ESSAY-REVIEWS 337 



shall, by the child's performance, serve as a test to settle its grade of intelligence, 

 and possibly its future chances ? The poorest teacher would refuse, by one brief 

 test, to appraise any 



child of a thousand chances 'neath the indifferent sky. 



What would an alienist say of such methods ? 



Prof. Terman talks about " establishing rapport " with the victim of his 

 research, lightly allotting " three to five minutes in a majority of cases " (p. 124) ; 

 but children's confidence is not so easily won. 



The following passage throws a curious light on his view of children: 

 " Nothing contributes more to a satisfactory rapport than praise of the child's 

 effort. Under no circumstances should the examiner permit himself to show dis- 

 pleasure at a response, however absurd it may be. In general, the poorer the 

 response, the better satisfied one should appear to be with it. An error is always 

 to be passed by without comment, unless it is painfully evident to the child him- 

 self, in which case the examiner will do well to make some excuse for it — e.g., 

 'You are not quite old enough to answer questions like that one; but, never 

 mind, you are doing beautifully, etc' Exclamations like ' Fine ! ' ' Splendid ! ' etc., 

 should be used lavishly. Almost any innocent deception is permissible which 

 keeps the child interested, confident, at his best level of effort " (p. 125). Quite a 

 little observation of children will disclose the fact that, ordinarily, they possess 

 penetrating flair where their elders are concerned. Combined patronage and 

 hypocrisy would be likely to evoke wide-eyed contempt from average children. 



Prof. Terman pours considerable scorn on teachers, parents, and physicians ; 

 but has it, one wonders, occurred to him that there are such things as tempera- 

 mental compatibility and its opposite ? Not every two mortals " suit " each other, 

 even though they be teacher and taught. Suppose a " Stanford " examiner 

 did not chance to " suit " the youthful experimentee. What a disaster if, through 

 such incompatibility, it passed out of the laboratory labelled " deficient," or — 

 deplorable title to ordinary ears — " a moron." 



In Chapter II, Prof. Terman describes three teachers' attempts to judge five 

 children not known to them. He complains that they were " reduced to the much- 

 abused test methods," and declares that they " employed very awkwardly a very 

 excellent method," adding " the test method is but a refinement and standardisa- 

 tion of the common-sense approach." But if it be, teachers do not claim to gauge 

 a child's intelligence by one trial ; " standardising " questions will not make 

 human nature suitable for " exact" methods. Possibly sweet-pea plants, guinea- 

 pigs, blue mice are sufficiently alike to warrant the application to all of conclusions 

 drawn from observation of a few ; but " pet " animals whose development is 

 changed and diverted by human friends will serve the purpose poorly. That 

 human beings escape these precise tests is shown by the rough-and-ready 

 surmises we make about each other, our blunders crystallising in such familiar 

 grumbles as " I should never have expected So-and-So to do that." The nearer 

 we approach to mathematics, the farther we recede from essentially human life. 

 For example, in J. S. Mill's philosophical hands Political Economy remained 

 "human." With his mathematical predecessor, Ricardo, and with many of his 

 successors who used " exact " methods, it gained an appearance of cold relentless- 

 ness which may have contributed to its unpopularity. The properties of plane 

 figures, the constituents of a chemical compound, the main plant characteristics 

 permit, in their several degrees, of the application of " exact methods " ; but not 



