236 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Voi.. XXVII, 1920 
The phases which have been especially studied are: 
1. Strength 
2. Steadiness of motor coordination 
3. Speed and accuracy of voluntary movement 
4. Rapidity of movement 
5. Quickness of response 
The results of such an investigation will help to determine: 
1. The movements children can best make 
2. The relative ability of children and adults 
3. The development of motor control Avith age 
4. The variation of motor control due to sex 
5. The variation of motor control in individuals 
6. The correlation of motor and mental ability 
THE SELECTION OF TALENT FOR STENOGRAPHY 
AND TYPING 
BENJAMIN W. ROBINSON 
H. C. Link states that “The application of psychological tests 
in those fields where their value has been verified, is the only 
method short of the laborious and costly method of trial and 
error, which makes it possible to discover the exact ability, both 
innate and acquired, of an individual. Unless these facts are 
known, it becomes impossible to assign the individual to the work 
for which he is best fitted or to give him the training which he 
deserves. Once the potential and actual ability of an individual 
has been discovered the vocational selection or training of that 
individual can be decided with a measurable degree of intelli- 
gence.” 
In our study of measurement of naturaP capacity and aptitude 
for stenography and typewriting, the first problem was that of 
verifying the value of the tests to be used. The mental and motor 
capacities necessary for a good stenographer and typist were 
analyzed and two mental and motor tests were selected to be 
tested as measures of these capacities. 
Advanced shorthand and typing students were tested by means 
of . these four tests to determine whether or not the same individual 
differences were brought out by the tests as those which showed 
up in the actual work in shorthand and typing. The results in 
the tests were correlated with the instructor’s ranking of the in- 
dividuals in shorthand and typing as well as with the results of a 
speed test in typing, and a positive correlation was found to exist 
