The Science of Human Nature Part 17

THE COMPLETION TEST

=Object.= This is, to some extent, a test of reasoning capacity. Of course, it is only one particular aspect of reasoning. The pupil is given a story that has certain words omitted. He must read the story, see what it is trying to say, and determine what words, put into the blanks, will make the correct sense. The meaning of the word written in a particular blank must not only make the sentence read sensibly but must fit into the story _as a whole_. Filling in the blanks in this way demands considerable thought.

=Method.= Distribute the test-sheets and turn them face down on the desks.

Allow ten minutes in all the tests. Give the following instructions:

On the sheets which have been distributed is printed a story which has certain words omitted. You are to put in the blanks the words that are omitted. The words which you write in must give the proper meaning so that the story reads correctly. Each word filled in must not only give the proper meaning to the sentence but to the story as a whole.

=Material.= Use the completion test-sheets, "Joe and the Fourth of July,"

for grades three, four, and five; "The Trout" for grades, six, seven, and eight; and "Dr. Goldsmith's Medicine" for the high school.

=Results.= In scoring the papers, allow one credit for each blank correctly filled. The norms are shown in Figures XVI, XVII, and XVIII.

It will be noticed that the boys excel in the "Trout" story. This is doubtless because the story is better suited to them on the ground of their experience and interest.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE XVI--COMPLETION TEST--"JOE AND THE FOURTH OF JULY"]

JOE AND THE FOURTH OF JULY

Joe {ran}[6] errands for {his} mother and {took} care of the {baby} until by the Fourth of July his penny {grew} to be a dime. The day before the Fourth, he {went} down town all by {himself} to get his fire {works}. There were so {many} kinds he hardly knew which to {buy}. The clerk knew that it takes a {long} time to decide, for he had been a {boy} himself not very {long} ago. So he helped Joe to {select} the very best kinds. "When are you going to {fire} them off?" asked the clerk. "I will fire {them} very {early} to-morrow," said the boy. So that night Joe set the {alarm} clock, and the next {morning} got up {early} to fire his firecrackers.

[6] The italicized words and letters are left blank in the test sheets.

THE TROUT

The trout is a fine fish. Once a big trout {lived} in a pool {close} by a spring. He used to {stay} under the bank with {only} his head showing.

His wide-open {eyes} shone like jewels. I tried to {catch} him. I would {creep} up to the {edge} of the pool {where} I could see his {bright} eyes looking up.

I {caught} a gra.s.shopper and {threw} it over {to} him. Then there was a {splash} in the water and the gra.s.shopper {was gone}. I {did} this {two} or three times. Each time I {saw} the rush and splash and saw the bait had been {taken}.

So I put the sa{me} bait on my {hook} and {threw} it over into the {water}. But {all} was silent. The fish was an {old} one and had {grown} very wise. I did this {day} after day with the same luck. The trout {knew} there was a {hook} hidden in the bait.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE XVII--COMPLETION TEST--"THE TROUT"]

DOCTOR GOLDSMITH'S MEDICINE

This {is} a story of good medicine. Most medicine is {bad} to {take}, but this was so good {that} the sick man {wished} for more.

{One} day a poor woman {went} to Doctor Goldsmith and {asked} him to {go} to see her {sick} husband. "He {is} very sick," she said, "and I {can} not {get} him to eat anything."

{So} Doctor Goldsmith {went} to {see} him. The doctor {saw} at once that the {reason} why the man {could} not eat was {because} he was {so} poor that he had {not} been {able} to buy good food.

Then he {said} to the woman, "{Come} to my house this evening and I will {give you} some {medicine} for your {husband}."

The woman {went} in the evening and the {doctor} gave {her} a small paper box tied {up} tight. "{It} is very heavy," {she} said. "May I {see} what it looks {like}?" "{No}," said the doctor, "{wait} until you get {home}." When she {got} home, and she and {her} husband {opened} the box so that he {could} take the first {dose} of medicine,--what do you think they {saw}? The box was {filled} with silver {money}. {This} was the {good} doctor's medicine.

=Importance of Mental Differences.= (1) _In school work._ One of the important results that come from a knowledge of the mental differences in children is that we are able to cla.s.sify them better. When a child enters school he should be allowed to proceed through the course as fast as his development warrants. Some children can do an eight-year course in six years; others require ten years; still others can never do it.

The great majority, of course, can do it in eight years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE XVIII--COMPLETION TEST--"DR. GOLDSMITH'S MEDICINE"]

Norms for adults, as obtained from university students, are:

TEST MEN WOMEN Subst.i.tution Test 29.1 32.2 Rote Memory, Concrete 28.5 28.6 Rote Memory, Abstract 28.4 27.9 Free a.s.sociation 51.5 49.3 Completion, _Dr. Goldsmith's Medicine_ 48.1 49.0 Word Building 20.5 20.1 Logical Memory, _Costly Temper_ 64.0 69.6

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE XIX--FREQUENCY SURFACES--COMPARING FOURTH GRADE WITH HIGH SCHOOL

The numbers along the base represent mental age; those at the left, the number of pupils of the respective ages.]

It may be thought that a child's success in school branches is a sufficient measure of his ability and that no special mental measurements are needed. This is a mistake. Many factors contribute to success in school work. Ability is only one of these factors, and should be specially and independently determined by suitable tests. Children may fail in school branches because of being poorly started or started at the wrong time, because of poor teaching, sickness, moving from one school to another, etc. On the other hand, children of poor ability may succeed at school because of much help at home. Therefore special mental tests will help in determining to what extent original mental ability is a factor in the success or failure of the different pupils.

