64 A METHOD OF MEASURING THE DEVELOPMENT 



couraged. If on the contrary they are too easy, he grows 

 disdainful, wonders whether he is being made fun of and makes 

 no efifort. We have seen manifestations of this misplaced 

 pride. 



In reference to the experimenter, himself, some conditions 

 are necessary. He must not allow himself to be prejudiced 

 by information obtained from other sources. He should ban- 

 ish from his mind all that he has been told concerning the 

 child and consider him as an X, which he must solve with the 

 means in his power. He should be firmly convinced that in 

 using the method one must necessarily gain a profound knowl- 

 edge of the child, and so entirely ignore all other informa- 

 tion. But this confidence in one's self often fluctuates. At 

 first all appears easy ; it is the epoch of illusions. After a 

 few trials, even the least critical see errors everywhere and 

 are discouraged. But if one works on, long and patiently, 

 confidence returns little by little ; it is not now the optimism 

 of the beginner, it is a reasonable, reflective confidence. One 

 is conscious both of his powers and of his limitations. 



This initiative period lasts for at least 5 or 6 seances 

 of two hours each ; and represents examinations of twenty 

 children. All experimenters intending to use the method 

 should submit to such a preparation. 



The tests should be prepared in advance; the little 

 material required should be close at hand; all the required 

 coins should be kept in a special purse. Two records should 

 be kept ; the first recording the numerical results of the 

 tests, and the second, a note book, recording the responses 

 in detail. 



The first record is a large sheet of paper ruled in squares 

 on which are written in a column at the left, the names of the 

 tests, grouped according to age. Following these names as 

 many parallel columns are drawn as there are children to be 

 examined, each being headed by the name of the child. After 

 a child has been examined, the result for each test is recorded 



