Chapter X · THE MENTIMETER TESTS (continued 2)
Reading edition
Scores from 0 to 9 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 10 to 21 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 22 to 32 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 33 to 44 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 45 to 60 indicate Superior Ability
178
Mentimeter No. 10b
Add:
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
2 8 5 7 1
4 9 1 4 5
(6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
8 3 4 6 2
3 0 5 9 8
(11) (12) (13) (14) (15)
6 4 4 0 1
7 3 6 7 2
(16) (17) (18) (19) (20)
3 7 2 9 6
2 9 2 3 5
(21) (22) (23) (24) (25)
7 5 7 9 6
6 2 1 4 8
(26) (27) (28) (29) (30)
3 7 6 4 5
3 4 2 8 8
179(31) (32) (33) (34) (35)
9 9 0 7 5
6 9 5 6 8
(36) (37) (38) (39) (40)
6 3 8 9 7
8 7 7 6 5
(41) (42) (43) (44) (45)
8 5 5 7 8
3 9 6 4 8
(46) (47) (48) (49) (50)
6 7 9 2 7
5 8 3 7 7
(51) (52) (53) (54) (55)
3 2 0 8 4
1 7 5 9 7
(56) (57) (58) (59) (60)
1 2 8 7 7
6 5 1 6 5
180
Differences between Mentimeters 10a and 10b.
In connection with these tests of ability in addition, a few additional words should be said to make somewhat clearer the differences between educational tests and tests of intelligence. There is, of course, no sharp line to be drawn between these two types of tests. Mentimeter No. 10b may be classified very certainly as an educational test because it involves primarily the element of speed in simple additions which is not an accurate index of intellectual capacity but depends almost altogether upon specific drill. Improvement in ability to make a score in Mentimeter No. 10a will come much more slowly than in the case of the speed test in addition. Before a child can make progress sufficient to carry him from problem 5 to problem 6 in Mentimeter 10a, he must be instructed in the mysteries of adding zero to the sum of two other numbers. Before he can make progress from problem 6 to problem 7 he must learn to put down the 2 under the right-hand column of figures and carry the 1 to the next column and add it with the digits printed there. Each additional problem that he solves involves some new elements of arithmetic knowledge which can be learned only by careful study and one at a time.
In the speed test a larger score does not indicate ability to do anything more difficult or to understand anything more complicated, but merely more rapid doing of the things which are already fully understood. In the other test, however, a larger score indicates greater comprehension of more difficult situations and therefore an intellectual capacity which is of greater magnitude.
The primary purpose of the Mentimeter tests is to measure intellectual capacity rather than school training. For this reason very few tests which may be classified as primarily educational have been included. Where they have been inserted, they have been arranged to measure the ability of the person to do more difficult tasks rather than his ability to do simple tasks more rapidly.
181
Mentimeter No. 11 MEMORY FOR NUMBERS
Character of the Test.
This test is planned as an individual examination to be given to any candidate who understands the English language. The test is borrowed directly from the Binet series and was used as a group test in the first form of the Alpha examination in the United States Army.
The usefulness of this test is probably limited to the selection of candidates for very simple mechanical operations and to the classification of pupils in the schoolroom. It might be employed as one of a series of tests in the selection of telephone operators, but its use in such a case is probably more obvious than practical.
Directions for Giving the Test.
The candidate should be seated comfortably in a quiet place and should be instructed to listen carefully. The examiner should fill out the blanks at the top of the title page, recording only such facts as seem to be necessary. The examiner should then repeat the following formula:
“I am going to read to you sixteen series of numbers. The first series will be very short and the last series will be quite long. When I have read a series I want you to repeat all of the numbers it contained. I shall read them slowly so that you can be sure to get them. Listen very carefully and try not to forget any number. Do not repeat any number until I have finished the whole series and stopped speaking.”
The examiner should announce each time just how many numbers will appear in the series. The digits should be read at the rate of one per second, taking care to avoid any rhythmic grouping of the numbers. The examiner should look up expectantly as soon as he has finished reading a series. No intimation 182should be given a candidate as to whether or not he is being successful. The first series should be read as follows:
“The First Series contains two numbers which are, 5, 6.” As soon as the candidate has repeated these numbers the examiner should say:
“The Second Series contains two numbers which are, 2, 7.”
First Series 5 6
Second 〃 2 7
Third 〃 9 3 5
Fourth 〃 4 1 6
Fifth 〃 7 4 9 3
Sixth 〃 4 8 5 7
Seventh 〃 9 5 7 3 8
Eighth 〃 6 8 1 2 4
Ninth Series 2 6 8 3 5 9
Tenth 〃 6 3 5 9 2 7
Eleventh 〃 9 5 8 3 6 2 4
Twelfth 〃 8 1 9 5 2 6 3
Thirteenth 〃 3 5 2 6 8 3 4 9
Fourteenth 〃 2 8 5 9 3 6 1 4
Fifteenth 〃 6 3 9 4 8 1 7 2 5
Sixteenth 〃 7 1 4 9 6 3 5 2 8
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The examiner should keep on the test leaflet, out of the sight of the candidate, a notation of exactly which series cause failure. Misplacement of any digit in the series should count as an error and bring no credit for that series. The total score obtained by counting the number of series in which each number was correctly repeated in its right order should be written in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the leaflet.
183Scores from 0 to 7 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 8 to 9 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 10 to 12 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 13 to 14 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 15 to 16 indicate Superior Ability
Mentimeter No. 12 REPEATING NUMBERS BACKWARD
Character of the Test.
This test can only be given as an individual examination and to people who understand spoken English. The presence of other people in the room where the test is being given is frequently the cause of low scores.
This test is borrowed bodily from the Binet series, in which it has won a distinct place for itself as a useful measure of the ability to think about symbols and abstract ideas.
This test will be of little value as an entertainment feature but will be useful to the public school teacher, or to the employer who wishes to have a brief but fairly accurate test to apply to individual people whom he may be considering for positions of responsibility. The reliability of the test is unusually high for an examination taking no more time than is required for this.
Directions for Giving the Test.
The examiner should read the following instructions clearly:
“I have twelve lists of numbers to read to you. I want you to listen carefully as I read each list, and when I say ‘Now’ you are to repeat the same numbers backward, that is, in the reverse order. For example, if I should read the numbers, 3, 4, 5, when I said ‘Now’ you should repeat them 5, 4, 3. If I read 9, 8, 7, you should say 7, 8, 9. You are to say the same numbers I read, but you are to say them just backward from the way I read them.”
