i8

EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

ical  tests  is  quite  in  accord  with  the  dictates  of  common
sense  and  good  practice.  However,  while  similar  in  principle, ­
  psychological  tests  differ  from  the  general  tests
just  mentioned  in  being  far  more  refined  and  accurate.
They  are  developed  by  a  method  based  on  very  careful
experiments  and  the  use  of  accurate  statistical  formulas.
The  details  of  this  method  as  applied  to  employment  are
explained  in  subsequent  chapters.
This  method  is  gradually  making  it  possible  to  obtain
standard  measures  of  the  mental  qualities,  measures
which  are  infinitely  more  accurate  than  those  used  in  the
past.  By  means  of  these  measures  or  tests,  it  is  becoming
possible  to  set  up  standard  specifications  for  the  kinds
of  applicants  who  are  desired  for  a  given  position,  and  to
fill  these  specifications  exactly  as  the  tool  maker  would
fill  the  specifications  for  a  tool  which  he  is  to  make.  Not
only  will  it  be  possible  to  apply  these  standards  in  the
particular  office  or  location  where  they  have  been  originated, ­
  but  it  will  be  possible  to  apply  them  in  all  places.
The  psychological  tests  devised  for  use  in  the  army,  for
instance,  were  distributed  throughout  every  camp  in  the
country,  and  as  a  result,  the  classification  of  all  privates,
commissioned  and  non-commissioned  officers,  was  based
largely  upon  standard  measures.
The  distinguishing  feature  of  employment  psychology,
that  which  differentiates  it  from  applied  psychology  in
general,  is  its  field  of  activity.  Heretofore  mental  tests
have  been  devised  largely  in  the  university  laboratory
and  have  been  tried  out  for  the  most  part  on  students  and
pupils  in  educational  institutions.  Employment  psychology, ­
  however,  works  directly  in  the  field  of  employment,
not  employment  as  represented  merely  by  the  activities
of  the  employment  office,  but  employment  in  the  sense