Stanford University, March 31, 1920
GENERAL DIRECTIONS
General directions for the use of the Stanford Revision have been fully set forth in chapter VIII of The Measurement of Intelligence. As this guide is only a handbook of procedure for the tests themselves, I shall not here undertake either to summarize that chapter or to add to it. I trust it may safely be assumed that no responsible person will attempt to apply the tests who is not familiar with the book which explains them and presents the general considerations which should govern their use.
However, extended observation of the difficulties which students and teachers encounter in learning to use the Stanford Revision has taught me that there are certain injunctions which cannot easily be too often repeated. Among these the following "ten commandments" have been selected for reëmphasis here:
1. The subject's attention and coöperation must be secured. Thanks to the novelty and inherent interest of the tests, this is usually not difficult to do. But there are degrees of rapport, and the examiner should not be satisfied with his efforts until the subject becomes wholly absorbed in the tasks set him by the tests. The importance of tactful encouragement and a kindly, genial manner cannot be too strongly emphasized, nor, on the other hand, the risk incurred in allowing a parent to witness the test. Hardly anything is more likely to spoil an examination than the presence of a critical or over-sympathetic parent. Sometimes the teacher's presence is hardly less objectionable.
2. The correct formulas should be thoroughly learned and strictly adhered to. Unless this is done the scale used is not the Stanford Revision, whatever else it may be. For the first fifty or hundred examinations the tests should be given directly from this guide. Little by little, as the procedure becomes memorized, the examiner should attempt to free himself of the necessity of reading the formulas, but for a long time it is necessary to check up one's procedure by frequent reference to the Guide if practice in error is to be avoided.
3. The examiner should early learn to withstand the temptation of wholesale coaxing and cross-questioning. To do so often robs the response of significance and is likely to interfere with the establishment of rapport. A simple "What do you mean?" or, "Explain what you mean," is sufficient to clarify most answers which are not clear. At the same time the examiner should be on guard against mistaking exceptional timidity for inability to respond. Persuasive encouragement is frequently necessary, but this should not be allowed to degenerate into a chronic habit of coaxing.
4. The record should always be made as the test proceeds. Memory should never be trusted. As a rule enough of each response should be recorded to enable one to score it at any time later. The great advantage of the Record Booklet is that it permits this. Only the most expert examiner should limit his record to pluses and minuses.
5. The examination should be thorough. It should include at least one year in which there is no failure and at least one year in which there is no success. When lack of time necessitates an abbreviation of the examination, this should be done by using only the starred tests rather than by shortening the range of the examination.
6. Success in alternative tests may not be substituted for failure in one of the regular tests. Ordinarily the alternatives should be omitted. They have been included in the scale chiefly as a convenience in case materials are lacking for any of the regular tests, or in case any of the latter should be deemed for some special reason unsuitable. The ball and field test, for example, is often rendered unsuitable by coaching, and one of the alternates should always be substituted for the vocabulary test in the case of subjects whose mother tongue is other than English. Other substitutions or omissions are necessary in the case of subjects who are illiterate.