VIII

STENOGRAPHERS,  TYPISTS,  AND  COMPTOM-ETRISTS

The  work  of  typists,  dictaphone  clerks,  stenographers,
and  computing-machine  operators,  is  clerical  work  which
is  specialized  by  the  use  of  a  standard  machine.  In  applying ­
  tests  to  this  kind  of  work,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to
take  into  consideration  two  additional  factors:  first,  the
skill  already  acquired  by  the  worker  at  a  certain  machine;
and  secondly,  the  aptitude  which  the  worker  possesses
for  learning  and  improvement  in  the  use  of  the  machine.
A  typist,  for  instance,  must  usually  possess,  at  the  outset,
a  certain  degree  of  clerical  ability.  However,  this  is  only
the  foundation  of  her  work.  She  must  also  be  trained  in
the  use  of  the  typewriter,  and  she  should  have,  in  addition,
that  aptitude  or  innate  ability  which  will  make  her,  in
time,  a  fast  and  accurate  typist.  The  same  holds  true  of
other  office-machine  operators,  except  that  the  stenographer ­
  must  also  have  ability  in  taking  dictation  and  in
reading  her  notes.
In  order  to  find  tests  which  could  meet  these  conditions,
an  extensive  series  of  experiments  was  conducted  in  which
relevant  tests  were  given  to  two  senior  classes  of  over
three  hundred  girls  and  boys  in  a  commercial  high  school,
to  seventy-six  pupils  of  two  business  schools,  to  a  group
of  twenty-two  office  typists,  to  another  group  of  nineteen
stenographers,  to  over  four  hundred  candidates  for  positions ­
  as  typists  and  stenographers,  to  three  groups  of  over
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