THE TECHNIQUE OF GIVING TESTS 157
After the preliminary test has been given, the regular
tests should follow continuously, and the results be recorded.
Here again, unless the utmost care is exercised,
difficulties are likely to arise. Take, as an example, the
matter of starting tests. Before beginning a test, it is
necessary to give some kind of starting signal. The word
go is a very simple and commonly understood word, and
suggests itself readily for this purpose. Nevertheless,
this little word is full of danger, as a momentary consideration
will make clear. The examiner may finish his directions
to the subject for a given test with the following
■Words: “Now, at the word go, turn over the sheet and do
Just what you have been told. Do it as carefully and as
Quickly as possible, but do not rush. Ready? Go!”
Whereupon the subject will rush through the test with the
speed and nervousness of a sprinter who has been set off
by a pistol. The words ready and go, harmless as they
seem, are associated with all the tenseness and excitement
°f a race, and consequently tend to induce, by suggestion,
the same state of tenseness and excitement in the mind of
the person being tested. Even if the examiner does not
utter them in the sharp tones of one starting a race, the
effect is likely to be the same. Instead of preserving the
calmness which has just been induced in the subject,
they induce another state of nervousness, possibly more
acute than the preceding one. There are times when it
ls desirable to promote such a state of mind and to obtain
a result which is based upon frantic effort. However, for
the purposes of employment, it is much more desirable
to obtain a characteristic result, one which conforms more
Uearly to the applicant’s ordinary state of mind and speed
°f motion.
Therefore, the examiner should be careful to avoid
