Another element in success, especially in the latter part of the experiment, is the ability to make an attentive comparison between the form shown and the others. The child may be satisfied to point to the first form his eye happens to fall upon. Far from being a legitimate excuse for failure, such an exhibition of inattention and of weakness of the critical faculty is symptomatic of a mental level below 4 years.
In addition to counting the number of errors made, it is interesting to note with what forms they occur. To match the circle with the ellipse or the octagon, for example, is a less serious error than to match it with the square or triangle.
This test was devised and standardized by Dr. Fred Kuhlmann. It is inserted here without essential alteration, except that the size recommended for the forms is slightly reduced and minor changes have been made in the wording of the directions. Our own results are favorable to the test and to the location assigned it by its author.
IV, 3. Counting four pennies
Procedure. Place four pennies in a horizontal row before the child. Say: “See these pennies. Count them and tell me how many there are. Count them with your finger, this way” (pointing to the first one on the child’s left)—“One”—“Now, go ahead.” If the child simply gives the number (whether right or wrong) without pointing, say: “No; count them with your finger, this way,” starting him off as before. Have him count them aloud.
Scoring. The test is passed only if the counting tallies with the pointing. It is not sufficient merely to state the correct number without pointing.
Remarks. Contrary to what one might think, this is not to any great extent a test of “schooling.” Practically all children of this age have had opportunity to learn to count as far as four, and with normal children the spontaneous interest in number is such that very few 4-year-olds, even from inferior social environment, fail to pass the test.
While success requires more than the ability to repeat the number names by rote, it does not presuppose any power of calculation or a mastery of the number concepts from one to four. Many children who will readily say, mechanically, “one, two, three, four,” when started off, are not able to pass the test. On the other hand, it is not expected that the child who passes will also necessarily understand that four is made up of two two’s, or four one’s, or three plus one, etc.
Binet, Goddard, and Kuhlmann place this test in the 5-year group, but three separate series of tests made for the Stanford revision, as well as nearly all the statistics available from other sources, show that it belongs at 4 years.