Pyschological Test, Porteus Maze Test
notes: label: Description
content: Stanley D. Porteus (1883-1972) was born in Australia and taught in schools there. By 1914 he was head of the Victoria Education Department Special School in Melbourne. In this capacity he wrote several papers on testing the capabilities of children in his charge and developed the first form of what came to be called the Porteus maze test. In 1918, Porteus moved to the United States to work as a psychologist at the Vineland Training School in Vineland, New Jersey. A revised version of his test appeared in 1919 (see MA.316372.34), and would be published, with alterations over the years, by C.H. Stoelting Company of Chicago. This is a Stoelting version of the Vineland test. In 1922, Porteus took a teaching position at the University of Hawaii, where he remained until his retirement in 1948. Versions of the Porteus maze test still sell.
label: Description
content: In his 1919 publication. Porteus explained that he sought “to analyze and measure personality in subnormal individuals,” complementing results of intelligence tests. The Porteus test consists of a series of thirteen mazes printed on paper sheets. In this example, the sheets fit between two red-brown covers held together with tape. The are grouped between light brown sheets of cardboard into the following categories:
label: Description
content: 1. Stoelting #27122 – This diamond-shaped maze is for Year III. There are three copies.
label: Description
content: 2. Stoelting #27123 – This cross-shaped maze is for Year IV. There are nine copies.
label: Description
content: 3. [Stoelting #27124] – This comb-shaped maze is for Year V. There are three copies.
label: Description
content: 4.[Stoelting #27125] – This rectangular maze is for Year VI. There are two copies.
label: Description
content: 5. [Stoelting #27126] – This rectangular maze is for Year VII. There are four copies.
label: Description
content: 6. Stoelting #27127 – This maze is for Year VIII. There are five copies.
label: Description
content: 7. Stoelting #27128 – This maze is for Year IX. There are ten copies.
label: Description
content: 8. Stoelting #27129 – This maze is for Year X. There are eleven copies.
label: Description
content: 9. Stoelting #27130 – This maze is for Year XI. There are five copies.
label: Description
content: 10. Stoelting #27131 – This maze is for Year XII. There are five copies.
label: Description
content: 11. Stoelting #27133 – This maze is for Year XIV. There are four copies.
label: Description
content: 12. Stoelting #27134 – This is the Adult I maze. There are six copies.
label: Description
content: 13. Stoelting #27134 (sic) – This is the Adult II maze. There are two copies.
label: Description
content: The tests increase in complexity with year. They match descriptions of the Porteus maze test in the 1936 Stoelting catalog, which notes differences from the original Vineland test. Hence the rough date assigned.
label: Description
content: Compare 1999.0302.17.01. See also MA.316372.48.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Porteus, Stanley D. and the Training School at Vineland. <I>Porteus Tests - the Vineland Revision</I>, [Vineland, N. J., 1919].
label: Description
content: Porteus, Stanley D. The Validity of the Porteus Maze Test. <I>Journal of Educational Psychology</I>, 30(3),1939, pp. 172–178.
label: Description
content: C.H. Stoelting Co., <I>Apparatus, Tests and Supplies </I>, Chicago; Stoelting, 1936, p. 125.
label: Description
content: Porteus, Stanley D. <I>A Psychologist of Sorts: The Autobiography and Publications of the Inventor of the Porteus Maze Tests</I>, Palo Alto, CA: Pacific Books, 1969.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Psychology
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Psychological Tests
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of David Shakow
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.316372.16
label: catalog number
content: 316372.16
label: accession number
content: 316372
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Psychological Test
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: tape (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 cm x 21 cm x 15 cm; 1 3/16 in x 8 9/32 in x 5 29/32 in