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. Substitute names for "key" and "knife" are rarely given. Mispronunciations due to baby-talk are of course ignored.

REMARKS. The purpose of this test is to find out whether the child has made the association between familiar objects and their names. The mental processes necessary to enable the child to pass 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 retardation in making such associations 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, Goddard, 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 passing 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 embarrassment 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 passed 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 SEX

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).

SCORING. The response is satisfactory if it indicates that the child has really made the discrimination, but we must be cautious about accepting any other response than the direct answer, "A little girl," or, "A little boy." "Yes" and "no" in response to the second question must be carefully checked up.

REMARKS. Binet and Goddard say that 3-year-olds cannot pass this test and that 4-year-olds almost never fail. We can accept the last part of this statement, but not the first part. Nearly all of our 3-year-old subjects succeed with it.

The test probably has nothing to do with sex consciousness, as such. Success in it would seem to depend on the ability to discriminate between familiar class names which are in a certain degree related.

III, 5. GIVING THE FAMILY NAME

PROCEDURE. The child is asked, "What is your name?" If the answer, as often happens, includes only the first name (Walter, for example), say: "Yes, but what is your other name? Walter what?" If the child is silent, or if he only repeats the first name, say: "Is your name Walter ... ?" (giving a fictitious name, as Jones, Smith, etc.). This question nearly always brings the correct answer if it is known.

SCORING. Simply + or -. No attention is paid to faults of pronunciation.

REMARKS. There is unanimous agreement that this test belongs in the 3-year group. Although the child has not had as much opportunity to learn the family name as his first name, he is almost certain to have heard it more or less, and if his intelligence is normal the interest in self will ordinarily cause it to be remembered.

The critic of the intelligence scale need not be unduly exercised over the fact that there may be an occasional child of 3 years who has never heard his family name. We have all read of such children, but they are so extremely rare that the chances of a given 3-year-old being unjustly penalized for this reason are practically negligible. In the second place, contingencies of this nature are throughout the scale consistently allowed for in the percentage of passes required for locating a test. Since (in the year groups below XIV) the individual tests are located at the age level where they are passed by 60 to 70 per cent of unselected children of that age, it follows that the child of average ability is expected to fail on about one third of the tests of his age group. The plan of the scale is such as to warrant this amount of leeway. But even granting the possibility that one subject out of a hundred or so may be unjustly penalized for lack of opportunity to acquire the knowledge which the test calls for, the injustice done does not greatly alter the result. A single test affects mental age only to the extent of two months, and the chances of two such injustices occurring with the same child are very slight. Herein lies the advantage of a multiplicity of tests. No test considered by itself is very dependable, but two dozen tests, properly arranged, are almost infinitely reliable.

III, 6. REPEATING SIX TO SEVEN SYLLABLES

PROCEDURE. Begin by saying: "Can you say 'mamma'? Now, say 'nice kitty.'" Then ask the child to say, "I have a little dog." Speak the sentence distinctly and with expression, but in a natural voice and not too slowly. If there is no response, the first sentence may be repeated two or three times. Then give the other two sentences: "The dog runs after the cat," and, "In summer the sun is hot." A great deal of tact is sometimes necessary to enlist the child's cooeperation in this test. If he cannot be persuaded to try, the alternative test of three digits may be substituted.

SCORING. The test is passed if at least one sentence is repeated without error after a single reading. "Without error" is to be taken literally; there must be no omission, insertion, or transposition of words. Ignore indistinctness of articulation and defects of pronunciation as long as they do not mutilate the sentence beyond easy recognition.

REMARKS. The test does not presuppose that the child should have the ability to make and use sentences like these for purposes of communication, or even that he should know the meaning of all the words they contain. Its purpose is to bring out the ability of the child to repeat a six-syllable series of more or less familiar language sounds. As every one knows, the normal child of 2 or 3 years is constantly imitating the speech of those around him and finds this a great source of delight. Long practice in the semi-mechanical repetition of language sounds is necessary for the learning of speech cooerdinations and is therefore an indispensable preliminary to the purposeful use of language. High-grade idiots and the lowest grade of imbeciles never acquire much facility in the repetition of language heard. The test gets at one of the simplest forms of mental integration.

Binet says that children of 3 years never repeat sentences of ten syllables. This is not strictly true, for six out of nineteen 3-year-olds succeeded in doing so. All the data agree, however, that the average child of 3 years repeats only six to seven syllables correctly.

III. ALTERNATIVE TEST: REPEATING THREE DIGITS

PROCEDURE. Use the following digits: 6-4-1, 3-5-2, 8-3-7. Begin with two digits, as follows: "Listen; say 4-2." "Now, say 6-4-1." "Now, say 3-5-2," etc. Pronounce the digits in a distinct voice and with perfectly uniform emphasis at a rate just a little faster than one per second. Two per second, as recommended by Binet, is too rapid.

Young subjects, because of their natural timidity in the presence of strangers, sometimes refuse to respond to this test. With subjects under 5 or 6 years of age it is sometimes necessary in such cases to re-read the first series of digits several times in order to secure a response. The response thus secured, however, is not counted in scoring, the purpose of the re-reading being merely to break the child's silence. The second and third series may be read but once. With the digits tests above year IV the re-reading of a series is never permissible.

SCORING. Passed if the child repeats correctly, after a single reading, one series out of the three series given. Not only must the correct digits be given, but the order also must be correct.

REMARKS. Others, on the basis of rather scanty data, have usually located this test at the 4-year level. Our results show that with the procedure described above it is fully as easy as the test of repeating sentences of 6 to 7 syllables.[48]

[48] See p. 194 ff. for further discussion of the digits test.



CHAPTER X

INSTRUCTIONS FOR YEAR IV

IV, 1. COMPARISON OF LINES

PROCEDURE. Present the appropriate accompanying card with the lines in horizontal position. Point to the lines and say: "See these lines. Look closely and tell me which one is longer. Put your finger on the longest one." We use the superlative as well as the comparative form of long because it is often more familiar to young subjects. If the child does not respond, say: "Show me which line is the biggest." Then withdraw the card, turn it about a few times, and present it again with the position of the two lines reversed, saying: "Now show me the longest." Turn the card again and make a third presentation.

SCORING. All three comparisons must be made correctly; or if only two responses out of three are correct, all three pairs are again shown, just as before, and if there is no error this time, the test is passed. The standard, therefore, is three correct responses out of three, or five out of six.

Sometimes the child points, but at no particular part of the card. In such cases it may be difficult to decide whether he has failed to comprehend and to make the discrimination or has only been careless in pointing. It is then necessary to repeat the experiment until the evidence is clear.

REMARKS. As noted by Binet, success in this test depends on the comprehension of the verbal directions rather than on actual discrimination of length. The child who would unerringly choose the larger of two pieces of candy might fail on the comparison of lines. However, since the child must correctly compare the lines three times in succession, or at least in five out of six trials, willingness to attend also plays a part. The attention of the low-grade imbecile, or even of the normal child of 3 years, is not very obedient to the suggestions of the experimenter. It may be gained momentarily, but it is not easily held to the same task for more than a few seconds. Hence some children who perfectly comprehend this task fail to make a succession of correct comparisons because they are unable or unwilling to bring to bear even the small amount of attention which is necessary. This does not in the least condone the failure, for it is exactly in such voluntary control of mental processes that we find one of the most characteristic differences between bright and dull, or mature and immature subjects.

There has been little disagreement as to the proper location of this test.

IV, 2. DISCRIMINATION OF FORMS

PROCEDURE. Use the forms supplied with this book. First, place the circle of the duplicate set at "X", and say: "Show me one like this," at the same time passing the finger around the circumference of the circle. If the child does not respond, say: "Do you see all of these things?" (running the finger over the various forms); "And do you see this one?" (pointing again to the circle); "Now, find me another one just like this." Use the square next, then the triangle, and the others in any order.

Correct the child's first error by saying: "No, find one just like this" (again passing the finger around the outline of the form at "X"). Make no comment on errors after the first one, proceeding at once with the next card, but each time the choice is correct encourage the child with a hearty "That's good," or something similar.

SCORING. The test is passed if seven out of ten choices, are correct, the first corrected error being counted.