The examiner should read each series very distinctly and at 184the rate of one digit per second. About five seconds before the reading of each series the examiner should call the candidate’s attention by saying, “Now listen to this set.” Allow two seconds after reading the last digit of each series before saying “Now,” or, “Now say them backward.” If the candidate has not begun to repeat the digits within thirty seconds the examiner should say “Now try this set” and should read the next list to him.
First Series 5 8
Second 〃 6 4
Third 〃 3 5 2
Fourth 〃 8 4 9
Fifth 〃 7 3 9 4
Sixth 〃 5 2 6 8
Seventh 〃 1 9 2 5 3
Eighth 〃 4 2 8 9 6
Ninth 〃 8 3 6 2 5 7
Tenth 〃 1 5 9 6 4 7
Eleventh 〃 2 6 3 7 5 8 4
Twelfth 〃 3 8 2 6 4 7 5
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The score in this test is the number of series repeated backward without error. Any misplacement in the order of the digits should be considered an error and no credit should be given for that series. The examiner will need to keep a record of just which series were correctly repeated, and will need to keep this record from the view of the candidate being examined, at least until after the examination is complete.
Scores from 0 to 4 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 5 to 6 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 7 to 8 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 9 to 10 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 11 to 12 indicate Superior Ability
185
Mentimeter No. 13 MEMORY FOR SENTENCES
Character of the Test.
At the age of two years and frequently before, the vocabulary of the ordinary child has developed to such an extent that it contains two or three hundred individual words which can be used rather effectively. By the time the child is four years of age he has increased his vocabulary very extensively and can repeat entire sentences, if they are not too long, without error. The Mentimeter here provided is intended to measure the complexity and length of a sentence which an individual can repeat correctly after having heard it only once. The reliability of this test is not very well determined and its field of usefulness is almost as indefinite. It will be interesting in social groups as a recreation and will be useful to the teacher in comparing her pupils, but it is doubtful if it can be employed in industrial work with any large group of employees. It would seem that it might, however, be found valuable as a test of telegraphers, stenographers, and dictaphone operators. The fact that it is to be given as an individual test still further limits its usefulness.
Directions for Giving the Test.
The examiner, after recording or having the candidate record on his leaflet the identifying information required, should repeat the following explanation:
“I have ten sentences which I shall read to you slowly, one sentence at a time. You are to listen very carefully while I read and then after I have finished reading a sentence you are to repeat it to me exactly as it was read.”
Each sentence should be read only once. The reading should be done slowly and distinctly with sufficient emphasis to make clear the meaning of the sentence as well as the words spoken. The candidate should be encouraged to try each sentence and 186should not be informed as to whether or not his attempts are successful. The sentences to be read are as follows:
1.
It snows in the winter.
2.
Men usually have more dignity than boys.
3.
There is no excuse for being thoughtless about the rights of other people.
4.
The price of peace may sometimes be much greater than a nation can afford to pay.
5.
It is unfortunate that war should ever be necessary among civilized nations.
6.
Their harbour is a shallow body of water connected with, but protected from, the open sea.
7.
Conscience asserting itself as the voice divine within the human soul is then a real actuality.
8.
Each state appoints a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators and representatives.
9.
These discoveries—gunpowder, printing-press, compass, and telescope—were the weapons before which the old science trembled.
10.
The use of italic type is indicated in the author’s manuscript by underscoring the letters, words, phrases, or sentences that are to be italicized.
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The candidate is to be scored as successful on each sentence repeated correctly, or repeated with the omission of not more than one unimportant word such as “the” or “a.” The omission of more than one word or of a word which changes or limits the meaning of the sentence should be considered as a failure to remember what was said.
The examiner should keep on the test leaflet a note of just which sentences were correctly repeated and which were not. The candidate should not be allowed to see or know his record. 187The total score is the number of sentences on which the candidate was successful.
Scores from 0 to 2 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 3 to 4 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 5 to 6 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 7 to 8 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 9 to 10 indicate Superior Ability
Mentimeter No. 14 SPEAKING-VOCABULARY TEST
Character of the Test.
One of the best measures of the intellectual capacity of a community or of a race of people is the complexity of the language which they find it necessary to use in their life and social intercourse. The speaking vocabulary of a tribe or of an individual is therefore an unusually accurate index of mental capacity. The present test of speaking vocabulary is designed to be used as an individual test for measuring the vocabulary of English-speaking persons. With some alterations in the directions which are given below the test might be used as a group test, but the results from such a group test would be quite different and practically not comparable with the results to be obtained when the test is given according to directions.
The individual to be examined need not be able to read English but must be able to understand ordinary conversational words and sentences. The examiner pronounces very distinctly the word which appears on his list and asks the candidate to explain the meaning of the word. The list used by the examiner contains fifty words, which are roughly graded, from the most common and well-known words used in every-day life up to very unusual and little-known words that would be found very rarely in newspaper or magazine articles. Any definition is accepted which shows that the candidate really understands the nature and use of the thing mentioned.
188This test is modelled directly upon the Vocabulary test included in the Stanford Revision of the Binet tests. It has been shown by careful scientific investigations that a test of this type is very reliable as a measure of general intellectual capacity. The excuse for having, at the end of the series, words which are little known and of no great practical value is that without such words it would be impossible to obtain a real measure of the vocabulary of writers, well-trained lawyers, and other specialists in the use of the English language. The good scientific test of intelligence always begins with elements which are so simple that the dullest mind will master them and progresses steadily to elements which are so complex and difficult that even the keenest minds have difficulty in reaching satisfactory solutions.
A test of this sort measuring general vocabulary will be very useful to employers in the selection of stenographers and other clerical workers. In the public schoolroom teachers will find it very helpful in the classification of new pupils coming to their room for the first time or in the comparison of pupils who have been observed for a long period. The disadvantage of the test is that it must be given to one individual at a time. Such procedure makes it possible, however, for the teacher or the psychologist to study the more or less intangible attitudes and reactions of the pupil which cannot be observed in group examinations. These peculiarities of the pupil are of tremendous value to the trained psychologist or to the psychiatrist in making a careful diagnosis of special mental defects.
Directions for Giving the Test.
