Correct idea but not generalized: "They were fools to listen to everybody." "They should have walked or rode just as they thought best, without listening to other people." _Unsatisfactory; score 0._ Type (1), incorrect generalization: "To do right." "To do what people tell you." "To be kind to old people." "To be polite." "To serve others." "Not to be cruel to animals." "To have sympathy for beasts of burden." "To be good-natured." "Not to load things on animals that are small." "That it is always better to leave things as they are." "That men were not made for beasts of burden." Type (2), very crude interpretations stated in concrete terms: "Not to try to carry the donkey." "That walking is better than riding." "The people should have been more polite to the old man." "That the father should be allowed to ride." Type (3), irrelevant responses: "The men were too heavy for the donkey." "They ought to have stayed on and they would not have fallen into the stream." "It teaches about a man and he lost his donkey." Type (4), efforts to repeat the story. Type (5), inability to respond. REMARKS. The fable test, or the "test of generalization," as it may aptly be named, was used by the writer in a study of the intellectual processes of bright and dull boys in 1905,[71] and was further standardized by the writer and Mr. Childs in 1911.[72] It has proved its worth in a number of investigations. It has been necessary, however, to simplify the rather elaborate method of scoring which was proposed in 1911, not because of any logical fault of the method, but because of the difficulty in teaching examiners to use the system correctly. The method explained above is somewhat coarser, but it has the advantage of being much easier to learn. [71] "Genius and Stupidity," in _Pedagogical Seminary_, vol. xiii, pp. 307-73. [72] "A Tentative Revision and Extension of the Binet-Simon Measuring Scale of Intelligence," _Journal of Educational Psychology_ (1912). The generalization test presents for interpretation situations which are closely paralleled in the everyday social experience of human beings. It tests the subject's ability to understand motives underlying acts or attitudes. It gives a clue to the status of the social consciousness. This is highly important in the diagnosis of the upper range of mental defectiveness. The criterion of the subnormal's fitness for life outside an institution is his ability to understand social relations and to adjust himself to them. Failure of a subnormal to meet this criterion may lead him to break common conventions, and to appear disrespectful, sulky, stubborn, or in some other way queer and exceptional. He is likely to be misunderstood, because he so easily misunderstands others. The skein of human motives is too complex for his limited intelligence to untangle.