REMARKS. In the test of discriminating forms, unlike the test of comparing lines, lack of success is less often due to inability to understand the task than to failure to discriminate. The test may be regarded as a variation of the form-board test. It displays the subject's ability to compare and contrast successive visual perceptions of form. The accurate perception of even a fairly simple form requires the integration of a number of sensory elements into one whole. The forms used in this test have meaning. They are far from nonsense figures even for the (normal) child of 4 years, who has, of course, never heard about "triangles," "squares," "rectangles," etc. The meaning present at this level of intelligence is probably a compound of such factors as appreciation of symmetry and direction, and discrimination of quantity and number.

Another element in success, especially in the latter part of the experiment, is the ability to make an attentive comparison between the form shown and the others. The child may be satisfied to point to the first form his eye happens to fall upon. Far from being a legitimate excuse for failure, such an exhibition of inattention and of weakness of the critical faculty is symptomatic of a mental level below 4 years.

In addition to counting the number of errors made, it is interesting to note with what forms they occur. To match the circle with the ellipse or the octagon, for example, is a less serious error than to match it with the square or triangle.

This test was devised and standardized by Dr. Fred Kuhlmann. It is inserted here without essential alteration, except that the size recommended for the forms is slightly reduced and minor changes have been made in the wording of the directions. Our own results are favorable to the test and to the location assigned it by its author.

IV, 3. COUNTING FOUR PENNIES

PROCEDURE. Place four pennies in a horizontal row before the child. Say: "See these pennies. Count them and tell me how many there are. Count them with your finger, this way" (pointing to the first one on the child's left)—"One"—"Now, go ahead." If the child simply gives the number (whether right or wrong) without pointing, say: "No; count them with your finger, this way," starting him off as before. Have him count them aloud.

SCORING. The test is passed only if the counting tallies with the pointing. It is not sufficient merely to state the correct number without pointing.

REMARKS. Contrary to what one might think, this is not to any great extent a test of "schooling." Practically all children of this age have had opportunity to learn to count as far as four, and with normal children the spontaneous interest in number is such that very few 4-year-olds, even from inferior social environment, fail to pass the test.

While success requires more than the ability to repeat the number names by rote, it does not presuppose any power of calculation or a mastery of the number concepts from one to four. Many children who will readily say, mechanically, "one, two, three, four," when started off, are not able to pass the test. On the other hand, it is not expected that the child who passes will also necessarily understand that four is made up of two two's, or four one's, or three plus one, etc.

Binet, Goddard, and Kuhlmann place this test in the 5-year group, but three separate series of tests made for the Stanford revision, as well as nearly all the statistics available from other sources, show that it belongs at 4 years.

IV, 4. COPYING A SQUARE

PROCEDURE. Place before the child a cardboard on which is drawn in heavy black lines a square about 11/4 inches on a side.[49] Give the child a pencil and say: "You see that (pointing to the square). I want you to make one just like it. Make it right here (showing where it is to be drawn). Go ahead. I know you can do it nicely."

[49] No material is needed if the regular Stanford record blanks are used, as these all contain the square and diamond.

Avoid such an expression as, "I want you to draw a figure like that." The child may not know the meaning of either draw or figure. Also, in pointing to the model, take care not to run the finger around the four sides.

Children sometimes have a deep-seated aversion to drawing on request and a bit of tactful urging may be necessary. Experience and tact will enable the experimenter in all but the rarest cases to come out victorious in these little battles with balky wills. Give three trials, saying each time: "Make it exactly like this," pointing to model. Make sure that the child is in an easy position and that the paper used is held so it cannot slip.

SCORING. The test is passed if at least one drawing out of the three is as good as those marked + on the score card. Young subjects usually reduce figures in drawing from copy, but size is wholly disregarded in scoring. It is of more importance that the right angles be fairly well preserved than that the lines should be straight or the corners entirely closed. The scoring of this test should be rather liberal.

REMARKS. After the three copies have been made say: "Which one do you like best?" In this way we get an idea of the subject's power of auto-criticism, a trait in which the mentally retarded are nearly always behind normal children of their own age. Normal children, when young, reveal the same weakness to a certain extent. It is especially significant when the subject shows complete satisfaction with a very poor performance.

Observe whether the child makes each part with careful effort, looking at the model from time to time, or whether the strokes are made in a haphazard way with only an initial glance at the original. The latter procedure is quite common with young or retarded subjects. Curiously enough, the first trial is more successful than either of the others, due perhaps to a waning of effort and attention.

Note that pencil is used instead of pen and that only one success is necessary. Binet gives only one trial and requires pen. Goddard allows pencil, but permits only one trial. Kuhlmann requires pen and passes the child only when two trials out of three are successful. But these authors locate the test at 5 years. Our results show that nearly three fourths of 4-year-olds succeed with pencil in one out of three trials if the scoring is liberal. It makes a great deal of difference whether pen or pencil is used, and whether two successes are required or only one. No better illustration could be given of the fact that without thoroughgoing standardization of procedure and scoring the best mental test may be misleading as to the degree of intelligence it indicates.

Copying a square is one of three drawing tests used in the Binet scale, the others being the diamond (year VII), and the designs to be copied from memory (year X). These tests do not to any great extent test what is usually known as "drawing ability." Only the square and the diamond tests are strictly comparable with one another, the other having a psychologically different purpose. In none of them does success seem to depend very much on the amount of previous instruction in drawing. To copy a figure like a square or a diamond requires first of all an appreciation of spacial relationships. The figure must be perceived as a whole, not simply as a group of meaningless lines. In the second place, success depends upon the ability to use the visual impression in guiding a rather complex set of motor cooerdinations. The latter is perhaps the main difficulty, and is one which is not fully overcome, at least for complicated movements, until well toward adult life.

It is interesting to compare the square and the diamond as to relative difficulty. They have the same number of lines and in each case the opposite sides are parallel; but whereas 4-year intelligence is equal to the task of copying a square, the diamond ordinarily requires 7-year intelligence. Probably no one could have foreseen that a change in the angles would add so much to the difficulty of the figure. It would be worth while to devise and standardize still more complicated figures.

IV, 5. COMPREHENSION, FIRST DEGREE

PROCEDURE. After getting the child's attention, say: "What must you do when you are sleepy?" If necessary the question may be repeated a number of times, using a persuasive and encouraging tone of voice. No other form of question may be substituted. About twenty seconds may be allowed for an answer, though as a rule subjects of 4 or 5 years usually answer quite promptly or not at all.

Proceed in the same way with the other two questions: "What ought you to do when you are cold?" "What ought you to do when you are hungry?"

SCORING. There must be two correct responses out of three. No one form of answer is required. It is sufficient if the question is comprehended and given a reasonably sensible answer. The following are samples of correct responses:—

(a) "Go to bed." "Go to sleep." "Have my mother get me ready for bed." "Lie still, not talk, and I'll soon be asleep." (b) "Put on a coat" (or "cloak," "furs," "wrap up," etc.). "Build a fire." "Run and I'll soon get warm." "Get close to the stove." "Go into the house," or, "Go to bed," may possibly deserve the score plus, though they are somewhat doubtful and are certainly inferior to the responses just given. (c) "Eat something." "Drink some milk." "Buy a lunch." "Have my mamma spread some bread and butter," etc.

With the comprehension questions in this year it is nearly always easy to decide whether the response is acceptable, failure being indicated usually either by silence or by an absurd or irrelevant answer. One 8-year-old boy who had less than 4-year intelligence answered all three questions by putting his finger on his eye and saying: "I'd do that." "Have to cry" is a rather common incorrect response.

REMARKS. The purpose of these questions is to ascertain whether the child can comprehend the situations suggested and give a reasonably pertinent reply. The first requirement, of course, is to understand the language; the second is to tell how the situation suggested should be met.

The question may be raised whether a given child might not fail to answer the questions correctly and yet have the intelligence to do the appropriate thing if the real situation were present. This is at least conceivable, but since it would not be practicable to make the subject actually cold, sleepy, or hungry in order to observe his behavior, we must content ourselves with suggesting a situation to be imagined. It probably requires more intelligence to tell what one ought to do in a situation which has to be imagined than to do the right thing when the real situation is encountered.

