Part 2 — CHAPTER XX INSTRUCTIONS FOR “SUPERIOR ADULT”

Superior adult, 1: vocabulary (seventy-five definitions, 13,500 words)

Procedure and Scoring, 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.

Superior adult, 2: Binet’s paper-cutting test

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 like the 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 passed if 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.”

Superior adult, 3: repeating eight digits

Procedure and Scoring, 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.

Superior adult, 4: repeating thought of passage

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 recorded verbatim:—

“Tests such as we are now making are of value both for the advancement of science and for the information of the person who is tested. It is important for science to learn how people differ and on what factors these differences depend. If we can separate the influence of heredity from the influence of environment, we may be able to apply our knowledge so as to guide human development. We may thus in some cases correct defects and develop abilities which we might otherwise neglect.”

“Many opinions have been given on the value of life. Some call it good, others call it bad. It would be nearer correct to say that it is mediocre; for on the one hand, our happiness is never as great as we should like, and on the other hand, our misfortunes are never as great as our enemies would wish for us. It is this mediocrity of life which prevents it from being radically unjust.”

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 nor verbatim repetition 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 as mediocre, 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 concepts are 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 anything having 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.

Superior adult, 5: repeating seven digits reversed

Procedure and Scoring, 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.

Superior adult, 6: ingenuity test

Procedure. Problem a is 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 must measure out 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 solution is 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 three problems must be solved correctly within the 5 minutes allotted to 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 magic into 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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