This test should not be given in the presence of outsiders. The examiner should take the individual to as quiet a place as possible, should seat the candidate in a comfortable chair, and converse with him until he is thoroughly at ease and ready to answer any sort of question. The examiner may write on his list the response which is made by the candidate to each word in the vocabulary. The formula which should be used by the 189examiner should be as nearly as possible that of ordinary conversation, although care must be used to avoid suggesting by the form of the question any clue to the proper response. Beginning with the first word, after introducing the general idea by some such phrase as “Now, I am going to ask you the meanings of a list of words,” the examiner should say, “The first word is coat. What is a coat?”
If the candidate does not seem to understand, the question may be repeated or it may be presented as follows: “You know what a coat is, do you not? Well, what is a coat?”
Similarly, with the second word one could say, “What does the word buy, b-u-y, mean? What is the meaning of buy?” If the candidate does not understand, the question may be restated as follows: “Did you ever buy anything? What does the word buy mean?” Special care should be taken at all points to avoid suggesting the answer, giving special hints, discouraging the candidate or telling him whether or not he is being successful. He may be told at any time that he is doing well but he should not be informed whether his answer is correct or incorrect.
Not more than forty-five seconds should be allowed to the candidate for thinking about any one word. At the end of the forty-five seconds the examiner should repeat the question. If at the end of thirty seconds after the question is first repeated the candidate has still said nothing, the examiner should pass on to the next word with this introduction, “Well, here is another word. What does the word ‘book’ mean?” Under no circumstances should the candidate being examined be allowed to take or to see the word list.
Speaking-Vocabulary Test.
1.
coat
2.
buy
3.
book
4.
store
5.
piano
6.
rent
7.
beef
9.
disease 190
10.
doubt
11.
judge
12.
fortunate
13.
secretary
14.
royal
15.
canal
16.
greed
17.
blond
18.
wealth
19.
permit
20.
wisdom
21.
govern
22.
license
23.
compete
24.
Jupiter
25.
modesty
26.
policy
27.
measure
28.
enthusiasm
29.
percentage
30.
league
31.
socialism
32.
logic
33.
revere
34.
sarcasm
35.
taunt
36.
opaque
37.
débutante
38.
reparation
39.
decimate
40.
rheostat
41.
omniscient
42.
beshrew
43.
cheetah
44.
behemoth
45.
oriel
46.
megalith
47.
myelin
48.
paleography
49.
prosthetics
50.
salep
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The score of this test is the number of words which the candidate demonstrates clearly that he understands and can use. A list is provided in the appendix showing the chief meanings and uses which are likely to be mentioned by the candidate. A repetition of a word by the candidate should not be counted as evidence that he understands. For example, the candidate who replies that “doubt” means “when you doubt something” or that “greed” means “when you are greedy” has not fully proved by such a reply that these words are familiar to him. In such cases as those just mentioned the examiner may well ask, “Does it mean anything more to you?”
The best method of keeping record is to write on the test blank a notation of what reply was received, although it will 191be sufficient to make a check mark after each word satisfactorily explained and to cross out each word that is unknown if from his reply there is no doubt about the ability of the candidate to use the word. The maximum score obtainable in this test is fifty words. The score actually received should be entered on the title page of the test blank for purposes of record.
Scores from 0 to 10 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 11 to 20 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 21 to 30 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 31 to 40 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 41 to 50 indicate Superior Ability
Mentimeter No. 15 WORD DISCRIMINATION
Character of the Test.
Intellectual ability has usually been attributed in the greatest degree to those people who were best able to use their native language. This test is calculated to measure the ability of individual candidates to discriminate between the meanings of different words. Insofar as ability to draw distinctions between similar words can be taken as a measure of intellectual capacity, this test will be found useful.
It is quite certain to be entertaining as a social diversion and distinctly useful as a measure of the general familiarity of any child in the public schools with the English language. Industrial and commercial establishments may very well find that it has a distinct relationship to the kind of intelligence it would pay them to employ in certain parts of their organization.
There is no simple way of converting this test into a group test because of the added complexity of the problem which is presented when candidates are asked to write their answers. It is very much simpler to explain the difference between two words 192than to write out the explanation. It is recommended that this test be given in a quiet place where no persons other than the examiner and the candidate are present. This rule, of course, will not apply when the test is used as a parlour game.
Directions for Giving the Test.
The examiner should use the regular printed leaflet which contains the list of words to be explained. On the title page, he should enter such facts about the candidate as will identify him and satisfy the purposes of the investigation. The word list should not be shown to the candidate at all. The examiner should make a notation on his word list showing just what difference was mentioned by the candidate for each pair of words.
When the examiner has put the candidate at his ease and is ready to begin the test, he should read the following directions: “I have a list of twenty-four pairs of words. I shall read one pair at a time, and I wish you to tell me what differences you know between the two things mentioned. First, what is the difference between a bird and a fish?” If no answer is given within half a minute, the examiner may say: “You know what a bird is, do you not? You know what a fish is, don’t you? Well, what is the difference between a bird and a fish?” No additional help of any sort may be given and not more than thirty seconds should be allowed after the second asking of the question. The only formula to be used is: “What is the difference between —— and ——?”
193
What is the difference between
1.
A bird and a fish?
2.
A snake and a fly?
3.
A pen and a pencil?
4.
An eagle and a chicken?
5.
A book and a magazine?
6.
An orange and a lemon?
7.
A teacher and a preacher?
8.
Luck and pluck?
9.
Stone and china?
10.
A balloon and an airplane?
11.
To plod and to plot?
12.
To wither and to shrivel?
13.
To surprise and to astonish?
14.
Rash and reckless?
15.
Lonely and solitary?
16.
Sorrow and sadness?
17.
Plutocrat and autocrat?
18.
A rascal and a rogue?
19.
To plunder and to devastate?
20.
To relinquish and to resign?
21.
Shrewd and sagacious?
22.
Dormant and quiescent?
23.
Reconstruction and rehabilitation?
24.
Reparation and indemnity?
194
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The score in this test is the number of pairs of words between which the candidate gives at least one real difference. The differences which appear in Appendix D are suggestive of the type of differences which may be mentioned by the candidate, but the list there furnished is not complete. One should not assume that the candidate knows the difference between the two things for which the words stand until the candidate has described one real difference pretty clearly. Such answers as, “Oh, they are different, entirely different,” or “One is one thing and the other is something else” should not be considered as correct in any respect. The idea that the person knows a difference without being able to explain it should not influence in any way the judgment of the examiner. The difference must not only be known, but must be clearly expressed before credit is given for any pair.
The total score possible in this test is twenty-four points. The total score actually made by any candidate should be entered in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the leaflet.
