OF THE INTELLIGENCE OF YOUNG CHILDREN 19 



language is not, as one might think, the verbal expression of 

 thought, the naming of desired objects, but a repetition of 

 words heard. It is easier, apparently, to echo a word than 

 to use it independently — to pass from an idea to a word. We 

 have observed this to be the fact with both imbeciles and nor- 

 mal children. A child of three, if he will make the effort, 

 can easily repeat a word or a phrase; it is sometimes difficult, 

 however, to decide whether the repetition is correct, because 

 such young children have a natural defect of pronunciation 

 which we will call simply a vagueness, a baffling quality; 

 this is produced by a stumbling over the words and by their 

 incomplete production. This vagueness is not an actual de- 

 fect of pronunciation, due to anatomical or functional defect 

 of the speech organs; it is simply a lack of skill; therefore, 

 this vagueness must be taken into consideration in the diag- 

 nosis of the intelligence. On closer study we find that this 

 awkwardness, this lack of skill, is not limited to articulation, 

 but appears also in the choice of words and in the formation 

 of sentences; for the adult forms are substituted more child- 

 ish ones.* 



For this test the following sentences are used, which have 

 been chosen with the intention of using words very easy to 

 understand: 



/ am cold and hungry. (6 syllables.) 



My name is Gaston. .. .Oh, the naughty dog. (lo syl- 

 lables.) 



Let us go for a long walk .... Give me the pretty little 



bonnet. (i6 syllables.) 



These sentences should be given expressively. No error 

 is allowed in the repetition. If the child is timid and remains 

 silent, shorter sentences should be used ; we use the fol- 

 lowing: 



♦TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.— The examples in the text are omitted 

 here because they are applicable only to the French language. Ana- 

 logous mistakes made by American children are the confusion of the 

 gender and number of pronouns and misplaced prepositions. 



