Non-verbal intelligence tests for use in China

Front matter

Class Lull 51

Book. ■ 1, j

GopyiiglitN? .

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Introduction i

A. The Problem I

Chapter I Introduction

A. THE PROBLEM

Psychological tests which have been applied in America with great success are now being experimented with in China. Progressive Chinese educators who are attempting to introduce the measurement movement into China, however, are confronted with the problem of procuring and selecting suitable test material. China, with its distinctive civilization and numerous dialects, presents a difficult field for the literal transcription of the American intelligence tests. This difficulty virtually prevents a widespread use in China of the language test, and makes necessary the construction of a non-language test. The present study is an attempt to develop a non-verbal scale, which, because of the elimination of language and schooling factors, may be used in China as an independent measure of general intelligence or as a supplement to a language test.

B. INTELLIGENCE EXAMINATIONS IN CHINA

The practice of setting intelligence examinations is not new in China. It is as old as our history, although the traditional methods have been crude and pseudo-psychological.

The earliest methods, which still prevail, are Kan Hsiang, physiognomy-reading, and Shan Ming, fortune-telling. Pseudo-psychologists in the guise of fortune-tellers and popular physiognomists are found everywhere. They are frequently consulted by uneducated parents as to the intelligence of their children, whose careers and destinies they foretell. The calculations of these pseudo-psychologists are said to be based upon the hour and date of birth , and physiognomic and anthropometric characteristics.

The system of competitive examinations, employed in China for centuries, was a sort of intelligence test. Its purpose was the selection of candidates for civil service. Scholars gathered at the examination halls, which were located in every district. There they were confined in little cells in which they composed classical essays on assigned subjects. Examinations were conducted and papers graded by high government officials. The results were announced with great ceremony, and the successful candidates honored with "Kung Ming,"— the equivalent of American academic degrees.

The practice was founded on the theory that only the intelligent and educated men should rule. No age or birth qualifications were required for participation in these examinations. Youngsters under twelve years of age, however, were sometimes released from the rigid, formal standards. In such cases the regular examination was often replaced by a series of "opposites or matching tests," in which the applicants were required to match assigned words and phrases. For instance, "East" would be expected to be matched with the word "West"; "above" with "below"; "mountains" with "oceans." The following is a typical "Dui Dzi," or opposites test: 1

The translation of matching phrase (a) with phrase (b) is as follows: 2

(a) Consider Father Being Horse

Of the old intelligence tests used in the schools of China, there were certain kinds called "Tien Dzih," that is, "completion tests." Some teachers occasionally employed these tests in judging the brightness of their pupils; others employed them as supplementary

1 A story relates that a certain farmer carried his young son on his back to the examination hall. The examiner, upon the arrival of the youngster, was surprised at his presence and inquired of him how he had managed to come all the way from his distant home. The boy replied: "I came on my father's back." The boy's answer at once suggested to the examiner a topic for the opposites test, so he said: "Well, if you can match the phrase which I am about to give you, you are passed." The examiner then requested the boy to match "Consider Father Being Horse." The clever child, without a moment's hesitation, replied: "Expect Son Becoming Dragon." He had matched the assigned phrase so well, that he was given a pass without further examination.

2 These are not strictly "opposites tests," as understood in America; but rather matching tests. They are comprehensive, requiring on the part of the examinee quick understanding and sound reasoning.

methods of teaching elementary composition. Problems in composition were often made by omitting a few words from a well-constructed sentence, necessitating the filling in of the blanks by the children.

A type of test similar to the puzzles used by Ruger is also quite common in China. The most famous of these puzzles is the "Kiu Lien Huan" — a nine-ring puzzle (see Fig. 1) , consisting of nine connected copper rings mounted on a bar with a rod running through the center of the rings. The puzzle is how to get the rod out of the rings

FjG. 1. The Nine-Ring Puzzle.

— a task which requires reasoning, and which seldom is solved by the trial-and-error method. The ring puzzle is used merely as a toy, not as a formal test, yet one often hears the remark, "Solve this puzzle and let us see how bright you are."