Scores from 0 to 4 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 5 to 9 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 10 to 16 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 17 to 20 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 21 to 24 indicate Superior Ability.
Mentimeter No. 16 NAMING OPPOSITES
Character of the Test.
The Opposites test in one form or another has been used for a long while with remarkable accuracy as a measure of one’s familiarity with language and his general intellectual competence. The Mentimeter form is superior to the ordinary form of the Opposites test in that it is fairly well graded in its difficulty, from simple problems to very difficult problems, thus 195securing an added value as an intelligence test. It differs from the Alpha form used in the Army in that it is necessary in the Mentimeter test to write the word which is the opposite of the key word given, while in the Army two words were given which might be opposites or synonyms and the soldier was asked to check whether the words meant the “same” or the “opposite.” One difficulty with the military form was that if a man knew nothing at all about the words used, he would, nevertheless, by chance have half of his answers correct. In the present Mentimeter form, a man must not only use his judgment to decide between two words but he must have fairly rich associations between the key word and its opposites and be able to select from all of these associations the one which is most appropriate.
This test may be given as an individual examination, but it is planned as a group examination for as many candidates as can be conveniently seated in the room provided for the examination. Only persons who can read and write the English language should be tested with this Mentimeter.
Directions for Giving the Test.
As soon as the blanks on the title page of the booklet have been correctly filled in, under the direction of the examiner, the candidates should be asked to read silently the directions printed below these blanks while he reads them aloud: “When you open your booklets, you will find on the inside forty words each followed by a dotted line on which you are to write a corresponding list of forty words. You are to write after each word the word which in your mind means just the opposite to the word that is printed. Notice the three samples printed below:
On the line after each word, write the word which means just the opposite of the printed word.
(Samples)
A. bad good
B. girl boy
C. down up
196“The opposite of bad is ‘good’ and therefore ‘good’ has been written after the word ‘bad’; the opposite of ‘girl’ is ‘boy’ and therefore the word ‘boy’ has been written after the word ‘girl’; the opposite of the word ‘down’ is ‘up’ and therefore ‘up’ has been written after the word ‘down’.
“You will be allowed exactly four minutes in which to write the opposites of as many words as you know in the list. Begin with the first word. Ready! Open your books! Go to work!”
Exactly four minutes after saying “Go!”, the examiner should call, “Stop! Close your books and hand them to me!” The papers should be collected immediately.
On the line after each word, write the word which means just the opposite of the printed word.
1.
good
2.
rich
3.
little
4.
new
5.
hard
6.
dark
7.
dirty
8.
sick
9.
north
10.
empty
11.
push
12.
wrong
13.
beginning
14.
narrow
15.
morning
16.
nowhere
17.
stale
18.
busy
19.
to float
20.
smooth
21.
wild
22.
strength
23.
innocent
24.
wisdom
25.
positive
26.
inferior
27.
ancient
28.
result
29.
stingy
30.
abstract
31.
partiality
32.
diligent
33.
frugal
34.
spurious
35.
elation
36.
expedite
37.
diffident
38.
homogeneous
39.
intrepid
40.
sycophantic
197
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The score in this test is the total number of words for which the exact opposite has been written. Some considerable time will be saved by using the stencil provided with each package of test booklets. The total score as finally obtained should be written in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the booklet.
Scores from 0 to 7 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 8 to 12 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 13 to 25 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 26 to 32 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 33 to 40 indicate Superior Ability.
Mentimeter No. 17 SPELLING TEST
Character of the Test.
All of the investigations which have been made into the subject of spelling in relation to general intelligence seem to indicate that good spellers are “born and not made.” Of course intelligent people also are “born and not made.” Strange to say, a person may be very intelligent without being an expert speller or a person may be a fairly able speller without being keen intellectually. This Mentimeter is therefore not to be considered as reliable an index of intelligence as most of the others.
There are two methods by which one might determine the ability of any average individual in spelling. One might measure how difficult a word was necessary in order to cause failure or one might take words all of the same difficulty and measure what percentage of them were misspelled by the candidate. List A in the series which follows is of the first sort, measuring how difficult a word must be before it causes trouble and List 198B is of the second sort, measuring how many words of the same difficulty can be spelled correctly by the individual tested. These words are selected from the Ayers Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling. Mentimeter List A consists of two words from each degree of difficulty from B to Z in the Ayers list. Mentimeter List B is chosen from List R of the Ayers Scale.
Directions for Giving the Test.
Whether the examination is to be with List A or with List B the candidates should be supplied with the Mentimeter leaflet and should be asked first of all to write their names, ages and other necessary information on the title page. When this information has been obtained the examiner should read the following directions:
“I shall pronounce to you a list of fifty words. You are to listen carefully and then to write on the blank provided for it the word which I pronounce. Be very careful to form your letters distinctly in order that I may know whether or not you know how to spell these words. Do not ask any questions, for I shall not answer them. Each word will be pronounced only twice, so listen carefully in order not to make it necessary to ask for a further repetition.”
The examiner should pronounce each word very distinctly. He should, before pronouncing the word, give the serial number of the word in order that it may be recorded on the proper blank by the candidate. The formula to be used should be as follows:
“The first word is ‘go,’—go.” After waiting for ten or not more than fifteen seconds, the next word should be pronounced as follows: “The second word is ‘at,’—at.”
It is the intention that each individual shall have ample opportunity to understand the word to be spelled and to write his spelling of it, but that the conditions shall remain uniform for all.
199 List A
1.
go
2.
at
3.
can
4.
run
5.
ten
6.
bed
7.
good
8.
little
9.
like
10.
book
11.
make
12.
hand
13.
tell
14.
five
15.
spring
16.
plant
17.
game
18.
hard
19.
week
20.
mile
21.
summer
22.
express
23.
railroad
24.
ticket
25.
death
26.
learn
27.
district
28.
pleasure
29.
prison
30.
family
31.
factory
32.
president
33.
illustrate
34.
education
35.
century
36.
difference
37.
organize
38.
estimate
39.
foreign
40.
difficulty
41.
reference
42.
secretary
43.
athletic
44.
February
45.
preliminary
46.
annual
47.
decision
48.
principle
49.
judgment
50.
recommend
200 List B
1.
