54 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 125.3 



ogy, tested carefully in certain camps, and 

 put into force throughout the army. 



At one of the largest naval radio schools the 

 candidates were admitted in part through a 

 series of tests devised for the purpose by one 

 man of science, and their instruction was 

 directed by methods devised by another. 



In one of the large munition factories, a 

 number of psychologists were kept constantly 

 at work studying the means of selecting the 

 right individuals as employees and finding 

 the optimum conditions for their work. 



Multiply such cases as these many many 

 times; add to them the scientific personnel 

 work done by physiologists and medical men; 

 add fiu^ther that done by the many modem 

 business men whose work is so based on prin- 

 ciples and verified by experiment that we 

 should gladly claim them as fellow scientists 

 — and the total would probably be the gTeatest 

 increase in scientific control over the manage- 

 ment of men ever made in any year in any 

 country. 



Until the war-history of the scientific activi- 

 ties of the National Eesearch Council, the va- 

 rious emergency boards and bureaus, and the 

 military organizations themselves is written, 

 nobody will be able to describe or assess this 

 work as a whole or the particular share of it 

 due to applied psychology. I regret also that 

 circumstances have prevented me from speak- 

 ing, as I had hoped to do, from even a partial 

 study of the records and reports available in 

 manuscript in Washington and elsewhere. I 

 can speak only in a very informal way in 

 reminiscence of the activities seen, or shared, 

 during these eighteen months. 



Scientific personnel work has followed two 

 main lines which we may call mass work and 

 analytic work. These of course shade into 

 each other and almost always cooperate, but 

 the distinction will be helpful, at least for 

 presentation. 



MASS WORK 



As a result of the prompt, energetic and 

 patient labors of Terkes and his associates 

 of the psychology committee of the National 

 Eesearch Council, and of the subcommittee 



of the American Psychological Association, 

 about seventeen hundred thousand soldiers 

 were given a standard examination for in- 

 telligence, so devised that a small organiza- 

 tion of examiners and clerical helpers could 

 test and report on five hundred or more in- 

 dividuals a day. Within a day or two after 

 a train-load of recruits reached a camip, it 

 was possible for the camp psychologist to give 

 substantial aid in such matters as : 



1. The discovery of men whose superior intelli- 

 gence suggests their consideration for advance- 

 ment, for example, to posts as non-commissioned 

 officers. 



2. The discovery lof men whose low grade of in- 

 telligence renders them either a burden or a menace 

 to the service. 



3. The selection and assignment to Development 

 Battalions of men who are so inferior mentally, 

 that they are suited only for special work. 



4. The prevention of undesirable differences of 

 mental strength between different regiments or 

 companies. 



5. The early recognition of the mentally slow 

 as contrasted with the stubborn or disobedient.^ 



The history of this work in its early stages 

 has been related by Yerkes, and its later de- 

 velopment will doubtless be made public. 

 Amongst the many important contributions to 

 loiowledge of the significance of such a test, 

 I quote one from the preliminary report re- 

 cently issued. 



The median scores for recruits from differ- 

 ent civil occupations are in summarized form 

 as follows : 



50 to 54 

 Stationary gas-engine 



man 

 Horse hostler 

 Horse shoer 

 Tailor 



General boiler maker 

 Barber 



45 to 49 

 Farmer 

 Laborer 

 General miner 

 Teamster 



55 to 59 60 to 64 



General carpenter General machinist 



Painter Lathe hand 



Heavy truck chauffeur General blacksmith 



Horse trainer Brakeman 



Baker Locomotive fireman 



Cook Auto chauffeur 



Concrete or cement Telegraph and telephone 



worker lineman 



Mine drill runner Butcher 



- From "Army Mental Tests." 