"Performance tests" also have been in use for centuries in China. The most noted one is "Yih Chih Tu," also called "Tsih Chiao Pan" (see Figs. 2, 3 and 4). Translated literally into English, it would be called "Increasing Wisdom Board," or the "Seven Mysterious Boards." It was called the "Increasing Wisdom Board" because playing with it was believed to increase one's wisdom. It was called the "Seven Mysterious Boards" because with the seven pieces of different shapes and sizes which made up the game, many forms of men, animals, birds, and inanimate objects could be constructed. The game was played by any number of persons, each with his own set of forms. The purpose was to see which person could construct the largest number of objects out of his seven pieces, the winner being considered the most intelligent person in the group. 1

1 It is said that the game originated in the ancient imperial palace among the women of the court, who, in the great amount of leisure time at their disposal, welcomed such sport. Later it became popular among the people.

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Fig. 2. The Seven Mysterious Boards.

Fig. 3. Illustrations of the Seven Mysterious Boards:

I Man walking; 2 carriage; 3 man running; 4 and 5 two animals fighting Fig. 4. Illustrations of the Seven Mysterious Boards:

Candle sticks and different kinds of vessels.

The various tests which have been described here cannot be termed "intelligence tests" in the strictly psychological sense because they are not standardized. They are not extensively used as a measure of general intelligence, but rather as intellectual games. They do demonstrate, however, that the practice of intelligence examinations, although crude and pseudo-psychological, does exist and has existed in China for centuries. It is quite possible that some of these old methods and materials may prove useful in the construction of a genuine intelligence test for China.

It is only within the last few years that scientific psychological measurements have been iniroduced in China. The earliest known experimental work on the subject is that conducted by Dr.W .W. Creighton. 1 From 1915 to 1917, under the direction of Professor W. H. Pyle, of the University of Missouri, Dr. Creighton made a study of the mental and physical characteristics of Cantonese children. The subjects under examination numbered approximately five hundred, most of them ranging from ten to eighteen years in age, although twenty- five women were among those examined. The mental tests used in this experiment were those of rote memory, logical memory, substitution, analogies, and dot patterns. In conducting this experiment Dr. Creighton met with great difficulties as a result of the many dialects prevailing in this province. In his report he says: "In the mental measurements we were confronted at once by language difficulties."

In 1918 Professor G. D. Walcott 2 measured the intelligence of the students in the senior class in Tsinghua College, Peking, who averaged twenty- two years of age. Professor Walcott used the Stanford Revision of the Binet Scale, with the Scott Group Test as a check. The results of the experiment were not very satisfactory as, in addition to the insufficiency of the scale for persons of that age, the language difficulties were insurmountable.

Somewhat later, in the fall of 1920, the Nanking Government Teachers College tried psychological tests for the entrance examination. This is the first attempt made by Chinese educators to intro-

1 Pyle, W. H.: "A Study of the Mental and Physical Characteristics of the Chinese," School and Society, Vol. viii, No. 192 (August 31, 1918), pp. 264-69.

2 Walcott, G. D. "The Intelligence of Chinese Students," School and Society, xi, 1920, pp. 474-80.

duce scientific intelligence tests into China. Two psychologists educated in America, Professors H. C. Chen and S. C. Liao, 1 devised five tests. The correlation of these tests and the average grades of the regular examination was .3c). 2

Psychological tests for entrance examinations were next taken up by the Peking Government Teachers College. The correlation between the tests and the average grades of the regular examination was practically zero (.000046) . 3

At the present time, Chinese progressive educators, especially those trained in America, are eager to introduce the use of psychological tests into China. Institutions, such as Nanking and Peking Teachers Colleges, as indicated above, have already started the movement. A few private and missionary schools have also adopted some form of tests. The Stanford-Binet Scale has been translated, although it is little used. Aside from these isolated experiments, however, very little has been done. Psychological tests remain virtually unknown. Here lies a great unexplored field of endeavor for the young Chinese schoolman trained in modern scientific method. He needs to understand, however, the difficulties which the use of the numerous dialects and the large percentage of illiteracy offer to the use of any language scale. Evidently a non-verbal test may hope to succeed where the language test is totally inadequate. The development of such a non-language scale is the purpose of the present study.

C. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NON-VERBAL TESTS IN AMERICA

Psychological tests may be roughly classified into two main groups: namely, language tests and non-language tests. The former includes those tests which require verbal response from the subject. The latter group of tests does not require such verbal response. The non-language tests, again, may be subdivided into a group of performance tests which require the doing of some task by means of

1 Journal of Educational Research, Vol. in, No. 5 (May, 1921), p. 394.

2 As this goes to press, the author has received a copy of Mental Tests in China, written by Professors H. C. Chen and C. S. Liao. It contains thirty-five different tests, twenty-four of which are translated from American tests.

3 The data are found in the Peking Teachers College Weekly, No. 132 (September ii, 1921), p. 3, but the correlation was computed by the author by the product-moment method.

certain actual mechanical manipulations, and a group which require the subject to work with geometrical designs, figures or pictures, indicating the results of his thinking by making lines or pictures.

Non-language or non-verbal intelligence tests are the outgrowth of the intelligence measurement movement. Of recent development and used extensively only within the last two or three years, these non-verbal tests have shared the fame of the language tests. Among the tests devised by Alfred Binet, father of the movement for the measurement of intelligence, and published in his 1905-06 series are a number of tests which do not require verbal responses. 1 For example, in the visual coordinations test, the examiner moves a lighted match slowly before the subject's eyes and notes whether he follows the movement with the properly coordinated movements of the head and eyes. In the test known as "prehension provoked tactually," he places the small wooden cube in contact with the palm or the back of the subject's hand to determine whether he can execute properly coordinated movements of grasping. In the drawing test, he shows the subject two drawings, permits him to look at them for ten seconds, and then requires him to draw the views from memory. None of these tests expects a verbal response from the subject.

The scale devised by these French psychologists, Alfred Binet and T. Simon, was first translated and adapted for American use by Goddard. 2 Kuhlman 3 and Wallin 4 followed with further adaptations. The latest revisions of the scale are by Yerkes, Bridges, and Hardwick, 5 by Terman 6 and by Herring. 7 They all adhere

1 The other non-language tests in the Binet-Simon 1905 series are tests numbered 3, 4, 5, 10. 12, 2i, 22, 23, and 29. In the 1908 series the non-language tests are numbered 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 23, 24, 33, 54. For the complete account see A. Binet and T. Simon, "Le developpement de 1' intelligence chez les enfants," in L 'Annie Psychologigue, 14, 1908, pp. 1-94; and A. Binet and T. Simon, "L'intelligence des imbeciles," in U Annie psychologique , 1909, pp. 1— 147.

2 Goddard, H. H.: "The Binet-Simon Measuring Scale of Intelligence. Revised," Training School Bulletin, Vol. viii (1911), pp. 56-62.

3 Kuhlman, F.: "A Revision of the Binet-Simon System for Measuring the Intelligence of Children," Journal of Psycho- Asthenics, monograph supnlement, No. 1 , p. 41 .

4 Wallin, J. E.: Experimental Studies of Mental Defectives: A Critique of the Binet- Simon Tests.

1 Yerkes, R. M., Bridges, J. W. and Hardwick. P. S.: A Point Scale for Measuring Mental Ability.

F Terman, Lewis M.: The Measurement of Intelligence.

7 Herring, John P.: Significance of Certain Elements in Intelligence Examinations, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation (Columbia University).

more or less closely to the original Binet Scale, and consequently some of their tests are non-verbal in nature.

In spite of the merits of the Binet-Simon Scale and its revisions, their chief deficiency lies in the large proportion of tasks requiring language responses. This criticism of the scale was vigorously presented by Ayres in 191 1. He pointed out that the Binet tests predominantly reflect the child's ability fluently to use words, and do not reveal his ability to do acts. Thus, it gives "a warped and partial measure of his real degree of intelligence." l

