Individual Differences : Part 4

The Science of Human Nature: A Psychology For Beginners
by William Henry Pyle

(Page 12 of 15)

Material. For material, use the substitution test-sheets. This and the other test material can be obtained from the University of Missouri, Extension Division.

Results. In grading the work, count each square correctly filled in as one point, and reduce the score to speed per minute by dividing by eight in grades three, four, and five, and by five in the grades above.

Free Association

Object. This test determines the speed of the free flow of ideas. The result of the test is a criterion of the quickness of the flow of ideas when no restriction or limitation is put on this flow.

Method. The procedure in this test is to give the pupils a word, and tell them to write this word down and all the other words that come into their minds. Make it clear to them that they are to write whatever word comes to mind, whether it has any relation to the word that is given them or not. Start them with the word "cloud." Give the following instructions:

I wish to see how many words you can think of and write down in three minutes. I shall name a word, you may write it down and then all the other words that come into your minds. Do not write sentences, merely the words that come into your minds. Work as fast as you can.

Results. Score the work by counting the number of words that have been written.

Opposites

Object. This is a test of controlled association. It tests one aspect of the association of ideas. All thinking is a matter of association of ideas. Reasoning is controlled association. The test may therefore be taken as a measure of speed in reasoning.

Method. Distribute the lists of opposites to the pupils and turn them face down on the desks. Use List One in grades three, four, and five, and List Two in grades above. Allow two minutes in grades three, four, and five and one minute in grades above. Give the following instructions:

On the sheets that have been distributed to you are fifty words. After each word you are to write a word that has the opposite meaning. For example, if one word were "far," you could write "near." Work as fast as you can, and when I say "stop" quit work instantly and turn your paper over.

The Word-Building Test

Object. This is a test of a certain type of inventiveness, namely linguistic invention. Specifically, it tests the pupil's ability to construct words using certain prescribed letters.

Method. The pupils are given the letters, a, e, o, m, n, r, and told to make as many words as possible using only these letters. Give the following instructions:

I wish to see how many words you can make in five minutes, using only the letters which I give you. The words must be real English words. You must use only the letters which I give you and must not use the same letter more than once in the same word. You do not, of course, have to use all the letters in the same word. A word may contain one or more letters up to six.

Material. The pupils need only sheets of blank paper.

Results. The score is the number of words that do not violate the rules of the test as given in the instructions.

The Completion Test

Object. This is, to some extent, a test of reasoning capacity. Of course, it is only one particular aspect of reasoning. The pupil is given a story that has certain words omitted. He must read the story, see what it is trying to say, and determine what words, put into the blanks, will make the correct sense. The meaning of the word written in a particular blank must not only make the sentence read sensibly but must fit into the story as a whole. Filling in the blanks in this way demands considerable thought.

Method. Distribute the test-sheets and turn them face down on the desks. Allow ten minutes in all the tests. Give the following instructions:

On the sheets which have been distributed is printed a story which has certain words omitted. You are to put in the blanks the words that are omitted. The words which you write in must give the proper meaning so that the story reads correctly. Each word filled in must not only give the proper meaning to the sentence but to the story as a whole.

Material. Use the completion test-sheets, "Joe and the Fourth of July," for grades three, four, and five; "The Trout" for grades, six, seven, and eight; and "Dr. Goldsmith's Medicine" for the high school.

Copyright 1917 by Silver, Burdett & Company.