Mentally Defective Children Part 17

3. "I am going to allow you three minutes, and I want you to say as many words as you can think of. Some children have said more than two hundred. Let us see how many you can do. Ready? Start."

In order to pa.s.s the child must say over sixty words.

4. "What is Charity?"--"What is Justice?"--"What is Kindness?"

Two correct responses are required.

5. "Put these words in their proper order and find the sentence which they make."

Three cards are successively presented to the child, on each of which is very clearly written or printed one of the following sets of words arranged in three lines.

(1) For--an--the--at--hour--early--we--country--started.

(2) To--asked--exercise--my--I--teacher--correct--my.

(3) A--defends--dog--good--his--master--bravely.

One minute is allowed for each sentence, and two correct answers are required.

_Fifteen Years._

1. "I am going to say seven numbers to you, and I want you to repeat them after me. Now, 5, 2, 7, 9, 1, 6, 0."--"Again, 6, 4, 1, 3, 9, 7, 5."--"Again, 8, 0, 4, 2, 7, 3, 6."

One success suffices.

2. "Do you know the meaning of the word 'rhyme'? Two words are said to rhyme when they have similar endings, such as hour and flower, or candy and dandy. Do you understand? Now, find all the words which rhyme with day."

The child is required to find three rhymes in one minute.

3. "I am going to say some sentences to you, and I want you to repeat them exactly after me. Ready? 'The other day I saw on the street a pretty yellow dog. Little Maurice has stained his nice new ap.r.o.n.'"

The examiner is advised to have ready a series of sentences formed of words easy to understand. He should begin with one somewhat shorter than that suggested, which consists of twenty-six syllables--the length required by Binet at this age.

4. "Here is a picture. Tell me what you see."

At this level interpretation of the picture is required. Mere description of the activities represented is not sufficient.

5. "Listen to what I am going to read to you: A woman was walking through a park in Chicago. Suddenly she stopped, dreadfully frightened. She ran to the nearest policeman and told him she had seen hanging to the limb of a tree"--after a pause--"a what?"

"Again: My neighbour has just received some singular visitors: one after another a doctor, a lawyer, and a priest called. What is happening at my neighbour's?"

Both problems must be solved satisfactorily.

_Adult._

1. "Here is a paper folded in four. Suppose that here" (pointing to a small triangle that has been drawn in the middle of the edge which presents a single fold) "I cut out this little triangle. Now, if I unfold the paper, how would it look? Draw the paper as, it would appear if unfolded and show how and where it would be cut."

The paper is square to begin with, and is folded twice so as to show a square one quarter of the original size. The required drawing will show two diamonds drawn in line with each other, and each in the centre of one half of a square.

2. "Look at this card. Suppose I lift this lower part and place this edge (tracing the edge _A C_ with the finger) on this edge (the diagonal of the upper piece). Suppose also that this point (_C_) is placed just on this point (_B_). Now I will take away the piece, and do you draw the whole figure as it will appear when the proposed change is made. Begin by drawing the upper part."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A right angle must be represented at _B_, and the edge _A C_ be shown shorter than the edge _A B_.

3. "What is the difference between laziness and idleness?"--What is the difference between event and advent?"--"What is the difference between evolution and revolution?"

Two correct answers required.

4. "There are three princ.i.p.al differences between a King and a President of a Republic. What are they?"

Required answer: Royalty is hereditary, the tenure of office is for life, and its powers are very great; the President is elected, his tenure of office is for a limited time, and his powers are less extensive.

5. "Listen to what I am going to read to you. When I have finished I shall ask you to give me the sense of the pa.s.sage: 'Many opinions have been given on the value of life. Some call it good, others call it bad. It would be more just to say that it is mediocre, for on the one hand our happiness is never so great as we would have it, and on the other hand our misfortunes are never so great as others would have them. It is this mediocrity of life which makes it just, or rather which prevents it from being radically unjust.'"

=Directions to Examiners.=--In the use of the Binet scale there are various pitfalls that await the beginner. In the first place he is almost certain to array himself on the side of the child and to declare in some instances that the test is not a fair one--the child could have pa.s.sed had he understood what was wanted. One frequently sees this att.i.tude towards the puzzle test. (V. 5.) For example, the examiner is dissatisfied when the child simply moves the pieces of card about in a meaningless way, and he tries to explain more clearly what is wanted. I have seen one examiner go so far as to show the child the solution, and then give him a pa.s.s when he repeated it. The examiner must always remember that a child who has reached the required level of intelligence will himself see what is wanted. This comprehension is indeed the very thing we are testing for.

Secondly, the examiner is apt to show by his manner when he is dissatisfied with a child's answer. In some cases this may lead him to correct himself--_e.g._, VII. 1. The examiner must bear constantly in mind that _all answers are equally pleasing to him_; he is not there to instruct the child, but to test him. When meaningless or absurd responses are given, as they frequently are, the examiner must accept them cheerfully, even in some cases with praise, and record a failure.

The record, of course, must never be visible to the child.

Again, the examiner must not suppose that the scale can be applied mechanically. Both experience and judgment are necessary before the results can be correctly gauged. In certain tests--_e.g._, the absurdities--a child's manner tells as much as his words. The children on whom I have tried this test nearly always laughed when they really grasped the point. Before he lays much stress on his results an examiner should have tested at least twenty children.

There is another factor which prevents any mechanical use of the scale leading to satisfactory results, and that is the variability of the child's responsiveness. With an unsympathetic examiner, or with an unfortunate start, he will do himself less than justice. It is the business of the examiner to keep the child in that state of mental exhilaration which enables him to do his best. Words of encouragement and praise should in some cases be freely used, but, of course, care must always be taken to avoid, whether in word, tone, gesture, or facial expression, the slightest suggestion of the correct solution.