Christmas
2.
interest
3.
popular
4.
treasure
5.
search
6.
complete
7.
against
8.
consider
9.
tomorrow
10.
general
11.
distribute
12.
injure
13.
service
14.
article
15.
feature
16.
manner
17.
increase
18.
convention
19.
together
20.
diamond
21.
common
22.
purpose
23.
director
24.
attention
25.
already
26.
according
27.
provision
28.
object
29.
different
30.
prefer
31.
busy
32.
vessel
33.
prepare
34.
wreck
35.
promise
36.
illustrate
37.
secure
38.
adopt
39.
success
40.
toward
41.
machine
42.
publication
43.
visitor
44.
salary
45.
entertain
46.
wear
47.
education
48.
avenue
49.
combination
50.
forenoon
Directions for Scoring the Test.
No word should be given credit unless it is spelled correctly. If a word is so illegible that the examiner cannot easily tell whether or not it is correctly spelled it should be counted as wrong. The total number of words correctly spelled should be entered in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the 201test leaflet, and should be followed by a notation of the list used.
In List A
Scores from 0 to 20 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 21 to 35 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 36 to 45 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 46 to 50 indicate High Average or Superior Ability
In List B
Scores from 0 to 10 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 11 to 24 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 25 to 40 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 41 to 46 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 47 to 50 indicate Superior Ability
It is not to be expected that an individual’s score will be the same exactly in List A as in List B or that his classification based on this score will be just the same. The two lists are not perfectly adjusted in this matter and if they were it would still be possible for a person of “Average Ability” in List A to obtain “Low Average” scores in List B.
In public school work teachers will probably find List A more instructive than List B, although List B will be almost as useful in classifying pupils, especially when used in connection with the following table of average results.
The average Second Grade pupil should spell 6 words in List B
The average Third Grade pupil should spell 14 words in List B
The average Fourth Grade pupil should spell 25 words in List B
The average Fifth Grade pupil should spell 33 words in List B
The average Sixth Grade pupil should spell 40 words in List B
The average Seventh Grade pupil should spell 44 words in List B
The average Eighth Grade pupil should spell 47 words in List B
202
Mentimeter No. 18 RANGE OF INFORMATION
Character of the Test.
This test is a very entertaining and useful task for any group to work upon. It is based upon the assumption that general intelligence will result in the extension of one’s general knowledge and information about affairs in many fields. The test requires, for its perfect solution, knowledge of all sorts of facts in a great variety of fields.
The General Information test used in the Army Alpha series was very frequently subject to criticism from officers and men because not a sufficient number of questions was asked about matters which pertained to their own field of work. The physicians, for example, expressed regret that there were so few questions referring to medicine or anatomy, while the engineers were just as much inclined to believe that the test would have been improved had it included a larger number of questions applying directly to their field. Of course the purpose of the test is to avoid specializing in any particular field and to cover just as wide a range as possible of general information.
An effort has been made to graduate the difficulty of the questions asked in the Mentimeter form of this test, in order to obtain as much additional merit as possible in the measurement of intellectual capacity. This test will be useful in almost any educational or industrial organization. It is probable, however, that its usefulness in school will not be as great as in life outside of the schools. As little of the material has been drawn from educational experiences as seemed possible. A great deal of amusement can be obtained in a social group by reading aloud the answers checked by members of the group.
203
Directions for Giving the Test.
When the candidates are comfortably seated and provided with pencils, the examiner should distribute the booklets to them with the request that they be not opened until directions are given. When the information blanks on the title page have been filled out satisfactorily, the examiner should ask the candidates to read silently the directions printed on the title page while he reads them aloud.
“On the inside of this booklet, when you are told to open it, you will find 40 different sentences, at the end of each one of which there is a list of words from which you are to choose the proper one to be the last word. When you are told to turn the page, begin with the first sentence and make a check mark (✓) in the little square in front of the best word to use as an ending. Choose the word which will make the truest sentence. Choose only one word for each ending. If you are not absolutely certain which is the most truthful, make a guess and try the next sentences. Ready! Go!”
(FOR TESTS SEE PAGES 204–207)
204Make a check mark (✓) in the square in front of that one of the four words which makes the best sentence and tells the most exact truth.
1.
The JERSEY is a kind of ☐ COW ☐ DOG ☐ CAT ☐ HORSE
2.
GOLF is played with ☐ CARDS ☐ DICE ☐ CLUBS ☐ BUTTONS
3.
FATIMA is the name of a ☐ CIGAR ☐ CLOTH ☐ PIPE ☐ CIGARETTE
4.
A SAW is used by a ☐ PAINTER ☐ PLUMBER ☐ CARPENTER ☐ PLASTERER
5.
An EMERALD is ☐ GREEN ☐ RED ☐ BLUE ☐ BLACK
6.
DETROIT is noted for its ☐ BREWING ☐ TEXTILES ☐ AUTOMOBILES ☐ PRINTING
7.
A SPANIEL is a kind of ☐ SHEEP ☐ GOAT ☐ DOG ☐ MULE
8.
MAUDE ADAMS is noted as a ☐ DANCER ☐ ACTRESS ☐ NURSE ☐ WRITER
9.
CANDY is made by ☐ FORD ☐ HUYLER ☐ COLGATE ☐ MACMILLAN
10.
The CIVIL WAR began in ☐ 1848 ☐ 1860 ☐ 1861 ☐ 1865 205
11.
The SHERIFF is an officer of the ☐ CITY ☐ COUNTY ☐ STATE ☐ NATION
12.
RUBENS is famous as a ☐ POET ☐ SCIENTIST ☐ CARTOONIST ☐ PAINTER
13.
The HARLEY DAVIDSON is an ☐ AUTOMOBILE ☐ AËROPLANE ☐ MOTORCYCLE ☐ KITE
14.
MEREDITH NICHOLSON is a ☐ HUMORIST ☐ NOVELIST ☐ POET ☐ MUSICIAN
15.
BUILT LIKE A SKYSCRAPER is an “ad” for a ☐ BED ☐ TRUNK ☐ FILING-CASE ☐ STOVE
16.
The KILOMETER measures ☐ ELECTRICITY ☐ DISTANCE ☐ GAS ☐ WATER
17.
The TIBIA is in the ☐ LEG ☐ ARM ☐ CHEST ☐ HEAD
18.
CORAL is found in ☐ TREES ☐ REEFS ☐ MOLLUSKS ☐ MINES
19.
CLYSMIC is a kind of ☐ WINE ☐ CLOTH ☐ WATER ☐ METAL
20.
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN was written by ☐ POE ☐ STOWE ☐ HAWTHORNE ☐ IRVING 206
21.
JOHN HAY was a ☐ BANKER ☐ ENGINEER ☐ PREACHER ☐ STATESMAN
22.
