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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

or  success  which  enter  into  the  coming  and  going  of  workers. ­
  Any  comprehensive  labor-turnover  report  contains
as  reasons  for  employees  leaving  items  such  as  the  following: ­
  illness,  moving  away,  needed  at  home,  marriage,
not  enough  pay,  dissatisfaction,  cannot  stand  the  strain,
too  far  to  come,  better  job  elsewhere,  and  so  on  indefinitely.
These  and  similar  factors  are  beyond  the  control  or  domain ­
  of  the  employment  psychologist.  If  an  applicant
who  was  successful  in  the  tests  leaves  his  work  for  one  or
the  above  reasons,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  tests  were
at  fault.  On  the  other  hand,  if  individuals  who  failed  in
the  tests  for  a  certain  kind  of  work  become  successful
workers  nevertheless,  it  is  an  indication  of  at  least  three
possibilities:  First,  the  standard  in  the  tests  may  be  too
high;  secondly,  the  tests  may  be  useless;  thirdly,  the  individuals ­
  in  question  may  possess  other  qualities  which
compensate  for  their  inability  in  the  tests,  for  instance,
unusual  ambition  or  a  dire  need  for  money.  One  of  the
most  conspicuous  examples  of  the  third  possibility  arose
in  the  course  of  an  experiment  carried  on  with  inspectors.
The  experimenter  was  asked  by  the  foreman  to  test  a
certain  girl  who  had  caused  him  considerable  perplexity-This
  girl,  the  foreman  stated,  was  an  excellent  worker  in
every  way  except  ability  to  turn  out  a  sufficient  quantity
of  work.  She  was  industrious,  accurate,  cheerful,  and
steady,  but  not  productive.  During  the  course  of  the
psychological  examination  this  inspector  did  very  well
in  every  test  until  she  came  to  the  last  and  most  significant.
In  this  test,  her  performance  was  far  below  the  required
standard,  so  far,  in  fact,  that  she  would  not  have  been
hired  for  inspection  work  if  she  had  applied  after  these
tests  were  established.  Nevertheless,  this  girl  finally
succeeded  and  became  one  of  the  best  inspectors  in  the