J 52

EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

This  test  was  given  first  to  thirty  machine  operators  in  a
large  shop.  It  was  found  that  some  of  the  best  operators
were  poorest  in  this  test  and  vice  versa.  In  other  words,
literacy  was  not  essential  to  operating  ability.  It  was
obvious,  therefore,  that  if  this  test  were  used  as  a  basis  for
selection,  some  extremely  good  operators  would  be  eliminated. ­
  For  this  reason,  it  was  decided  to  give  the  tests
in  the  employment  office  in  an  experimental  rather  than
in  a  final  way,  pending  the  further  determination  of  the
practical  results.
Over  one  hundred  applicants  were  given  this  test  and
hired  regardless  of  their  work  in  it.  At  the  same  time,
however,  the  spatial  perceptions  form-board  test  described
in  Chapter  IV  was  also  given.  The  value  of  this  test  was
immediately  apparent,  both  because  of  the  ease  with
which  it  could  be  given  and  the  qualities  which  it  tested.
Any  individual,  of  any  tongue,  could  understand  quickly
the  essential  problem;  namely,  putting  the  pieces  back
into  their  proper  place.  And  in  doing  this,  a  certain  kind
and  degree  of  intelligence  were  also  involved.
From  the  outset,  it  was  evident  that  there  was  no  agreement ­
  between  literacy  and  ability  in  the  form-board  test.
Each  of  the  two  tests  involved  a  different  kind  of  ability.
In  the  next  place,  a  follow-up,  initiated  to  find  out  what
would  have  been  the  results  if  the  literacy  test  had  been
used  as  a  basis  of  selection,  showed  once  more  that  there
was  no  consistent  agreement  between  literacy  and  ability
as  a  machine  operator.  In  fact,  if  this  test  had  been  used
as  a  criterion,  fully  forty  per  cent  of  those  who  later  became ­
  good  operators  would  have  been  eliminated.  This,
at  a  time  when  labor  was  very  difficult  to  obtain,  would
have  been  quite  disastrous.  On  the  other  hand,  the  formboard
  test  showed  a  positive  correlation  with  the  subse ­