24 A METHOD OF MEASURING THE DEVELOPMENT 



jects reduce the size of the figure; this is of little importance 

 if it is recognizable. We give (Fig. 4 of the Appendix) 

 some specimens of reproduction which v^e consider as toler- 

 able (1, 2, 3) and other reproductions which seem to us so 

 defective that they constitute a failure (4, 5, 6). 



III. Repeats sentences of ten syllables. See above, 



IV. Counts four pennies. — The objection is made that 

 enumeration is a test of scholarship which implies instruc- 

 tion rather than intelligence. The objection is just; but 

 where is the being so deprived of tutelage that no one has 

 ever taught him to count? We have studied many imbeciles 

 in the asylums ; all those who have sufficient intelligence to 

 count have learned to do so. In spite of the compulsory 

 education laws, there still remain many illiterate people ; it 

 is said that there are more than five per cent, among the 

 soldiers, but has one ever met an individual who has never 

 learned to count if his intelligence permitted it? Such an 

 one would be very rare. 



The study of the act of counting is very complicated, and 

 it will be seen by what follows that this little test, which is 

 of great practical importance, appears many times in our 

 Scale. To be able to count it is necessary to know many 

 things; first, it is necessary to be able to recite the numbers 

 in serial order correctly; it is necessary, also, to be able to 

 apply each number to a different object. We have not used 

 as a test the simple recitation of the figures because this is 

 an afTair of memory ; we prefer the act of counting, which 

 presupposes some judgment. We ask the child to count four 

 pennies. 



Four pennies are placed on the table ; they are placed in 

 a row, not in a pile. The experimenter says : "See these pen- 

 nies. Count them. Tell me how many there are." Some 

 children, without counting, answer at once, giving any num- 

 ber at random. Whether it be correct or not, such answer 

 should not be noted. The child must be made to count them, 



