XI. THE PSYCHOGRAPHIC PICTURE OF INDIVIDUALITY
A psychograph may consist merely of numerical statements of the individual’s standing in various mental capacities respectively; or it may be presented in the form of a graph drawn from the figures. No standard graph has been agreed upon. Sometimes the method is to present points of deviation from a horizontal line representing the typical performance; sometimes to present the deviations from a vertical line, representing the typical; sometimes to present deviations along the spokes of a “wheel,” the typical being taken as a circumference drawn midway between the center and the perimeter of the circle.
Fig. 3.—The psychograph of a school boy, showing his standing in various mental functions; illustrating use of the horizontal line to denote typical performance. The scores are in terms of mental age. (From Hollingworth’s Judging Human Character. Reproduced by courtesy of D. Appleton and Company.)
Figure 3 is an illustration of the first mentioned mode of presentation. It shows the status of a school boy in various mental functions measured. This boy is 18 years old. In interpreting the psychograph, which is platted in terms of mental age, it must be borne in mind that many of the capacities here included are matured by the age of 16 years. The individual is not, therefore, subnormal with regard to them. This case illustrates some of the difficulties of treating adolescents and adults in terms of mental age.
Fig. 4.—The psychographs of three school girls, showing their standings in various mental functions, measured to determine mathematical ability; illustrating use of the vertical line to denote typical performance. The scores are in terms of weighted deviations. Scores to the right are above, and scores to the left are below, average. (From Tests of Mathematical Ability and Their Prognostic Value. Reproduced by courtesy of Agnes L. Rogers.)
Figure 4 shows the use of the vertical line as the “type” or “norm,” picturing the extent to which the individual measured departs from or corresponds to the typical, in the functions tested.
Figure 5 illustrates the use of the circle, with radii to show standing in the various mental functions. The adolescent presented is near the typical (the 50 percentile) in nearly all functions measured.
Which of these forms of graph is best adapted to its purpose has not been determined. All are simply different methods of picturing the same facts.
The chief obstacle to the platting of psychographs, for such capacities as are now measurable, is that scales for measurement have been standardized in different terms. To plat a lucid psychograph, some traits on which have been measured in P.E., some in IQ, some in percentiles, some in “raw” points, some in values of a T Scale, some in terms of school grade achieved[[7]] is now impossible, because of the difficulties of equating all these “steps” of difference. The psychographs here presented will, therefore, be understood to be crude, merely approximating the lucidity of those which will be made in future, when the science of mental measurement has made greater progress. Each of the methods of standardization has some advantages and some disadvantages, as compared with the others. Only experience and discussion can finally determine which is best. It is desirable to achieve uniformity as soon as possible, in order that the psychographic study of individuals may be facilitated.
1. General Intelligence (Stanford-Binet)
2. Completion Test (Trabue)
3. Cancellation (Pinter)
4. Digit Symbol (Pinter)
5. Opposites (Pinter)
6. Mechanical Ability (Stenquist)
7. Tonal Memory (Seashore)
8. Pitch (Seashore)
9. Time (Seashore)
10. Intensity (Seashore)
11. Pictoral Completion (Healy)
12. Grip in Hand (Smedley)
Fig. 5.—The psychograph of a school boy, showing his standing in various mental functions; illustrating use of the circle as a diagram, the median circumference denoting the performance of typical persons of his age. The scores are in terms of percentiles.