As far as possible, the children of the same grade should have about the same ability; but such is seldom the case. In a recent psychological study of a school system, the author found wide differences in ability in the same grade. The distribution of abilities found in the fourth grade and in the high school are shown in Figure XIX. It will be seen that in the fourth grade pupils are found with ability equal to that of some in the high school. Of course to some extent such a condition is unavoidable, for a pupil must establish certain habits and acquire certain knowledge before pa.s.sing from one grade to another. However, much of the wide variation in ability now found in the same grade of a school could be avoided if the teacher had accurate knowledge of the pupils' abilities. When a teacher learns that a child who is doing poorly in school really has ability, she is often able to get from that pupil the work of which he is capable. It has been demonstrated by experience that accurate measures of children's abilities are a great help in gradation and cla.s.sification.

A knowledge of mental differences is also an aid in the actual teaching of the children. The instance mentioned at the close of the last paragraph is an example. A knowledge of the differences among the mental functions of the same pupil is especially helpful. It has been pointed out that the different mental functions in the same pupil are sometimes unequally developed. Sometimes considerable differences exist in the same pupil with respect to learning capacity, the different aspects of memory, a.s.sociation, imagination, and attention. When a teacher knows of these differences, she can better direct the work of the pupils.

For example, if a pupil have a very poor memory, the teacher can help him by aiding him to secure the advantage that comes from close and concentrated attention, frequent repet.i.tions, logical organization, etc.

On the other hand, she can help the brilliant student by preventing him from being satisfied with hastily secured, superficial knowledge, and by encouraging him to make proper use of his unusual powers in going deeper and more extensively into the school subjects than is possible for the ordinary student. In many ways a teacher can be helpful to her pupils if she has an accurate knowledge of their mental abilities.

(2) _In life occupations._ Extreme variations in ability should certainly be considered in choosing one's life work. Only persons of the highest ability should go into science, law, medicine, or teaching. Many occupations demand special kinds of ability, special types of reaction, of attention, imagination, etc. For example, the operation of a telephone exchange demands a person of quick and steady reaction. The work of a motorman on a street car demands a person having the broad type of attention, the type of attention that enables one to keep in mind many details at the same time. Scientific work demands the type of concentrated attention. As far as it is possible, occupations demanding special types of ability should be filled by people possessing these abilities. It is best for all concerned if each person is doing what he can do best. It is true that many occupations do not call for special types of ability. And therefore, as far as ability is concerned, a person could do as well in one of these occupations as in another. The time will sometime come when we shall know the special abilities demanded by the different occupations and professions, and by suitable tests shall be able to determine what people possess the required qualifications.

The schools should always be on the lookout for unusual ability.

Children that are far superior to others of the same age should be allowed to advance as fast as their superior ability makes possible, and should be held up to a high order of work. Such superior people should be, as far as possible, in the same cla.s.ses, so that they can the more easily be given the kind and amount of work that they need. The schools should find the children of unusual special ability, such as ability in drawing, painting, singing, playing musical instruments, mechanical invention, etc. Some provision should be made for the proper development and training of these unusual abilities. Society cannot afford to lose any spark of genius wherever found. Moreover, the individual will be happier if developed and trained along the line of his special ability.

=Subnormal Children.= A small percentage of children are of such low mentality that they cannot do the ordinary school work. As soon as such children can be picked out with certainty, they should be taken out of the regular cla.s.ses and put into special cla.s.ses. It is a mistake to try to get them to do the regular school work. They cannot do it, and they only waste the teacher's time and usually give her much trouble.

Besides, they waste their own time; for while they cannot do the ordinary school work, they can do other things, perhaps work of a manual nature. The education of such people should, therefore, be in the direction of simple manual occupations.

For detecting such children, in addition to the tests given above, elaborate tests for individual examination have been devised. The most widely used is a series known as the Binet-Simon tests. A special group of tests is provided for the children of each age. If a child can pa.s.s the tests for his age, he is considered normal. If he can pa.s.s only the tests three years or more below his age, he is usually considered subnormal. But a child's fate should not depend solely upon any number or any kind of tests. We should always give the child a trial and see what he is able to achieve. This trial should cover as many months or years as are necessary to determine beyond doubt the child's mental status.

SUMMARY. Just as we differ in the various aspects of body, so also we differ in the various aspects of mind. These differences can be measured by tests. A knowledge of these differences should aid us in grading, cla.s.sifying, and teaching children, as well as in the selection of occupation and professions for them. Mental traits have some degree of independence; as a result a high degree of one trait may be found with low degree of some others.

CLa.s.s EXERCISES

1. Many of the tests and experiments already described should have shown many of the individual differences of the members of the cla.s.s. The teacher will find in the author's _Examination of School Children_ a series of group tests with norms which can be used for a further study of individual differences.

2. The tapping experiment described in the first chapter can now be repeated and the results taken as a measure of reaction time.

3. You should now have available the records of all the tests and experiments so far given that show individual differences. Make out a table showing the rank of each student in the various tests. Compute the average rank of each student for all the tests. This average rank may be taken as a measure of the intelligence of the students, as far as such can be determined by the tests used. Correlate this ranking with standing in the high school cla.s.ses. It will give a positive correlation, not perfect, however. Why not? If your measures of intelligence were absolutely correct, you still would not get a perfect correlation with high school standing. Why not?

4. If you had a correct measure of intelligence of 100 mature people in your city, selected at random, would this measure give you an exact measure of their success in life? Give the reason for your answer.

5. Of all the tests and experiments previously described in this book, which gives the best indication of success in high school?