The comprehension questions of this year had not been standardized until the Stanford investigation of 1913-14. Questions a and b were suggested by Binet in 1905, while c is new. They make an excellent test of 4-year intelligence.

IV, 6. REPEATING FOUR DIGITS

PROCEDURE. Say: "Now, listen. I am going to say over some numbers and after I am through, I want you to say them exactly like I do. Listen closely and get them just right—4-7-3-9." Same with 2-8-5-4 and 7-2-6-1. The examiner should consume nearly four seconds in pronouncing each series, and should practice in advance until this speed can be closely approximated. If the child refuses to respond, the first series may be repeated as often as may be necessary to prove an attempt, but success with a series which has been re-read may not be counted. The second and third series may be pronounced but once.

SCORING. Passed if the child repeats correctly, after a single reading, one series out of the three series given. The order must be correct.

REMARKS. The test of repeating four digits was not included by Binet in the scale and seems not to have been used by any of the Binet workers. It is passed by about three fourths of our 4-year-olds.

IV. ALTERNATIVE TEST: REPEATING TWELVE TO THIRTEEN SYLLABLES

The three sentences are:—

(a) "The boy's name is John. He is a very good boy." (b) "When the train passes you will hear the whistle blow." (c) "We are going to have a good time in the country."

PROCEDURE. Get the child's attention and say: "Listen, say this: 'Where is kitty?'" After the child responds, add: "Now say this ...," reading the first sentence in a natural voice, distinctly and with expression. If the child is too timid to respond, the first sentence may be re-read, but in this case the response is not counted. Re-reading is permissible only with the first sentence.

SCORING. The test is passed if at least one sentence is repeated without error after a single reading. As in the alternative test of year III, we ignore ordinary indistinctness and defects of pronunciation due to imperfect language development, but the sentence must be repeated without addition, omission, or transposition of words.

REMARKS. Sentences of twelve syllables had not been standardized previous to the Stanford revision, but Binet locates memory for ten syllables at year V, and others have followed his example. Our own data show that even 4-year-olds are usually able to repeat twelve syllables with the procedure here set forth.



CHAPTER XI

INSTRUCTIONS FOR YEAR V

V, 1. COMPARISON OF WEIGHTS

MATERIALS. It is necessary to have two weights, identical in shape, size, and appearance, weighing respectively 3 and 15 grams.[50] If manufactured weights are not at hand, it is easy to make satisfactory substitutes by taking stiff cardboard pill-boxes, about 11/4 inches in diameter, and filling them with cotton and shot to the desired weight. The shot must be embedded in the center of the cotton so as to prevent rattling. After the box has been loaded to the exact weight, the lid should be glued on firmly. If one does not have access to laboratory scales, it is always possible to secure the help of a druggist in the rather delicate task of weighing the boxes accurately. A set of pill-box weights will last through hundreds of tests, if handled carefully, but they will not stand rough usage. The manufactured blocks are more durable, and so more satisfactory in the long run. If the weights are not at hand, the alternative test may be substituted.

[50] The weights required for this test, and also for IX, 2, may be purchased of C. H. Stoelting & Co., 3037 Carroll Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

PROCEDURE. Place the 3- and 15-gram weights on the table before the child some two or three inches apart. Say: "You see these blocks. They look just alike, but one of them is heavy and one is light. Try them and tell me which one is heavier." If the child does not respond, repeat the instructions, saying this time, "Tell me which one is the heaviest." (Many American children have heard only the superlative form of the adjective used in the comparison of two objects.)

Sometimes the child merely points to one of the boxes or picks up one at random and hands it to the examiner, thinking he is asked to guess which is heaviest. We then say: "No, that is not the way. You must take the boxes in your hands and try them, like this" (illustrating by lifting with one hand, first one box and then the other, a few inches from the table). Most children of 5 years are then able to make the comparison correctly. Very young subjects, however, or older ones who are retarded, sometimes adopt the rather questionable method of lifting both weights in the same hand at once. This is always an unfavorable sign, especially if one of the blocks is placed in the hand on top of the other block.

After the first trial, the weights are shuffled and again presented for comparison as before, this time with the positions reversed. The third trial follows with the blocks in the same position as in the first trial. Some children have a tendency to stereotyped behavior, which in this test shows itself by choosing always the block on a certain side. Hence the necessity of alternating the positions.[51] Reserve commendation until all three trials have been given.

[51] For discussion of "stereotypy" see p. 203.

SCORING. The test is passed if two of the three comparisons are correct. If there is reason to suspect that the successful responses were due to lucky guesses, the test should be entirely repeated.

REMARKS. This test is decidedly more difficult than that of comparing lines (IV, 1). It is doubtful, however, if we can regard the difference as one due primarily to the relative difficulty of visual discrimination and muscular discrimination. In fact, the test with weights hardly taxes sensory discrimination at all when used with children of 5-year intelligence. Success depends, in the first place, on the ability to understand the instructions; and in the second place, on the power to hold the instructions in mind long enough to guide the process of making the comparison. The test presupposes, in elementary form, a power which is operative in all the higher independent processes of thought, the power to neglect the manifold distractions of irrelevant sensations and ideas and to drive direct toward a goal. Here the goal is furnished by the instruction, "Try them and see which is heavier." This must be held firmly enough in mind to control the steps necessary for making the comparison. Ideas of piling the blocks on top of one another, throwing them, etc., must be inhibited. Sometimes the low-grade imbecile starts off in a very promising way, then apparently forgets the instructions (loses sight of the goal), and begins to play with the boxes in a random way. His mental processes are not consecutive, stable, or controlled. He is blown about at the mercy of every gust of momentary interest.

There is very general agreement in the assignment of this test to year V.

V, 2. NAMING COLORS

MATERIALS. Use saturated red, yellow, blue, and green papers, about 2 x 1 inch in size, pasted one half inch apart on white or gray cardboard. For sake of uniformity it is best to match the colors manufactured especially for this test.[52]

[52] Printed cards showing these colors are included in the set of material furnished by the publishers of this book.

PROCEDURE. Point to the colors in the order, red, yellow, blue, green. Bring the finger close to the color designated, in order that there may be no mistake as to which one is meant, and say: "What is the name of that color?" Do not say: "What color is that?" or, "What kind of a color is that?" Such a formula might bring the answer, "The first color"; or, "A pretty color." Still less would it do to say: "Show me the red," "Show me the yellow," etc. This would make it an entirely different test, one that would probably be passed a year earlier than the Binet form of the experiment. Nor is it permissible, after a color has been miscalled, to return to it and again ask its name.

SCORING. The test is passed only if all the colors are named correctly and without marked uncertainty. However, prefixing the adjective "dark," or "light," before the name of a color is overlooked.

REMARKS. Naming colors is not a test of color discrimination, for that capacity is well developed years below the level at which this test is used. All 5-year-olds who are not color blind discriminate among the four primary colors here used as readily as adults do. As stated by Binet, it is a test of the "verbalization of color perception." It tells us whether the child has associated the names of the four primary colors with his perceptual imagery of those colors.

The ability to make simple associations between a sense impression and a name is certainly present in normal children some time before the above color associations are actually made. Many objects of experience are correctly named two or three years earlier, and it may seem at first a little strange that color names are learned so late. But it must be remembered that the child does not have numerous opportunities to observe and hear the names of several colors at once, nor does the designation of colors by their names ordinarily have much practical value for the young child. When he finally learns their names, it is more because of his spontaneous interest in the world of sense. Lack of such spontaneous interest is always an unfavorable sign, and it is not surprising, therefore, that imbecile intelligence has ordinarily never taken the trouble to associate colors with their names. Girls are somewhat superior to boys in this test, due probably to a greater natural interest in colors.

Binet originally placed this test in year VIII, changing it to year VII in the 1911 scale. Goddard places it in year VII, while Kuhlmann omits it altogether. With a single exception, all the actual statistics with normal children justify the location of the test in year V. Bobertag's figures are the exception, opposed to which are Rowe, Winch, Dumville, Dougherty, Brigham, and all three of the Stanford investigations.

The test is probably more subject to the influence of home environment than most of the other tests of the scale, and if the social status of the child is low, failure would not be especially significant until after the age of 6 years. On the whole it is an excellent test.

