The Measurement of Intelligence

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SUPERIOR ADULT, 3: REPEATING EIGHT DIGITS

PROCEDURE and SCORING, the same as in previous tests with digits
reversed. The series used are: 7-2-5-3-4-8-9-6; 4-9-8-5-3-7-6-2; and
8-3-7-9-5-4-8-2.

Guard against rhythm and grouping in reading the digits and do not give
warning as to the number to be given.

The test is passed by about one third of "average adults" and by over
two thirds of "superior adults." The test shows no marked difference
between educated and uneducated subjects of the same mental level.

SUPERIOR ADULT, 4: REPEATING THOUGHT OF PASSAGE

PROCEDURE. Say: "_I am going to read a little selection of about six or
eight lines. When I am through I will ask you to repeat as much of it as
you can. It doesn't make any difference whether you remember the exact
words or not, but you must listen carefully so that you can tell me
everything it says._" Then read the following selections, pausing after
each for the subject's report, which should be recorded _verbatim_:--

(a) "_Tests such as we are now making are of value both for the
advancement of science and for the information of the person
who is tested. It is important for science to learn how people
differ and on what factors these differences depend. If we can
separate the influence of heredity from the influence of
environment, we may be able to apply our knowledge so as to
guide human development. We may thus in some cases correct
defects and develop abilities which we might otherwise
neglect._"
(b) "_Many opinions have been given on the value of life. Some
call it good, others call it bad. It would be nearer correct
to say that it is mediocre; for on the one hand, our
happiness is never as great as we should like, and on the
other hand, our misfortunes are never as great as our enemies
would wish for us. It is this mediocrity of life which
prevents it from being radically unjust._"

Sometimes the subject hesitates to begin, thinking, in spite of our
wording of the instructions, that a perfect reproduction is expected.
Others fall into the opposite misunderstanding and think that they are
prohibited from using the words of the text and must give the thought
entirely in their own language. In cases of hesitation we should urge
the subject a little and remind him that he is to express the thought of
the selection in whatever way he prefers; that the main thing is to tell
what the selection says.

SCORING. The test is passed if the subject is able to repeat in
reasonably consecutive order the main thoughts of at least one of the
selections. Neither elegance of expression nor _verbatim_ repetition is
expected. We merely want to know whether the leading thoughts in the
selection have been grasped and remembered.

All grades of accuracy are found, both in the comprehension of the
selection and in the recall, and it is not always easy to draw the line
between satisfactory and unsatisfactory responses. The following sample
performances will serve as a guide:--

_Selection (a)_

_Satisfactory._ "The tests which we are making are given for the
advancement of science and for the information of the person
tested. By scientific means we will be able to separate
characteristics derived from heredity and environment and to
treat each class separately. By doing so we can more accurately
correct defects."

"Tests like these are for two purposes. First to develop a
science, and second to apply it to the person to help him. The
tests are to find out how you differ from another and to measure
the difference between your heredity and environment."

"These tests are given to see if we can separate heredity and
environment and to see if we can find out how one person differs
from another. We can then correct these differences and teach
people more effectively."

"The tests that we are now making are valuable along both
scientific and personal lines. By using them it can be found out
where a person is weak and where he is strong. We can then
strengthen his weak points and remedy some things that would
otherwise be neglected. They are of great benefit to science and
to the person concerned."

"Tests such as we are now making are of great importance because
they aim to show in what respects we differ from others and why,
and if they do this they will be able to guide us into the right
channel and bring success instead of failure."

_Unsatisfactory._ "Tests such as we are now making are of value
both for the advancement of science and for the information of
the person interested. It is necessary to know this."

"Such tests as we are now making show about the human mind and
show in what channels we are fitted. It is the testing of each
individual between his effects of inheritancy and environment."

"It is very interesting for us to study science for two reasons;
first, to test our mental ability, and second for the further
development of science."

"Tests such as we are now making help in two ways; it helps the
scientists and it gives information to the people."

"Tests are being given to pupils to-day to better them and to
aid science for generations to come. If each person knows
exactly his own beliefs and ideas and faults he can find out
exactly what kind of work he is fitted for by heredity. The
tests show that environment doesn't count, for if you are all
right you will get along anyway." (Note invention.)

