Note whether the child draws each part carefully, looking at the model from time to time, or whether the strokes are made in a more or less haphazard manner with only an initial glance at the original.
After each trial, say to the child: “Is it good?” And after the three copies have been made say: “Which one is the best?” Retarded children are sometimes entirely satisfied with the most nondescript drawings imaginable, but they are more likely correctly to pick out the best of three than to render a correct judgment about the worth of each drawing separately.
Scoring. The test is passed if two of the three drawings are at least as good as those marked satisfactory on the score card. The diamond should be drawn approximately in the correct position, and the diagonals must not be reversed. Disregard departures from the model with respect to size.
Remarks. The test is a good one. Age and training, apart from intelligence, affect it only moderately. There are few adult imbeciles of 6-year intelligence who are able to pass it, while but few subjects who have reached the 8-year level fail on it.[55]
This test was located in year VII of the 1908 scale, but was shifted to year VI in Binet’s 1911 revision. The change was without justification, for Binet expressly states, both in 1908 and 1911, that only half of the 6-year-olds succeed with it. The large majority of investigations have given too low a proportion of successes at 6 years to warrant its location at that age, particularly if pen is required instead of pencil. Location at year VI would be warranted only on the condition that the use of pencil be permitted and only one success required in three trials.
VII, Alternative test 1: naming the days of the week
Procedure. Say: “You know the days of the week, do you not? Name the days of the week for me.” Sometimes the child begins by naming various annual holidays, as Christmas, Fourth of July, etc. Perhaps he has not comprehended the task; at any rate, we give him one more trial by stopping him and saying: “No; that is not what I mean. I want you to name the days of the week.” No supplementary questions are permissible, and we must be careful not to show approval or disapproval in our looks as the child is giving his response.
If the days have been named in correct order, we check up the response to see whether the real order of days is known or whether the names have only been repeated mechanically. This is done by asking the following questions: “What day comes before Tuesday?” “What day comes before Thursday?” “What day comes before Friday?”
Scoring. The test is passed if, within fifteen seconds, the days of the week are all named in correct order, and if the child succeeds in at least two of the three check questions. We disregard the point of beginning.
Remarks. The test has been criticized as too dependent on rote memory. Bobertag says a child may pass it without having any adequate conception of “week,” “yesterday,” “day before yesterday,” etc. This criticism holds if the test is given according to the older procedure, but does not apply with the procedure above recommended. The “checking-up” questions enable us at once to distinguish responses that are given by rote from those which rest upon actual knowledge.