WHAT PSYCHOLOGY CONTRIBUTED 375 



Between April 28, 1918, and January 31, 1919, 7800 (0.5 per 

 cent.) men of the 1,556,011 examined were reported for discharge 

 by psychological examiners because of mental inferiority. The 

 recommendations for assignment to labor battalions because of 

 low grade intelligence number 10,014 (0.6+ P er cent.). For a&- 

 signment to development battalions in order that they might be 

 more carefully observed and given preliminary training to discover, 

 if possible, ways of using them in the army, 9487 (0.6 -f- per cent.) 

 men were recommended. 



During this same interval there were reported 4780 men with 

 mental age below 7 years; 7875, between 7 and 8 years; 14,814, 

 between 8 and 9 years; 18,878, between 9 and 10 years. This 

 gives a total of 46,347 men under 10 years' mental age. It is 

 extremely improbable that many of these individuals were worth 

 what it cost the government to maintain, equip, and train them 

 for military service. 



Psychological examiners were not responsible for discharges. 

 They merely reported on the intelligence of each soldier. It 

 remained for the medical officer and the commanding officer 

 of camp or division to decide what should be done. Certainly 

 a considerable proportion, although by no means all, of the men 

 who were too inferior in intelligence to be worth training for 

 military purposes were discharged. It is probable that no less 

 than 50,000 men were designated by psychological examiners 

 for discharge, for service in labor organizations, or for assign- 

 ment to development battalions. Most of these men were so 

 inferior in intelligence that they could be trained only with 

 extreme pains and very slowly. Well above 10,000 of them, 

 possibly as many as 15,000, possessed less intellectual ability 

 than the average eight-year-old child. 



Assuming that the psychologists discovered 10,000 men not 

 otherwise discovered, who, because of low grade intelligence, 

 were not suitable for regular military service, and assuming 

 further that the cost to the United States Government of equip- 

 ping, training, and sending a soldier over-seas was approxi- 

 mately $2500, it is a simple matter of arithmetic to determine 