_Selection (b)_

_Satisfactory._ "There are different opinions about life. Some
call it good and some bad. It would be more correct to say that
it is middling, because we are never as happy as we would like
to be and we are never as sad as our enemies want us to be."

"One hears many judgments about life. Some say it is good, while
others say it is bad. But it is really neither of the extremes.
Life is mediocre. We do not have as much good as we desire, nor
do we have as much misfortune as others want us to have.
Nevertheless, we have enough good to keep life from being
unjust."

"Some people have different views of life from others. Some say
it is bad, others say it is good. It is better to class life as
mediocre, as it is never as good as we wish it, and on the other
hand, it might be worse."

"Some people think differently of life. Some think it good, some
bad, others mediocre, which is nearest correct. It brings
unhappiness to us, but not as much as our enemies want us to
have."

_Unsatisfactory._ "Some say life is good, some say it is
mediocre. Even though some say it is mediocre they say it is
right."

"There are two sides of life. Some say it is good while others
say it is bad. To some, life is happy and they get all they can
out of life. For others life is not happy and therefore they
fail to get all there is in life."

"One hears many different judgments of life. Some call it good,
some call it bad. It brings unhappiness and it does not have
enough pleasure. It should be better distributed."

"There are different opinions of the value of life. Some say it
is good and some say it is bad. Some say it is mediocrity. Some
think it brings happiness while others do not."

"Nowadays there is much said about the value of life. Some say
it is good, while others say it is bad. A person should not have
an ill feeling toward the value of life, and he should not be
unjust to any one. Honesty is the best policy. People who are
unjust are more likely to be injured by their enemies." (Note
invention.)

REMARKS. Contrary to what the subject is led to expect, the test is less
a test of memory than of ability to comprehend the drift of an abstract
passage. A subject who fully grasps the meaning of the selection as it
is read is not likely to fail because of poor memory. Mere verbal memory
improves but little after the age of 14 or 15 years, as is shown by the
fact that our adults do little better than eighth-grade children in
repeating sentences of twenty-eight syllables. On the other hand, adult
intelligence is vastly superior in the comprehension and retention of a
logically presented group of abstract ideas.

There is nothing in which stupid persons cut a poorer figure than in
grappling with the abstract. Their thinking clings tenaciously to the
concrete; their concepts are vague or inaccurate; the interrelations
among their concepts are scanty in the extreme; and such poor mental
stores as they have are little available for ready use.

A few critics have objected to the use of tests demanding abstract
thinking, on the ground that abstract thought is a very special aspect
of intelligence and that facility in it depends almost entirely on
occupational habits and the accidents of education. Some have even gone
so far as to say that we are not justified, on the basis of any number
of such tests, in pronouncing a subject backward or defective. It is
supposed that a subject who has no capacity in the use of abstract ideas
may nevertheless have excellent intelligence "along other lines." In
such cases, it is said, we should not penalize the subject for his
failures in handling abstractions, but substitute, instead, tests
requiring motor cooerdination and the manipulation of things, tests in
which the supposedly dull child often succeeds fairly well.

From the psychological point of view, such a proposal is naively
unpsychological. It is in the very essence of the higher thought
processes to be conceptual and abstract. What the above proposal amounts
to is, that if the subject is not capable of the more complex and
strictly human type of thinking, we should ignore this fact and estimate
his intelligence entirely on the ability he displays to carry on mental
operations of a more simple and primitive kind. This would be like
asking the physician to ignore the diseased parts of his patient's body
and to base his diagnosis on an examination of the organs which are
sound!

The present test throws light in an interesting way on the integrity of
the critical faculty. Some subjects are unwilling to extend the report
in the least beyond what they know to be approximately correct, while
others with defective powers of auto-criticism manufacture a report
which draws heavily on the imagination, perhaps continuing in garrulous
fashion as long as they can think of anything having the remotest
connection with any thought in the selection. We have included, for each
selection, one illustration of this type in the sample failures given
above.

The worst fault of the test is its susceptibility to the influence of
schooling. Our uneducated adults of even "superior adult" intelligence
often fail, while about two thirds of high-school pupils succeed. The
unschooled adults have a marked tendency either to give a summary which
is inadequate because of its extreme brevity, or else to give a
criticism of the thought which the passage contains.

