The Washington herald., 1912-06-09

There is nothing which has proved q
helpful to public school and juvenile court
authorities the world over in dealing
with the problems of backward and atyp-
ical children as the Binet test Of mental
DEVELOPMENT The system Is the only
successful one in existence. 1t 10 used
In every quarter Of the globe, and has
received the indorsement Of the local
Juvenile Court and public school authori'
ties.
The test is founded on a long and mi
mute psychological study Of children. The
inventor of the, system is DIR. Binet, OF
France. 1t was first formulated several
years ago. and introduced in France. DIR.
Binet terms it "a measuring scale OF in
telIigence" In the summer Of 1910 the
system was introduced into the United
States by Henry H. Goddard, Phi. D,
who conducted a class Of instruction in
it at tho Training School at Vineland,
N. J.
For the purpose Of mastering the de-
tails Of the system, Miss Mabel Robey,
teacher Of the ungraded class at the
Curtis School, in o Street, between
Thirty-secOnd and Thirty-third Streets.
Georgetown, took a course at the Train
ing School. As a result the Binet test is
now applied to children almost daily at
the Curtis School. 1t was this test to
rider" was recently subjected. 1t was
proved that the boy was perfectly nor
NAL and that he was fully responsible
for his actions
System Il Certain.
Whenever a pupil in the public schools
or an offender in Juvenile Court is
thought to be mentally retarded, he or
she is sent to Miss Robey for subjection
=
applied with certainty TO children be-
tween the ages of three and thirteen
years. DR.. Binet has formulated a series
Of mental achievements which the normal
children Of various ages are able to ac-
compIish If the subject fails TO pass the
test for his age, it is known that he is
mentally retarded. Miss Robey begins
with the test for an age several years
below that given by the subject, and
the case may be, to find the range of
the Child's mind.
The three-year-old child is asked to
point to his nose, eyes, and mouth. If
he is normal, he will respond to the test
correctly, but if mentally retarded will
in all probability point TO his ears for
his nose and his eyes for his mouth.
The child is also required to repeat after
Miss Robey: 1T rains 1 am hungry"
He is then required to repeat the figures
s and 1. Three pictures. are shown TO
him and he is asked to name the diff
ferent objects depicted The final test
Is whether the child knows his family
nams
The normal four-year-old child can dis
tinguish between a boy and a girl, and
easily recognizes a key a knife, and
penny. He is able to repeat 7, ?, 9. He
can also tell which of two unequal
al &c
The average child of five years can
heft loaded pill boxes Weighing three
and twelve grams each and tell which
is the heavier. The child of retarded
intelligence is unable to notice the diff
ference in weight The subject is then
required to copy in ink a square figure.
The figure will dOubtlessly be crude, but
so long as it bears some semblance to
a square the child is normal A visit
ing card is cut GiagonaIly in two. A
whole card is placed on the table and
the child is asked to make a figure like
the uncut card. The subject is then re-
quired 10 count four pennies by pointing
10 them.
VIII Forget Commissions.
The six-year-old child is asked to point
to his right hand and left ear. If the
mind is retarded, the subject will un-
quest4OHaD4S pO!Hl 10 MS FiSnl ear ana
left hand. The child is required to re-
peat a sentence of sixteen words. Six
pictures Of human heads. most of which
are defOrmed, are then placed before the
child. and he is asked to select the
prettiest one. The abnormal child will
nave great difficulty in making the Sc
.ectiOn. The normal child is able to de-
iRe fork table" CHAIR horse,
and mamma" The child is then told
o put some keys on a chair, shut the
iOor, and bring a box to Miss Robey.