VASSAR COLLEGE is at ☐ POUGHKEEPSIE ☐ ITHACA ☐ BOSTON ☐ CAMBRIDGE
23.
A SUBPOENA is used in ☐ INSURANCE ☐ MEDICINE ☐ LAW ☐ WAR
24.
The number of a BANTU’S legs is ☐ ONE ☐ TWO ☐ FOUR ☐ EIGHT
25.
SAMPSON BRASS is a character in ☐ SCOTT ☐ POE ☐ DICKENS ☐ BURNS
26.
The HANDLEY-PAGE plane is made in ☐ FRANCE ☐ JAPAN ☐ ENGLAND ☐ AMERICA
27.
The FALCON is an ☐ INSECT ☐ BIRD ☐ TOOL ☐ STONE
28.
DRIBBLE is a term used in ☐ HUNTING ☐ THEOLOGY ☐ LAW ☐ ATHLETICS
29.
PHEZ is a ☐ FABRIC ☐ DANCE ☐ GAME ☐ DRINK
30.
HIGGINS manufactures ☐ FURNITURE ☐ BOOKS ☐ GLASSWARE ☐ INK 207
31.
GUAVA is a kind of ☐ FISH ☐ BIRD ☐ ANIMAL ☐ FRUIT
32.
An EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE is also ☐ RIGHT ☐ ISOSCELES ☐ SCALENE ☐ ACUTE
33.
The BATTLE OF HASTINGS was in ☐ 1066 ☐ 1215 ☐ 1453 ☐ 1607
34.
The AORTA originates in the ☐ HEAD ☐ FEET ☐ ALPS ☐ HEART
35.
ENDIVE is a kind of ☐ STONE ☐ TOOL ☐ PLANT ☐ ANIMAL
36.
SEOUL is in ☐ PERSIA ☐ KOREA ☐ INDIA ☐ SYRIA
37.
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY discovered ☐ PONGEE ☐ AUSTRALIA ☐ OXYGEN ☐ PRINTING
38.
The OBOE is used in ☐ MUSIC ☐ MEDICINE ☐ GEOLOGY ☐ RELIGION
39.
CHALLIS is a kind of ☐ DISH ☐ DRINK ☐ DANCE ☐ CLOTH
40.
A RHESUS is a kind of ☐ FISH ☐ BIRD ☐ ANIMAL ☐ REPTILE
208At the end of four minutes the examiner should call “Stop! The time is up!” He should use care to see that no answers are checked after the signal to stop has been given.
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The score in this test is the number of sentences in which the right conclusion has been checked. Credit should not be given for checking any other word than the correct one. The use of the stencil, which is provided with each package of test booklets, will save a great deal of eye strain, mental fatigue, and time in marking these tests. This stencil makes it possible for an ordinary clerk to score the 40 sentences accurately in a fraction of a minute.
The total score in the test should be entered at the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the test booklet.
Scores from 0 to 3 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 4 to 10 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 11 to 23 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 24 to 30 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 31 to 40 indicate Superior Ability
Mentimeter No. 19 READING VOCABULARY
Character of the Test.
One of the most valuable measures of any individual or group of individuals is the extent of the vocabulary found necessary for communication and social activities. The Vocabulary test which is used in connection with the Stanford Revision of the Binet test, and which is quite similar to Mentimeter No. 14, has been shown to be unusually reliable as a measure of general intelligence. The Reading-Vocabulary test is probably not so widely usable as the Speaking-Vocabulary test, but it can be 209applied as a group test and is therefore probably destined to much more extensive usefulness than the individual test.
The Reading-Vocabulary test cannot, of course, be given to individuals whose ability in reading is less than that ordinarily possessed by third-grade public school children. The candidate must not only be able to recognize the words that appear in the test and to know their meanings, but he must also be able to classify them as belonging to a particular group of objects. The method of the test requires the child to make a check mark under the family name which would include the particular word appearing on the vocabulary list. The instructions will not be understood except by fairly intelligent persons, but for those who can understand the instructions and who do their best on the test, a very useful measure will be the result.
Although this test would seem at first glance to be particularly well adapted to the selection of clerical workers, past experience has convinced the writers that it is also useful in the selection of organizers and directors of men as well as of organizers and directors of thought. The relationship between the score in this test and the general efficiency of an employee is unusually high.
Teachers will find the Reading Vocabulary a splendid index of the advancement attained by new pupils coming into their rooms for the first time or of the pupils who have been with them for some time. It is useless to try to have pupils explain the meaning of magazine articles or of selections from their geographies when they do not even understand the words used in these discussions. It would be very much worth while for a teacher, when she has employed this test, to compare the difficulty of the words which cause the majority of her class to stumble and fail with the difficulty of the words used in the ordinary text-books of the school.
In any social group the classification of the forty words in this list would be found rather interesting particularly when the errors made by different members of the group were read aloud for the amusement of the entire group. It should not be suggested, 210when the test is to be used in this way, that there is any distinct relationship between achievement in the test and achievement in life, else some of the group will be very much disappointed in their scores.
Every effort should be made to have such a group feel that this was simply a new type of puzzle. The results obtained under such conditions should not be compared with the results obtained under the standard conditions outlined below.
Directions for Giving the Test.
The candidates to be examined should be comfortably seated and provided with well-sharpened pencils. The examiner should then announce that the booklets which he would distribute were not to be opened until instructions to that effect were issued. Booklets should be distributed unopened, one to each individual. Further directions should be issued as soon as each candidate is supplied with the booklet, authorizing each individual to write his name, his age, and such other information as is desirable on the title page of the booklet. When these preliminaries have been finished the examiner should say:
“When I ask you to open your booklet, you will find on the inside a list of forty different words. The test is to determine how many of these words you can read and identify. At the top of the page you will find the words, Animal, Body, Bird, Colour, Clothes, Fish, Time, Tool, and War. Each of the forty words to be identified is connected with or is a kind of Animal, Body, Bird, Colour, or other kind of thing mentioned at the top of the page. The page is ruled both ways. You are to look at each word in the column on the left and to make a check mark at the right of it, under the general word showing whether the word you are marking is an Animal, a Body, a Bird, or something else. You will be allowed exactly four minutes in which to check the words. Mark as many of the words as you possibly can but be sure to check them correctly. Ready! Go!”
211
Indicate the meaning of each of the forty words in the column on the left by making a mark (✓) under the proper word.