V, 3. AESTHETIC COMPARISON

Use the three pairs of faces supplied with the printed forms. It goes without saying that improvised drawings may not be substituted for Binet's until they have first been standardized.

PROCEDURE. Show the pairs in order from top to bottom. Say: "Which of these two pictures is the prettiest?" Use both the comparative and the superlative forms of the adjective. Do not use the question, "Which face is the uglier (ugliest)?" unless there is some difficulty in getting the child to respond. It is not permitted, in case of an incorrect response, to give that part of the test again and to allow the child a chance to correct his answer; or, in case this is done, we must consider only the original response in scoring.

SCORING. The test is passed only if all three comparisons are made correctly. Any marked uncertainty is failure. Sometimes the child laughingly designates the ugly picture as the prettier, yet shows by his amused expression that he is probably conscious of its peculiarity or absurdity. In such cases "pretty" seems to be given the meaning of "funny" or "amusing." Nevertheless, we score this response as failure, since it betokens a rather infantile tolerance of ugliness.

REMARKS. From the psychological point of view this is a most interesting test. One might suppose that aesthetic judgment would be relatively independent of intelligence. Certainly no one could have known in advance of experience that intellectual retardation would reveal itself in weakness of the aesthetic sense about as unmistakably as in memory, practical judgment, or the comprehension of language. But such is the case. The development of the aesthetic sense parallels general mental growth rather closely. The imbecile of 4-year intelligence, even though he may have lived forty years, has no more chance of passing this test than any other test in year V. It would be profitable to devise and standardize a set of pictures of the same general type which would measure a less primitive stage of aesthetic development.

The present test was located by Binet in year VI and has been retained in that year in other revisions; but three separate Stanford investigations, as well as the statistics of Winch, Dumville, Brigham, Rowe, and Dougherty, warrant its location in year V.

V, 4. GIVING DEFINITIONS IN TERMS OF USE

PROCEDURE. Use the words: Chair, horse, fork, doll, pencil, and table. Say: "You have seen a chair. You know what a chair is. Tell me, what is a chair?" And so on with the other words, always in the order in which they are named above.

Occasionally there is difficulty in getting a response, which is sometimes due merely to the child's unwillingness to express his thoughts in sentences. The earlier tests require only words and phrases. In other cases silence is due to the rather indefinite form of the question. The child could answer, but is not quite sure what is expected of him. Whatever the cause, a little tactful urging is nearly always sufficient to bring a response. In this test we have not found the difficulty of overcoming silence nearly as great as others have stated it to be. In consecutive tests of 150 5- and 6-year-old children we encountered unbreakable silence with 8 words out of the total 900 (150 x 6). This is less than 1 per cent. But tactful encouragement is sometimes necessary, and it is best to take the precaution of not giving the test until rapport has been well established.

The urging should take the following form: "I'm sure you know what a ... is. You have seen a .... Now, tell me, what is a ... ?" That is, we merely repeat the question with a word of encouragement and in a coaxing tone of voice. It would not at all do to introduce other questions, like, "What does a ... look like?" or, "What is a ... for?" "What do people do with a ... ?"

Sometimes, instead of attempting a definition (of doll, for example), the child begins to talk in a more or less irrelevant way, as "I have a great big doll. Auntie gave it to me for Christmas," etc. In such cases we repeat the question and say, "Yes, but tell me; what is a doll?" This is usually sufficient to bring the little chatter-box back to the task.

Unless it is absolutely necessary to give the child lavish encouragement, it is best to withhold approval or disapproval until the test has been finished. If the first response is a poor one and we pronounce it "fine" or "very good," we tempt the child to persist in his low-grade type of definition. By withholding comment until the last word has been defined, we give greater play to spontaneity and initiative.

SCORING. As a rule, children of 5 and 6 years define an object in terms of use, stating what it does, what it is for, what people do with it, etc. Definitions by description, by telling what substance it is made of, and by giving the class to which it belongs are grouped together as "definitions superior to use." It is not before 8 years that two thirds of the children spontaneously give a large proportion of definitions in terms superior to use.

The test is passed in year V if four words out of the six are defined in terms of use (or better than use). The following are examples of satisfactory responses:—

Chair: "To sit on." "You sit on it." "It is made of wood and has legs and back," etc.

Horse: "To drive." "To ride." "What people drive." "To pull the wagon." "It is big and has four legs," etc.

Fork: "To eat with." "To stick meat with." "It is hard and has three sharp things," etc.

Doll: "To play with." "What you dress and put to bed." "To rock," etc.

Pencil: "To write with." "To draw." "They write with it." "It is sharp and makes a black mark."

Table: "To eat on." "What you put the dinner on." "Where you write." "It is made of wood and has legs."

Examples of failure are such responses as the following: "A chair is a chair"; "There is a chair"; or simply, "There" (pointing to a chair). We record such responses without pressing for a further definition. About the only other type of failure is silence.

REMARKS. It is not the purpose of this test to find out whether the child knows the meaning of the words he is asked to define. Words have purposely been chosen which are perfectly familiar to all normal children of 5 years. But with young children there is a difference between knowing a word and giving a definition of it. Besides, we desire to find out how the child apperceives the word, or rather the object for which it stands; whether the thing is thought of in terms of use, appearance (shape, size, color, etc.), material composing it, or class relationships.

This test, because it throws such interesting light on the maturity of the child's apperceptive processes, is one of the most valuable of all. It is possible to differentiate at least a half-dozen degrees of excellence in definitions, according to the intellectual maturity of the subject. A volume, indeed, could be written on the development of word definitions and the growth of meanings; but we will postpone further discussion until VIII, 5. Our concern at present is to know that children of 5 years should at least be able to define four of these six words in terms of use.

Binet placed the test in year VI, but our own figures and those of nearly all the other investigations indicate that it is better located in year V.

V, 5. THE GAME OF PATIENCE

MATERIAL. Prepare two rectangular cards, each 2 x 3 inches, and divide one of them into two triangles by cutting it along one of its diagonals.

PROCEDURE. Place the uncut card on the table with one of its longer sides to the child. By the side of this card, a little nearer the child and a few inches apart, lay the two halves of the divided rectangle with their hypothenuses turned from each other as follows:



Then say to the child: "I want you to take these two pieces (touching the two triangles) and put them together so they will look exactly like this" (pointing to the uncut card). If the child hesitates, we repeat the instructions with a little urging. Say nothing about hurrying, as this is likely to cause confusion. Give three trials, of one minute each. If only one trial is given, success is too often a result of chance moves; but luck is not likely to bring two successes in three trials. If the first trial is a failure, move the cut halves back to their original position and say: "No; put them together so they will look like this" (pointing to the uncut card). Make no other comment of approval or disapproval. Disregard in silence the inquiring looks of the child who tries to read his success or failure in your face.

If one of the pieces is turned over, the task becomes impossible, and it is then necessary to turn the piece back to its original position and begin over, not counting this trial. Have the under side of the pieces marked so as to avoid the risk of presenting one of them to the child wrong side up.

SCORING. There must be two successes in three trials. About the only difficulty in scoring is that of deciding what constitutes a trial. We count it a trial when the child brings the pieces together and (after few or many changes) leaves them in some position. Whether he succeeds after many moves, or leaves the pieces with approval in some absurd position, or gives up and says he cannot do it, his effort counts as one trial. A single trial may involve a number of unsuccessful changes of position in the two cards, but these changes may not consume altogether more than one minute.

REMARKS. As aptly described by Binet, the operation has the following elements: "(1) To keep in mind the end to be attained, that is to say, the figure to be formed. It is necessary to comprehend this end and not to lose sight of it. (2) To try different combinations under the influence of this directing idea, which guides the efforts of the child even though he be unconscious of the fact. (3) To judge the formed combination, compare it with the model, and decide whether it is the correct one."

It may be classed, therefore, as one of the many forms of the "combination method." Elements must be combined into some kind of whole under the guidance of a directing idea. In this respect it has something in common with the form-board test, the Ebbinghaus test, and the test with dissected sentences (XII, 4). Binet designates it a "test of patience," because success in it depends upon a certain willingness to persist in a line of action under the control of an idea.