This test first appeared in Binet's 1911 revision, in the adult group.
Binet used only selection (b), and in a slightly more difficult form
than we have given above. Goddard gives the test like Binet and retains
it in the adult group. Kuhlmann locates it in year XV, using only
selection (a). On the basis of over 300 tests of adults we find the
test too difficult for the "average adult" level, even on the basis of
only one success in two trials and when scored on the rather liberal
standard above set forth.

SUPERIOR ADULT, 5: REPEATING SEVEN DIGITS REVERSED

PROCEDURE and SCORING, the same as in previous tests of this kind. The
series are: 4-1-6-2-5-9-3; 3-8-2-6-4-7-5; and 9-4-5-2-8-3-7.

We have collected fewer data on this test than on any of the others, as
it was added later to the test series. As far as we have used it we have
found few "average adults" who pass, while about half the "superior
adults" do so.

SUPERIOR ADULT, 6: INGENUITY TEST

PROCEDURE. Problem _a_ is stated as follows:--

_A mother sent her boy to the river and told him to bring back
exactly 7 pints of water. She gave him a 3-pint vessel and a
5-pint vessel. Show me how the boy can measure out exactly
7 pints of water, using nothing but these two vessels and not
guessing at the amount. You should begin by filling the 5-pint
vessel first. Remember, you have a 3-pint vessel and a 5-pint
vessel and you must bring back exactly 7 pints._

The problem is given orally, but may be repeated if necessary.

The subject is not allowed pencil or paper and is requested to give his
solution orally as he works it out. It is then possible to make a
complete record of the method employed.

The subject is likely to resort to some such method as to "fill the
3-pint vessel two thirds full," or, "I would mark the inside of the
5-pint vessel so as to show where 4 pints come to," etc. We inform the
subject that such a method is not allowable; that this would be
guessing, since he could not be sure when the 3-pint vessel was two
thirds full (or whether he had marked off his 5-pint vessel accurately).
Tell him he must _measure_ out the water without any guesswork. Explain
also, that it is a fair problem, not a "catch."

Say nothing about pouring from one vessel to another, but if the subject
asks whether this is permissible the answer is "yes."

The time limit for each problem is 5 minutes. If the subject fails on
the first problem, we explain the solution in full and then proceed to
the next.

The second problem is like the first, except that a 5-pint vessel and a
7-pint vessel are given, to get 8 pints, the subject being told to begin
by filling the 5-pint vessel.

In the third problem 4 and 9 are given, to get 7, the instruction being
to "begin by filling the 4-pint vessel."

Note that in each problem we instruct the subject how to begin. This is
necessary in order to secure uniformity of conditions. It is possible to
solve all of the problems by beginning with either of the two vessels,
but the solution is made very much more difficult if we begin in the
direction opposite from that recommended.

Give no further aid. It is necessary to refrain from comment of every
kind.

SCORING. _Two of the three_ problems must be solved correctly within the
5 minutes allotted to each.

REMARKS. We have called this a test of ingenuity. The subject who is
given the problem finds himself involved in a difficulty from which he
must extricate himself. Means must be found to overcome an obstacle.
This requires practical judgement and a certain amount of inventive
ingenuity. Various possibilities must be explored and either accepted
for trial or rejected. If the amount of invention called for seems to
the reader inconsiderable, let it be remembered that the important
inventions of history have not as a rule had a Minerva birth, but
instead have developed by successive stages, each involving but a small
step in advance.

It is unnecessary to emphasize at length the function of invention in
the higher thought processes. In one form or another it is present in
all intellectual activity; in the creation and use of language, in art,
in social adjustments, in religion, and in philosophy, as truly as in
the domains of science and practical affairs. Certainly this is true if
we accept Mason's broad definition of invention as including "every
change in human activity made designedly and systematically."[78] From
the psychological point of view, perhaps, Mason is justified in looking
upon the great inventor as "an epitome of the genius of the world." To
develop a Krag-Joergensen from a bow and arrow, a "velvet-tipped"
lucifer match from the primitive fire-stick, or a modern piano from the
first crude, stringed, musical instrument has involved much the same
intellectual processes as have been operative in transforming fetishism
and magic into religion and philosophy, or scattered fragments of
knowledge into science.

[78] Otis T. Mason: _The Origins of Inventions_. (London, 1902.)

Psychologically, invention depends upon the constructive imagination;
that is, upon the ability to abstract from what is immediately present
to the senses and to picture new situations with their possibilities and
consequences. Images are united in order to form new combinations.

