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Report of the Medical Officer (Education).
147
may be needed ia some details, and for some ages there is scarcely sufficient evidence of the normal
standard. It would be desirable to obtain satisfactory evidence as to the normal level of children
at each age in the London schools, and to work in practice from the deviations from the standard thus
established. In the United States, on the Continent and at Sheffield, it has been found practicable
to carry out such a series through the medium of school teachers who have received instruction in the
technique of these tests and who have worked together sufficiently long to ensure a uniformity in their
standard of marking.
De Sanctis uses the following material: Five wooden balls painted in distinctive colours, three
wooden pyramids, two wooden parallelopipeds, five wooden cubes all of the same size, 12 cubes of varying
sizes, a small black cube, and a test card on which are painted triangles, squares, and rectangles
to represent the outlines of the pyramid, cubes and parallelopipeds. The tests are—
1. The five balls are placed on the table and the observer says : " Give me a ball." The
time taken in responding is noted on the stop watch.
2. The same five balls are again shown and the observer says : Which ball did you
give me ? " The time is again noted.
3. The five identical cubes, the three pyramids, and the two parallelopipeds are mixed
up on a table screened from the child. A cube not very different in size is shown to the child,
who is asked to pick out all the bits of wood on the table which look like it. The screen is then
removed, and the time of the performance and any errors noted.
4. The child is shown the test card of forms and the small black cube, and is asked :
"Look at this piece of wood. Is there anything on the card which looks like the piece of
wood ? and if correct is directed to "pick out all the things that look like it." The time and
errors are recorded.
5. The 12 cubes of various sizes are put on the table at different distances from the child,
who is told, "Here are bits of wood like the things you were picking out on the card. Look
at them carefully, and tell me how many there are, which is the biggest, and which is farthest
away from you." The time taken and the errors are recorded.
6. All the test materials being concealed the child is asked four questions, each being
answered before the next is asked.
(a) " Are big things heavier or lighter than small things ? "
(b) " How does it happen that small things are sometimes heavier than big things ? "
(c) " Which looks bigger, a thing that is close by or a thing that is far away ? "
(d) " When things are far away, do they just look smaller or are they really
smaller ? "
The times of response are recorded, and the answers taken down verbatim. De Sanctis considers
that ability to pass Nos. 1 and 2 only indicates intellectual defect of a high degree, ability to pass Nos.
1 to 4 or 5 with many errors indicates a moderate defect, ability to pass Nos. 1 to 5, but not No. 6,
indicates a slight degree of mental insufficiency, while ability to pass all in normal time indicates a normal
intelligence. Yet even such a child may rate as "backward' pedagogically. Goddard, however,
thinks training comes into play, and that a child with a good training may pass even No. 6 and yet be
feeble-minded.
The principle employed in these tests has in part been utilised, but not the exact method. The
time taken was in all cases considerable, but it was not noted down exactly.
The Froebel gifts, which contain coloured balls and a series of wooden blocks of various shapes
and sizes were used. For test three a mixed assortment of wooden bricks was placed on the table, and
the child given a brick and asked to pick out all that were like it. For test four a rough series of
pencil sketches was used, and the test tried both by asking the child to indicate the outlines like a given
brick and to pick out bricks !ike a given outline. No case was regarded as having failed unless unable
to do either. For test five cubical bricks only were used, the largest being about eight times as big as
the next largest. The distances apart were such as to render it clear which was the farthest off and
which the nearest from the other side of the room without any difficulty. Each question was asked
separately, following the American system. In the case of test six the children were allowed to try
experiments by lifting objects and looking at similar objects close by and at a little distance.

Two children of 13 and one of 14 passed all the tests.
These tests show results closely correlated with age, but seem to serve to point out the lower
grades more particularly.
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