Not all failures in this test are equally significant. A bright child of 5 years sometimes fails, but usually not without many trial combinations which he rejects one after another as unsatisfactory. A dull child of the same age often stops after he has brought the pieces into any sort of juxtaposition, however absurd, and may be quite satisfied with his foolish effort. His mind is not fruitful and he lacks the power of auto-criticism.

It would be well worth while to work out a new and somewhat more difficult "test of patience," but with special care to avoid the puzzling features of the usual games of anagrams. The one given us by Binet is rather easy for year V, though plainly somewhat too difficult for year IV.

V, 6. THREE COMMISSIONS

PROCEDURE. After getting up from the chair and moving with the child to the center of the room, say: "Now, I want you to do something for me. Here's a key. I want you to put it on that chair over there; then I want you to shut (or open) that door, and then bring me the box which you see over there (pointing in turn to the objects designated). Do you understand? Be sure to get it right. First, put the key on the chair, then shut (open) the door, then bring me the box (again pointing). Go ahead." Stress the words first and then so as to emphasize the order in which the commissions are to be executed.

Give the commissions always in the above order. Do not repeat the instructions again or give any further aid whatever, even by the direction of the gaze. If the child stops or hesitates it is never permissible to say: "What next?" Have the self-control to leave the child alone with his task.

SCORING. All three commissions must be executed and in the proper order. Failure may result, therefore, either from leaving out one or more of the commands or from changing the order. The former is more often the case.

REMARKS. Success depends first on the ability to comprehend the commands, and secondly, on the ability to hold them in mind. It is therefore a test of memory, though of a somewhat different kind from that involved in repeating digits or sentences. It is an excellent test, for it throws light on a kind of intelligence which is demanded in all occupations and in everyday life. A more difficult test of the same type ought to be worked out for a higher age level.

Binet originally located this test in year VI, but in 1911 changed it to year VII. This is unfortunate, for the three Stanford investigations, as well as the statistics of all other investigators, show conclusively that it is easy enough for year V.

V. ALTERNATIVE TEST: GIVING AGE

PROCEDURE. The formula is simply, "How old are you?" The child of this age is, of course, not expected to know the date of his birthday, but merely how many years old he is.

SCORING. About the only danger in scoring is in the failure to verify the child's response. Some children give an incorrect answer with perfect assurance, and it is therefore always necessary to verify.

REMARKS. Inability to give the age may or may not be significant. If the child has arrived at the age of 7 or 8 years and has had anything like a normal social environment, failure in the test is an extremely unfavorable sign. But if the child is an orphan or has grown up in neglect, ignorance of age has little significance for intelligence. About all we can say is that if a child gives his age correctly, it is because he has had sufficient interest and intelligence to remember verbal statements which have been made concerning him in his presence. He may even pass the test without attaching any definite meaning to the word "year." On the other hand, if he has lived seven or eight years in a normal environment, it is safe to assume that he has heard his age given many times, and failure to remember it would then indicate either a weak memory or a grave inferiority of spontaneous interests, or both. Normal children have a natural interest in the things they hear said about themselves, while the middle-grade imbecile of even 40 years may fail to remember his age, however often he may have heard it stated.

Binet placed the test in year VI of the 1908 series, but omitted it altogether in 1911. Kuhlmann and Goddard also omit it, perhaps wisely. Nevertheless, it is always interesting to give as a supplementary test. Children from good homes acquire the knowledge about a year earlier than those from less favorable surroundings. Unselected children of California ordinarily pass the test at 5 years.



CHAPTER XII

INSTRUCTIONS FOR YEAR VI

VI, 1. DISTINGUISHING RIGHT AND LEFT

PROCEDURE. Say to the child: "Show me your right hand." After this is responded to, say: "Show me your left ear." Then: "Show me your right eye." Stress the words left and ear rather strongly and equally; also right and eye. If there is one error, repeat the test, this time with left hand, right ear, and left eye. Carefully avoid giving any help by look of approval or disapproval, by glancing at the part of the body indicated, or by supplementary questions.

SCORING. The test is passed if all three questions are answered correctly, or if, in case of one error, the three additional questions are all answered correctly. The standard, therefore, is three out of three, or five out of six.

The chief danger of variation among different examiners in scoring comes from double responses. For example, the child may point first to one ear and then to the other. In all cases of double response, the rule is to count the second response and disregard the first. This holds whether the first response was wrong and the second right, or vice versa.

REMARKS. It is interesting to follow the child's acquisitions of language distinctions relating to spacial orientation. Other distinctions of this type are those between up and down, above and below, near and far, before and behind, etc. As Bobertag has pointed out, the child first masters such distinctions as up and down, above and below, before and behind, etc., and arrives at a knowledge of right and left rather tardily.

How may we explain the late distinction of right and left as compared with up and down? At least four theories may be advanced: (1) Something depends on the frequency with which children have occasion to make the respective distinctions. (2) It may be explained on the supposition that kinaesthetic sensations are more prominently involved in distinctions of up and down than in distinctions of right and left. It is certainly true that, in distinguishing the two sides of a thing, less bodily movement is ordinarily required than in distinctions of its upper and lower aspects. The former demands only a shift of the eyes, the latter often requires an upward or downward movement of the head. (3) It may be due to the fact that the appearance of an object is more affected by differences in vertical orientation than by those of horizontal orientation. We see an object now from one side, now from the other, and the two aspects easily blend, while the two aspects corresponding to above and below are not viewed in such rapid succession and so remain much more distinct from one another in the child's mind. Or, (4), the difference may be mainly a matter of language. The child undoubtedly hears the words up and down much oftener than right and left, and thus learns their meaning earlier. Horizontal distinctions are commonly made in such terms as this side and that side, or merely by pointing, while in the case of vertical distinctions the words up and down are used constantly. This last explanation is a very plausible one, but it is very probable that other factors are also involved.

The distinction between right and left has a certain inherent and more or less mysterious difficulty. To convince one's self of this it is only necessary to try a little experiment on the first fifty persons one chances to meet. The experiment is as follows. Say: "I am going to ask you a question and I want you to answer it as quickly as you can." Then ask: "Which is your right hand?" About forty persons out of fifty will answer correctly without a second's hesitation, several will require two or three seconds to respond, while a few, possibly four or five per cent, will grow confused and perhaps be unable to respond for five or ten seconds. Some very intelligent adults cannot possibly tell which is the right or left hand without first searching for a scar or some other distinguishing mark which is known to be on a particular hand. Others resort to incipient movements of writing, and since, of course, every one knows which hand he writes with, the writing movements automatically initiated give the desired clue. One bright little girl of 8 years responded by trying to wink first one eye and then the other. Asked why she did this, she said she knew she could wink her left eye, but not her right! One who is resourceful enough to adopt such an ingenious method is surely not less intelligent than the one who is able to respond by a direct instead of an intermediate association.

It seems that normal people never encounter a corresponding difficulty in distinguishing up and down. The writer has questioned several hundred without finding a single instance, whereas a great many have to employ some intermediate association in order to distinguish right and left. It is the "p's and q's" that children must be told to mind; not the "p's and b's." The former is a horizontal, the latter a vertical distinction.

Considering the difficulty which normal adults sometimes have in distinguishing right and left, is it fair to use this test as a measure of intelligence? We may answer in the affirmative. It is fair because normal adults, notwithstanding momentary uncertainty, are invariably able to make the distinction, if not by direct association, then by an intermediate one. We overlook the momentary confusion and regard only the correctness of the response. Subjects who are below middle-grade imbecile, however long they have lived, seldom pass the test.

This test found a place in year VI of Binet's 1908 scale, but was shifted to year VII in the 1911 revision. The Stanford statistics, and all other available data, with the exception of Bobertag's, justify its retention in year VI. It is possible that the children of different nations do not have equal opportunity and stimulus for learning the distinction between right and left, but the data show that as far as American and English children are concerned we have a right to expect this knowledge in children of 6 years.