CONNECTED WITH, OR A KIND OF
ANIMAL BODY BIRD COLOUR CLOTHES FISH TIME TOOL WAR
arm 1
cow 2
stocking 3
yellow 4
sparrow 5
shirt 6
calf 7
hammer 8
shin 9
saw 10
wren 11
tan 12
cod 13
troops 14
year 15
conquer 16
stag 17
minnow 18
month 19
kimono 20
rampart 21
thigh 22
carmine 23
partridge 24
sturgeon 25
ratchet 26
interim 27
peccary 28
mauve 29
citadel 30
ephemeral 31
tartan 32
peritoneum 33
petrel 34
tench 35
vomer 36
burgonet 37
burin 38
desman 39
tinamou 40
212At the end of exactly four minutes the examiner should call “Stop! Time up! Close your papers and hand them to me.” All papers should be collected at once.
Directions for Scoring the Test.
The total score in this test is the number of words correctly checked. The work of checking the accuracy of marks made by the candidates is very much simplified by the stencil which accompanies each package of examination booklets. This stencil indicates exactly where a check should be made in each case.
The total number of words correctly checked should be entered in the lower right-hand corner of the title page of the examination booklet.
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
Mentimeter No. 20 READING: DIRECTIONS
Character of the Test.
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 me 213know 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.
Directions for Giving the Test.
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! The 214time is up! Turn over your leaflet and hand it to me.” The test sheets should be collected at once.
Do what it says.
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 quantity 215than 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.
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
Directions for Scoring the Test.
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 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
216
Mentimeter No. 21 READING: INTERPRETATION
Character of the Test.
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 census 217figures 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.
Directions for Giving the Test.
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.
218FIND 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.
219WRITE THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS
1.
Who like to play in the street?
2.
Where do little girls like to play?
3.
Who learn to help their mothers?
4.
Where do older boys find jobs?
5.
In what two ways are people said to differ early in life?
6.
What kinds of food are mentioned?
7.
For what purpose do people work with wool and cotton?
8.
What reason is given for building houses?
9.
What is the topic of the first paragraph?
10.
Why are differences between people spoken of in the second paragraph as a wise provision of nature?
11.
Check the right answer to this question: What does the second paragraph suggest as the probable result upon the world’s work if all people were just alike?
☐ It would not be done.
☐ Some of it would be improved.
☐ It would be well done.
☐ Much of it would be poorly done.
12.
What characteristic of a task needs to correspond to the ability of the worker?
13.
What is suggested in the third paragraph as the probable result of failing to place men in positions suited to their abilities?
14.
It is quite common to determine a man’s ability by trying him out in the job. What objection to this plan does any word in the third paragraph suggest?
15.
What procedure is said to be a practical means of saving time and money in the selection of men for positions?
16.
What is stated as a probable cause for general gratification at some future time?
220
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 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
Mentimeter No. 22 DISARRANGED SENTENCES
Character of the Test.
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 check 221marks 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.
Directions for Giving the Test.
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 carefully 222at 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 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.
223
Put a period at the end of the word which would come last if the words on each line were arranged in a sentence.
1. IS WHITE SNOW 1
2. THE IS BIRD A ROBIN 2
3. WATER IN FISH SWIM 3
4. WHITE IN LIVE HOUSES PEOPLE 4
5. WITH TO ARE HEAR EARS OUR 5
6. THE IN SETS WEST SUN THE 6
7. GOOD FIGHT COUNTRY SOLDIERS THEIR FOR 7
8. WINTER THE COLDEST THE ARE MONTHS 8
9. IS A MILK AND FOOD HEALTHFUL GOOD 9
10. FROM EARTH DIAMONDS THE MINED ARE 10
11. FOOD VALUABLE POTATOES AS ARE A 11
12. AND ON GROW ORANGES TREES APPLES 12
13. FOUGHT FRANCE GERMANY AND AGAINST ENGLAND 13
14. ALWAYS DEEDS SHOULD BAD PUNISHED BE 14
15. SEVERAL OCEAN THE TAKES DAYS CROSS TO IT 15
16. FEW MAKING A IMPOSSIBLE AVOID IT TO IS MISTAKES 16
17. CAN NIGHTS ON BE MANY NOT THE SEEN MOON 17
18. CLOTHING USEFUL ARE FOR AND MAKING WOOL SILK 18
19. BY COMMONLY IS DEBATERS VERY METHOD IRONY A USED 19
20. EXTREMELY POISONOUS WARFARE MANY THE OF ARE IN USED GASES 20
22421. UNFORTUNATE IT MANUAL CONSIDERED IS THAT SOMETIMES LABOUR DEGRADING 21
22. CERTAIN THE ARE OF AND CRIMES NAMES BIGAMY LEGAL PERJURY 22
23. THE BETWEEN BY AND ARE DIFFERENCES STUDIED REASONING PSYCHOLOGISTS HABIT BEING 23
24. MORE TRAITS DESIRABLE CHARACTER STEALING TIMIDITY OF AND ARE MEEKNESS THAN 24
25. FACT CAN OBSERVED MAY KIND METHODS TO APPLIED EVERY STATISTICAL THAT BE OF 25
Directions for Scoring the Test.
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 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
225
Mentimeter No. 23 COMPLETION OF SENTENCES
Character of the Test.
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 present 226with 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.
227
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.
228 Write only one word on each blank.
1.
The dog’s name .......... Jack.
2.
Little children go .......... bed early.
3.
The boy .......... two dollars to the Red Cross.
4.
The little .......... likes .......... play with her dolls.
5.
Puppies .......... kittens grow to be .......... and cats.
6.
The best children .......... the most friends.
7.
One should .......... be rude to his ..........
8.
The poor .......... was hurt when he slipped and ..........on the street.
9.
It .......... amusing .......... watch men chasing their hats on a..........day.
10.
Almost any man .......... if he really tries.
11.
The elephant is a favourite .......... with children because of .......... .......... and shape.
12.
The .......... who .......... a club and .......... a uniform was a policeman.
13.
.......... a hot day nothing .......... thirst so well as a .......... of .......... water.
14.
.......... is more than merely .......... a flag and cheering when the soldiers .......... .......... home.
15.
Anything .......... is not .......... doing .......... is hardly worth .......... at all.
16.
One .......... not .......... money to .......... worthy charity.
17.
.......... learning a new operation it is sometimes .......... not to .......... .......... all than to practise the .......... way of .......... it.
18.
Those things .......... .......... no fear .......... sometimes .......... harmful.