As we have several times emphasized, the decisive intellectual
differences among human beings are not greatly dependent upon mere sense
discrimination or native retentiveness. Far more important than the raw
mass of sense data is the correct shooting together of the sense
elements in memory and imagination. This is but another name for
invention. It is the synthetic, or apperceptive, activity of the mind
that gives the "seven-league boots" to genius. It is, however, a kind of
ability which is possessed by all minds to a greater or less degree. Any
test has its value which gives a clue, as this test does, to the
subject's ability in this direction.

The test was devised by the writer and used in 1905 in a study of the
intellectual processes of bright and dull boys, but it was not at that
time standardized. It has been found to belong at a much higher mental
level than was at first supposed. Only an insignificant number pass the
test below the mental age of 14 years, and about two thirds of "average
adults" fail. Of our "superior adults" somewhat more than 75 per cent
succeed. Formal education influences the test little or not at all, the
unschooled business men making a somewhat better showing than the
high-school students.

SELECTED REFERENCES

The following classified lists include only the most important
references under each topic. So many investigations have been made with
the Binet-Simon tests in the last few years, and so many articles have
been written in evaluation of the method, that a complete bibliography
of the subject would require thirty or forty pages. Those who desire to
make a more thorough study of the literature are referred to the
admirable annotated bibliography compiled by Samuel C. Kohs, and
published by Warwick & York, Baltimore. Kohs's Bibliography contains
254 references, and is complete to January 1, 1914.

BINET-SIMON TESTS OF NORMAL CHILDREN

1. Binet, A., _et_ Simon, Th. "Le developpement de l'intelligence
chez les enfants"; in _Annee psychologique_ (1908), vol. 14,
pp. 1-94.

Exposition of the original 1908 scale with results.

2. Binet, A. "Nouvelles recherches sur la mesure du niveau
intellectuel chez les enfants d'ecole"; in _Annee
psychologique_ (1911), vol. 17, pp. 145-201.

Presents the 1911 revision.

3. Bobertag, O. "Ueber Intelligenzpruefungen (nach der Methode von
Binet und Simon)"; in _Zeitschrift fuer angewande Psychologie_
(1911), vol. 5, pp. 105-203; and (1912), vol. 6, pp. 495-537.

Analysis of 400 cases and criticism of method and results.

4. Dougherty, M. L. "Report on the Binet-Simon Tests given to Four
Hundred and Eighty-three Children in the Public Schools of
Kansas City, Kansas"; in _Journal of Educational Psychology_
(1913), vol. 4, pp. 338-52.

5. Goddard, H. H. "The Binet-Simon Measuring Scale for
Intelligence, Revised"; in _Training School Bulletin_ (1911),
vol. 8, pp. 56-62.

6. Hoffman, A. "Vergleichende Intelligenzpruefungen an Vorschuelern
und Volksschuelern"; in _Zeitschrift fuer angewande Psychologie_
(1913), vol. 8, pp. 102-20.

One hundred and fifty-six subjects. Ages seven, nine, and ten.

7. Johnston, Katherine L. "Binet's Method for the Measurement of
Intelligence; Some Results"; in _Journal of Experimental
Pedagogy_ (1911), vol. 1, pp. 24-31.

Results of 200 tests of school children.

8. Kuhlmann, F. "Some Results of Examining 1000 Public-School
Children with a Revision of the Binet-Simon Tests of
Intelligence by Untrained Teachers"; in _Journal of
Psycho-Asthenics_ (1914), vol. 18, pp. 150-79, and 233-69.

9. Phillips, Byron A. "The Binet Tests applied to Colored
Children"; in _Psychological Clinic_ (1914), pp. 190-96.

A comparison of 86 colored and 137 white children.

10. Rogers, Agnes L., _and_ McIntyre, J. L. "The Measurement of
Intelligence in Children by the Binet-Simon Scale"; in
_British Journal of Psychology_ (1914), vol. 7, pp. 265-300.

11. Rowe, E. C. "Five Hundred Forty-Seven White and Two Hundred
Sixty-Eight Indian Children tested by the Binet-Simon Tests";
in _Pedagogical Seminary_ (1914), vol. 21, pp. 454-69.

12. Strong, Alice C. "Three Hundred Fifty White and Colored
Children measured by the Binet-Simon Measuring Scale of
Intelligence"; in _Pedagogical Seminary_ (1913), vol. 20,
pp. 485-515.