VI, 2. FINDING OMISSIONS IN PICTURES

PROCEDURE. Show the pictures to the child one at a time in the order in which they are lettered, a, b, c, d. When the first picture is shown (that with the eye lacking), say: "There is something wrong with this face. It is not all there. Part of it is left out. Look carefully and tell me what part of the face is not there." Often the child gives an irrelevant answer; as, "The feet are gone," "The stomach is not there," etc. These statements are true, but they do not satisfy the requirements of the test, so we say: "No; I am talking about the face. Look again and tell me what is left out of the face." If the correct response does not follow, we point to the place where the eye should be and say: "See, the eye is gone." When picture b is shown we say merely: "What is left out of this face?" Likewise with picture c. For picture d we say: "What is left out of this picture?" No help of any kind is given unless (if necessary) with the first picture. With the others we confine ourselves to the single question, and the answer should be given promptly, say within twenty to twenty-five seconds.

SCORING. Passed if the omission is correctly pointed out in three out of four of the pictures. Certain minor errors we may overlook, such as "eyes" instead of "eye" for the first picture; "nose and one ear" instead of merely "nose" for the third; "hands" instead of "arms" for the fourth, etc. Errors like the following, however, count as failure: "The other eye," or "The other ear" for the first or third; "The ears" for the fourth, etc.

REMARKS. The test is one of the two or three dozen forms of the so-called "completion test," all of which have it in common that from the given parts of a whole the missing parts are to be found. The whole to be completed may be a word, a sentence, a story, a picture, a group of pictures, an object, or in fact almost anything. Sometimes all the parts of the whole are given and only the arrangement or order is to be found, as in the test with dissected sentences.

Further discussion of the completion test will be found in connection with test 4, year XII. For the present we will only observe that notwithstanding a certain similarity among the tests of this type, they do not all call into play the same mental processes. The factor most involved may be verbal language coherence, visual perception of form, the association of abstract ideas, etc. To pass Binet's test with mutilated pictures requires, (1) that the parts of the picture be perceived as constituting a whole; and (2) that the idea of a human face or form be so easily and so clearly reproducible that it may act, even before it comes fully into consciousness, as a model or pattern, for the criticism of the picture shown. The younger the child, the less adequate, in this sense, is his perceptual familiarity with common objects. In standardizing a series of "absurd pictures," the writer has found that normal children of 3 years often see nothing wrong in a picture which shows a cat with two legs or a hen with four legs. Such children would, of course, never mistake a cat for a hen. Their trouble lies in the inability to call up in clear form a "free idea" of a cat or a hen for comparison with the perceptual presentation offered by the picture. Middle-grade imbeciles of adult age have much the same difficulty as normal children of 4 years in recognizing mutilations or absurdities in pictures of familiar objects.

Binet first placed this test in year VII, changing it to year VIII in the 1911 revision. In other revisions it has been retained in year VII, although all the available statistics except Bobertag's warrant its location in year VI.

VI, 3. COUNTING THIRTEEN PENNIES

PROCEDURE. The procedure is the same as in the test of counting four pennies (year IV, test 3). If the first response contains only a minor error, such as the omission of a number in counting, failure to tally with the finger, etc., a second trial is given.

SCORING. The test is passed if there is one success in two trials. Success requires that the counting should tally with the pointing. It is not sufficient merely to state the number of pennies without pointing, for unless the child points and counts aloud we cannot be sure that his correct answer may not be the joint result of two errors in opposite directions and equal; for example, if one penny were skipped and another were counted twice the total result would still be correct, but the performance would not satisfy the requirements.

REMARKS. Does success in this test depend upon intelligence or upon schooling? The answer is, intelligence mainly. There are possibly a few normal 6-year-old children who could not pass the test for lack of instruction, but children of this age usually have enough spontaneous interest in numbers to acquire facility in counting as far as 13 without formal teaching. Certainly, inability to do so by the age of 7 years is a suspicious sign unless the child's environment has been extraordinarily unfavorable. On the other hand, feeble-minded adults of the 5-year level usually have to have a great deal of instruction before they acquire the ability to count 13, and many of them are hardly able to learn it at all. So much does our learning depend on original endowment.

Binet originally placed this test in year VII, but moved it to year VI in 1911. All the statistics, without exception, show that this change was justified. Bobertag says that nearly all 7-year-olds who are not feeble-minded can pass it, a statement with which we can fully agree.

VI, 4. COMPREHENSION, SECOND DEGREE

PROCEDURE. The questions used in this year are:—

(a) "What's the thing to do if it is raining when you start to school?" (b) "What's the thing to do if you find that your house is on fire?" (c) "What's the thing to do if you are going some place and miss your train (car)?"

Note that the wording of the first part of the questions is slightly different from that in year IV, test 5.

If there is no response, or if the child looks puzzled, the question may be repeated once or twice. The form of the question must not under any circumstances be altered. Question b, for example, would be materially changed if we should say: "Suppose you were to come home from school and find that your house was burning up. What would you do?" The expression "burning up" would probably be much less likely to suggest calling a fireman than would the words "on fire."

SCORING. Two out of three must be answered correctly. The harder the comprehension questions are, the greater the variety of answers and the greater the difficulty of scoring. Because of the difficulty many examiners find in scoring this test, we will list the most common satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and doubtful responses to each question.

(a) If it is raining when you start to school

Satisfactory. "Take umbrella," "Bring a parasol," "Put on rubbers," "Wear an overcoat," etc. This type of response occurred 61 times out of 72 successes. "Have my father bring me" also counts plus.

Unsatisfactory. "Go home," "Stay at home," "Stay in the house," "Have the rainbow," "Stay in school," etc. "Stay at home" is the most common failure and might at first seem to the examiner to be a satisfactory response. As a matter of fact, this answer rests on a slight misunderstanding of the question, the import of which is that one is to go to school and it is raining.

Doubtful. "Run" as an answer is a little more troublesome. It may reasonably be scored plus if it can be ascertained that the child is accustomed to meet the situation in this way. It is a common response with children in those regions of the Southwest where rains are so infrequent that umbrellas are rarely used. "Bring my lunch" may be considered a satisfactory response in case the child is in the habit of so doing on rainy days.

(b) If you find that your house is on fire

Satisfactory. "Ring the fire alarm," "Call the firemen," "Call for help," "Put water on it," etc.

Unsatisfactory. The most common failure, accounting for nearly half of all, is to suggest finding other shelter; e.g., "Go to the hotel," "Get another house," "Stay with your friends," "Build a new house," etc. Others are: "Tell them you are sorry it burned down," "Be careful and not let it burn again," "Have it insured," "Cry," "Call the policeman," etc.

Doubtful. Instead of suggesting measures to put out the fire, a good many children suggest mere escape or the saving of household articles. Responses of this type are: "Jump out of the windows," "Save yourself," "Get out as fast as you can," "Save the baby," "Get my dolls and jewelry and hurry and get out." These answers are about one seventh as frequent as the perfectly satisfactory ones, and the rule for scoring them is a matter of some importance. Under certain circumstances the logical thing to do would be to save one's self or valuables without wasting time trying to call help. There may be no help in reach, or a fire which the child imagines may be too far along for help to be effective. In order to avoid the possibility of doing a subject an injustice, it may be desirable to score such answers plus. We must not be too arbitrary.

(c) If you miss your train

Satisfactory. The answer we expect is, "Wait for another," "Take the next car," or something to that effect. This type of answer includes about 85 per cent of the responses which do not belong obviously in the unsatisfactory group. "Take a jitney" is a modern variation of this response which must be counted as satisfactory.

Unsatisfactory. These are endless. One continues to meet new examples of absurdity, however many children one has tested. The possibilities are literally inexhaustible, but the following are among the most common: "Wait for it to come back," "Have to walk," "Be mad," "Don't swear," "Run and try to catch it," "Try to jump on," "Don't go to that place," "Go to the next station," etc.

Doubtful. The main doubtful response is, "Go home again," "Come back next day and catch another," etc. In small or isolated towns having only one or two trains per day, this is the logical thing to do, and in such cases the score is plus. Fortunately, only about one answer in ten gives rise to any difference of opinion among even partly trained examiners.

REMARKS. The three comprehension questions of this group were all suggested by Binet in 1905. Only one of them, however, "What would you do if you were going some place and missed your train?" was incorporated in the 1908 or 1911 series, and this was used in year X with seven others much harder. The other two remained unstandardized previous to the Stanford investigation.[53]

[53] For general discussion of the comprehension questions as a test, see p. 158.

