32 A METHOD OF MEASURING THE DEVELOPMENT 



philosophic point of view, and clearly shows that there is 

 no faculty of the adult which does not exist to some degree 

 in the child. 



This is our method. We use six drawings (Fig. 6, of 

 the Appendix) representing heads of women ; some are pretty, 

 the others are ugly or even deformed ; the faces are com- 

 pared two at a time, and each time the child is asked : "Which 

 is the prettier of these two faces?" The child must respond 

 correctly all three times. Care has been taken to place the 

 pretty face sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, in 

 order to avoid the possibility of a success due solely to the 

 habit of pointing every time to a picture on the same side. 

 It is very necessary to guard against this automatic tendency 

 to go in the same direction ; it is very common with children. 

 At six years children compare the three pairs of faces with 

 ease ; at five they are not very successful, one-half only giv- 

 ing at this age correct answers. 



CHILDREN OF SEVEN YEARS. 



I. Right hand, left ear. — Another notion gained through 

 instruction, but so easily acquired that the lack of it is con- 

 spicuous. The child is asked : "Show your right hand," and 

 this done; "Show your left ear." The last question is almost 

 a trap, for having commenced by asking for the right hand, 

 a tendency is created to show the right ear. 



Sometimes the child shows both hands ; or rather, he uses 

 one hand to show the other, but the gesture is so obscure 

 that one can not tell which is the hand indicated. The ques- 

 tion is decided by telling the child to raise his right hand. 

 The children may be divided into three categories according 

 to their manner of response: 1. There are some who have 

 absolutely no knowledge of left and right. They present the 

 right hand because there is a tendency to use it rather than 

 the left; then they touch the right ear. We will not pause 

 to consider those who understand still less, do not know where 

 their ear is. 2. There are those who have a notion of right 