The language difficulty, inherent in the Binet-Simon Scale and its various revisions, became evident when the clinical psychologists attempted to apply it in various fields of practical work. They found that the Scale was utterly inadequate for the mental examination of non-English speaking people, speech defectives, the deaf, and those with language difficulties. Hence they introduced non-language tests which do not require language responses on the part of the child for adequate performance. Among those who first used the non-language test were Healy and Fernald. 2 In carrying out mental examinations at the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute of Chicago, they had been confronted with the problem of testing a cosmopolitan population. Some of the inmates were illiterate, and some, though educated in their own tongue, were unable to speak the English language. Since they represented most of the nationalities and languages of Europe no single test requiring language directions and responses could be adequate to measure them. In discussing their work, Healy and Fernald say: "The Binet-Simon Scale helps little where the language factor is a barrier, either on account of foreign parentage or insufficient schooling, or with uneducated deaf and dumb children." 3 They became convinced that language, as far as possible, should be eliminated from the mental examinations given to such subjects. They say: "In predicting the possible development of an individual under various conditions, it is most desirable to ascertain the mental ability quite apart from the individual's experience in formal training in our language, or indeed

1 Ayres, L. P.: "The Binet-Simon Measuring Scale for Intelligence: Some Criticisms and Suggestions," Psychological Clinic, Vol. v (1911), pp. 187-96.

2 Healy, W., and Fernald, G. M.: "Tests for Practical Mental Classifications," Psychological Monographs, Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 4-5.

3 Ibid.

any language. It often becomes necessary to classify mentally a subject who has had no education in English-speaking schools, or indeed who has had but little schooling of any kind." 1

The work carried on at the Institute not only proved the inadequacy of the language tests, but demonstrated the practical value of the non-language tests. Healy and Fernald conclude as follows: "On one occasion we found ourselves able to demonstrate satisfactorily that a Gypsy boy of fifteen, quite innocent of schooling and knowledge of the three R's, had at least fair, if not good, native ability. And repeatedly a number of our tests have proved most serviceable in mentally classifying young, deaf and dumb children." 1

Knox, in 2 his work among the immigrants at Ellis Island, found it impossible (even with the services of an interpreter) to use scales in which language responses were required. Faced with this language obstacle, and under the necessity to diagnose mental disease and mental deficiency among the immigrants, Knox devised a series of non-language tests, many of which are excellent and still widely used in psychological clinics.

Pintner and Patterson 3 also found the language scale "absolutely inadequate to test the mentality of deaf children." They experimented with the Binet-Simon Scale, but were confronted with numerous difficulties, such as lack of comprehension of certain tasks due to physical deficiency which in turn had made for lack in the environment of opportunity for forms of experience needed to acquire the proper test reaction. Consequently, they constructed a scale of performance tests which requires practically no instructions for the child other than natural gestures. Pintner and Patterson consider the non-language feature of the test as a sine qua non in the measurement of mentality in the deaf. As to the importance of the non-language tests, they say: "Here we have a group of individuals, completely shut off from hearing language, and for that reason laboring under a language difficulty that only in rare cases is surmounted to the extent of making them comparable in language

x Ibid.

2 Knox, H. A.: "A Scale Based on the Work at Ellis Island for Establishing Mental Defects," Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. Lxn (March 7, 1914), pp. 74I-47-

3 Pintner, R. and Patterson, D. G.: "The Binet Scale and the Deaf Child," Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. VI (1915), pp. 202 ff.

io Non-Verbal Intelligence Tests for Use in China

ability to ordinary hearing individuals. Any kind of tests involving reading or spoken language cannot be used as a test of their mentality. If we employ such tests for measuring the mentality of the deaf and use the standardization obtained from hearing children, we will not be measuring mentality but merely difference in language ability. There may be a greater percentage of feeble-mindedness among the deaf than among the hearing but the fact that a deaf child does not measure up to the language standard of a hearing child is no indication of mental deficiency." The performance tests lately have been used not only for the deaf but also for the non-English-speaking children, speech defectives, and children from different language environments.