13. Terman, L. M., _and_ Childs, H. G. "A Tentative Revision and
Extension of the Binet-Simon Measuring Scale of Intelligence"; in
_Journal of Educational Psychology_ (1912), vol. 3, pp. 61-74,
133-43, 198-208, and 277-89.

Results of 396 tests of California school-children.

14. Terman, Lyman, Ordahl, Galbreath, _and_ Talbert. _The Stanford
Revision and Extension of the Binet-Simon Measuring Scale of
Intelligence._ (1916.)

Detailed analysis of the results secured by testing 1000
unselected school-children within two months of a birthday.

15. Weintrob, J. _and_ R. "The Influence of Environment on Mental
Ability as shown by the Binet Tests"; in _Journal of
Educational Psychology_ (1912), pp. 577-86.

16. Winch, W. H. "Binet's Mental Tests: What They Are, and What We
Can Do with Them"; in _Child Study_ (London), 1913, 1914,
1915, and 1916.

An extended series of articles setting forth results of tests with
normal children, and giving valuable criticisms and suggestions.

BINET-SIMON TESTS OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED

17. Chotzen, F. "Die Intelligenzpruefungsmethode von Binet-Simon
bei schwachsinnigen Kindern"; in _Zeitschrift fuer angewande
Psychologie_ (1912), vol. 6, pp. 411-94.

A critical study of the results of 280 tests.

18. Goddard, H. H. "Four Hundred Feeble-Minded Children classified
by the Binet Method"; in _Pedagogical Seminary_ (1910),
vol. 17, pp. 387-97; also in _Journal of Psycho-Asthenics_
(1910), vol. 15, pp. 17-30.

Offers important evidence of the value of the Binet-Simon method.

19. Kuhlmann, F. "The Binet and Simon Tests of Intelligence in
Grading Feeble-Minded Children"; in _Journal of
Psycho-Asthenics_ (1912), vol. 16, pp. 173-93.

Analysis of results from 1300 cases.

BINET-SIMON TESTS OF DELINQUENTS

20. Bluemel, C. S. "Binet Tests on Two Hundred Juvenile
Delinquents"; in _Training School Bulletin_ (1915),
pp. 187-93.

21. Goddard, H. H. _The Criminal Imbecile._ The Macmillan Company.
(1915.) 157 pages.

An analysis of the mentality of three murderers of moron or
borderline intelligence.

22. Goddard, H. H. "The Responsibility of Children in the Juvenile
Court"; in _Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology_
(September, 1912).

Analysis of 100 tests of juvenile delinquents.

23. Healy, William. _The Individual Delinquent._ Little, Brown &
Co. (1915.) 830 pages.

A textbook on delinquents. Gives results of many Binet-Simon
tests.

24. Spaulding, Edith R. "The Results of Mental and Physical
Examination of Four Hundred Women Offenders"; in _Journal of
Criminal Law and Criminology_ (1915), pp. 704-17.

25. Sullivan, W. C. "La mesure du developpement intellectuel chez
les jeunes delinquantes"; in _Annee psychologique_ (1912),
vol. 18, pp. 341-61.

26. Williams, J. Harold. _A Study of 150 Delinquent Boys._
Bulletin no. 1, Research Laboratory of the Buckel Foundation.
(1915.) 15 pages.

The Stanford revision used. Report of over 400 cases to follow.

BINET-SIMON TESTS OF SUPERIOR CHILDREN

27. Jeronutti, A. "Ricerche psicologiche sperimentali sugli alunni
molto intelligenti"; in _Lab. di Psicol. Sperim. della Reg.
Univ. Roma_. (1912)

Out of fifteen hundred school and kindergarten children, ages five
to twelve, fourteen were selected by the teachers as the
brightest. The Binet test showed them to be from one to three
years in advance of their chronological ages.

28. Terman, L. M. "The Mental Hygiene of Exceptional Children"; in
_Pedagogical Seminary_ (1915), vol. 22, pp. 529-37.

Data on 31 children testing above 120 I. Q.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR GIVING THE BINET-SIMON TESTS

29. Binet, A., _and_ Simon, Th. _A Method of Measuring the
Development of Intelligence in Young Children._ Chicago
Medical Book Company. (1915.) 82 pages.

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