned with the total result of a thought process, rather than with the imagery supports of that process. Thought may be carried on almost equally well by various kinds of imagery. As Galton showed, a person can be taught to carry on arithmetical processes by the use of smell imagery. The kind of imagery employed is the product ofslight, innate preferences complicated by the more or less accidental effects of habit.

We may say that imagery is to thinking what scaffolding is to architecture. The important thing is the completed building rather than the nature of the scaffolding employed in erecting it. No one thinks of blaming the ill construction of a building upon the kind of scaffolding used, for if the architect and builder are competent satisfactory scaffolding will be found. Just as little are deficiencies or peculiarities of imagery the real cause of low-order intelligence. We cannot increase intelligence by formal drill in the use of supposedly important kinds of mental imagery, any more than we can transform a plain carpenter into a Michael Angelo by instructing him in the use of scaffolding materials such as were employed in the construction of St. Peter’s Cathedral.

This test is of our own invention and has been brought to its present form only after a good deal of preliminary experimentation. It correlates fairly well with mental age as determined by the scale as a whole. It was passed by 55 per cent of high-school pupils and by 65 per cent of unschooled business men. Success in it is thus seen not to depend upon schooling.

The series used are: 4–7–1–9–5–2; 5–8–3–2–9–4; and 7–5–2–6–3–8.

ProcedureandScoring, as inyear VII, alternative 2.

Remarks.The test is passed by approximately half of “average adults” and by three fourths of “superior adults.” It shows no effect of schooling, the uneducated business men even surpassing our high-school students.

For the higher levels of intelligence, especially, the testis superior to that of repeating digits in the direct order. It is less mechanical and makes heavier demands upon higher intelligence.

Procedure.Show the subject the code given on the accompanying form. Say: “See these diagrams here. Look and you will see that they contain all the letters of the alphabet. Now, examine the arrangement of the letters. They go(pointing)a b c, d e f, g h i, j k l, m n o, p q r, s t u v, w x y z. You see the letters in the first two diagrams are arranged in the up-and-down order(pointing again),and the letters in the other two diagrams run in just the opposite way from the hands of a clock(pointing).Look again and you will see that the second diagram is drawn just like the first, except that each letter has a dot with it, and that the last diagram is like the third except that here, also, each letter has a dot. Now, all of this represents a code; that is, a secret language. It is a real code, one that was used in the Civil War for sending secret messages. This is the way it works: we draw the lines which hold a letter, but leave out the letter. Here, for example, is the way we would write ‘spy?’” Then write the wordspy, pointing out carefully where each letter comes from, and emphasizing the fact that the dot must be used in addition to the lines in writing any letter in the second or the fourth diagram. Illustrate also withwar.

Then add: “I am going to have you write something for me; remember now, how the letters go, first(pointing, as before)a b c, d e f, g h i, then j k l, m n o, p q r, then s t u v, then w x y z. And don’t forget the dots for the letters in this diagram and this one” (pointing). At this point, take away the diagrams and tell the subject to write the wordscome quickly. Say nothing about hurrying.

The subject is given a pencil, but is allowed to draw only the symbols for the wordscome quickly. He is not permitted to reproduce the entire code and then to copy the code letters from his reproduction.

Scoring.The test is passed if the words are written insix minutes and without more than two errors. Omission of a dot counts as only a half error.

Remarks.It is not easy to analyze the mental functions which contribute to success in the code test. Contrary to what might be supposed, success does not necessarily depend upon getting and retaining a visual picture of the diagrams. Kinæsthetic imagery will answer the purpose just as well, or the original visual impression may even be translated at once into auditory-verbal imagery and remembered as such. The significance of the test must be expressed in other terms than the kind of imagery it may happen to bring into play.

Healy and Fernald describe the task of writing a code sentence without copy as one which requires “close attention and steadiness of purpose.” They also emphasize the fact that the attention must be directed inward, since there is no object of interest before the senses and since no special stimulus to attention is offered by the experimenter. Observations we have made on subjects during the test confirm this view as to the factors involved.

That inability to remember the code as a whole is not a common cause of failure is shown by the fact that subjects above 12-year intelligence who have failed on the test are nearly always able to reproduce the diagrams and insert the letters in their proper places. To give the code form of a given letter without copy, however, makes a much heavier demand on attention. Nearly all subjects find it necessary to trace the code form, in imagination, from the beginning up to each letter whose code form is sought. Subjects ofsuperior intelligence, however, sometimes hit upon the device of remembering the position of the individual key letters e.g. (the first letter of each figure) from which, as a base, any desired letter form may be quickly sought out.

