New-York tribune., 1919-01-23
Plain Mental
Tests Planned
s. At Columbia
Psychological Examination
10 Be Basis of Entrance
to Academic Department
Fables To Be Interpreted
Another Requirement Is
Correct Definition of Only
Sixty-five English Words

oA GU CtDClIIlltIOu Oh Only
Sixty-five English Words
The Binet-Simon mental tests, as
revised by Sanford, are, The Tribune
iearned yesterday, to form the basis
OF the new psychological examinations
10 winch candidates for entry into the
academic department at Columbia
university hereafter will be subjected
instead Of being put through the
stereotyped PAGES in series of stand
ardized "subjects.'
Although, like the form Of the Binet-
SIMON system used in the army, the
object of the Sanford revision is to
test the general intelligence of an ap
plcant rather than his grounding in
sspeclned courses, the Sanford version
dlHers somewhat from the one used
at Columbia for. admitting men to the
students Army Trining Corps-the
splendid results of which formed the
inspiration of the faculty in it's deter
mlnatlon to branch out and make per-
manent this new method of rating men
VINO VINO come seeking education for the
"new day"
Details Being Worked Out
The details of the system as it will
De applied at Columbia are being
worked out by Professor E, L. Thorn.
dyke, of Teachers College. who exnects
by the end of the week to have his
plans sufficiently perfected to make
them public in their entirety. The
textbook Professor Thorndyke is using
as basis for his preliminary work is
Lewis M. Terman's "The Measure of
Intelligence" Mr.. Terman is profess
sor of education at Leland Stanford
University, California, where expert
mental work in the mental measuring
codes first elaborated by Alfred Binet
perhaps has been carried further than
at any other institution in this coun-
try.
AS set forth in this volume, under
the chapter heading, "Instructions for
Average Adult" the test prospective
Columbia students will have to meet
in lieu of the oldstyla examinations is
divided into six sections.
The first consists simply of vo-
cabulary of more or less ordinary
wofds-not Latin words, nor Greek,
nor Sanskrit, nor anything of that sort,
but plain, living English words. Alto
gether, there are to be a hundred of
them, chosen just as they happen to
come at the bottom OF the columns
in an 18,000-word dictionary which
presumably is a dictionary containing
only the more usual words of the
language.
Must Define Sixty-fve Words
In order to pass this test a student
has only to give correct definitions of
siXty-five OF the words listed. That will
mean, it has been computed, that he
has a vocabulary Of approximately H.
200 words. 1t sounds absurdly simple
in comparison with the old catechism
in calculus and Homer, does it not j?
Yet "the vocabulary test has a far
higher value than any other single test
of the SCALE" says Professor Terman's
book. "Our statistics show that in a
large majority of cases the vocabulary
test alone will give us an intelligent
quotient within ten per cent of that
secured by the entire scale"
this afternoon, and approved the pro-
The second task seems even further
removed from the orthodox examina-
ton routine. 1t is made up of the
reading of five fables, such as Hercules
and the Wagner" "The Fox and the
Crow" or "The Farmer and the Stork." "
The pupil then is asked to write out
his Interpretation of the lesson Of each
parable. AS the Terman volume ex-
plains, this tests the subjects ability
to understand the motives underlying
acts or attitudes 1t gives clew to the
status of the social consciousness.
Eight points are required to attain a
passing grade here, two points being
allowed for each correct answer and
one point for answers that show grasp
OF the essential generality presented,
but for one reason or another are still
not wholly satisfactory.
Abstract Terms Presented
The third section of the test is still
dealing with words. 1t presents sets Of
abstract terms, such as laziness and
idleness, poverty and misery, charac-
ter and reputation. The students task
is to define each pair SO as to bring
out the essential contrast, three cor
lectly differentiated couples out Of
four being necessary for a pass.
Not until all this has been done is
the subject of numbers introduced at
all then it appears in an oral problem
The instructor displays a large box in
which, he informs the class, are two
smaller boxes, each of which in turn
contains "little tiny" box He follows
this with a second box, only the two
smaller boxes herein each holding two
"tiny" boxes. Then comes q large box
containing three smaller boxes, each
of which holds three "tiny" boxes.
Finally he holds up fourth box; and
in this are four smaller boxes, each
with four "tiny" boxes within. Only
half minute is allowed for the solu-
tion of each problem, no pencil. or paper
being allowed the pupil meanwhile, and
three of the four problems must be an
swcred correctly if the applicant ex-
poets to enter Columbia under the new
regime. Both this test and the one
preceding it are said to have large
psychological significance.
Section brings forward three