16 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. ivol.xv, 



requested to examine all nurses at the base hospital and to make comparison of the psychological 

 ratings of the 50 best and the 50 poorest men in each of several companies. 



By the middle of October the survey of enlisted men was progressing rapidly; as many 

 as 1,100 were given group examination in a single day. When, on November 5, the work of 

 this camp was inspected by Maj. Yerkes, the organization of the staff, its relations to the 

 activities of the medical department, to the personnel office, and to the headquarters staff, 

 were eminently satisfactory and in all directions work was progressing rapidly and with 

 maximal serviceableness. 



One member of the psychological staff was detailed during November to serve with the 

 psychiatrists of the division in order that cases requiring intelligence examination might be 

 reported on promptly. The chief psychological examiner, primarily for educational purposes, 

 held many conferences with regimental and company officers as well as with officers of the 

 staff and members of the Medical Corps. The need was early recognized in this camp for the 

 organization of service battalions, to which might be referred men of very low grade intelligence 

 who, although undesirable for regular military service because of slowness in learning, might 

 yet be used to advantage as common laborers. 



The survey of this camp had been practically completed by December 1 and except for 

 the uncertainty concerning the future conduct of psychological work the greater part of the 

 staff would have been transferred at once to some other station. 



The total of examinations in Camp Lee to December 8, 1917, was 31,520. This covers 

 the examination of 1,317 officers, 19,913 white enlisted men, and 3,285 negro enlisted men. 

 Individual examination was made of 339 men. When the psychological survey in Camp Lee 

 was progressing at maximum speed, approximately 5,000 men were examined each week. 



In this camp the division surgeon appreciated the possibilities of improving his service 

 by obtaining reliable information concerning the professional training, the intellectual ability, 

 and the military value of every individual. He therefore developed a qualification card on 

 which the several important bits of information might be recorded and, with the assistance 

 of the personnel officer and the chief psychological examiner, made systematic study of the 

 medical officers of the camp. This information was later used most effectively for purposes 

 of reorganization. Incompetent officers were tried out in new positions in order to discover 

 whether they were misfits or all-round incompetents. Many were transferred, some discharged, 

 and the divisional medical service was markedly improved. The commanding general of the 

 division also took pains to inquire into the possible values of ratings of officers and enlisted men. 

 His sympathetic and intelligent interest in the work of the personnel bureau and of that of 

 the psychological staff facilitated these lines of inquiry and rendered their results unusually 

 valuable to the division. 



Col. Henry Alden Shaw, M. C, officially inspected psychological service at Camp Lee on 

 November 7, 1917. 



Camp Taylor. — The commanding officer of the base hospital, Camp Taylor on September 

 27, 1917, assigned seven wards to the psychological staff for conduct of its work. During the 

 next two weeks necessary equipment was secured and installed. On October 29 the chief 

 psychological examiner, Lieut. Marion R. Trabue, in conference with the commanding gen- 

 eral of the division endeavored to secure the assignment of enlisted men to serve as clerks. 

 It developed in connection with this conference that the commanding general had never seen 

 the official instructions concerning psychological examining issued by The Adjutant General 

 of the Army. Search failed to reveal a copy of these instructions in the camp. Telegraphic 

 request for same was therefore sent to The Adjutant General. This miscarriage of information 

 cost the psychological staff nearly two weeks. It was not until November 15 that group examin- 

 ing was arranged for, and even then, instead of arrangements in accordance with the program 

 of the Office of the Surgeon General, the psychological staff was instructed by camp authorities 

 to examine men in connection with the Tuberculosis Board. Subsequently Maj. Yerkes, 

 in connection with inspection of psychological ex amin ing at Camp Taylor, succeeded in arrang- 

 ing with the commanding general for the conduct of examinations in accordance with the 