The development of the non-language tests was greatly advanced, and their practical value definitely recognized, as a result of the United States Army psychological examinations. 1 In 1917, when the psychologists took up the personnel work in the Army they soon discovered that many of the men were handicapped by language difficulties. In order to permit the illiterates a real opportunity to show their ability, a non-language scale was constructed. Demonstration charts and pantomime were used to convey the instructions to the examinees. These methods require no language directions or responses. This scale, known as the Army Beta Examination, consisted of seven tests, including maze, cube analysis, X-0 series, digit-symbol, number checking, pictorial completion, and geometrical construction. The scale was applied to 23,547 men. Its results correlate with the Army language examination Alpha to the amount of .80; with Stanford-Binet, .73; with the composite of Alpha, Beta, and Stanford-Binet, .91 . This high correlation demonstrates the practicability of making non-language tests and the feasibility of their use where the language tests fail utterly. The unexpected efficiency of the Army Beta Examination thus demonstrated during the war, later brought about a mushroom growth of the non-verbal test material. Thorndike, 2 champion of the measurement movement, who had charge of much of the statistical work in the development of the Army tests, was first to utilize the data and experience gained from these tests. The Thorndike Non-Verbal

1 Yoakum, C. S. and Yerkes, R. M.: Army Mental Tests.

2 Thorndike, E. L.: "A Standard Group Examination of Intelligence Independent of Language," Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 1 (March, 1919), pp. 13-32.

Examination follows the general nature of the Army Beta, but eliminates one weakness by providing ten alternative forms of the examination instead of the single form, thus reducing the error in measurement caused by unfair tutoring. Such alternative forms widen the field of usefulness of tests in many ways, permitting a study of the growth of intelligence by repeated testing, comparison of groups and individuals and increased reliability in the determination of the intelligence of groups and individuals.

Pintner, 1 who with Patterson constructed the Performance Scale, has also, since the war, devised a non-language group intelligence test. He realized that his Performance Scale, although it required no language response, was still clumsy and not convenient for application to a group. Consequently, in his later scale he devised a set of six non-language tests for group use. When compared with the results obtained from the Binet-Simon Scale the correlation was found to be .66. He recommends that such tests be used in mental survey work for school children and adults, particularly in communities containing a large foreign or illiterate element.

In addition to the non-verbal tests which have already been discussed, there are many others available. Among the more well-known scales are Myers' Mental Measure, Pressey's Primer Scale, Kingsbury's Primary Group Intelligence Tests, and Dearborn's Group Intelligence Tests. All these tests have been widely employed, with varying degrees of success, by psychologists.

The rapidity of the development of non-language tests has been phenomenal and indicates that it meets an important need. In the Binet-Simon Scale, there were only a few tests which required no language responses. Then followed the performance scales, developed by Healy, Knox, Pintner and others, in which language responses are completely eliminated. The Army Beta Examination, with its wide application among the millions of soldiers, demonstrated its practical value for intelligence measurement and for group use. Others have succeeded in advancing the non-verbal tests beyond the experimental stage. These tests are now applied to individuals and groups, both as an independent measure and as a supplement to language tests, with confidence that the results are trustworthy and fairly adequate.

1 Pintner, R.: The Menial Survey.

Chapter II - The Experiment

A. PRELIMINARY PLAN

In drafting a preliminary plan for the experiment it was first decided to devise a large number of tests and to try them out on Chinese children in America. Since the purpose of the experiment was to develop a non-verbal intelligence scale for use in China, it appeared essential that the subjects be Chinese. Ten non-verbal tests were consequently constructed and mimeographed for trials. Fifty-one persons were examined with these tests, after which the examinations were discontinued as impracticable. The reasons for the disuse of the examinations were threefold: first, the tests were constructed by the subjective method instead of by the objective or scientific method; second, the tests were mimeographed instead of being printed, causing the test material to be in many instances indistinct and difficult of recognition; third, the scarcity of Chinese subjects, and the difficulty of dealing with the few which were available. Three months' time and much labor had been expended, and naturally the results were discouraging. An important fact, however, was revealed by these examinations; namely, the children of naturalized Chinese and of Chinese long resident in this country had been affected by their American environment and training, so that they were more American than Chinese. Tests which were applicable to American-Chinese children would be quite irrelevant if applied to children in China. As a result of these findings, the mimeographed tests were abandoned and thought was turned to the formulation of a new plan.

