A FIRST EXPERIMENT 
27 
tests into operation, both on the part of the girls to be 
tested and because of the confusion that might be in 
troduced into the running of the shop. It was feared that 
the girls might resent the experiment as an infringement 
upon their personal liberties. However, through perfect 
frankness in explaining to the girls the exact purpose of 
the tests, and through the help of the foreman and in 
structors in removing the air of mystery and suspicion 
which naturally would surround such an experiment, and 
through the use of a “matter-of-fact” procedure which 
took each girl’s acquiescence for granted, but still refrained 
from the slightest indication of compulsion, it was possible 
to carry out the entire series of tests without a single un 
pleasant occurrence. At the outset, an instructor took 
the girl to be tested from her work and brought her into 
the room and remained there while the tests were being 
given; but after a short time, even this precaution was 
unnecessary. The experimenter became a fixture in the 
shop and could, without the least embarrassment to the 
girl, bring her into the experimental room for the tests. 
Thus, a great deal of time and trouble was spared to the 
foreman and his assistants. 
The eight tests chosen for the body of the experiment 
were as follows: 
1. A simple eyesight test with the use of the Lowell 
chart. 
2. A card sorting test. The subject was given a pack 
of 49 cards, upon the face of each one of which from 7 to 12 
letters were distributed promiscuously. Twenty of the 
cards contained the letter “O” and the rest did not. The 
subject was asked to sort these cards into two piles, those 
which had “O” on them and those which did not. The 
time required for this performance was taken and the