Part 15 (1/2)

Instructions For Year III

III, 1. POINTING TO PARTS OF THE BODY

PROCEDURE. After getting the child's attention, say: ”_Show me your nose._” ”_Put your finger on your nose._” Same with eyes, mouth, and hair.

Tact is often necessary to overcome timidity. If two or three repet.i.tions of the instruction fail to bring a response, point to the child's chin or ear and say: ”_Is this your nose?_” ”_No?_” ”_Then where is your nose?_” Sometimes, after one has tried two or three parts of the test without eliciting any response, the child may suddenly release his inhibitions and answer all the questions promptly. In case of persistent refusal to respond it is best not to hara.s.s the child for an answer, but to leave the test for a while and return to it later. This is a rule which applies generally throughout the scale. In the case of one exceptionally timid little girl, it was impossible to get any response by the usual procedure, but immediately when a doll was shown the child pointed willingly to its nose, eyes, mouth, and hair. The device was successful because it withdrew the child's attention from herself and centered it upon something objective.

SCORING. _Three responses out of four_ must be correct. Instead of pointing, the child sometimes responds by winking the eyes, opening the mouth, etc., which is counted as satisfactory.

REMARKS. Binet's purpose in this test is to ascertain whether the subject is capable of comprehending simple language. The ability to comprehend and use language is indeed one of the most reliable indications of the grade of mental development. The appreciation of gestures comes first, then the comprehension of language heard, next the ability to repeat words and sentences mechanically, and finally the ability to use language as a means of communication. The present test, however, is not more strictly a test of language comprehension than the others of the 3-year group, and in any case it could not be said to mark the _beginning_ of the power to comprehend spoken language. That is fairly well advanced by the age of 2 years. The test closely resembles III, 2 (naming familiar objects), and III, 3 (enumeration of objects in a picture), except that it brings in a personal element and gives some clue to the development of the sense of self. All the data agree in locating the test at year III.

III, 2. NAMING FAMILIAR OBJECTS

PROCEDURE. Use a key, a penny, a closed knife, a watch, and an ordinary lead pencil. The key should be the usual large-sized doorkey, not one of the Yale type. The penny should not be too new, for the freshly made, untarnished penny resembles very little the penny usually seen. Any ordinary pocket knife may be used, and it is to be shown unopened. The formula is, ”_What is this?_” or, ”_Tell me what this is._”

SCORING. There must be at least _three correct responses out of five_. A response is not correct unless the object is named. It is not sufficient for the child merely to show that he knows its use. A child, for example, may take the pencil and begin to mark with it, or go to the door and insert the key in the lock, but this is not sufficient. At the same time we must not be too arbitrary about requiring a particular name. ”Cent” or ”pennies” for ”penny” is satisfactory, but ”money” is not. The watch is sometimes called ”a clock” or ”a tick-tock,” and we shall perhaps not be too liberal if we score these responses _plus_.

”Pen” for ”pencil,” however, is unsatisfactory. Subst.i.tute names for ”key” and ”knife” are rarely given. Misp.r.o.nunciations due to baby-talk are of course ignored.

REMARKS. The purpose of this test is to find out whether the child has made the a.s.sociation between familiar objects and their names. The mental processes necessary to enable the child to pa.s.s this test are very elementary, and yet, as far as they go, they are fundamental.

Learning the names of objects frequently seen is a form of mental activity in which the normally endowed child of 2 to 4 years finds great satisfaction. Any marked r.e.t.a.r.dation in making such a.s.sociations is a grave indication of the lack of that spontaneity which is so necessary for the development of the higher grades of intelligence. It would be entirely beside the point, therefore, to question the validity of the test on the ground that a given child may not have been _taught_ the names of the objects used. Practically all children 3 years old, however poor their environment, have made the acquaintance of at least three of the five objects, and if intelligence is normal they have learned their names as a result of spontaneous inquiry.

Always use the list of objects here given, because it has been standardized. Any improvised selection would be sure to contain some objects either less or more familiar than those in the standardized list. Note also that three correct responses out of five are sufficient.

If we required five correct answers out of six (like Kuhlmann), or three out of three (like Binet, G.o.ddard, and Huey), the test would probably belong at the 4-year level. Binet states that this test is materially harder than that of naming objects in a picture, since in the latter the child selects from a number of objects in the picture those he knows best, while in the former test he must name the objects we have arbitrarily chosen. This difference does not hold, however, if we require only three correct responses out of five for pa.s.sing the test of naming objects, instead of Binet's three out of three. All else being equal, it is of course easier to recognize and name a real object shown than it is to recognize and name it from a picture.

III, 3. ENUMERATION OF OBJECTS IN PICTURES

PROCEDURE. Use the three pictures designated as ”Dutch Home,” ”River Scene,” and ”Post-Office.” Say, ”_Now I am going to show you a pretty picture._” Then, holding the first one before the child, close enough to permit distinct vision, say: ”_Tell me what you see in this picture._”

If there is no response, as sometimes happens, due to embarra.s.sment or timidity, repeat the request in this form: ”_Look at the picture and tell me everything you can see in it._” If there is still no response, say: ”_Show me the ..._” (naming some object in the picture). Only one question of this type, however, is permissible. If the child answers correctly, say: ”_That is fine; now tell me everything you see in the picture._” From this point the responses nearly always follow without further coaxing. Indeed, if _rapport_ has been properly cultivated before the test begins, the first question will ordinarily be sufficient. If the child names one or two things in a picture and then stops, urge him on by saying ”_And what else_” Proceed with pictures _b_ and _c_ in the same manner.

SCORING. The test is pa.s.sed if the child enumerates as many as _three_ objects in _one_ picture _spontaneously_; that is, without intervening questions or urging. Anything better than enumeration (as description or interpretation) is also acceptable, but description is rarely encountered before 5 years and interpretation rarely before 9 or 10.[46]

[46] See instructions for VII, 2, and XII, 7.

REMARKS. The purpose of the test in this year is to find out whether the sight of a familiar object in a picture provokes recognition and calls up the appropriate name.[47] The average child of 3 or 4 years is in what Binet calls ”the identification stage”; that is, familiar objects in a picture will be identified but not described, their relations to one another will not be grasped.

[47] For a discussion of the significance of the different types of response, enumeration, description, and interpretation, see VII, 2, and XII, 7.

In giving the test, always present the pictures in the same order, first Dutch Home, then River Scene, then Post-Office. The order of presentation will no doubt seem to the uninitiated too trivial a matter to insist upon, but a little experience teaches one that an apparently insignificant change in the procedure may exert a considerable influence upon the response. Some pictures tend more strongly than others to provoke a particular type of response. Some lend themselves especially to enumeration, others to description, others to interpretation. The pictures used in the Stanford revision have been selected from a number which have been tried because they are more uniform in this respect than most others in use. However, they are not without their differences, picture _b_, for example, tending more than the others to provoke description.

There seems to be no disagreement as to the proper location of this test.

III, 4. GIVING s.e.x

PROCEDURE. If the subject is a boy, the formula is: ”_Are you a little boy or a little girl?_” If a girl, ”_Are you a little girl or a little boy?_” This variation in the formula is necessary because of the tendency in young children to repeat mechanically the last word of anything that is said to them. If there is no response, say: ”_Are you a little girl?_” (if a boy); or, ”_Are you a little boy?_” (if a girl). If the answer to the last question is ”no” (or a shake of the head), we then say: ”_Well, what are you? Are you a little boy or a little girl?_”

(or _vice versa_).