Superior adult, 1: vocabulary (seventy-five definitions, 13,500 words)
Procedure and Scoring, as in previous vocabulary tests. At the “superior adult” level seventy-five words should be known.
The test is passed by only one third of those at the “average adult” level, but by about 90 per cent of “superior adults.” Ability to pass the test is relatively independent of the number of years the subject has attended school, our business men showing even a higher percentage of passes than high-school pupils.
Superior adult, 2: Binet’s paper-cutting test
Procedure. Take a piece of paper about six inches square and say: “Watch carefully what I do. See, I fold the paper this way (folding it once over in the middle), then I fold it this way (folding it again in the middle, but at right angles to the first fold). Now, I will cut out a notch right here” (indicating). At this point take scissors and cut out a small notch from the middle of the side which presents but one edge. Throw the fragment which has been cut out into the waste-basket or under the table. Leave the folded paper exposed to view, but pressed flat against the table. Then give the subject a pencil and a second sheet of paper like the one already used and say: “Take this piece of paper and make a drawing to show how the other sheet of paper would look if it were unfolded. Draw lines to show the creases in the paper and show what results from the cutting.”
The subject is not permitted to fold the second sheet, but must solve the problem by the imagination unaided.
Note that we do not say, “Draw the holes,” as this would inform the subject that more than one hole is expected.
Scoring. The test is passed if the creases in the paper are properly represented, if the holes are drawn in the correct number, and if they are located correctly, that is, both on the same crease and each about halfway between the center of the paper and the side. The shape of the holes is disregarded.
Failure may be due to error as regards the creases or the number and location of the holes, or it may involve any combination of the above errors.
Remarks. Success seems to depend upon constructive visual imagination. The subject must first be able to construct in imagination the creases which result from the folding, and secondly, to picture the effects of the cutting as regards number of holes and their location. It appears that a solution is seldom arrived at, even in the case of college students, by logical mathematical thinking. Our unschooled subjects even succeeded somewhat better than high-school and college students of the same mental level.