512 



MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



[Vol. XV, 



much more closely to the officers than to the enlisted men from whom they were chosen. In 

 connection with the medians it is of interest to note the quartile deviations of the three groups 

 given in table 153. (As previously explained, the range from the upper quartile to the median 

 is used as approximately equivalent to the quartile deviation in the case of the enlisted men, 

 whose group includes illiterates.) It wdl be noted that the officers' training camp group, like 

 the group of officers, has a much narrower dispersion than the enlisted men — a fact which 

 follows naturally from the tendency to select the officer candidates from the upper portion of the 

 group of enlisted men. Again, the fact of the slightly greater dispersion of the officers' training 

 camp students as compared with the officers leaves room for the further constricting of the 

 group to officer proportions by pruning. 



Table 153. — Comparison of data on enlisted men, candidate officers in officers' training camps, and officers. 



Score in examination a. 



Grade. 



Enlisted 

 men. 



Officers' 

 training 

 camps. 



Officers. 



350-414 



300-349 



250-299 



200-249 



150-199 



100-149 



50-99 



0-49 



Eliminated as illiterate. 



A 

 B 



C+ 



c 

 c- 



D 



E 



0.7 

 4.2 

 9.1 

 14.2 

 19.0 

 19.3 

 13.4 

 6.1 

 13.9 



4.3 



24.8 

 33.2 

 23.6 

 10.9 

 2.6 

 .4 



10.7 

 36.2 

 31.0 

 15.4 

 6.3 

 1.2 

 .2 



Number of cases . 



65,267 



5,563 



Median 



Upper quartile (Qa) 



Lower quartile (Qi).... 

 Quartile deviation (Q) , 

 Percentage above 300. . . 

 Percentage above 250. . . 

 Percentage below 200. . . 



143 

 212 



(69) 

 4.9 

 14.0 

 71.7 



269 

 306 

 227 

 40 

 29.1 

 62.3 

 13.9 



296 

 327 

 259 

 34 

 46.9 

 77.9 

 6.7 



In figure 18 are shown the percentage distributions of these groups by intervals of 50 

 points. For this comparison we have added also the curve for noncommissioned officers exam- 

 ined at Camp Taylor, summarized from the figures on corporals and sergeants given in table 152. 

 It is obvious that we have here an ascending series from enlisted men to officers, with the candi- 

 date officers again approximating most closely to the officer group, the noncommissioned 

 officers next, and the enlisted men lowest but extending over the whole range covered by the 

 other groups. 



Not only was it important to point out the fact of difference between these groups, but 

 from the practical point of view of future recommendations for officers' training camps it was 

 also important to locate the dividing lines which distinguish the groups in most significant 

 fashion. Figure 19 shows the percentages of the various groups falling above and below each 

 of three dividing lines — 300, 250, and 200. These give, above the line, respectively, the A men, 

 the A and B men, and the A, B, and C + men. The relative position of the three groups remains 

 the same wherever the division is made. It will be noted that the dividing line of 300 almost 

 eliminates from consideration the body of enlisted men, only 4.9 per cent appearing above the 

 line. Since, moreover, this line of division selects out slightly less than 50 per cent of the 

 officer group, an A grade is obviously too high a standard to expect of officer candidates in 

 general. The A and B grades together include over 75 per cent of the officer group and 14 per 

 cent of the drafted men. There is thus a fairly extensive group available from which further 

 selection can be made for officers' training, allowing choice with reference to other qualities than 

 general intelligence. The dividing fine of 200 offers a still more conservative requirement. 

 Over 90 per cent of the officers and almost 30 per cent of enlisted men surpass this level. There 

 is thus an abundant field for choice from among the drafted men having the degree of intelligence 

 here suggested. 



It was urged by the psychologists, as a conservative recommendation, that men falling 

 below 200 in examination a be scrutinized with the utmost care before admission to officers' 

 training camps, in order to determine whether they possess in unusual measure other qualities 

 necessary for an officer, especially qualities of leadership and initiative. 