The test correlates well with mental age, but for some reason not apparent it is passed by a larger percentage of high-school pupils than unschooled adults of the same mental level.

The code test was first described by Healy and Fernald in their “Tests for Practical Mental Classification.”[77]The authors gave no data, however, which would indicate the mental level to which the test belongs. Dr. Goddard incorporated it in year XV of his revision of the Binet scale, but also fails to give statistics. The location given the test in the Stanford revision is based on tests of nearly 500 individuals ranging from a mental level of 12 years to that of “superior adult.” It appears that the test is considerably more difficult than most had thought it to be.

The sentences for this test are:—

Procedure.Exactly as inVI, 6. Emphasize that the sentence must be repeated without a single change of any sort. Get attention before giving each sentence.

Scoring.Passedif one sentence is repeated without a single error. InVIandXwe scored the response as satisfactoryif one sentence was repeated without error, or if two were repeated with not more than one error each.

Remarks.The test of repeating sentences is not as satisfactory in the higher intelligence levels as in the lower. It is too mechanical to tax very heavily the higher thought processes. It does, however, have a certain correlation with intelligence. Contrary to what one would have expected, uneducated adults of “average adult” intelligence surpassed our high-school students of the same mental level.

Binet located this test in year XII of the 1908 series, but shifted it to year XV in 1911. The American versions of the Binet scale have usually retained it in year XII, though Goddard admits that the sentences are somewhat too difficult for that year. Kuhlmann puts the test in year XII, but reduces the sentences to twenty-four syllables and permits one re-reading. We give only two trials and our sentences are considerably more difficult. With the procedure and scoring we have used, the test is rather easy for the “average adult” group, but a little too hard for year XIV.

Procedure.Draw on a piece of paper a horizontal line six or eight inches long. Above it, an inch or two, draw a short horizontal line about an inch long and parallel to the first. Tell the subject that the long line represents the perfectly level ground of a field, and that the short line represents a cannon. Explain that the cannon is “pointed horizontally (on a level) and is fired across this perfectly level field.” After it is clear that these conditions of the problemare comprehended, we add: “Now, suppose that this cannon is fired off and that the ball comes to the ground at this point here(pointing to the farther end of the line which represents the field).Take this pencil and draw a line which will show what path the cannon ball will take from the time it leaves the mouth of the cannon till it strikes the ground.”

Scoring.There are four types of response: (1) A straight diagonal line is drawn from the cannon’s mouth to the point where the ball strikes. (2) A straight line is drawn from the cannon’s mouth running horizontally until almost directly over the goal, at which point the line drops almost or quite vertically. (3) The path from the cannon’s mouth first rises considerably from the horizontal, at an angle perhaps of between ten to forty-five degrees, and finally describes a gradual curve downward to the goal. (4) The line begins almost on a level and drops more rapidly toward the end of its course.

Only the last is satisfactory. Of course, nothing like a mathematically accurate solution of the problem is expected. It is sufficient if the response belongs to the fourth type above instead of being absurd, as the other types described are. Any one who has ever thrown stones should have the data for such an approximate solution. Not a day of schooling is necessary.

Procedure.Say to the subject: “You know, of course, that water holds up a fish that is placed in it. Well, here is a problem. Suppose we have a bucket which is partly full of water. We place the bucket on the scales and find that with the water in it it weighs exactly 45 pounds. Then we put a 5-pound fish into the bucket of water. Now, what will the whole thing weigh?”

Scoring.Many subjects even as low as 9- or 10-yearintelligence will answer promptly, “Why, 45 pounds and 5 pounds makes 50 pounds, of course.” But this is not sufficient. We proceed to ask, with serious demeanor: “Howcan thisbe correct, since the water itself holds up the fish?” The young subject who has answered so glibly now laughs sheepishly and apologizes for his error, saying that he answered without thinking, etc. This response is scored failure without further questioning.

