Part 39 (1/2)

Our tests of 279 ”at age” children between 12 and 15 years reveal the surprising fact that the test as here used and scored is not passed by rades below the high-school age Of the high-school pupils 19 per cent failed to pass, 21 per cent of ordinarily successful businessup to the ”average adult” level To find average intelligence cutting such a sorry figure raises the question whether the ancient definition of man as ”the rational anie_ intelligence does not do a great deal of abstract, logical reasoning, and the little it does is done usually under the whip of necessity

At first thought these problems will doubtless appear to the reader to beIt is true, of course, that in solving thee which is ordinarily obtained in school; but this knowledge (that is, knowledge of reading and of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) is possessed by practically all adults who are not feeble-minded, and by many who are

Success, therefore, depends upon the ability to apply this knowledge readily and accurately to the probleiven--precisely the kind of ability in which a deficiency cannot beWe can teach even morons how to read problems and how to add, subtract, ree of accuracy; the trouble comes when they try to decide which of these processes the probleh or low order, according to the difficulty of the problem As for the present test, we have shown that alence pass this test as frequently as high-school seniors of the same mental level

XIV, 6 REVERSING HANDS OF CLOCK

PROCEDURE Say to the subject: ”_Suppose it is six twenty-two o'clock, that is, twenty-two e hand would be, and where the sence practically always answer this in the affirmative Then continue: ”_Now, suppose the two hands of the clock were to trade places, so that the large hand takes the place where the small hand was, and the se hand was What time would it then be?_”

Repeat the test with the hands at 810 (10 ain with the hands at 246 (14 minutes before 3)

The subject is not allowed to look at a clock or watch, or to aid hi, but iven within a few seconds or not at all If an answer is not forthco within two minutes the score is failure

SCORING The test is passed if _two of the three_ problee of accuracy: the first solution is considered correct if the answer falls between 430 and 435, inclusive; the second if the answer falls between 140 and 145, and the third if the answer falls between 910 and 915

REMARKS It appears that success in the test chiefly depends upon voluntary control over constructive visual iery e of adults to pass the test Visual iery, however, is not absolutely necessary to success One 8-year-old prodigy, who had 12-year intelligence, arrived in forty seconds at a strictly mathematical solution for the second problem, as follows: ”If it is 246, and the hands trade places, then the little hand has gone about one fourth of the distance from 9 o'clock to 10 o'clock One fourth of 60 minutes is 15 minutes, and so the time would be 15 minutes after 9 o'clock” Such a solution is certainly possible by the use of verbal ih correlation with e, but more thanFor this reason, other positions of the clock hands should be tried out for the purpose of finding substitute experiments of equal difficulty Until such experiments have been made, it will be necessary to confine the experi seee of passes

This test was first used by Binet in 1905, but was not included in either the 1908 or 1911 series Goddard and Kuhl it in year XV They give only two problems (our _a_ and _c_) and require that both be answered correctly

Neither Goddard nor Kuhlree of error perinal position of the hands Binet used 620 and 246 For soe almost twice as many failures as either of the other positions

XIV, ALTERNATIVE TESTS: REPEATING SEVEN DIGITS

This tiiven, one of which must be repeated without error The two series are: 2-1-8-3-4-3-9 and 9-7-2-8-4-7-5 Note that in none of the tests of repeating digits is it periven

REMARKS Binet originally placed this test in year XII, giving three trials, but later moved it to year XV Goddard and Kuhlmann retain it in year XII Our data show that when three trials are given the test is too easy for year XIV, but that it fits this age when only two trials are allowed; that after the age of 12 or 14 years its or nonsense syllables, improves but little; and that above this level it does not correlate very closely with intelligence

CHAPTER XIX

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ”AVERAGE ADULT”

AVERAGE ADULT, 1: VOCABULARY (SIXTY-FIVE DEFINITIONS, 11,700 WORDS)

PROCEDURE and SCORING, as in previous vocabulary tests[76] At the average adult level sixty-five words should be correctly defined

[76] See VIII, 6

AVERAGE ADULT, 2: INTERPRETATION OF FABLES (SCORE 8)

PROCEDURE As in year XII, test 6 Use the sa is the same as for XII, but the total score must be 8 points to satisfy the requirements at this level