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Report of the Medical Officer (Education).
145
The results both of this test and the next improve with age and especially with the out of school
occupations if by any chance they involve practical dealing with small sums. In the giving of change
the results were:—
Age—7 .8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total
Correct— — — 4 2 6 12 11 9 44
Incorrect 4 6 10 13 11 26 41 22 13 146
The children were given a few coins and then a coin, say 2s., was offered for an imaginary
transaction to cost, say 6d., and the hand held out for the change. The results show a great falling off
from those of counting alone ; they vary nearly directly with age, but are at their best at 14 +. To
count the correct result the child must actually hand over the required amount, not merely say it.
According to Binet, who is confirmed by Goddard and others, a few 7's, about one-third of 8's, and
all 9 year olds should pass this test. The more advanced children were given simple sums either as
mental or written arithmetic. Practically their limit was easy sums in the four simple rules and perhaps
very easy addition or subtraction of money. The results appeared to be below their stated school
performances, and the time taken was longer than that of very much younger normal children. The
method of asking a child its age and then how old it would be in two, three, or more years, and how
old it had been two, three or more years ago was tried in nearly every case.

The series of tests associated with the names of Binet and Simon were tried on 33 children,
partly as a check on the other methods and partly to experiment with their suitability for adoption as a standard.

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