> no. i.] PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. 21 



and it is said that Gen. Cronkhite has suggested tnat the reports of company commanders (on the 50 best and 50 poorest 

 men in their companies) when checked with the psychological scores will furnish a vaulable index as to the officers' 

 ability to size up men. 



(6) The following instances have been reported as showing the concurrence of high mental rating with proved 

 military capacity: 



The headquarters troop at Camp Lee is a selected group. In the tests they all scored high in comparison with other 

 companies. In order to prevent unfairness to some of these men when it came time to select men for the third officers' 

 training camp, it was ordered that a number of them be distributed over the camp to other companies and organi- 

 zations. One of the officers of this troop requested the scores of these men in order to check the men selected for 

 this distribution with their scores. He reported to us, after going over the list, that the 15 men selected because of 

 their excellent chances for the training camp were at the top of our list of scores ranked in accordance with the 

 mental capacity indicated by the tests. 



About 15 promotions to noncommissioned ranks appeared in the local newspapers one morning. The score of 

 each of these men was looked up. It was found that every man in the list had a score which would have justified 

 the promotion so far as mental capacity is concerned. At the personnel office we find similiar confirmations. The 

 correlation here can not be expected to be exact, since circumstances of life do not permit exact correspondence between 

 mental capacity alone and success in occupations to occur frequently. 



One lieutenant in charge of a company, after examining our score sheet of his company, stated that the 50 men 

 he had finally picked were almost without exception at the top of our lists. 



A third officer states that he was requested to select five men for especially high grade work. When he received 

 his list of Bcores he found that these men were at the top of the list. 



(c) The following instances show the opposite conditions: 



On the recommendation of his associates and on his appearance, a man in a certain company was made a corporal. 

 As soon as he began his work his commanding officer reports that things began to go wrong. As corporal of the guard 

 he could not keep his men on duty and seemed unable to carry out instructions properly. When the report of scores 

 came to this officer he found that the corporal had a low mental capacity rating. One man who showed lack of 

 interest and decided tendency to disobey instructions in the group testing, proved on inquiry to be causing similiar 

 trouble in his company. His score was 147 — entirely too low a score in mental capacity for the rank he is holding. 



Another officer reported that his corporals and. sergeants were among the C men on our list. We found afterwards 

 that the selection of these officers had been made on the basis of previous military experience. 



V. COMMENTS. 



7. The time when the test should be made with reference to the date of arrival of the recruit is important. In one 

 way it would be desirable to have this examination over as soon as possible, and it might be held in connection with 

 the physical examination immediately upon arrival. There is, however, one objection to this scheme which I believe 

 is vital. At Camp Upton a neurologist of experience observed that nearly every recruit was suffering during his first 

 physical examination from an anxiety neurosis; hence a psychological test at this time would be manifestly unfair. 

 For similar reasons, it should not be made until after the effect of protective innoculations and vaccination has worn off. 

 Another good reason for postponing it is that the specialist, before coming to a definite conclusion as to mental and 

 nervous defects, desires a history covering the observation of company officers, and obviously the longer the period 

 of observation, within limits, the better. In my opinion the psychological examination should not be held with- 

 in three weeks of arrival at camp, and the neurological or mental examination by the medical specialist not sooner 

 than three or four weeks thereafter. 



8. An interesting and important problem arises as to what mental age should be adopted as a minimum for military 

 service. Recruits in the E class, a majority of whom are probably mentally defective, are examined by Dr. Rudolph 

 Pintner, who has had a very large experience in civil life in handling these cases. His belief is that any man of the 

 mental age of 10 or over is qualified for military service; men of 8 or 9 years might be used for special service, and 

 picked men of 7 years; these latter would, however, be a drag on other brighter men and should, if used at all, be 

 placed in units composed of men of their own age. This is a matter which deserves further consideration and the 

 adoption of a definite and uniform policy. 



9. In view of the fact that these ratings will be used for reference in the cases of officers and men for promotion, 

 I believe that stringent orders should be issued requiring that individual scores be considered confidential. The 

 very fact that in some instances a consideration of the rating may turn the scale for or against a candidate, while 

 in other instances the psychological report will be given no weight whatever — these are obvious reasons for keeping 

 secret this important record. 



VI. RESUME. 



10. Psychological tests began on October 8; up to November 10, about 90 per cent of the command, officers and 

 men, had been examined. 



11. Men are rapidly handled in company groups by four examiners, who conduct simultaneously both the in- 

 telligence and the mechanical skill tests. About half a regiment is examined each day. 



12. Certain types of mental and nervous instability are identified at once and the mentally defective as soon 

 as the scores are known. 



13. There was a general concurrence of opinion among officers who had been furnished psychological ratings of 

 men in their commands that previous estimates of mental capacity correspond in a very striking way with the scores 

 made by these men at the examination. 



