For each test, the procedure of administration is spelled out and guidelines are provided with respect to the normative performance expected. The first six tests assess the earliest signs of attention and memory. These include the coordination of the head to follow a lighted match, hand coordination to tactile and visual stimuli, unwrapping food covered by paper, and the imitation of gestures and following simple commands. Tests seven, eight, and nine assess communication skills beyond the two-year level. In tests ten and twelve , children are asked to compare lines and weights.
Failure reflects the inability to understand what is required.
Slight errors may simply indicate distraction, while totally wrong answers indicate a lapse of judgment that suggests retardation. These tests discriminated between younger and older normal children. Test thirty, the final and most difficult, measures abstraction as reflected in accounting for the difference between abstract words, such as boredom and weariness. Children who were classified as slightly retarded could then be targeted for special education. In a 1907 book written for the general public, Binet provided guidelines on the admission of retarded children to special education classes and underscored the need for assessment.