The formula is as follows: “What is an orange?” “What is a bonfire?” “Roar; what does roar mean?” “Gown; what is a gown?” “What does tap mean?” “What does scorch mean?” “What is a puddle?” etc.

Some children at first show a little hesitation about answering, thinking that a strictly formal definition is expected. In such cases a little encouragement is necessary; as: “You know what a bonfire is. You have seen a bonfire. Now, what is a bonfire?” If the child still hesitates, say: “Just tell me in your own words; say it any way you please. All I want is to find out whether you know what a bonfire is.” Do not torture the child, however, by undue insistence. If he persists in his refusal to define a word which he would ordinarily be expected to know, it is better to pass on to the next one and to return to the troublesome word later. Above all, avoid helping the child by illustrating the use of a word in a sentence. Adhere strictly to the formula given above. If the definition as given does not make it clear whether the child has the correct idea, say: “Explain,” or, “I don’t understand; explain what you mean.”

Encourage the child frequently by saying: “That’s fine. You are doing beautifully. You know lots of words,” etc. Never tell the child his definition is not correct, and never ask for a different definition.

Avoid saying anything which would suggest a model form of definition, as the type of definition which the child spontaneously chooses throws interesting light on the degree of maturity of the apperceptive processes. Record all definitions verbatim if possible, or at least those which are exceptionally good, poor, or doubtful.

Scoring. Credit a response in full if it gives one correct meaning for the word, regardless of whether that meaning is the most common one, and regardless of whether it is the original or a derived meaning. Occasionally half credit may be given, but this should be avoided as far as possible.

To find the entire vocabulary, multiply the number of words known by 180. (This list is made up of 100 words selected by rule from a dictionary containing 18,000 words.) Thus, the child who defines 20 words correctly has a vocabulary of 20 × 180 = 3600 words; 50 correct definitions would mean a vocabulary of 9000 words, etc. The following are the standards for different years, as determined by the vocabulary reached by 60 to 65 per cent of the subjects of the various mental levels:—

8 years 20 wordsvocabulary 3,600
10 years 30 wordsvocabulary 5,400
12 years 40 wordsvocabulary 7,200
14 years 50 wordsvocabulary 9,000
Average adult 65 wordsvocabulary 11,700
Superior adult75 wordsvocabulary 13,500

Although the form of the definition is significant, it is not taken into consideration in scoring. The test is intended to explore the range of ideas rather than the evolution of thought forms. When it is evident that the child has one fairly correct meaning for a word, he is given full credit for it, however poorly the definition may have been stated.

While there is naturally some difficulty now and then in deciding whether a given definition is correct, this happens much less frequently than one would expect. In order to get a definite idea of the extent of error due to the individual differences among examiners, we have had the definitions of 25 subjects graded independently by 10 different persons. The result showed an average difference below 3 in the number of definitions scored plus. Since these subjects attempted on an average about 60 words, the average number of doubtful definitions per subject was below 5 per cent of the number attempted.

An idea of the degree of leniency to be exercised may be had from the following examples of definitions, which are mostly of low grade, but acceptable unless otherwise indicated:—