Othersubjects, mostly above the 14-year level, adhere to the answer “50 pounds,” however strongly we urge the argument about the water holding up the fish. In response to our question, “How can that be the case?” it is sufficient if the subject replies that “The weight is there just the same; the scales have to hold up the bucket and the bucket has to hold up the water,” or words to that effect. Only some such response as this is satisfactory. If the subject keeps changing his answer or says that hethinksthe weight would be 50 pounds, but is not certain, the score is failure.

Procedure.Say to the subject: “You know, do you not, what it means when they say a gun ‘carries 100 yards’? It means that the bullet goes that far before it drops to amount to anything.” All boys and most girls more than a dozen years old understand this readily. If the subject does not understand, we explain again what it means for a gun “to carry” a given distance. When this part is clear, we proceed as follows: “Now, suppose a man is shooting at a mark about the size of a quart can. His rifle carries perfectly more than 100 yards. With such a gun is it any harder to hit the mark at 100 yards than it is at 50 yards?” After the response is given, we ask the subject to explain.

Scoring.Simply to say that it would be easier at 50 yards is not sufficient, nor can we pass the response whichmerely states that it is “easier to aim” at 50 yards. The correct principle must be given, one which shows the subject has appreciated the fact that a small deviation from the “bull’s-eye” at 50 yards, due to incorrect aim, becomes a larger deviation at 100 yards. However, the subject is not required to know that the deviation at 100 yards is exactly twice as great as at 50 yards. A certain amount of questioning is often necessary before we can decide whether the subject has the correct principle in mind.

Scoring the entire test.Two of the three problemsmust be solved in such a way as to satisfy the requirements above set forth.

Remarks.These problems were devised by the writer. They yield interesting results, when properly given, but are not without their faults. Sometimes a very superior subject fails, while occasionally an inferior subject unexpectedly succeeds. On the whole, however the test correlates fairly well with mental age. At the 14-year level less than 50 per cent pass; of “average adults,” from 60 to 75 per cent are successful. Few “superior adults” fail.

The test as here given is little influenced by the formal instruction given in the grades or the high school. In fact, 80 per cent of our uneducated business men, as contrasted with 65 per cent of high-school juniors and seniors, passed the test. Success probably depends in the main upon previous interest in physical relationships and upon the ability to understand phenomena of this kind which the subject has had opportunity to observe.

It would be interesting to standardize a longer series of problems designed to test a subject’s comprehension of common physical relationships. In the first few months of life a normal child learns that objects unsupported fall to the ground. Later he learns that fire burns; that birds fly in the air; that fish do not sink in the water; that waterdoes not run uphill; that it is easy to lift a leg or arm as one lies prone in the water; that mud is thrown from a rotating wheel (and always in the same direction); that a stone which is flying through the air swiftly is more dangerous than one which is moving slowly; that it is more dangerous to be run over by a train than by a buggy; that it is hard to run against a strong wind; that cyclones blow down trees and houses; that a rapidly moving train creates a stronger wind than a slower train; that a feather falls through the air with less speed than a stone; that a falling object gains momentum; that a heavy moving object is harder to stop than a light object moving at the same rate; that freezing water bursts pipes; that sounds sometimes give echoes; that rainbows cannot be approached; that a lamp seems dim by daylight; that by day the stars are not visible and the moon only barely visible; that the headlights of an approaching automobile or train are blinding; that if the room in which we are reading is badly lighted we must hold the book nearer to the eyes; that running makes the heart beat faster and increases the rate of breathing; that if we are cold we can get warm by running; that whirling rapidly makes us dizzy; that heat or exercise will cause perspiration, etc.

Although the causes of some of these phenomena are not understood even by intelligent adults without some instruction, the facts themselves are learned by the normal individual from his own experience. The higher the mental level and the greater the curiosity, the more observant one is about such matters and the more one learns. Many items of knowledge such as we have mentioned could and should be standardized for various mental levels. In devising tests of this kind we should, of course, have to look out for the influences of formal instruction.

FOOTNOTES:[76]SeeVIII, 6.[77]Psychological Review Monographs(1911), vol.XIII, no. 2, p. 51.

[76]SeeVIII, 6.

[77]Psychological Review Monographs(1911), vol.XIII, no. 2, p. 51.

ProcedureandScoring, as in previous vocabulary tests. At the “superior adult” level seventy-five words should be known.

The test is passed by only one third of those at the “average adult” level, but by about 90 per cent of “superior adults.” Ability to pass the test is relatively independent of the number of years the subject has attended school, our business men showing even a higher percentage of passes than high-school pupils.

