WHAT PSYCHOLOGY CONTRIBUTED 383 



and also from employment managers of large establishments. 

 But no amount of this accumulated material could take the 

 place of analysis made by actual observation of skilled and 

 partly skilled tradesmen at their work. 



'* After analysis of the trade comes construction of a tentative 

 test. This sometimes takes the form of a performance test, a 

 job arranged so as to require of the candidate a demonstration 

 of his manual proficiency and his judgment in the use of the 

 main tools of his trade. 



" Other tests are entirely oral, consisting of questions to elicit 

 definite bits of trade knowledge, to sample the range of the can- 

 didate's practice, and to try the soundness of his judgment on 

 typical matters. 



" A third type of test, similar in principle to the oral test, pre- 

 sents to the candidate pictures of tools, machines, materials and 

 products of his trade, and requires him to identify them and to 

 indicate uses. Thus in one of the horseshoer's tests are in- 

 cluded pictures of a fullered horseshoe and a stamped horse- 

 shoe ; a shoe to prevent interfering, and a toe weight shoe ; a 

 pad and a hoof plate, a mule shoe, a winter shoe, and a racing 

 plate. Besides identifying these or telling differences in their 

 use, the candidate is shown pictures of, and asked to name or 

 tell the use of, a pritchel, clinch tongs, a fitting hammer, a driv- 

 ing hammer, and a buffer ; a straight hardie and a round hardie ; 

 a cold chisel and a hot chisel; a hoof expander, a toe calk, 

 and other things familiarity with which is found to differentiate 

 the more experienced from the less experienced horseshoer. 

 Pictures of horses' feet in various conditions enable the candi- 

 date to show his good judgment as well as his trade knowledge, 

 by telling how each should be treated. The examiner, keeping 

 an exact score on the candidate's responses and referring to 

 the standard ratings, can in ten minutes assure himself with 

 reasonable accuracy as to whether the soldier knows as much 

 about the horseshoeing trade as most experts, journeymen, 

 apprentices, or novices, as the case may be. 



