DISCOVERY 



275 



was accordingly considered a test for six-year men- 

 tality. The majority of children of six could also 

 repeat a sentence of sixteen syllables, could correctly 

 name the four principal colours (red, yellow, blue, and 

 green), could foUow out three simple directions given 

 together, etc. 



In selecting their tests, Simon and Binet aimed to 

 avoid recording the effects of education and to get at 

 the development of native ability. The tests were 

 framed to cover memory, attention, discrimination, 

 reasoning, and other mental processes. That group 

 which was passed by the majority of three-year-old 

 children was taken as measuring a three-year mentality, 

 and so on for all the years up to eighteen, the mental 

 age of a superior adult. If a child five years old was 

 examined and passed the six-year tests (or their equiva- 

 lent in scattered tests), he was considered as of superior 

 intelligence, being a year in advance of most of the 

 children of his age. On the other hand, if he failed to 

 pass the five-year tests and only succeeded with those 

 for four years, he was backward and called for special 

 attention. 



A classification of feeble-minded adults can in this 

 way be made on the basis of mental ages. An idiot 

 may be defined as one with a mental age of two years 

 or below, an imbecile as one with a mental age of at 

 least three years and less than eight years, and a moron 

 as one whose mental age is between eight and twelve. 

 It was, of course, obviously impossible to give an 

 individual psychological examination to every draftee 

 as he entered our gigantic forces, so the psychologists 

 set themselves the task of adapting the examination 

 to a form that could be given to a large group at one 

 time. Tests similar to those of Simon and Binet were 

 printed on a form to be filled out by the examinee, and 

 the necessary directions were read to large groups of 

 from fifty to several hundred in special buildings or 

 Y.M.C.A. auditoriums. 



One difficulty was the large number — larger than 

 was expected — of non-English-speaking and illiterate 

 soldiers who were unable to read or WTite the tests. 

 This eventuality was pro\-ided for by a series of per- 

 formance tests, corresponding results being arrived at 

 through the subject's performance of acts not requiring 

 language. A collection of these performance tests 

 was also adapted to a printed form, and the directions 

 given through the performance of similar tasks in 

 pantomime by an assistant. 



General Results in the Army 

 The specific uses made in the army of the results of 

 psychological testing need not detain us, especially as 

 they are a matter of controversy. In brief they were ; 

 (l) aid in selecting men for special training and for 

 oflBcers' and non-commissioned ofi&cers' training camps ; 



(2) standardisation of companies, to prevent one 

 unit of a regiment containing a higher percentage of 

 low-grade men than another ; (3) elimination of the 

 very low grade or their assignment to special organisa- 

 tions ; (4) special disposition of disciplinary cases. 



Beyond these practical applications of psychological 

 ratings in the army organisation, generalisations of 

 possibly wide import as to the intellectual structure 

 of the American people have been revealed. Professor 

 E. L. Thorndike, in his vice-presidential address before 

 the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, gave a review of the median scores made by 

 men of different occupation groups (previous to enter- 

 ing the army). The lowest group consisted of farmers, 

 labourers, general miners, and teamsters, while the 

 highest contained army chaplains and engineer officers. 

 Between are ranged, in ascending order, general trades 

 (as carpenters, bricklayers), higher trades (as mechanics, 

 tool-room experts), and clerical occupations (as general 

 clerks, book-keepers, typists, accountants). 



This list marks a distinction in intelligence rating 

 between those who work with their hands and those 

 who work with their heads, and indicates that the more 

 intelligent naturally gravitate to ofiice and clerical 

 jobs, whereas the less inteUigent choose or stagnate in 

 the trades. As Professor Thorndike remarked, " The 

 matter is one of great importance. In proportion 

 as it is true that the more intelligent men seek clerical 

 work rather than work in skilled trades, an essentially 

 invidious class distinction will tend to have a real basis 

 in fact ; and the management of business concerns 

 will tend to fall into the hands of men trained in the 

 office and salesroom rather than in the shop." 



A similar classification of army officers of the different 

 corps is presented by Major Ycrkes. These officers' 

 ratings are headed by engineers, field-artillery, trench- 

 mortar, and personnel adjutants, and end with medical, 

 supply-train, dental, and veterinary officers. 



With regard to the population in general, the per- 

 centage of illiteracy was much higher than we had 

 been led to expect. If a man said he had attended 

 school three or four years and could write his name, 

 it has been customary to consider him as literate, but 

 by the time he reaches twenty-one he may be unable 

 either to read or write. On the whole, one who has 

 not attended school beyond the fifth grade is illiterate 

 for all practical purposes. This is particularly true of 

 the negroes, so that companies of the latter were at 

 times 90 per cent, illiterate. 



The " average " intelligence of the army proved to 

 be well below fourteen years mental age, although just 

 where it will fall heis not yet been made public. The 

 average for illiterates was, of course, below the general 

 average and probably not far from eleven years. About 

 2-6 per cent, of the total number of men examined gave 