VI, 5. NAMING FOUR COINS

PROCEDURE. Show a nickel, a penny, a quarter, and a dime, asking each time: "What is that?" If the child misunderstands and answers, "Money," or "A piece of money," we say: "Yes, but what do you call that piece of money?" Show the coins always in the order given above.

SCORING. The test is passed if three of the four questions are correctly answered. Any correct designation of a coin is satisfactory, including provincialisms like "two bits" for the 25-cent piece, etc. If the child changes his response for a coin, we count the second answer and ignore the first. No supplementary questions are permissible.

REMARKS. Some of the critics of the Binet scale regard this test as of little value, because, they say, the ability to identify pieces of money depends entirely on instruction or other accidents of environment. The figures show, however, that it is not greatly influenced by differences of social environment, although children from poor homes do slightly better with it than those from homes of wealth and culture. The fact seems to be that practically all children by the age of 6 years have had opportunity to learn the names of the smaller coins, and if they have failed to learn them it betokens a lack of that spontaneity of interest in things which we have mentioned so often as a fundamental presupposition of intelligence. It is by no means a test of mere mechanical memory.

This test was given a place in year VII of Binet's 1908 scale, the coins used being the 1-sou, 2-sous, 10-sous, and 5-franc pieces. It was omitted from the Binet 1911 revision and also from that of Goddard. Kuhlmann retains it in year VII. Others, however, have required all four coins to be correctly named, and when this standard is used the test is difficult enough for year VII. Germany has six coins up to and including the 1-mark piece, all of which could be named by 76 per cent of Bobertag's 7-year-olds. With the coins and the standard of scoring used in the Stanford revision the test belongs well in year VI.

VI, 6. REPEATING SIXTEEN TO EIGHTEEN SYLLABLES

The sentences are:—

(a) "We are having a fine time. We found a little mouse in the trap." (b) "Walter had a fine time on his vacation. He went fishing every day." (c) "We will go out for a long walk. Please give me my pretty straw hat."

PROCEDURE. The instructions should be given as follows: "Now, listen. I am going to say something and after I am through I want you to say it over just like I do. Understand? Listen carefully and be sure to say exactly what I say." Then read the first sentence rather slowly, in a distinct voice, and with expression. If the response is not too bad, praise the child's efforts. Then proceed with the second and third sentences, prefacing each with an exhortation to "say exactly what I say."

In this year and in the memory-for-sentences test of later years it is not permissible to re-read even the first sentence. The only reason for allowing a repetition of one of the sentences in the earlier test of this kind was to overcome the child's timidity. With children of 6 years or upward we seldom encounter the timidity which sometimes makes it so hard to secure responses in some of the tests of the earlier years.

SCORING. The test is passed if at least one sentence out of three is repeated without error, or if two are repeated with not more than one error each. A single omission, insertion, or transposition counts as an error. Faults of pronunciation are of course overlooked. It is not sufficient that the thought be reproduced intact; the exact language must be repeated. The responses should be recorded verbatim. This is easily done if record blanks used for scoring have the sentences printed in full.

REMARKS. In this test and in later tests of memory for sentences, it is interesting to ask after each response: "Did you get it right?" As in the tests with digits, it is an unfavorable sign when the child is perfectly satisfied with a very poor response.

It is evident that tests of this type give opportunity for different degrees of failure. To repeat only a half or a third of each sentence is much more serious than to make but one error in each sentence (one word omitted, inserted, or misplaced). It would be possible to use the same sentences at three or four different age levels, by setting the appropriate standard for success at each age. If the standard is one sentence out of three repeated with no more than two errors, the test belongs in year V. If we require two absolutely correct responses out of three, the test belongs at about year VII. The shifting standard is rendered unnecessary, however, by the use of other tests of the same kind, easier ones in the lower years and more difficult ones in the upper.

Sentences of sixteen syllables found a place in Binet's 1908 scale and were correctly located in year VI, but later revisions, including that of Binet, have omitted the test.

VI. ALTERNATIVE TEST: FORENOON AND AFTERNOON

PROCEDURE. If it is morning, ask: "Is it morning or afternoon?" If it is afternoon, put the question in the reverse form, "Is it afternoon or morning?" This precaution is necessary because of the tendency of some children to choose always the latter of two alternatives. Do not cross-question the child or give any suggestion that might afford a clue as to the correct answer.

SCORING. The test is passed if the correct response is given with apparent assurance. If the child says he is not sure but thinks it forenoon (or afternoon, as the case may be), we score the response a failure even if the answer happens to be correct. However, this type of response is not often encountered.

REMARKS. It is interesting to follow the child's development with regard to orientation in time. This development proceeds much more slowly than we are wont to assume. Certain distinctions with regard to space, as up and down, come much earlier. As Binet remarks, schools sometimes try to teach the events of national history to children whose time orientation is so rudimentary that they do not even know morning from afternoon!

The test has two rather serious faults: (1) It gives too much play to chance, for since only two alternatives are offered, guesses alone would give about fifty per cent of correct responses. (2) We cannot be sure that the verbal distinction between forenoon and afternoon always corresponds the two divisions of the day. It is possible that the temporal discrimination precedes the formation of the correct verbal association.

This test was included in the year VI group of the 1908 scale, but was omitted from the 1911 revision. Nearly all the data except Bobertag's show that it is rather easy for year VI, though too difficult for year V. Bobertag's figures would place the test in year VII. Possibly the corresponding German words are not as easy to learn as our morning and afternoon.



CHAPTER XIII

INSTRUCTIONS FOR YEAR VII

VII, 1. GIVING THE NUMBER OF FINGERS

PROCEDURE. "How many fingers have you on one hand?" "How many on the other hand?" "How many on both hands together?" If the child begins to count in response to any of the questions, say: "No, don't count. Tell me without counting." Then repeat the question.

SCORING. Passed if all three questions are answered correctly and promptly without the necessity of counting. Some subjects do not understand the question to include the thumbs. We disregard this if the number of fingers exclusive of thumbs is given correctly.

REMARKS. Like the two tests of counting pennies, this one, also, throws light on the child's spontaneous interest in numbers. However, the mental processes it calls into play are a little less simple than those required for mere counting. If the child is able to give the number of fingers, it is ordinarily because he has previously counted them and has remembered the result. The memory would hardly be retained but for a certain interest in numbers as such. Middle-grade imbeciles of even adult age seldom remember how many fingers they have, however often they may have been told. They are not able to form accurate concepts of other than the simplest number relationships, and numbers have little interest or meaning for them.

Binet gave this test a place in year VII of the 1908 series, but omitted it in the 1911 revision. Goddard omits it, while Kuhlmann retains it in year VII, where, according to our own figures, it unmistakably belongs. Bobertag finds it rather easy for year VII, though too difficult for year VI.

Our data prove that this test fulfills the requirements of a good test. It shows a rapid but even rise from year V to year VIII in the per cent passing, the agreement among the different testers is extraordinarily close, and it is relatively little influenced by training and social environment. For these reasons, and because it is so easy to give and score with uniformity, it well deserves a place in the scale.

VII, 2. DESCRIPTION OF PICTURES

PROCEDURE. Use the same pictures as in III, 3, presenting them always in the following order: Dutch Home, River Scene, Post-Office. The formula for the test in this year is somewhat different from that of year III. Say: "What is this picture about? What is this a picture of?" Use the double question, and follow the formula exactly. It would ruin the test to say: "Tell me everything you see in this picture," for this form of question tends to provoke the enumeration response even with intelligent children of this age.

When there is no response, the question may be repeated as often as is necessary to break the silence.

SCORING. The test is passed if two of the three pictures are described or interpreted. Interpretation, however, is seldom encountered at this age. Often the response consists of a mixture of enumeration and description. The rule is that the reaction to a picture should not be scored plus unless it is made up chiefly of description (or interpretation).

Study of the following samples of satisfactory responses will give a fairly definite idea of the requirements for satisfactory description:—

Picture (a): satisfactory responses

"The little girl is crying. The mother is looking at her and there is a little kitten on the floor."

"The mother is watching the baby, and the cat is looking at a hole in the floor, and there is a lamp and a table so I guess it's a dining room."

