OF THE INTELLIGENCE OF YOUNG CHILDREN 67 



data than some symbols, certainly seems subject to doubt; 

 it can not be tolerated; it would encourage negligence and 

 even fraud. 



Utilization of Notes. — We have recorded a series of signs 

 in vertical columns; these signs succeed each other irregu- 

 larly ; here there is a — , there a -|-. How shall we interpret 

 them? It is at once evident, that no matter how the tests 

 are arranged it is impossible to find an order in which one 

 test will mark the limit of achievement, all tests preceding it 

 being passed successfully and all those following being too 

 difficult. Such an order can easly be arranged for one in- 

 dividual, but it would not prove satisfactory for a second and 

 a third. Let us examine the efifect of the order which we 

 have adopted, as shown in an examination of 10 children, 

 nine years of age. In the tests for the ninth year which 

 amount to 50 (as there are 5 tests and 10 pupils) these ten 

 children failed in 6 and succeeded in 44. In the tests for the 

 tenth year, they failed in 14 and succeeded in 36. We do not 

 find a limiting test, which foils all, and which only foils 

 children of this age or younger. That would be a useful 

 criterion, but we have not discovered it and do not believe that 

 it exists. The reality is less simple. The experiment shows 

 us the following fact: The nine-year-old children succeeded 

 in all the very simple tests, they succeeded in none of the 

 very difficult ones; in the tests of moderate difficulty, some 

 children succeeded with certain ones, and some children with 

 others. This varied with each child. This is the fact which 

 we are obliged to consider. Each child has its own individu- 

 ality ; one succeeds well with test A and fails with test B ; 

 another of the same age, fails with test A and succeeds with 

 test B. How shall we deal with these individual differences 

 in our experimental results? We have no exact knowledge 

 concerning them ; it is probable that the mental faculties stimu- 

 lated by the tests differ and are of an unequal development in 

 different children. If a child has a better memory than his 

 companions, it is natural for him to be more successful in a 

 test of simple repetition. Another who has already a capable 



