THE SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS 197
room. To be sure it took her two months to succeed
whereas the ordinary girl requires only two weeks. How
ever, her ambition and her other excellent moral qualities
Were such as to enable her in time to overcome the initial
handicap with which she began.
This raises the second important point in respect to
which psychological tests are at present inadequate;
Namely, the discovery of the moral and emotional qualities
°f an individual. In the example cited, the presence of
certain moral forces discounted a certain lack of natural
ability. Now, such qualities as ambition, reliability, en
thusiasm, punctuality, honesty, cheerfulness, determina
tion, loyalty, forcefulness, excitability, tact, deliberateness
a nd an infinite number of similar traits are generally
classified as moral and emotional qualities. However,
a lthough the existence and concrete character of these
Qualities is generally conceded, their exact psychological
Mature is very little understood. The common-sense point
°f view and the psychological method are equally at a loss
w hen it comes to defining and measuring these qualities.
Some attempts have been made to devise tests by which to
Pleasure them. One, for example, is based on a series of
ethical questions. The subject is given a number of
printed cards, each one proposing an action which is
generally considered wrong or immoral. Following are
s °me sample acts:
Stealing a loaf of bread when hungry.
Neglecting to pay one’s carfare.
Walking off with somebody else’s umbrella.
Telling a lie about one’s income.
Passing on a slanderous story.
Breaking a speed law.
Taking illegal rebates.