2 6 
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
eyes or letting up of the attention is likely to allow some 
bad shells to slip by or to lengthen the operation. 
This analysis having been made, the next step was 
to find tests which would be likely to detect the presence 
of these qualities. Sixteen different tests were chosen 
and prepared for preliminary trials. It is not possible 
or necessary to go into detail on all these tests at this 
point. However, each test was tried out on a large enough 
number of girls to give a good indication as to whether 
it was likely to prove significant. A good deal of time 
was required for this part of the experiment, but eventu 
ally a set of eight tests was selected for the body of the 
experiment. These eight tests will be described later; but 
before describing them, one or two preliminary prob 
lems will be of interest. 
An important question to be settled was the question 
as to just how these tests should be given. The rooms in 
which the girls were at work were very noisy, due to con 
stantly running machines and the handling of thousands 
of brass shells. Should the girls be tested in this noisy 
atmosphere or should they be taken off to some quiet 
place, free from any possible disturbance? In the end it 
was decided to give the tests in the workroom, on the 
supposition that if the subjects were left in their regular 
environment, they would be more likely to show character 
istic results in their performance in the tests. A girl 
suddenly taken out of a noisy shop to which she had be 
come accustomed and into a soundless room might feel 
just as strange as a girl taken from a quiet place into a 
very noisy one. A small room was screened off on one 
side, and this served as a place in which the tests could be 
given with comparative freedom from intrusion. 
Some difficulty had been anticipated in putting the