Evening star., 1939-09-02
Intelligence Tests
Shown 10 Vary With
Same Persons
20 Points Difference
From Week to Week
Is Reported
by THOMAS r. HENRY.
Star star Correspondent,


DUNDEE, Scotland, Sept. !.
Intelligence tests, 4 few years
ago a fetish of American edu-
Gators, give strikingly different re-
suits with the same individuals from
week to week. 1t was reported to
the British Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, meeting here
today.
DR.. H. McRae of Glasgow Uni
versity reported on experiment with
= group Of so pupils to test this
variation whose range may be from
supposedly mediocre to very high
intelligence. All these students in
dividually were given standard
tests and their intelligence rating
recorded After an interval of eight
months they were subjected to six
different tests, each equally stand
ardized, at intervals of a week.
1t was expected, DR.. McRae said,
that there would be some improve
ment: The students were getting
practice in test passing. Moreover,
the different tests were not quite
equivalent and some could be ex-
pected to yield slightly higher
ratings than others. These two fac
tors were assessed and allowance
made for them
Vary 20 Points.
When all these factors had been
eliminated, DR.. McRae found, indi-
viduals varied by more than 20
points from week to week. The
highest scores were by no means
always attained on the last test
given and the variation appeared
to depend on some fuctuation Of
mental ability not as yet understood
by psychologists.
At the same time DR.. p. E. Vernon
reported experiments with uni
versity students which demonstrate
that there are at least four fac
tors" In the mind. largely inde-
pendent Of each other, which must
be considered in estimating the sue
cess OF the individual. The first of
these is the so-called &c" OF the
British psychologist Spearman. 1t
is supposed to be the underlying
basis of the general intelligence Of
the individual and is measured by
standardized tests.
In addition, DR.. Vernon found. 50
far as the college men were con-
cerned. general educational abil-
ity' factor which. strange to say,
Is largely independent of general In
telligence and may account in part
for brilliant records in college fol-
lowed by failure in the workaday
world. Three other factors, more
or less related to &C." were scien-
tinc ability. literary ability, and
practical ability. The fundamental
mental energy, OF which &c" Is be-
lieved to be a fair measure. might
be found to fow in any Of these
channels.
Nom Verbal Group Tests.
He found that scientific ability
could be measured fairly we'll by
non-verbal group tests. similar in
principle although not in substance
to those given persons not familiar
with English in the United States
Army during the World War. Lit
erary ability, he found. could be
measured to some extent by Ian
guage intelligence tests. But prac-
tical ability. which enables per-
son to solve the innumerable prob
lens arising in everyday life, cor
related only slightly. he found. with
either literary or scientific ability
This, it was pointed out. explains
in part why both the writer and the
scientist make poor showings In
their personal and business careers.
The minds of the child, the prim-
tive human being and the poet
have much the same characteristics.
according to report presented to
the psychology section Of the Brit
ish Association by DR.. P. H. Muir
ply. All seem to have an instinc-
tive grasp Of many things which
science and philosophy deal with
only after long intervals. he stressed
Quality Of Poetic Genius.
THE salient characteristic OF all
genius" Prof. Murphy said, "is i'm
agination. This is particularly the
quality of poetic genius. Imagina-
ton is q more primitive power Of
the mind than the capacity for
either abstract or conceptual
thought. The poet precedes the phi
lospher in history as the primitive
and tribal mind comes before the
civilized.
THE primitive mind is perceptual
rather than conceptual Hence
words which were images from per-
ception and from the concrete pre-
ceded abstract terms and primitive
language is highly metaphorical.
The earliest literature Is poetry.
And in modern times We note in
the poet the same use OF image and
metaphor, the same delight in wild
nature. Much the same can be
found in the child and the prima-
tive"