A careful study was then made of all the available intelligence tests, especially the non-verbal forms. The new plan under consideration was to select the best elements in the American non-verbal tests and to attempt to develop them into a non-verbal scale for use in China. At the time (1920), there were available the following non-verbal and semi-non-verbal tests: 1. Army Beta Examination

3 4 5 6

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TTte Experiment 13

Dearborn Group Tests of Intelligence, Series I

Haggerty Intelligence Examination Delta 2

Holley Picture Completion Test for Primary Grades

Myers Mental Measure

National Intelligence Tests

Otis Group Intelligence Examination

Pintner's Mental Survey Tests

Trabue Mentimeters

The question arose whether all of these tests, or whether any of them, could be used in the experiment. Before coming to a decision, it was necessary to formulate definitely the principles to be embodied in the proposed scale for use in China. After considerable study, the following principles were adopted as criteria:

1. Tests should involve no language responses from the subjects.

2. Test materials should be drawn from social environment common to all peoples.

3. Test material should exclude, as much as possible, school training.

4. Test material should be of interest to all types of subjects.

5. Tests should be valid as a measure of intelligence.

6. Tests should be reliable.

7. Objective methods should be employed in both giving and scoring of tests.

8. Tests should measure a wide range of intelligence.

9. Tests should indicate mental growth.

10. Tests should be adapted for group use.

11. Time for testing and scoring should be reasonably short.

12. Instructions for testing and scoring should be simplified for use by teachers and others who are not specialists in measurements.

13. Tests should have alternative forms as a preventive against the vicious effect of coaching.

14. Test material should be inexpensive, easy to handle, of small bulk, and easily kept in order.

1. Tests should involve no language responses from the subject.

General intelligence signifies a group of related inborn capacities for adapting one's self to specific situations in life. Inborn capacities, however, are never measured directly but are always inferred from the ability displayed. Language use is one of these abilities which ordinarily is a good index to intelligence, but it has its limitations. It cannot be employed, for instance, as a medium to measure intelligence when the language varies among the subjects under examination sufficiently to make understanding or executing the tasks difficult, slow, or impossible. Such a condition exists in China. The languages spoken in various sections differing widely, people from Peking do not understand the dialect of Canton, and the Shanghai dialect is different from that of Hankow. This diversity of dialects is not only characteristic of the provinces but exists in local districts of the same province. The written language, it is true, is identical throughout China, but comparatively few can read , 90 per cent of the Chinese people being illiterate. Under these conditions, a non-verbal test for use in China would have great superiority over any existing language test.

2 . Test material should be drawn from social environment common to all peoples.

It is a well-known fact that social environment affects the development of intelligence. Edison, born and raised in the wilds of Thibet, would doubtless never have developed into the particular kind of a mechanical genius he now is. To measure a Thibet-born Edison by the standards used in examining an American-born Edison, would manifestly be inaccurate and unfair. The uncivilized Miaotze boy in Yunnan could not be expected to answer questions on automobiles or airplanes; and the New York boy, raised in the Bronx, could not be expected to answer intelligently questions on rice growing. There should be common grounds; the test material should be drawn from an experience common to all. Tests should measure capacity, and this can be accomplished by measuring only those traits possible of development by all subjects. Tests, based on such a principle, could be employed over all of China.

3. Test material should exclude, as far as possible, school training. As ninety per cent of the Chinese people are illiterate, test

material which requires school training must prove inadequate. Culture and school training are both acquired, not innate. They vary in different persons according to the environment to which they have been subjected. The boy ignorant of mathematics could not be expected to solve problems in algebra as well as the son of an instructor in mathematics. In order to compare the native ability of children, therefore, the products of school training should be excluded from the test material.

4. Test material should be of interest to all types of subjects.

Interest in the tests is essential to proper reaction; therefore, a good test should arouse interest in the subjects of widely differing mentality and type of intellect. Unless this is accomplished, the results of the test will not indicate the actual intelligence. Errors have been made in drawing conclusions as to the intelligence of the individuals in a group, when these individuals have had interests different from those called out by the test. For instance, a mechanical test given to a co-educational class usually results in a higher score for the boys than for the girls. The scores in this case do not prove that the boys are more intelligent than the girls; they probably indicate rather the difference in degree of interest in the subject between the boys and girls. It is, therefore, evident that the tests to be adequate must be of common interest to the entire group.

5. Tests should be valid as a measure of intelligence.