Evening star., 1941-05-17
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henru.

A German Army officer undergoes a
psychological test which lasts approx
mately q hours.
1t is supposed to place him automati-
cally in the field for which he Is best
suited-command of combat troops, sup
ply service, mechanical supervision, etc.
1t shows not only his ability, but his
character and personality
The test is administered by an organi-
zation in which, at the outbreak of the
war, approximately 200 psychologists
all doctors of philosophy--were en-
ployed. 1t probably has been greatly
enlarged since. These doctors are not
themselves officers, but military en-
| ployes." They are under the command
of sinister figure named Max Simoneit,
dean of German military psychology,
who has contributed largely to methods
of propaganda and the planting of psy-
biologists in other countries to study
the character of the people and deter
mine ways their minds can best be
manipulated-thus constituting the pio-
neers of fifth columns"
Many of the methods used by Simon
cit and his colleagues are now in the
! files of the United States Army and
Navy. They have been garnered by
! prominent American psychologist from
various sources, including German psy-
Geological publications issued shortly
before the war, which passed unnoticed
in the rest of the world.
The long examination to which the
prospective officers submit is an attempt
! to measure five things, according to
these records: General intelligence, will
power, ability to command, expressive
movements and total personality. The
| candidate is examined for two full days
by board consisting of two officers, one
| physician and three psychologists-the
| latter showing the Importance attached
by the general staff to not getting
square pegs in round holes" Most of
| the tests are administered individually,
but others are given to groups of five.
The candidate does not get a score,
but the report of the psychologists, large
! ly subjective, usually determines his
| fate.
| First comes the intelligence test,
which bears little relationship to those
given in American schools The pros
| pective officer is allowed to study COM
! plicated picture for a few seconds and
/ then asked to describe it with as much
/ detail as possible. For example, it might
| be a picture of a furnished room. He
| would be expected to describe in detail
| each article of furniture.
| ;oto
! is confronted with 80 objects and asked
| to arrange them in series-a familiar
! principle in American intelligence tests
| where, however, various asSortments of
! numbers are generally employed. Prac-
! tical ability is judged from an essay on
a question dealing with some concrete
/ problem of leadership-for example,
! How would you plan trip from Berlin
/ to attend the Germany England football
| game, which will take place in two
1 weeks?"
! Next comes a so-called choice reac-
ton" test, the principle of which was
! first applied during the World War for
! selection of men to be trained as auto
mobile drivers. 1t is supposed to meas
! ure power of sustained attention in the
presence of occasionally introduced dis
fractions, uniformity of reaction. emo
ton, rate of learning and fatigability.
Simoneit's apparatus consists of a
screen on which a red, a blue and a
white light and a light with a circle and
/ one with a square can be shown. Fur
thermore, two rattles may be sounded,
one from the left and one from the
right. The observer, sitting in front of
the screen, has three hand levers and
two foot pedals to operate. The lights
are flashed on and the observer is told
which one of three levers is to be pulled
with each of the five lights. One of
the pedals is to be pressed with the
sound of one of the rattles
The man taking the test is told that
after certain period, which is not spe-
Gifted, every error will be counted against
him. The stimuli are presented in a
e-determined random order in 10 Sc
ries of 80 each. During an intermission
of two minutes the order is changed,
after which another 10 series are pre-
sented. The entire test of 600 visual
auditory stimuli takes 20 minutes. All
responses and reaction times are re-
corded automatically. During the test
the subject is observed from behind a
screen and the observations noted in
detail
In another type of reaction test some
times used, four sticks are suspended by
magnet AS they are released a bell,
rattle or horn is sounded Four can
didates are examined simultaneously.
Each is required to put his right hand
loosely around one stick. The task is to
tighten the grip when the bell is sound
ed, but to let the stick drop when either
of the other sounds is heard. This is
done blindfolded
These tests have shown little relation
to general intelligence, technical ability
or ability to think, but they are said to
be in 80 per cent agreement with will
power-the ability to go on in the face
of extreme peril.
Then come the command tests. Can
man carry out a complicated COM
mand? Can he give one? He is asked
to carry out complicated series of or
ders at stated intervals. sample: He
is asked to pack his knapsack and get
fully equipped with knapsack, belt, rifle
and steel helmet Thus equipped he
must walk on free-swinging pole and
at the same time throw rope over sew
eral hooks mounted to his right and
| 1ar&