"The little girl has wooden shoes. Her mother is sitting in a chair and has a funny cap on her head. The cat is sitting on the floor and there is a basket by the mother and a table with something on it."

"It's about Holland. The little Dutch girl is crying and the mother is sitting down."

"A little Dutch girl and her mother and that's a kitten, and the little girl has her hand up as if she was doing something to her forehead. She has shoes that curve up in front."

"Dutch lady, and the little baby doesn't want to come to her mother and the cat is looking for some mice."

"The mother is sitting down and the little one has her hands up over her eyes. There's a pail by the mother and a chair with some clothes on it and a table with dishes. And here's a lamp and here's some curtains."

Picture (b): satisfactory responses

"Some people in a boat. The water is high and if they don't look out the boat will tip over."

"Some Indians and a lady and man. They are in a boat on the river and the boat is about to upset, and there are some dead trees going to fall."

"There's a lot of water coming up to drown the people. There are two people in the boat and the boat is sinking."

"There's some people sailing in a canoe and the woman is leaning over on the man because she is afraid."

"There's an Indian and some white people in the boat. I suppose they are out for a ride in a canoe."

"Picture about some man and lady in a canoe and going down to the sea."

"They are taking a boat ride on the ocean and the water is up so high that one of them is scared. Here are some trees and two of them are going to fall down. Here's a little place or bridge you can stand on. The man is touching this one's head and this one has his hand on the cover."

"The water is splashing all over. There's trees on this bank and there's a rock and some trees falling down. The people have a blanket over them."

Picture (c): satisfactory responses

"A man selling eggs and two men reading the paper together and two men watching."

"A few men reading a newspaper and one has a basket of eggs and this one has been fishing."

"There's a man with a basket of eggs and another is reading the paper and a woman is hanging out clothes. There's a house near."

"There's a man trying to read the paper and the others want to read it too. Here's a lady walking up to the barn. There are houses over there and one man has a basket."

"There's a big brick house and five men by it and a man with a basket of eggs and a post-office sign and a lady going home."

"They are all looking at the paper. He is looking over the other man's shoulder and this one is looking at the back of the paper. There's a woman cleaning up her back yard and some coops for hens."

"A man reading a paper, a man with eggs, a woman and a tree and another house. That man has an apron on. This is the post-office."

Unsatisfactory responses are those made up entirely or mainly of enumeration. A phrase or two of description intermingled with a larger amount of enumeration counts minus. Sometimes the description is satisfactory as far as it goes, but is exceedingly brief. In such cases a little tactful urging ("Go ahead," etc.) will extend the response sufficiently to reveal its true character.

REMARKS. Description is better than enumeration because it involves putting the elements of a picture together in a simple way or noting their qualities. This requires a higher type of mental association (combinative power) than mere enumeration. An unusually complete description indicates relative wealth of mental content and facility of association.

Binet placed this test in year VII, and it seems to have been retained in this location in all revisions except Bobertag's. However, the statistics of various workers show much disagreement. Lack of agreement is easily accounted for by the fact that different investigators have used different series of pictures and doubtless also different standards for success. The pictures used by Binet have little action or detail and are therefore rather difficult for description. On the other hand, the Jingleman-Jack pictures used by Kuhlmann represent such familiar situations and have so much action that even 5- or 6-year intelligence seldom fails with them. The pictures we employ belong without question in year VII.

No better proof than the above could be found to show how ability of a given kind does not make its appearance suddenly. There is no one time in the life of even a single child when the power to describe pictures suddenly develops. On the contrary, pictures of a certain type will ordinarily provoke description, rather than enumeration, as early as 5 or 6 years; others not before 7 or 8 years, or even later.

VII, 3. REPEATING FIVE DIGITS

PROCEDURE. Use: 3-1-7-5-9; 4-2-3-8-5; 9-8-1-7-6. Tell the child to listen and to say after you just what you say. Then read the first series of digits at a slightly faster rate than one per second, in a distinct voice, and with perfectly uniform emphasis. Avoid rhythm.

In previous tests with digits, it was permissible to re-read the first series if the child refused to respond. In this year, and in the digits tests of later years, this is not permissible. Warning is not given as to the number of digits to be repeated. Before reading each series, get the child's attention. Do not stare at the child during the response, as this is disconcerting. Look aside or at the record sheet.

SCORING. Passed if the child repeats correctly, after a single reading, one series out of the three series given. The order must be correct.

REMARKS. Psychologically the repetition of digits differs from the repetition of sentences mainly in the fact that digits have less meaning (fewer associations) than the words of a sentence. It is because they are not as well knit together in meaning that three digits tax the memory as much as six syllables making up a sentence.

Testing auditory memory for digits is one of the oldest of intelligence tests. It is easy to give and lends itself well to exact quantitative standardization. Its value has been questioned, however, on two grounds: (1) That it is not a test of pure memory, but depends largely on attention; and (2) that the results are too much influenced by the child's type of imagery. As to the first objection, it is true that more than one mental function is brought into play by the test. The same may be said of every other test in the Binet scale and for that matter of any test that could be devised. It is impossible to isolate any function for separate testing. In fact, the functions called memory, attention, perception, judgment, etc., never operate in isolation. There are no separate and special "faculties" corresponding to such terms, which are merely convenient names for characterizing mental processes of various types. In any test it is "general ability" which is operative, perhaps now chiefly in remembering, at another time chiefly in sensory discrimination, again in reasoning, etc.

The second objection, that the test is largely invalidated by the existence of imagery types, is not borne out by the facts. Experiments have shown that pure imagery types are exceedingly rare, and that children, especially, are characterized by "mixed" imagery. There are probably few subjects so lacking in auditory imagery as to be placed at a serious disadvantage in this test.

Lengthening a series by the addition of a single digit adds greatly to the difficulty. While four digits can usually be repeated by children of 4 years, five digits belong in year VII and six in year X.

It is always interesting to note the type of errors made. The most common error is to omit one or more of the digits, usually in the first part of the series. If the child's ability is decidedly below the test he may give only the last two or three out of the five or six heard. Substitutions are also quite frequent, and if so many substitutions are made as to give a series quite unlike that which the child has heard, it is an unfavorable sign, indicating weakness of the critical sense which is so often found with low-level intelligence. In case of extreme weakness of the power of auto-criticism, the child in response to the series 9-8-1-7-6-, may say 1-2-3-4-5-6, or perhaps merely a couple of digits like 8-6, and still express complete satisfaction with his absurd response. After each series, therefore, the examiner should say, "Was it right?"[54] Very young subjects, however, have a tendency to answer "yes" to any question of this type, and it is therefore best not to call for criticism of a performance below the age of 6 or 7 years.

[54] "Was it wrong?" is not an equivalent question and should not be used.

Digit series of a given length are not always of equal difficulty, and for this reason it is never wise to use series improvised at the moment of the experiment. We must avoid especially series of regularly ascending or descending value, the repetition at regular intervals of a particular digit, and all other peculiarities of arrangement which would favor the grouping of the digits for easier retention.

It remains to mention two or three further cautions in regard to procedure. It is best to begin with a series about one digit below the child's expected ability. If the child has a probable intelligence of about 6 or 7 years, we should begin with four digits; in case of probable 10-year intelligence we begin with five digits, etc. On the other hand, we should avoid beginning too far down, because then the result is too much complicated by the effects of practice and fatigue.

It is not necessary, and often it is not expedient, to give the digits tests of all the different years in succession; that is, without other tests intervening. While this may be permissible with older children, in young children the power of sustained attention is so weak that no single kind of test should occupy more than two or three minutes. Children below 6 or 7 years should ordinarily be given the tests in the order in which they are listed in the record booklet.

In his 1911 revision of the scale Binet unfortunately shifted this test from year VII to year VIII. Goddard follows his example, but Kuhlmann retains it in year VII. The data from more than a dozen leading investigations in America, England, and Germany agree in showing that the test should remain in year VII.

VII, 4. TYING A BOW-KNOT

PROCEDURE. Prepare a shoestring tied in a bow-knot around a stick. The knot should be an ordinary "double bow," with wings not over three or four inches long. Make this ready in advance of the experiment and show the child only the completed knot.