Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and MethodsHollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Science
Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and Methods
Hollingworth, Harry L. (Harry Levi)
Psychophysiology
The work of Trabue in standardizing the "completion test" so that
individuals may be quantitatively compared on the basis of it may serve as
an example of the second form of scale. This particular test consists in
requiring the individual to supply meaningful words or phrases in the blank
spaces formed by mutilating logical text. It is similar to the simple
exercise sometimes found in elementary text books of grammar and spelling.
It seems that the ability to supply the missing words or phrases quickly in
such mutilated material calls for the exercise of a type of ability which
correlates to a high degree with most other measures of intelligence.
Individual differences as shown by school grades, age, opinion of teachers,
estimates of associates, results of other mental tests, etc., are readily
and with considerable reliability revealed in the individual's ability to
perform this type of test. This investigator has, after much preliminary
labor, constructed a form of this test in which the material gradually
increases in difficulty from beginning to end. Efficiency in the test may
be measured by the point one can reach in the text in a given time. This
test has been standardized, not on the basis of physical age, as in the
case of the Binet-Simon scale, but on the basis of school grade, from the
second grade through the high school, some four or six years beyond the
point where the Binet-Simon scale ceases to be useful. A copy of this test
is also given in the Appendix. Those who wish to use it should consult the
original description of it, for technique, precautions, norms, and
interpretation.
A good example of the third form of scale is to be found in Sylvester's
standardization of the "form-board" test. The "form-board" is one of the
most useful tests in detecting intellectual defect that is so pronounced as
to constitute the individual a "mental defective." Out of a solid base
board are cut various geometrical forms, such as diamonds, stars, squares,
triangular blocks, etc. These blocks are placed alongside the base from
which they have been cut. The task is that of replacing all the blocks in
their appropriate places, with the greatest possible speed. The test tends
to reveal characteristic defects in understanding instructions, perceiving
the general and specific situations, profiting by experience, recognizing
form and size and other space relations, etc. The individual may work
blind-folded or may use his eyes.
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