Part 25 (2/2)

So, thinking that a strictly forement is necessary; as: ”_You knohat a bonfire is You have seen a bonfire Nohat is a bonfire?_” If the child still hesitates, say: ”_Just tell me in your oords; say it any way you please All I want is to find out whether you knohat a bonfire is_”

Do not torture the child, however, by undue insistence If he persists in his refusal to define a hich he would ordinarily be expected to know, it is better to pass on to the next one and to return to the troubleso the child by illustrating the use of a word in a sentence Adhere strictly to the foriven does not make it clear whether the child has the correct idea, say: ”_Explain_,” or, ”_I don't understand; explain what you : ”That's fine You are doing beautifully You know lots of words,” etc Never tell the child his definition is not correct, and never ask for a different definition

Avoid saying anything which would suggest a model form of definition, as the type of definition which the child spontaneously chooses throws interesting light on the degree of maturity of the apperceptive processes Record all definitions _verbatiood, poor, or doubtful

SCORING Credit a response in full if it gives one correctis the inal or a derived iven, but this should be avoided as far as possible

To find the entire vocabulary, multiply the number of words known by 180 (This list is made up of 100 words selected by rule fro 18,000 words) Thus, the child who defines 20 words correctly has a vocabulary of 20 180 = 3600 words; 50 correct definitions wouldare the standards for different years, as determined by the vocabulary reached by 60 to 65 per cent of the subjects of the various mental levels:--

8 years 20 words vocabulary 3,600 10 years 30 words vocabulary 5,400 12 years 40 words vocabulary 7,200 14 years 50 words vocabulary 9,000 Average adult 65 words vocabulary 11,700 Superior adult 75 words vocabulary 13,500

Although the fornificant, it is not taken into consideration in scoring The test is intended to explore the range of ideas rather than the evolution of thought forms When it is evident that the child has one fairly correct iven full credit for it, however poorly the definition may have been stated

While there is naturally soiven definition is correct, this happens et a definite idea of the extent of error due to the individual differences araded independently by 10 different persons

The result showed an average difference below 3 in the number of definitions scored _plus_ Since these subjects attee number of doubtful definitions per subject was below 5 per cent of the nuree of leniency to be exercisedexarade, but acceptable unless otherwise indicated:--

1 _Orange_ ”An orange is to eat” ”It is yellow and grows on a tree” (Both full credit)

2 _Bonfire_ ”You burn it outdoors” ”You burn so fire” (All full credit)

3 _Roar_ ”A lion roars” ”You holler loud” (Full credit)

4 _Gown_ ”To sleep in” ”It's a nightie” ”It's a nice gown that ladies wear” (All full credit)

7 _Puddle_ ”You splash in it” ”It's just a puddle of water”

(Both full credit)

9 _Straw_ ”It grows in the field” ”It means wheat-straw” ”The horses eat it” (All full credit)

10 _Rule_ ”The teacher ” ”You make marks with it,” ie, a ruler, often called a _rule_ by school children (All full credit)

11 _Afloat_ ”To float on the water” ”A shi+p floats” (Both full credit)

12 _Eyelash_ If the child says, ”It's over the eye,” tell him to point to it, as often the word is confused with _eyebrow_

14 _Copper_ ”It's a penny” ”It means some copper wire” (Both full credit)

15 _Health_ ”It ” (Both full credit)

17 _Guitar_ ”You play on it” (Full credit)

18 _Mellow_ If the child says, ”It means a mellow apple,” ask what kind of apple that would be For full credit the answer must be ”soft,” ”mushy,” etc

19 _Pork_ If the answer is ” ani_ ”You fix pipes” (Full credit)