The happy state of mind must be secured at the very beginning, and for this purpose the choice of the first test is very important. I call to mind a bright child of eight who was confronted first with a simple puzzle test. For some reason, probably over-anxiety to do well, she did not see the solution, and being too intelligent not to perceive her own failure, she burst into tears. Such unfortunate accidents are, however, rare. The children usually enjoy the interview.

To secure a good start one must begin with a test which the child will regard as easy and pleasant. One soon knows almost at sight of the child what it is best to try first. One usually begins with tests for an age at least a year younger than that of the little subject, and works upward.

The examiner should be alone with the child except for the presence of someone whose business it is to make notes. In such tests as the description of a picture, the definition tests, the questions of everyday life, the child's full answers should be written down. The examiner should, however, record his own judgment as to whether the child has pa.s.sed or failed _at once_, as there are various factors which tend to make an immediate judgment both more certain and more accurate than a delayed one.

So far as the actual testing is concerned, the examiner should confine himself to the words given in the text. He will find himself tempted sometimes "to draw the child out." For instance, in the picture test, when the child has given him a brief enumeration of objects and then stopped, he will find himself saying, "But what is this man doing?"

The child can probably tell; but he must not on this account be accorded a pa.s.s on the descriptive level; he has already shown that his level is that of simple enumeration.

Some of the tests (definitions, comparisons, suggestion) bring out a tendency to automatism which is present in many children. Thus, a child having replied correctly that a b.u.t.terfly is bigger than a fly, may go on to state that wood is bigger than gla.s.s, and paper than cardboard; or having found that "It is a fork" is well received as a definition of that implement, he may give similar replies to the other queries in the definition test. This automatism should not be checked: it should be recorded. The more intelligent children begin to exhibit a certain dissatisfaction with their own answers, however readily they are accepted.

It is not always easy to follow the working of the childish mind, and it is not usually advisable to press for further explanation. Such a course is apt to puzzle the child, and render the conditions less favourable. If you are not certain that he should be allowed to pa.s.s, you may be practically certain that he should not. Sometimes one gets interesting glimpses into the subject's mentality. A little boy once told me he had never seen a b.u.t.terfly. Nevertheless, I asked the comparison question, and he gave what is a very usual answer: "A b.u.t.terfly is bigger than a fly." "How do you know," I said, "if you have never seen a b.u.t.terfly?" "It's a bigger word," he replied.

Another time a little girl, who also declared she had never seen a b.u.t.terfly, gave another answer which is also very common: "A b.u.t.terfly is yellow, and a fly is black." The source of this knowledge was not discovered; but one of my students told me later that a child whom she questioned about a b.u.t.terfly said: "I have seen one; it was blue, but it _ought_ to have been yellow." On being asked why, she responded: "b.u.t.ter is yellow." The test, of course, is not for the knowledge of the things, but for the power of making a comparison. Occasionally one has to mark a child as doubtful. Thus, in defining abstract terms (XII. 4) Binet records that out of forty-five nine-year-old children, four pa.s.sed, thirty-six failed, and five were doubtful. This test, however, gives an unusually large percentage of doubtfuls.

=Method of Marking.=--The examiner should have a large sheet of paper or a note-book with the names of the tests written in column at the left-hand side. Opposite each in a second column he should enter a sign indicating his judgment. Binet recommends the use of the following signs: + ! excellent, + pa.s.s, + ? almost a pa.s.s, ? doubtful, 0 silence,-- ? almost a failure, -- a failure, -- ! a bad failure.

Later this record should be supplemented from the notes taken by the secretary, also by information regarding the child's personal history, and by comments on his behaviour during the examination. The mental age a.s.signed to him is determined in this way: one finds the age-level at which he pa.s.ses all the tests, and adds a year for every five tests that he pa.s.ses above that level. Thus, if a child of seven pa.s.ses all the tests for seven years, three of those for eight, and two of those for nine, he has a mental age of eight years. Binet allows the use of fractions, one-fifth of a year for every test pa.s.sed, but he admits that this gives an appearance of a degree of exact.i.tude which is probably not attained. Should a child's mental age show a r.e.t.a.r.dation of three years as compared with his chronological age, and should there be no evident explanation of this, such as ill-health, neglect of school attendance, etc., he is reckoned as deficient mentally.

Binet's scale has been criticised from various points of view.

Generally speaking, it seems to be found too easy at the lower end and too difficult at the higher end. It seems certain that some of the tests have not yet found their proper level, or, indeed, that the proper level may vary from country to country, from school to school, and from one social rank to another. Thus, the writer has found that practically all the five-year-old children present in a certain school during the past two or three years are able to pa.s.s the colour test a.s.signed by Binet to seven years of age. These children, however, probably belong to a higher social cla.s.s than the five-year-olds tested by Binet. An examiner very quickly learns which of the tests beyond his age it is advisable to put to the particular child he is dealing with, and owing to the method of marking it does not matter much if one or two tests are misplaced with reference to a particular group of children. The important thing is that there is a general consensus of opinion on the part of those who have tried the scale as to its value as a mental probe and register of mental attainment.

Revisions and elaborations of it have already been published,[B] but in view of its simplicity and brevity, and the valuable a.n.a.lytical work of which it has proved itself capable, the 1911 form will probably remain a standard for at least some years to come.

For the complete series of tests the examiner will require the following material in addition to the diagrams:

Three suitable pictures.