The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
BRAIN TESTS OF The SEXES.
UOIU WBII BOYS AND BARNARD
GIRLS SIZED EP.
ak;ITI> Surpa>S In Visual M-uory. rate Of
= Perception and scnsitiveness 10 Pain
. seniors Heads WIder-HalI the stu.
= dents Found Is IIaNs HaliucipaUiOns.

seniors Heads WIder-HalI the stu.
f~ dents Found ~ IIaNs HaliucipauOns.
The department OF psychology at Colum-
hia University has been making an extsn-
y sive series Of tests to determine as far as
spossible the mental difference between
the boys of Coiumbia College and the girls
iof Barnard. The tests also take up the
u differences between freshmen and seniors,
10 show the exact amount in mental ability
' that comes with residence in college.
. According 10 the tests made the women
surpass the men in visual memory, rate of
4 perception and scnsitiveness to pain, while
Y in auditory memory, speed of movement.
tend time of association tue men are superior.
In regard TO fatigue. perception of weight
: aud logical memory the Barnard girls and
t. Columbia men were found to be about
sQual. ....
These tests are made on all the entering
= classes az Barnard and Columbia. At the
end Of fOu years the same test ia repeated
, In order to see what the student has gained.
There are twenty-one tests in all. intended
90 cover the complete range Of mental
liability. They include measurements as
ITO length and breadth Of head, stree 9Th Of
Ibands, and ability to endure fatigue, az
we'll as tests Of eyesight, color vision. hear
Z ing, perception of pitch. perception of
weight, sensation areas, constituencies to
bain, perception Of size. color preference.
reaction time. rate Of perception, naming
.Vcolors, rate of movement, accuracy OF
q movement, perception of time, association.
ifamagery and memory, visual. auditory.
illogical and Retrospective.
IN For many OF the tests, like fatigue and
she perception of pain, n simple apparatus
,fis used which registers the results Of a
4continuous movement of or a continuous
xsbressurs applied 10 the hand For the
y1ests that are regarded as most important
I'm determining mental ability, however.
Blike tests as to perception, memory and
u u~uicknees of movement, 10 apparatus Of
kAny sort is necessary.
IA To test the rate of perception 100 As
re scattered at random through a list OF
MOO letters and the student is asked 10 mark
Shl the AS az quickly as possible. In gen.
l3eral, the women succeeded better In this
Ethan the men, the average FOR them being
3hbout ninety-one seconds, while most Of the
Emen took more than 100 seconds. The
percentage of errors. however, was larger
the women than among the men.
III Another test in perception was in naming
!. 800 color squares, which represented nine
ooIors and were indiscriminately
Tlnixed, In this tho women succeed much
hester than the men, doing it in nineteen
Eaeconds less time
To test the rate OF movement each student
wBs asked to place a dot in each OF 100
< squares, while to test accuracy the same
Sperson tried to place a pencil on each of
100 dots as quickly as possible. The time
lDf the first movement was on an average
fof two seconds longer for the women than
tdor the men. In the Ccuracy test exact
a ~ "a alronpNta for the women were not
made, but IN general the men were slightly
superior.
There were four memory tests. To
test the auditory memory ten number
7 were repeated to the student in close sue
4 Cession and he was asked To recall them.
Ten other numbers were shown the student
10 succession, and he recalled these. To
test the logical memory a passage of 100
words was read and rhe student asked 10
Gve the thought that IL contained, To
test Retrospective m the student
was asked after a lapse of an hour to re-
produce a line that he had drawn. The
men were found to bee much better Ia audi
tory than in visual memory, in which the
women were largely their slperiors.
Regarding the differences between fresh
men and the same persons four years later,
10 has been foUrd thar the principal i'm
provement Ia In the width of the head. the
perception OF pitch, estimation Of time,
memory and the marking Of AS. la the
matter OF sensation AREAS the freshmen
were found 70 be superior.
The association tests which are regard Ell
- important are made 10y causing the
student TO write rapidly opposite the follow
ing words the things that are just sug-
gested to his mind HOUSE, tIer. child,
time. art, London, Napoleon. red, enough,
tights.
The question as 20 how closely the mental
ability as shown by these tests j. related
70 the general college work done by each
student lis arousing much interest among
the Columbia faculty. While II seems that
tho two ara not so closely correlated as
might be expected It IL found that in general
those who pass the best psychological tests
do the best work in their studies. Memory
seerus to have little 20 do with class stand
. ing. Tests or quickness, both Of speed OF