Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-21
RUSSIA TO FIT"
WORKERS IN Jobs
Science Concentrates on
Child With Tests From
Birth to Eighth Year.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.


Russia is setting up job machines.
Bureaus, stated by psychologists and
anthropologists, are being established
rapidly in the Soviet cities, where It is
proposed to "fit" men and women with
jobs. somewhat as one would be fitted
with shoes and hat.
This movement is reported from the
government psyci1oneurologica insti-
6ute at Leningrad, abstracts of whose
reports have just been issued by the
Committee on Child Development of
the National Research Council here.
The parent organization is the Bechte-
rev Institute for the Study Of the
selection Of labor Is based on q pro-
found scientific study Of each individ-
ual case"
An applicant Is examined by a group
Of specialists, especial attention being
paid to the general mental level. the
appearance, the technical comprehen-
sion and the work interests. The bu-
reau seeks to determine the factors re-
sponsible for different labor selections
and the opportunities open in the field
for which a youth seems best fitted.
Special Methods Devised.
Special methods have been worked
out. 1t Is reported. for testing abilities
In mathematics and language, for eval-
uating general experience and for de-
termining the specific abilities needed
for different lines. Of work. The Rus
GAn report claims that ION basis Of
this work a normal distribution of labor
In accord with the social-econonic
structure Of the country Is possible"
Russian science IS concentrating ON
the child, the abstracts Of the govern
ment reports reveal. Notable among
the research projects is that Of the
Psychoneurolog1cal Institute Of Khar-
kov, which seeks to obtain an exact
picture Of the growth of children from
the day Of birth to the eighth birthday.
By exact measures of vast numbers Of
eral laws, to which amy particular child
may be an exception.
1900 Children Measured.
IN one reject 1900 newborn chill
6ren have been measured, mostly with
IN Q few hours Of birth. The children
Of "intellectuals" were found to aver
MGe approximately q half pound more
at birth than the children Of peasants
Newborn boys Of all classes averaged
SAShtly more than q quarter Of pound
more than newborn girls. A consistent
difference Of almost an inch In height
was found between the children of the
extreme classes at birth. Slight differ
ences were found between these groups
in chest measurement. The greatest
difference Of all was In the perimeter
Of the Uranium, which would indicate,
roughly, the amount Of brains" pres
ent at birth.
But" says the Russian report, at
Is not rational to conclude that there
exists close correlation between the
skull dimensions and the intellectual
faculties because the social differences
In values of the cephalic circumference
can be explained entirely by the differ-
ences In height. The relation to the
height Is not increased, but diminishes
in the measure Of elevation Of the So
cial status. This does not correspond
to the facts In adults. where the social
difference in the average values Of the
cephalic perimeter is relatively larger
than that Of the height"
Third Child Heavier.
The older the mother the heavier the
child at birth, all ether things being
even, the Kharkov experimenters found.
Thus 1t was found that children Of
mothers from IS to % years old were
mothers between IL and 10. The third
child, 1t was found. generally Is slightly
heavier than either the FIRST or second.
After that the weight goes down again.
Another anthropoloz1st ct the same
Institution reports measurements of
more than 10000 children between the
ages Of two days and one year. Growth
In height. he reports, as particularly
rapid during the first three months.
Three-month-old babies have an In.
crease Of about 1871 per cent for boys
and Ill for girls. During the second
three months this increase Is o. for
boys and go for girls. In the interval
between the sixth and ninth month Il
Is only 5 and Sc per cent, respectively.
and finally In the last three months It
drops down to 81 and 80 per cent
During the frst seven days the
weight decreases 60 per cent In boys
and 20 per cent IN girls, but this
physiological loss Is recovered In the
second week with an increase Of rs
for boys and Sc for girls. A double
increase IN weight occurs In the twenty
fourth week In males and the twenty
NTH week IN females. In the course Of
tbs first year the weight increases 1913
per cent In males and 1879 In females"
Other experimenters Of the same IN
Fatution, working with older children
ZIP TO the eighth year, found the rapid
growth from the first TO third years
u followed by . decreased rate from
Tour 70 seven, after which there Is
again q rapid increase for from one TO
three years. The first period Is marked
BY growth in all directions. The
second rapid growth period shows a
rnaPHaH IN a.. Ill.