Scoring. As a rule, children of 5 and 6 years define an object in terms of use, stating what it does, what it is for, what people do with it, etc. Definitions by description, by telling what substance it is made of, and by giving the class to which it belongs are grouped together as “definitions superior to use.” It is not before 8 years that two thirds of the children spontaneously give a large proportion of definitions in terms superior to use.
The test is passed in year V if four words out of the six are defined in terms of use (or better than use). The following are examples of satisfactory responses:—
- Chair: “To sit on.” “You sit on it.” “It is made of wood and has legs and back,” etc.
- Horse: “To drive.” “To ride.” “What people drive.” “To pull the wagon.” “It is big and has four legs,” etc.
- Fork: “To eat with.” “To stick meat with.” “It is hard and has three sharp things,” etc.
- Doll: “To play with.” “What you dress and put to bed.” “To rock,” etc.
- Pencil: “To write with.” “To draw.” “They write with it.” “It is sharp and makes a black mark.”
- Table: “To eat on.” “What you put the dinner on.” “Where you write.” “It is made of wood and has legs.”
Examples of failure are such responses as the following: “A chair is a chair”; “There is a chair”; or simply, “There” (pointing to a chair). We record such responses without pressing for a further definition. About the only other type of failure is silence.
Remarks. It is not the purpose of this test to find out whether the child knows the meaning of the words he is asked to define. Words have purposely been chosen which are perfectly familiar to all normal children of 5 years. But with young children there is a difference between knowing a word and giving a definition of it. Besides, we desire to find out how the child apperceives the word, or rather the object for which it stands; whether the thing is thought of in terms of use, appearance (shape, size, color, etc.), material composing it, or class relationships.
This test, because it throws such interesting light on the maturity of the child’s apperceptive processes, is one of the most valuable of all. It is possible to differentiate at least a half-dozen degrees of excellence in definitions, according to the intellectual maturity of the subject. A volume, indeed, could be written on the development of word definitions and the growth of meanings; but we will postpone further discussion until [VIII, 5]. Our concern at present is to know that children of 5 years should at least be able to define four of these six words in terms of use.
Binet placed the test in year VI, but our own figures and those of nearly all the other investigations indicate that it is better located in year V.
V, 5. The game of patience
Material. Prepare two rectangular cards, each 2 × 3 inches, and divide one of them into two triangles by cutting it along one of its diagonals.
Procedure. Place the uncut card on the table with one of its longer sides to the child. By the side of this card, a little nearer the child and a few inches apart, lay the two halves of the divided rectangle with their hypothenuses turned from each other as follows: