48 



Indiana University Studies 



On the basis of the percentages obtained, the words of Scale 

 A may be rearranged in order of difficulty. In Scale A2 such a 

 rearrangment is made with the addition of other words to make 

 the lines of 5 words each. The steps on the scale are of approx- 

 imately one-half the distance of the steps on the original Thorn- 

 dike scale. Two additional classes should be added to the direc- 

 tions, one for words meaning ^'place" and one for words meaning 

 ' 'number". The italicized words are the ones occurring in the 

 original scale. 



SCALE A2 



4. camel, lily, pansy 



6. Samuel, kind, cruel, monkey, goat 



7. cowardly, dominoes, kangaroo, tennis, (claude), generous 



8. during, later, wen, bobolink, below 



9. rhinoceros, moth, dozen, forenoon, more 



10. reasonable, chrysanthemum, crocus, across, minute 



11. modest, courteous, mercijid, dahlia, whole 



12. opossum, begonia, each, center, porcupine 



13. isaiah, considerate, reuben, leeward, tapir 



14. lynx, ezra, ledger, jonquil, gazelle 



15. ichabod, iguana, armadillo, eternal, intervening 



16. precediJig, equitable, pretentious, weevil, interim 



18. prevaricate, reprobate, octile, ephemeral, evanescent 



19. parchesi, philanthropic 



20. poltroon, renegade 



Whether such a rearrangement and supplementation will 

 prove more satisfactory than the original Scale A mast be left to 

 further experimental work. There are apparently three things 

 in its favor: (1) the percentages upon which it is based represent 

 the reactions of more than double the number of children; (2) 

 there are almost double the number of words within the same 

 limits of difficulty; (3) the intervals from line to line are much 

 smaller than those of the former scale. 



UNDERSTAXDIXG OF SENTENCES 



Irregularity of Steps in Scale Alpha 



In the original description^ of Scale Alpha, Thorndike pointed 

 out that the values of the several ''sets" were not exactly repre- 

 sented b}^ the numbers 4, 6, 8, and 10; that these designations 



9. Thorndike, E. L. "IMeasiu'emeut of Ability in Reading." Teachers College 

 Record, XV, 263. 



