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 apply 
ing 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 stenog 
rapher 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 posi 
tions as typists and stenographers, to three groups of over 
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