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| It was eleven o'clock at night, and young Marriott was locked into his room, cramming as hard as he could cram. He was a "Fourth Year Man" at Edinburgh University and he had been ploughed for this particular examination so often that his pare... Read more of Keeping His Promise at Scary Stories.ca | Informational.ca Privacy |
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IntelligenceInduction Test: Finding A RuleDiscrimination Of Forms Counting Thirteen Pennies Feeble-mindedness (rarely Above 75 I Q) Personality Of The Examiner Desirable Range Of Testing The Validity Of The Individual Tests Scoring Finding Mental Age Finding Rhymes Problem Of The Enclosed Boxes Influence Of The Subject's Attitude Comparison Of Lines Differences Between Abstract Terms Copying A Square Tying A Bow-knot Naming Colors Counting Backwards From 20 To 1 Summary Of Changes Binet's Conception Of General Intelligence |
Presence Of OthersA still more disturbing influence is the presence of other persons. Generally speaking, if accurate results are to be secured it is not permissible to have any auditor, besides possibly an assistant to record the responses. Even the assistant, however quiet and unobtrusive, is sometimes a disturbing element. Though something of a convenience, the assistant is by no means necessary, after the examiner has thoroughly mastered the procedure of the tests and has acquired some skill in the use of abbreviations in recording the answers. If an assistant or any other person is present, he should be seated somewhat behind the child, not too close, and should take no notice of the child either when he enters the room or at any time during the examination. At all events, the presence of parent, teacher, school principal, or governess is to be avoided. Contrary to what one might expect, these distract the child much more than a strange personality would do. Their critical attitude toward the child's performance is very likely to cause embarrassment. If the child is alone with the examiner, he is more at ease from the mere fact that he does not feel that there is a reputation to sustain. The praise so lavishly bestowed upon him by the friendly and sympathetic examiner lends to the same effect. As Binet emphasizes, if the presence of others cannot be avoided, it is at least necessary to require of them absolute silence. Parents, and sometimes teachers, have an almost irrepressible tendency to interrupt the examination with excuses for the child's failures and with disturbing explanations which are likely to aid the child in comprehending the required task. Without the least intention of doing so, they sometimes practically tell the child how to respond. Parents, especially, cannot refrain from scolding the child or showing impatience when his answers do not come up to expectation. This, of course, endangers the child's success still further. The psychologist is not surprised at such conduct. It would be foolish to expect average parents, even apart from their bias in the particular case at hand, to adopt the scientific attitude of the trained examiner. Since we cannot in a few moments at our disposal make them over into psychologists, our only recourse is to deal with them by exclusion. This is not to say that it is impossible to test a child satisfactorily in the presence of others. If the examiner is experienced, and if the child is not timid, it is sometimes possible to make a successful test in the presence of quite a number of auditors, provided they remain silent, refrain from staring, and otherwise conduct themselves with discretion. But not even the veteran examiner can always be sure of the outcome in demonstration testing. Next: Getting Into Rapport Previous: Quiet And Seclusion
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