4 8

EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

interest.  It  would  have  been  practically  impossible,  without ­
  a  much  larger  clerical  force  than  was  available  at  the
time,  to  follow  up  closely  the  results  of  each  individual
selection.  Instead,  therefore,  of  attempting  a  superficial
survey  of  all  those  selected,  it  was  decided  to  make  an  intensive ­
  study  of  all  selections  made  for  one  shop.  One  of
the  largest  and  most  carefully  managed  shops  was  chosen
for  this  purpose.  A  careful  record  of  the  production  of
each  girl  examined  and  hired  for  this  shop  was  started,
in  order  that  her  record  in  the  tests  might  later  be  compared ­
  with  her  actual  work  as  an  inspector.  However,
when  these  tests  were  first  given,  there  was  a  sudden  and
imperative  demand  for  workers,  and  consequently,  applicants ­
  were  accepted  whether  they  passed  the  tests  or  not.
This  provided  an  exceptional  opportunity  for  discovering
the  value  of  the  tests  and  of  comparing  the  results  of  the
old  method  with  that  of  the  new.  For  it  now  became
possible  to  discover  to  what  extent  the  girls  who  passed
the  examination  were  better  than  those  who  did  not.
Subsequently  the  recommendations  made  on  the  basis
of  the  tests  were  observed,  and  only  those  who  met  the
standard  requirements  were  hired.
Before  a  sufficiently  extensive  record  of  production  was
at  hand,  a  question  arose  as  to  whether  the  results  of  the
tests  justified  their  use.  This  question  arose  because  the
exigencies  of  the  war  made  a  vast  number  of  new  workers
necessary,  and  because  this  need  was  being  aggravated
by  the  fact  that  an  appreciable  number  of  applicants  were
being  rejected  because  of  too  low  a  rating  in  the  psychological ­
  examination.  A  large  proportion  of  those  rejected
in  this  way  were  assigned  to  other  work;  but  there  was  still
a  considerable  number  who  refused  to  accept  any  other
kind  of  work,  and  who  were  therefore  regarded  as  a  dead