CHAPTER 11. 



PERFORMANCE IN INTELLIGENCE EXAMINATIONS AS RELATED TO OFFICERS' ESTIMATES OF 



INTELLIGENCE. 



Section 1. — Alpha and beta and intelligence ratings. 



The use of intelligence ratings based on alpha and beta scores in the Army assumes that 

 intelligence, or, more accurately,' the sort of ability that is measured by these two examina- 

 tions, is a very important factor in the complex that determines a man's value in the military 

 service. Evidence in various forms has sufficiently demonstrated the value of the alpha and 

 beta tests as measures of the ill-defined quality designated as "military value." The ques- 

 tion of the efficiency of the alpha and beta tests in diagnosing grades of "intelligence," as 

 estimated by Army officers in the military environment, but exclusive as far as possible of 

 other factors that are undoubtedly of considerable importance in the determination of military 

 value, will be studied in this section. 



For the purposes of this study material has been obtained from three camps — Beaure- 

 gard, MacArthur, and Meade. There are difficulties in obtaining material for a study of this 

 kind, especially in the drafting of a rating scale and instructions for its use that will insure a 

 high degree of qualitative and quantitative resemblance between the ratings made by different 

 officers, and in putting the scale into effect in very large units, where the personnel has remained 

 the same for several months. Clearly, an officer must have had several months of close contact 

 with a group of 200 men before he can rate them even moderately well. 



In Camp Meade the Seventy-second Infantry cooperated with the Psychological Examining 

 Board in furnishing ratings of approximately 900 of its men. This regiment had been rela- 

 tively stable as regards personnel for a period of about four months previous to the time the 

 ratings were made. The men had not been given psychological examination, and, of course, 

 the results of the experimental examination were not communicated to the officers until the 

 ratings had been made. The rating scale and instructions as given to the officers are repro- 

 duced verbatim herewith: 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR RATING INTELLIGENCE. 



1. Disregard everything about a man except his general intelligence. 



2. By intelligence is meant ability to think quickly, accurately, and independently; to comprehend new prob- 

 lems; to meet new and difficult situations; to understand and to be able to carry in mind complicated directions, etc. 



3. With this definition of intelligence in mind rate the intelligence of each man in your company whom you know, 

 by placing before his name the number of the class in which he belongs, in accordance with the following scale: 



7 means intelligent as the average commissioned officer. 



6 means intelligent as the average sergeant. 



5 means intelligent as the average corporal. 



4 means intelligent as the average private. 



3 means intelligent as a poor private. 



2 means intelligent as an extremely poor private. 



1 means barely intelligent enough for labor battalion. 



4. Remember that intelligence alone is to be considered. For example, grade a man 7 if he is as intelligent as the 

 average commissioned officer. For many reasons he might be unfit to be an officer, but this does not matter. We 

 are concerned here only with intelligence. 



5. In rating an individual avoid being too much influenced by his rank. Remember that some privates are as intelli- 

 gent as an average commissioned officer; that some corporals are more intelligent than some sergeants, etc. 



This scale defines the various grades of intelligence entirely in terms of military status, 

 but expressly forbids taking the individual's status into account in determining his rating. 

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