Evening star., 1932-01-10
TESTS PUT
PUPILS In PROPER PLACES
Real Objects of Questioning Are Ex
planned to Set Doubts of
Parents at Rest.

had not changed since her own mid
victorian childhood. Lucy'S curlS hung
to her waist, her blouse fastened in a
quaint neckband high about her throat,
her high buttoned shoes had gray kid
tops.
Mind Hemmed I'm.
Her mind was henlmed in correspond
ingly In such things as spelling she
vas letter perfect, but in social studies,
in the Science Club, in handcrafts her
only reply for the first month or SO was
II know nothing about that; my gov
erneSs never mentioned 1t"
Her teachers would have despaired OF
her If the school psychologists had not
counseled patience.
wait. She has the gumption to In
sist on coming to school in spite of hel
grandmother'S objections. Give her 9
chance to learn there's something more
amusing than just being a LADY,
She backed her championship by the
results of the intelligence test, which
showed that Lucy had unusual ability
in logical reasoning and a really re-
markable memory, which, with other
capacities, went to make up an I. @
rating of over 100.
Lucy stuck to school in spite OF her
grandmother objections and her in
ability to make friends. For the Christ
mas play she was drafted-because oi
the curls-to play angel, with the hope
that rehearsing might break the Ice
between her and her classmates. II
did, though it must be confessed not
quite as the teachers had foreseen.
At the dress rehearsal, In getting
into the angel robe, it was discovered
that Lucy's antiquated underwear was
going to show The other SgirlS tried
not to laugh, all but one. Lucy-curls
angel robe, long underwear and all
stamped her face But the next day
found Lucy zone of the girls" as she'd
never been before accepted by her
classmates and clothed in undergar-
ments of her own selection. And the
release carried over into her academic
work. Where she had seemed too dull
to be interested she now began to let
herself out and before the end Of the
year was doing the superior work to
be expected from one Of her capacity,
as shown by the tests.
Parents Set Straight.
It might be well to pause here and
set straight in our own minds the
meaning of I. @. This symbol, which
some parents still regard with a sus-
picious eve, stands for the measure OF
intellectual capacity known as the In
telligence Quotient. 1t Is arrived at by
comparing the childs chronological age
with his mental age as indicated by
specific standardized tests.
For example, If a child of exactly
years $50 months) answers the ques-
tions on the intelligence test which
normally would be correctly answered
by a child of 80 months, his I. @. would
be pO/s0, or $50. If, on the other
hand, his mental age is the same as his
chronological age in months, then he Is
said TO have exactly what is called nor
NAL intelligence, 5000, indicated by
the /. @. of 100. The same Is true in
The descending scale, where mental age
Ia lower than chronological age.
The /. @. usually remains fairly con-
stant that is, 1t has been found that
nearly all children who have a rating
of ITO at 5 years are not likely to vary
from that level more than a negligible
number OF points at s or 10 or even
as adults. A marked decrease would
be cause for serious concern, because 1t
would be symptom of mental de-
terioration. Marked increases do hap
pen in a certain number OF individuals,
but they are conspicuous because they
are so infrequent.
But the fact that most children re-
main at about the same level of intel
ligence does not mean that they can
not "ingprove." None of us makes the
most OF his potentialities. The very
purpose Of testing Is to help the child
overcome his handicaps and realize
larger share of his innate capacity.
The largest and most familiar group