If there is no response, or if the child looks puzzled, the question may be repeated once or twice. The form of the question must not under any circumstances be altered. Question b, for example, would be materially changed if we should say: “Suppose you were to come home from school and find that your house was burning up. What would you do?” The expression “burning up” would probably be much less likely to suggest calling a fireman than would the words “on fire.”
Scoring. Two out of three must be answered correctly. The harder the comprehension questions are, the greater the variety of answers and the greater the difficulty of scoring. Because of the difficulty many examiners find in scoring this test, we will list the most common satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and doubtful responses to each question.
(a) If it is raining when you start to school
Satisfactory. “Take umbrella,” “Bring a parasol,” “Put on rubbers,” “Wear an overcoat,” etc. This type of response occurred 61 times out of 72 successes. “Have my father bring me” also counts plus.
Unsatisfactory. “Go home,” “Stay at home,” “Stay in the house,” “Have the rainbow,” “Stay in school,” etc. “Stay at home” is the most common failure and might at first seem to the examiner to be a satisfactory response. As a matter of fact, this answer rests on a slight misunderstanding of the question, the import of which is that one is to go to school and it is raining.
Doubtful. “Run” as an answer is a little more troublesome. It may reasonably be scored plus if it can be ascertained that the child is accustomed to meet the situation in this way. It is a common response with children in those regions of the Southwest where rains are so infrequent that umbrellas are rarely used. “Bring my lunch” may be considered a satisfactory response in case the child is in the habit of so doing on rainy days.
(b) If you find that your house is on fire
Satisfactory. “Ring the fire alarm,” “Call the firemen,” “Call for help,” “Put water on it,” etc.
Unsatisfactory. The most common failure, accounting for nearly half of all, is to suggest finding other shelter; e.g., “Go to the hotel,” “Get another house,” “Stay with your friends,” “Build a new house,” etc. Others are: “Tell them you are sorry it burned down,” “Be careful and not let it burn again,” “Have it insured,” “Cry,” “Call the policeman,” etc.
Doubtful. Instead of suggesting measures to put out the fire, a good many children suggest mere escape or the saving of household articles. Responses of this type are: “Jump out of the windows,” “Save yourself,” “Get out as fast as you can,” “Save the baby,” “Get my dolls and jewelry and hurry and get out.” These answers are about one seventh as frequent as the perfectly satisfactory ones, and the rule for scoring them is a matter of some importance. Under certain circumstances the logical thing to do would be to save one’s self or valuables without wasting time trying to call help. There may be no help in reach, or a fire which the child imagines may be too far along for help to be effective. In order to avoid the possibility of doing a subject an injustice, it may be desirable to score such answers plus. We must not be too arbitrary.
(c) If you miss your train
Satisfactory. The answer we expect is, “Wait for another,” “Take the next car,” or something to that effect. This type of answer includes about 85 per cent of the responses which do not belong obviously in the unsatisfactory group. “Take a jitney” is a modern variation of this response which must be counted as satisfactory.
Unsatisfactory. These are endless. One continues to meet new examples of absurdity, however many children one has tested. The possibilities are literally inexhaustible, but the following are among the most common: “Wait for it to come back,” “Have to walk,” “Be mad,” “Don’t swear,” “Run and try to catch it,” “Try to jump on,” “Don’t go to that place,” “Go to the next station,” etc.
Doubtful. The main doubtful response is, “Go home again,” “Come back next day and catch another,” etc. In small or isolated towns having only one or two trains per day, this is the logical thing to do, and in such cases the score is plus. Fortunately, only about one answer in ten gives rise to any difference of opinion among even partly trained examiners.
Remarks. The three comprehension questions of this group were all suggested by Binet in 1905. Only one of them, however, “What would you do if you were going some place and missed your train?” was incorporated in the 1908 or 1911 series, and this was used in year X with seven others much harder. The other two remained unstandardized previous to the Stanford investigation.[53]
VI, 5. Naming four coins
Procedure. Show a nickel, a penny, a quarter, and a dime, asking each time: “What is that?” If the child misunderstands and answers, “Money,” or “A piece of money,” we say: “Yes, but what do you call that piece of money?” Show the coins always in the order given above.
Scoring. The test is passed if three of the four questions are correctly answered. Any correct designation of a coin is satisfactory, including provincialisms like “two bits” for the 25-cent piece, etc. If the child changes his response for a coin, we count the second answer and ignore the first. No supplementary questions are permissible.
Remarks. Some of the critics of the Binet scale regard this test as of little value, because, they say, the ability to identify pieces of money depends entirely on instruction or other accidents of environment. The figures show, however, that it is not greatly influenced by differences of social environment, although children from poor homes do slightly better with it than those from homes of wealth and culture. The fact seems to be that practically all children by the age of 6 years have had opportunity to learn the names of the smaller coins, and if they have failed to learn them it betokens a lack of that spontaneity of interest in things which we have mentioned so often as a fundamental presupposition of intelligence. It is by no means a test of mere mechanical memory.
This test was given a place in year VII of Binet’s 1908 scale, the coins used being the 1-sou, 2-sous, 10-sous, and 5-franc pieces. It was omitted from the Binet 1911 revision and also from that of Goddard. Kuhlmann retains it in year VII. Others, however, have required all four coins to be correctly named, and when this standard is used the test is difficult enough for year VII. Germany has six coins up to and including the 1-mark piece, all of which could be named by 76 per cent of Bobertag’s 7-year-olds. With the coins and the standard of scoring used in the Stanford revision the test belongs well in year VI.