Procedure.Take a piece of paper about six inches square and say: “Watch carefully what I do. See, I fold the paper this way(folding it once over in the middle),then I fold it this way(folding it again in the middle, but at right angles to the first fold).Now, I will cut out a notch right here” (indicating). At this point take scissors and cut out a small notch from the middle of the side which presents but one edge. Throw the fragment which has been cut out into the waste-basket or under the table. Leave the folded paper exposed to view, but pressed flat against the table. Then give the subject a pencil and a second sheet of paper likethe one already used and say: “Take this piece of paper and make a drawing to show how the other sheet of paper would look if it were unfolded. Draw lines to show the creases in the paper and show what results from the cutting.”

The subject is not permitted to fold the second sheet, but must solve the problem by the imagination unaided.

Note that we do not say, “Draw the holes,” as this would inform the subject that more than one hole is expected.

Scoring.The test is passedif the creases in the paper are properly represented, if the holes are drawn in the correct number, and if they are located correctly, that is, both on the same crease and each about halfway between the center of the paper and the side. The shape of the holes is disregarded.

Failure may be due to error as regards the creases or the number and location of the holes, or it may involve any combination of the above errors.

Remarks.Success seems to depend upon constructive visual imagination. The subject must first be able to construct in imagination the creases which result from the folding, and secondly, to picture the effects of the cutting as regards number of holes and their location. It appears that a solution is seldom arrived at, even in the case of college students, by logical mathematical thinking. Our unschooled subjects even succeeded somewhat better than high-school and college students of the same mental level.

Binet placed this test in year XIII of the 1908 scale, but shifted it to the adult group in the 1911 revision. Goddard retains it in the adult group, while Kuhlmann places it in year XV. There have also been certain variations in the procedure employed. As given in the Stanford revision the test is passed by hardly any subjects below the 14-year level, but by about one third of “average adults” and by the large majority of “superior adults.”

ProcedureandScoring, the same as in previous tests with digits reversed. The series used are: 7–2–5–3–4–8–9–6; 4–9–8–5–3–7–6–2; and 8–3–7–9–5–4–8–2.

Guard against rhythm and grouping in reading the digits and do not give warning as to the number to be given.

The test is passed by about one third of “average adults” and by over two thirds of “superior adults.” The test shows no marked difference between educated and uneducated subjects of the same mental level.

Procedure.Say: “I am going to read a little selection of about six or eight lines. When I am through I will ask you to repeat as much of it as you can. It doesn’t make any difference whether you remember the exact words or not, but you must listen carefully so that you can tell me everything it says.” Then read the following selections, pausing after each for the subject’s report, which should be recordedverbatim:—

Sometimes the subject hesitates to begin, thinking, in spite of our wording of the instructions, that a perfect reproduction is expected. Others fall into the opposite misunderstanding and think that they are prohibited from using the words of the text and must give the thought entirely in their own language. In cases of hesitation we should urge the subject a little and remind him that he is to express the thought of the selection in whatever way he prefers; that the main thing is to tell what the selection says.

Scoring.The test is passed if the subject is able to repeat in reasonably consecutive order the main thoughts of at least one of the selections. Neither elegance of expression norverbatimrepetition is expected. We merely want to know whether the leading thoughts in the selection have been grasped and remembered.

All grades of accuracy are found, both in the comprehension of the selection and in the recall, and it is not always easy to draw the line between satisfactory and unsatisfactory responses. The following sample performances will serve as a guide:—

Selection (a)Satisfactory.“The tests which we are making are given for the advancement of science and for the information of the person tested. By scientific means we will be able to separate characteristics derived from heredity and environment and to treat each class separately. By doing so we can more accurately correct defects.”“Tests like these are for two purposes. First to develop a science, and second to apply it to the person to help him. The tests are to find out how you differ from another and to measure the difference between your heredity and environment.”“These tests are given to see if we can separate heredity and environment and to see if we can find out how one person differs from another. We can then correct these differences and teach people more effectively.”“The tests that we are now making are valuable along both scientific and personal lines. By using them it can be found out where a person is weak and where he is strong. We can then strengthen his weak points and remedy some things that would otherwise be neglected. They are of great benefit to science and to the person concerned.”“Tests such as we are now making are of great importance because they aim to show in what respects we differ from others and why, and if they do this they will be able to guide us into the right channel and bring success instead of failure.”Unsatisfactory.“Tests such as we are now making are of value both for the advancement of science and for the information of the person interested. It is necessary to know this.”“Such tests as we are now making show about the human mind and show in what channels we are fitted. It is the testing of each individual between his effects of inheritancy and environment.”“It is very interesting for us to study science for two reasons; first, to test our mental ability, and second for the further development of science.”“Tests such as we are now making help in two ways; it helps the scientists and it gives information to the people.”“Tests are being given to pupils to-day to better them and to aid science for generations to come. If each person knows exactly his own beliefs and ideas and faults he can find out exactly what kind of work he is fitted for by heredity. The tests show that environment doesn’t count, for if you are all right you will get along anyway.” (Note invention.)Selection (b)Satisfactory.“There are different opinions about life. Some call it good and some bad. It would be more correct to say that it is middling, because we are never as happy as we would like to be and we are never as sad as our enemies want us to be.”“One hears many judgments about life. Some say it is good, while others say it is bad. But it is really neither of the extremes. Life is mediocre. We do not have as much good as we desire, nor do we have as much misfortune as others want us to have. Nevertheless, we have enough good to keep life from being unjust.”“Some people have different views of life from others. Some say it is bad, others say it is good. It is better to class life asmediocre, as it is never as good as we wish it, and on the other hand, it might be worse.”“Some people think differently of life. Some think it good, some bad, others mediocre, which is nearest correct. It brings unhappiness to us, but not as much as our enemies want us to have.”Unsatisfactory.“Some say life is good, some say it is mediocre. Even though some say it is mediocre they say it is right.”“There are two sides of life. Some say it is good while others say it is bad. To some, life is happy and they get all they can out of life. For others life is not happy and therefore they fail to get all there is in life.”“One hears many different judgments of life. Some call it good, some call it bad. It brings unhappiness and it does not have enough pleasure. It should be better distributed.”“There are different opinions of the value of life. Some say it is good and some say it is bad. Some say it is mediocrity. Some think it brings happiness while others do not.”“Nowadays there is much said about the value of life. Some say it is good, while others say it is bad. A person should not have an ill feeling toward the value of life, and he should not be unjust to any one. Honesty is the best policy. People who are unjust are more likely to be injured by their enemies.” (Note invention.)

Satisfactory.“The tests which we are making are given for the advancement of science and for the information of the person tested. By scientific means we will be able to separate characteristics derived from heredity and environment and to treat each class separately. By doing so we can more accurately correct defects.”

“Tests like these are for two purposes. First to develop a science, and second to apply it to the person to help him. The tests are to find out how you differ from another and to measure the difference between your heredity and environment.”

“These tests are given to see if we can separate heredity and environment and to see if we can find out how one person differs from another. We can then correct these differences and teach people more effectively.”

“The tests that we are now making are valuable along both scientific and personal lines. By using them it can be found out where a person is weak and where he is strong. We can then strengthen his weak points and remedy some things that would otherwise be neglected. They are of great benefit to science and to the person concerned.”

“Tests such as we are now making are of great importance because they aim to show in what respects we differ from others and why, and if they do this they will be able to guide us into the right channel and bring success instead of failure.”

Unsatisfactory.“Tests such as we are now making are of value both for the advancement of science and for the information of the person interested. It is necessary to know this.”

“Such tests as we are now making show about the human mind and show in what channels we are fitted. It is the testing of each individual between his effects of inheritancy and environment.”

“It is very interesting for us to study science for two reasons; first, to test our mental ability, and second for the further development of science.”

“Tests such as we are now making help in two ways; it helps the scientists and it gives information to the people.”

“Tests are being given to pupils to-day to better them and to aid science for generations to come. If each person knows exactly his own beliefs and ideas and faults he can find out exactly what kind of work he is fitted for by heredity. The tests show that environment doesn’t count, for if you are all right you will get along anyway.” (Note invention.)

Satisfactory.“There are different opinions about life. Some call it good and some bad. It would be more correct to say that it is middling, because we are never as happy as we would like to be and we are never as sad as our enemies want us to be.”

“One hears many judgments about life. Some say it is good, while others say it is bad. But it is really neither of the extremes. Life is mediocre. We do not have as much good as we desire, nor do we have as much misfortune as others want us to have. Nevertheless, we have enough good to keep life from being unjust.”