19.
.......... drink .......... one is .......... is a .......... pleasure.
20.
.......... one .......... their presence .......... not, .......... does .........., .......... a rule, .......... one’s guests.
229
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 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
230
Mentimeter No. 24 ANALOGIES OR MIXED RELATIONS TEST
Character of the 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 discrimination 231in the selection of that word which has the proper relation 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 the number of elements correctly supplied has a very definite relation to the difficulty of 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 between 232ability 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.
Directions for Giving the Test.
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.
233
Write a fourth word which fits the third in the same way the second word fits the first.
1st Sample: BOX Boxes CAT ........
2nd Sample: DOWN Up IN ........
3rd Sample: EYES See EARS ........
“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.
234
Write a fourth word which fits the third in the same way the second word fits the first.
FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH
1. CAR Cars DOG ........ 1
2. FRONT Back NEAR ........ 2
3. HAT Head SHOE ........ 3
4. BOY Boy’s CAT ........ 4
5. ICE Cold FIRE ........ 5
6. BIRD Flies FISH ........ 6
7. MEN’S Man HENS’ ........ 7
8. BREAD Eat WATER ........ 8
9. ACTOR Theater TEACHER ........ 9
10. HE Him SHE ........ 10
11. PRIEST Religion ATTORNEY ........ 11
12. CAT Kitten HORSE ........ 12
13. DO Did BUY ........ 13
14. SCULPTOR Statue PAINTER ........ 14
15. BOY Man LAMB ........ 15
16. TOP Bottom CEILING ........ 16
17. WATER Fish AIR ........ 17
18. TRAIN Engineer AUTOMOBILE ........ 18
19. STAND Stood BE ........ 19
20. CATTLE Herd FISH ........ 20
21. WORK Day SLEEP ........ 21
22. THREW Thrown ROSE ........ 22
23. GOOSE Gander DUCK ........ 23
24. BANTAM Fowl MERINO ........ 24
25. GIRL Girls’ WOMAN ........ 25
26. WRONG Right STEAL ........ 26
27. FOOT Feet AVIATRIX ........ 27
28. HOUSES House CRITERIA ........ 28
29. QUEEN Queens’ JONES ........ 29
30. PESSIMIST Optimist EXOTERIC ........ 30
235
Scoring the Test.
The Analogies test is scored according to the number of lines in which the candidate has written the proper fourth word. With each package of test blanks a stencil is furnished by means of which any one may score the results very quickly. The stencil is to be placed along the page next to the written column of words, and where the written word on the page corresponds to the word or words printed on the stencil at that level the written word stands as correct. Where there is disagreement between the written word and the words printed at that level on the stencil, a diagonal line (/) should be drawn through the number at the end of the written word to indicate that an error has been made. Where no word has been written on the blank, the number at the end of the blank may be circled to indicate the omission.
The final score should be written in the lower right-hand corner of the front cover of the test booklet. This final score is found by adding all the correct responses (the numbers not crossed out or circled). Since there are thirty lines, the maximum score possible is 30.
Scores from 0 to 5 indicate Inferior Ability
Scores from 6 to 12 indicate Low Average Ability
Scores from 13 to 23 indicate Average Ability
Scores from 24 to 26 indicate High Average Ability
Scores from 27 to 30 indicate Superior Ability
About 30 per cent. of a group of college graduates should be expected to secure Superior ratings, about 50 per cent. High Average, and the remainder only Average ratings.
236
Mentimeter No. 25 HANDWRITING
Character of the Test.
Many pseudo-scientists have claimed the ability to interpret character and intelligence, and the past and the future, by means of an individual’s handwriting. The present test has no relation to such misguided efforts. This test is designed to measure accurately the speed at which one can write, and to indicate the general quality of the product produced at that speed.
Large groups of individuals may be examined at the same time by this test, although it may be used as a test of an individual if necessary. It is quite certain that an individual who works at such a task as that set by this test in the company of other people will succeed better than if he works at it alone. The results obtained when an individual is tested alone are not exactly comparable, therefore, to the results which would be attained if he were tested in a group.
The general quality of one’s handwriting has very little relation to his general intellectual ability. Some of our most intelligent men write a hand which is hardly legible, and the authors have seen some beautiful handwriting produced by feeble-minded children. It is, nevertheless, worth while for many employers to have in their records of the qualifications of employees an exact record of the speed and quality of each employee’s handwriting. This record may never be of any use, but, on the other hand, it may at some time be of very great value unexpectedly.
In the public schools, measurements of handwriting quality may be crudely done with the present Mentimeter or more accurately done with the scales of Thorndike, Ayres, or Starch. It seems probable that by the time children have attained the “Average” quality contained in the Mentimeter and are 237writing at “High Average” speed it would be worth while for the teacher to excuse them from further drill as long as they maintain that standard in their every-day work. It will hardly be found necessary in practical life outside the school to write a better quality than “Average” except in a very few specialized occupations.
Directions for Giving the Test.
Candidates should be supplied with pen and ink and seated at a convenient table or desk. The test leaflet should then be passed out and explanations given of how to fill out the blanks on the title page. When all of the identifying information has been entered on the title page, the examiner should direct as follows: “This test is intended to discover how rapidly and how well you can write with pen and ink. Turn your papers over and notice at the top of the page the two printed lines:
“Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow.
“When you are told to begin you are to copy these two lines over and over again just as many times as you possibly can before I call ‘Stop.’ Try to use your very best handwriting every time you copy. I shall allow you two minutes in which to write. As soon as I say ‘Stop,’ I want you to hold your pen up so that I can see you have obeyed the command. Remember that when I say ‘Write,’ you are to copy the two lines over and over again as rapidly and as well as you can. Ready, Write.” Exactly two minutes (120 seconds) after saying “Write” the examiner should call “Stop! Hold up your pens! Now lay them down on the table. Blot your paper and hand it to me.” All papers should be collected at once to avoid unfair work.
238
Directions for Scoring the Test.
Each handwriting leaflet is to receive two scores, one for quality of handwriting and one for speed. The score in speed should be obtained by counting the number of letters written and dividing the result by two, this will be simplified somewhat by remembering that the sentence, “Mary had a little lamb” contains 18 letters and that the sentence, “Its fleece was white as snow” contains 23 letters, which makes 41 letters for each time the two sentences are repeated. The score in speed thus obtained by taking half of the total number of letters written should be entered on the proper blank at the lower right-hand corner of the title page.