THE METHOD OP AGE GRADATION 33 



manded is varied. Thus, the pictures are presented 

 to subjects of all ages ; enumeration of the pictured 

 objects corresponds to the 3-year old level, a descrip- 

 tion of the action that the persons are carrying on, 

 to the 7-year old level, a comprehension of the total 

 meaning of the picture to the 12-year old level. The 

 defining of concrete terms appears in the 6 and the 9- 

 year stages; in the former, definition in terms of 

 use suffices, e. g., "What is a horse ?" "To ride;" 

 in the latter something superior to this is demanded, 

 e. g., "What is a horse?" "An animal." Finally, 

 the memory span tests for digits and sentences are 

 graded into several classes according to their length ; 

 thus, after once hearing the digits, the 3-year old 

 child should be able to repeat two, the 4-year three, 

 the 7-year five, the 12-year seven digits. 



The individual tests are of unequal value. Many 

 are of exceptional merit, e. g., defining, describing 

 pictures, answering questions that put a premium 

 on intelligence. It is also a very meritorious feature 

 that there are tests among them whose solution does 

 not depend on readiness in the use of speech, e. g., 

 the arrangement of the five weights, esthetic com- 

 parison, recognizing omissions in pictures: we are 

 as a rule altogether too much inclined to identify 

 control of verbal expression with intelligence, an 

 inference that is often false. Others of the tests, 

 however, are more dependent than we could wish on 

 external, particularly on home influences, e. g., know- 

 ing coins, or are too much mere functions of pure 

 mechanical memory (reciting the days of the week), 

 so that it would be better to supplant them by others 

 in the future. It must be recognized that any change 