“Some people have different views of life from others. Some say it is bad, others say it is good. It is better to class life asmediocre, as it is never as good as we wish it, and on the other hand, it might be worse.”

“Some people think differently of life. Some think it good, some bad, others mediocre, which is nearest correct. It brings unhappiness to us, but not as much as our enemies want us to have.”

Unsatisfactory.“Some say life is good, some say it is mediocre. Even though some say it is mediocre they say it is right.”

“There are two sides of life. Some say it is good while others say it is bad. To some, life is happy and they get all they can out of life. For others life is not happy and therefore they fail to get all there is in life.”

“One hears many different judgments of life. Some call it good, some call it bad. It brings unhappiness and it does not have enough pleasure. It should be better distributed.”

“There are different opinions of the value of life. Some say it is good and some say it is bad. Some say it is mediocrity. Some think it brings happiness while others do not.”

“Nowadays there is much said about the value of life. Some say it is good, while others say it is bad. A person should not have an ill feeling toward the value of life, and he should not be unjust to any one. Honesty is the best policy. People who are unjust are more likely to be injured by their enemies.” (Note invention.)

Remarks.Contrary to what the subject is led to expect, the test is less a test of memory than of ability to comprehend the drift of an abstract passage. A subject who fully grasps the meaning of the selection as it is read is not likely to fail because of poor memory. Mere verbal memory improves but little after the age of 14 or 15 years, as is shown by the fact that our adults do little better than eighth-grade children in repeating sentences of twenty-eight syllables. On the other hand, adult intelligence is vastly superior in the comprehension and retention of a logically presented group of abstract ideas.

There is nothing in which stupid persons cut a poorer figure than in grappling with the abstract. Their thinking clings tenaciously to the concrete; their concepts are vague or inaccurate; the interrelations among their conceptsare scanty in the extreme; and such poor mental stores as they have are little available for ready use.

A few critics have objected to the use of tests demanding abstract thinking, on the ground that abstract thought is a very special aspect of intelligence and that facility in it depends almost entirely on occupational habits and the accidents of education. Some have even gone so far as to say that we are not justified, on the basis of any number of such tests, in pronouncing a subject backward or defective. It is supposed that a subject who has no capacity in the use of abstract ideas may nevertheless have excellent intelligence “along other lines.” In such cases, it is said, we should not penalize the subject for his failures in handling abstractions, but substitute, instead, tests requiring motor coördination and the manipulation of things, tests in which the supposedly dull child often succeeds fairly well.

From the psychological point of view, such a proposal is naïvely unpsychological. It is in the very essence of the higher thought processes to be conceptual and abstract. What the above proposal amounts to is, that if the subject is not capable of the more complex and strictly human type of thinking, we should ignore this fact and estimate his intelligence entirely on the ability he displays to carry on mental operations of a more simple and primitive kind. This would be like asking the physician to ignore the diseased parts of his patient’s body and to base his diagnosis on an examination of the organs which are sound!

The present test throws light in an interesting way on the integrity of the critical faculty. Some subjects are unwilling to extend the report in the least beyond what they know to be approximately correct, while others with defective powers of auto-criticism manufacture a report which draws heavily on the imagination, perhaps continuing in garrulous fashion as long as they can think of anythinghaving the remotest connection with any thought in the selection. We have included, for each selection, one illustration of this type in the sample failures given above.

The worst fault of the test is its susceptibility to the influence of schooling. Our uneducated adults of even “superior adult” intelligence often fail, while about two thirds of high-school pupils succeed. The unschooled adults have a marked tendency either to give a summary which is inadequate because of its extreme brevity, or else to give a criticism of the thought which the passage contains.

This test first appeared in Binet’s 1911 revision, in the adult group. Binet used only selection (b), and in a slightly more difficult form than we have given above. Goddard gives the test like Binet and retains it in the adult group. Kuhlmann locates it in year XV, using only selection (a). On the basis of over 300 tests of adults we find the test too difficult for the “average adult” level, even on the basis of only one success in two trials and when scored on the rather liberal standard above set forth.

ProcedureandScoring, the same as in previous tests of this kind. The series are: 4–1–6–2–5–9–3; 3–8–2–6–4–7–5; and 9–4–5–2–8–3–7.

We have collected fewer data on this test than on any of the others, as it was added later to the test series. As far as we have used it we have found few “average adults” who pass, while about half the “superior adults” do so.

