The roles played by speed and power as factors in intelligence have been examined both speculatively and experimentally. The results of these investigations have not been uniform, due in part, probably, to the fact that there has not been, nor is there at present, agreement on just what constitutes intelligence. Lack of agreement regarding the very function we seek to understand must necessarily lead to differently conceived experiments and to a variety of results and conclusions. The author of a recent paper* enumerates briefly some of the experiments performed over a span of more than a half-century. These include lifting of weights, discrimination of pitch and clang, rate and accuracy of computation, rate of reading and retention of ideas, thrusting at targets, maze tracing, drawing straight lines, and rate of typewriting. This same author himself studied the interrelations of speed, accuracy and difficulty, as revealed in the spelling of words ranging from the very easy to the very difficult. He concludes, among other things, that the fast speller on the basis of general average will probably rank fairly high in accuracy of spelling.Peak and Boring 2 report the results of an investigation in which the Army Alpha and the Otis Self-Administering Test of Mental Ability were used with five advanced students of psychology. They conclude that there is a high correlation between score in an intelligence test, speed in the test, and speed in a simple reaction, and, furthermore, that speed of reaction is the most important factor in individual differences in the intelligent act.
Current tests of educational achievement are designed to measure skill, or information, or understanding in a specified school subject, or group of subjects.Everyone here knows that most tests of educational achievement are devoted to measuring the amount of information recalled, or skills and techniques acquired (as in reading and arithmetic). These devices are educationally useful, but to a very limited degree. And I believe they are very inadequate for the evaluation of the most significant educational objectives.Tests placing emphasis upon problem-solving, drawing inferences from subject-matter (that is, inductive thinking), application and generalizations to specific stituations (deductive thinking), and attitudes and appreciations developed through the study of course materials-these types of tests are 1 very few in number, although they have been receiving increased attention. As educational tests they are superior to those mentioned a moment ago. Yet they too have serious deficiencies as pedagogical devices.We are all familiar with the types of items included in most achievement tests; namely, simple recall, two-alternatives (such as true-false), multiple-choice, completion, matching, analogies, and check lists. Pupils and students taking these tests, excepting the completion items, have only to distinguish the correct from the incorrect, and then make a mark. Such activity makes few demands upon psychological processes other than 'recognition.' Experiments on memory have shown that tests of recognition are the easiest type; they yield the highest scores; they demand less cerebration than tests of anticipation, recall, and organization. Completion tests are somewhat superior, in terms of mental activity; for they, at least, require that the student supply the answer himself, even though within a rather rigid framework.
In 1898, one of E. B. Titchener's graduate students, Stella E. Sharp, conducted an experiment on Alfred Binet and Victor Henri's theory and belief that mental abilities should be tested by means of complex mental processes. Her subjects were seven advanced students in psychology. She concluded that the findings were incommensurate with the effort required. That closed the subject as an area of research and instruction in the Cornell Department of Psychology until 1941, when the subject of test theory and uses was included in that department's course offerings. This continued until 1963. Currently, the subject is once again being actively pursued in the Department of Education.
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