No.i.] PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. Ill 



however, it should in all fairness be stated that the examiners at this camp have devoted themselves with the utmost 

 diligence and enthusiasm to their work, and have thus attained results which very likely would not have been dis- 

 covered by less able and zealous men. 



REPLY (LETTER) FROM COMMANDING OFFICER OF CAMP DEVENS. 



The reports of psychological examinations have been of value and assistance in this camp, in connection with other 

 data relative to the efficiency and qualifications of officers and enlisted men, specifically as follows: 



In equalizing the average intelligence of companies and entire units at the time of original assignment and to 

 some extent subsequently. 



In the selection of men for certain technical units in which men of low grade intelligence have been reduced to a 

 minimum and an increased proportion of men of superior intelligence has been provided. This was done specifically 

 in machine-gun battalion and the machine-gun companies of infantry regiments. 



In calling attention to certain officers and enlisted men of high or low grade intelligence who had not been pre- 

 viously noted. 



In assisting the psychiatric examiners in finding men of deficient mentality upon coming into the service. 



In enabling organization commanders to obtain an early estimate of the capacity of their men which otherwise 

 would have required a period of observation. 



It has been found, however, that the psychological rating should be used as one of several indications of the mili- 

 tary usefulness of an individual, but not as a final criterion, as a number of individuals have been found with high 

 ratings who are of but little military value and a number of the most efficient officers and enlisted men have had com- 

 paratively low ratings. The average man in grade B has been found as valuable to the sendee as one in grade A. 



It is believed that the present test lays too much stress on quickness of thought and not enough on judgment, 

 leadership, courage, and dependability. The tendency of the test is to under-emphasize these latter qualities and 

 results in misunderstanding on the part of those who attempt to interpret the ratings. 



REPLY (LETTER) FROM COMMANDING OFFICER OF CAMP CUSTER. 



The value of these examinations is almost always overrated or underrated. Generally speaking, the officer of long 

 Regular Army experience rejects them as being valueless and his opinion is very apt to be at once adopted by any 

 young officer who learns it. The new officer, if left to himself, accepts the results of this examination as final and 

 conclusive and gives to the matter an unjustified value that often leads to his disappointment; and the net result in 

 either case is a feeling of prejudice against psychological examinations, and this, I believe, is the general attitude of 

 the service with reference to the matter. 



If an authoritative statement as to the purpose of these examinations, the value to be placed upon the results 

 thereof, and how this is to be used in the service, has been ever issued by the War Department, it has failed to come to 

 my notice or to the notice of anyone with whom I have talked on the subject. In most camps the psychological exam- 

 iners issue literature on the subject, and it is my opinion that rather more is claimed by them than the case justifies, 

 and it is a well-known fact that many surgeons of the Army, and particularly the members of the psychiatric boards, 

 are not in accord with the claims of the psychological examiners, and the expression of their opinions weakens the 

 value of these examinations with the service. 



I would suggest that the War Department issue a memorandum explaining briefly the purposes of psychological 

 examinations and what the results of such examinations indicate, and that some definite system be adopted as to the 

 ratings given those examined, and that this be published. There seem to be both alphabetical and numerical ratings 

 at the present time, for one sees a rating of A,«B, C, on an enlisted man's card, and, for example, a 192 on an officer's 

 card, and most officers do not know what one or the other may mean. 



I believe the service should be informed very definitely that the psychological test is the measure of a man's intel- 

 lectual level at the time of examination, and that if a man be in a different physical or mental condition, the results 

 might differ and that these examinations deal with one quality only, that is mentality, and do not show that a man 

 has the essential attributes of character, leadership, etc., that are requisites in a good noncommissioned officer. 



In connection with these examinations I might mention that I once heard a very able psychiatrist, now in the 

 service, say that certain psychological examinations that he had seen conducted were not of value because the psy- 

 chological examiners left this work to enlisted men, who were not capable of observing those being examined, and what 

 was put down on paper was all that was considered. This gentleman stated to me that for the past six years 

 in his private practice he had used the psychological test in making a diagnosis, and that the subject's behavior and 

 actions during the test were quite as indicative of his intelligence as was what was placed on his paper, and that 

 in the psychological test held in the Army this factor is greatly neglected. 



I have been convinced for a long time that with our large number of new officers these tests have a considerable 

 value, or rather would have if the tests were properly conducted, and if their exact meaning were made known. As 

 the matter now stands, it is unsatisfactory, for it neither deserves the contempt with which it is treated on the part 

 of some, or the belief in its infallibility which is held by others. 



The ignorance of the subject on the part of the average officer is equaled only by his indifference to it. 



REPLY (INDORSEMENT) FROM COMMANDING OFFICER OF CAMP BOWIE. 



(This indorsement returns a report of the chief psychological examiner with approval. The report is, of course, 

 favorable, and recites the practical uses being made of intelligence ratings in that camp.) 



