40 A METHOD OF MEASURING THE DEVELOPMENT 



ering up all the sous and counting them ; then they arc con- 

 fused because this does not give them the necessary sum ; 

 they are obliged to begin again and take away some of the 

 sous, replacing them by either a 10 sou or a 5 sou piece. The 

 most ignorant, it seems, are attracted by the sous, v.'hich they 

 can count most easily ; one must be used to handling money 

 to take at once the 10 sou piece, then the 5 sou, and finally 

 the 1 sou. There are shades of difference in the perform- 

 ance of this test of which our method takes no account. Is 

 the change given equal or not to fr. 80? That is all it notes. 

 At most, in analyzing the results, one can call an error of 

 one sou slight and an error of five sous great. 



At seven years scarcely any children succeed in giving 

 the correct amount of change when trying to take four sous 

 from twenty sous. At eight years a good third succeed. At 

 nine years they all succeed. 



II. Defines in terms superior to use. — This test is ex- 

 plained above. At seven and at eight years one-half of the 

 children give definitions of this kind. At nine years they 

 all do. 



III.* Recognizes all the pieces of our money. — These are 

 the following: fr. 05—0 fr. 10—0 fr. 25—0 fr. 50—1 fr.— 

 2 fr.— 5 fr.— 10 fr.— 20 fr. 



The greatest difficulty is distinguishing between the 1 fr. 

 and 2 fr. pieces, and the 10 and 20 fr. pieces. The various 

 pieces are all placed on the table, and as each is pointed to 

 in succession, the subject names it without touching it. Care 

 should be taken not to show in immediate succession the 1 fr. 

 and 2 fr. pieces or the 10 fr. and 20 fr. pieces. 



We propose the following order: fr. 10 — 2 fr. — 10 fr. — 

 fr. 50—20 fr.— 1 fr.— 5 fr.— fr. 25. 



*TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.— For the French coins we substitute 

 in United States Aloney — a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter, a half 

 dollar, a dollar, a two-dollar bill, a five-doliar bill and a ten- 

 dollar bill. 



