No. 2.] PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. 497 



It may be noted, further, that, even had such information been available, it would not 

 have provided the norms for the various branches so urgently needed if the psychological 

 examinations were to become practically serviceable in connection with assignment to branches 

 of the service. Data for such use could only be obtained from established units which had 

 been tried out and found to meet the needs of their respective branches. The early fall work 

 on the problem was particularly significant in setting the problem and in showing the dearth 

 of information available for its solution. In addition to the mere differences in excellence, as 

 indicated by any of several measures, the possible importance of other types of difference was 

 also recognized; the fact that certain branches might require a relatively normal distribution of 

 mental ability, with the majority of cases massing about the average and a gradual dropping 

 off in either direction, whereas other branches might require a large percentage of high-grade 

 men and might at the same time be able to utilize a considerable proportion of relatively low- 

 grade cases, thus giving possibly a bimodal distribution. These problems await solution, 

 which could be reached, as has been said, only by study of units of known value. The impor- 

 tance of such information in meeting any future emergency is obvious. 



Section 5. — Comparison of organizations (regiments and companies). 



Comparison of smaller organizations within the military system involves the problem of 

 inequality among units which have no apparent differences in function. Within a given 

 brigade of a given division, conspicuous differences between regiments would seem to represent 

 an element of weakness in the whole military organization, except in so far as the development 

 of a certain number of ''crack" regiments may be a part of the military policy. Similarly, 

 marked inequalities of companies within a given regiment appear undesirable, since they intro- 

 duce difficulties in training and place unnecessarily heavy burdens upon commanders of low- 

 grade groups. A company which has a meager percentage of high-grade cases, moreover, is 

 seriously handicapped in providing suitable men for noncommissioned officers or lines of work 

 calling for superior ability. 



The service which the psychological examinations might render in connection with balanc- 

 ing of regiments and of companies with reference to mental ability was early recognized and 

 pointed out. The lack of standards for units did not handicap this line of usefulness, as it 

 did the application of psychological results to the assignment of men to various branches of the 

 service. The main thing of importance was to demonstrate the inequalities present at any given 

 stage of completeness of the organization. In case of a relatively incomplete organization 

 differences could be reduced or eliminated by proper selection of cases from the incoming 

 draft for assignment to the various groups. In case of a relatively complete organization, on 

 the other hand, adjustments could only be made by shifting of men from one group to another. 



The facts regarding inequalities were brought to the attention of the military authorities 

 in the various camps, especially in the form of certain effective graphic presentations. In one 

 camp, at least, the experiment was tried, with certain organizations, of balancing, with these 

 data as one consideration. Such a use of the data grew in importance in the succeeding period 

 of the psychological service. In the present discussion of the problem we shall aim mainly to 

 show by a few representative samples the type and degree of inequalities found. 



In the material here presented our interest is mainly in comparisons inside the larger units 

 already discussed. It follows naturally, from the differences which have been found to exist 

 between camps, that extreme discrepancies could be demonstrated by comparing regiments 

 from a superior camp with those from an inferior. These we do not wish to stress at this point, 

 although it should be remembered that they might contribute in important measure to the 

 unevenness of the line when divisions are side by side at the front, instead of being widely 

 separated from one another by the geographical locations of the various camps. 