Procedure.Problemais stated as follows:—

A mother sent her boy to the river and told him to bring back exactly 7 pints of water. She gave him a 3-pint vessel and a 5-pint vessel.Show me how the boy can measure out exactly 7 pints of water, using nothing but these two vessels and not guessing at the amount. You should begin by filling the 5-pint vessel first. Remember, you have a 3-pint vessel and a 5-pint vessel and you must bring back exactly 7 pints.

The problem is given orally, but may be repeated if necessary.

The subject is not allowed pencil or paper and is requested to give his solution orally as he works it out. It is then possible to make a complete record of the method employed.

The subject is likely to resort to some such method as to “fill the 3-pint vessel two thirds full,” or, “I would mark the inside of the 5-pint vessel so as to show where 4 pints come to,” etc. We inform the subject that such a method is not allowable; that this would be guessing, since he could not be sure when the 3-pint vessel was two thirds full (or whether he had marked off his 5-pint vessel accurately). Tell him he mustmeasureout the water without any guesswork. Explain also, that it is a fair problem, not a “catch.”

Say nothing about pouring from one vessel to another, but if the subject asks whether this is permissible the answer is “yes.”

The time limit for each problem is 5 minutes. If the subject fails on the first problem, we explain the solution in full and then proceed to the next.

The second problem is like the first, except that a 5-pint vessel and a 7-pint vessel are given, to get 8 pints, the subject being told to begin by filling the 5-pint vessel.

In the third problem 4 and 9 are given, to get 7, the instruction being to “begin by filling the 4-pint vessel.”

Note that in each problem we instruct the subject how to begin. This is necessary in order to secure uniformity of conditions. It is possible to solve all of the problems by beginning with either of the two vessels, but the solutionis made very much more difficult if we begin in the direction opposite from that recommended.

Give no further aid. It is necessary to refrain from comment of every kind.

Scoring.Two of the threeproblems must be solved correctly within the 5 minutesallottedto each.

Remarks.We have called this a test of ingenuity. The subject who is given the problem finds himself involved in a difficulty from which he must extricate himself. Means must be found to overcome an obstacle. This requires practical judgement and a certain amount of inventive ingenuity. Various possibilities must be explored and either accepted for trial or rejected. If the amount of invention called for seems to the reader inconsiderable, let it be remembered that the important inventions of history have not as a rule had a Minerva birth, but instead have developed by successive stages, each involving but a small step in advance.

It is unnecessary to emphasize at length the function of invention in the higher thought processes. In one form or another it is present in all intellectual activity; in the creation and use of language, in art, in social adjustments, in religion, and in philosophy, as truly as in the domains of science and practical affairs. Certainly this is true if we accept Mason’s broad definition of invention as including “every change in human activity made designedly and systematically.”[78]From the psychological point of view, perhaps, Mason is justified in looking upon the great inventor as “an epitome of the genius of the world.” To develop a Krag-Joergensen from a bow and arrow, a “velvet-tipped” lucifer match from the primitive fire-stick, or a modern piano from the first crude, stringed, musical instrument has involved much the same intellectual processes as have been operative in transforming fetishism and magicinto religion and philosophy, or scattered fragments of knowledge into science.

Psychologically, invention depends upon the constructive imagination; that is, upon the ability to abstract from what is immediately present to the senses and to picture new situations with their possibilities and consequences. Images are united in order to form new combinations.

As we have several times emphasized, the decisive intellectual differences among human beings are not greatly dependent upon mere sense discrimination or native retentiveness. Far more important than the raw mass of sense data is the correct shooting together of the sense elements in memory and imagination. This is but another name for invention. It is the synthetic, or apperceptive, activity of the mind that gives the “seven-league boots” to genius. It is, however, a kind of ability which is possessed by all minds to a greater or less degree. Any test has its value which gives a clue, as this test does, to the subject’s ability in this direction.

The test was devised by the writer and used in 1905 in a study of the intellectual processes of bright and dull boys, but it was not at that time standardized. It has been found to belong at a much higher mental level than was at first supposed. Only an insignificant number pass the test below the mental age of 14 years, and about two thirds of “average adults” fail. Of our “superior adults” somewhat more than 75 per cent succeed. Formal education influences the test little or not at all, the unschooled business men making a somewhat better showing than the high-school students.

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