THE  VOCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  TESTS  177
and  practice  in  stenographic  work,  and  in  order  to  discover
this,  the  dictation  and  transcribing  tests  are  given.  If
these  tests  show  that  the  candidate  possesses  the  requisite
education  or  acquired  ability,  it  may  be  advisable  to
engage  her.  However,  in  order  to  know  still  more  accurately ­
  her  real  value,  it  is  desirable  to  give  her  tests
calculated  to  gauge  her  innate  or  natural  ability.  The
number-letter  substitution  test  and  the  alphabetical-filing
test  are  generally  given  for  this  purpose  and  are  tests
of  speed  and  accuracy  of  a  kind  usually  involved  in  stenographic ­
  work.  The  topical  filing  and  hard-directions
tests  are  tests  to  measure  the  individual’s  reasoning  or
analytical  ability.  If  the  candidate  does  well  in  all  of  the
tests,  she  is  quite  valuable,  for  being  well  trained  and
possessing  natural  ability,  she  is  likely  to  develop  into  a
v ery  capable  worker.
Now,  let  us  suppose  that  the  candidate  shows  by  her
performance  in  the  tests  for  acquired  ability  that  she  has
had  a  very  poor  training  in  dictation  and  transcribing.
Shall  she  be  engaged  or  not?  If,  in  addition  to  her  poor
training  in  these  respects,  she  also  shows  lack  of  education
ln  spelling,  grammar,  and  the  fundamentals  of  the  common-school ­
  education,  it  would  probably  be  unwise  to
e ngage  her  for  stenographic  work.  And,  if  in  addition  to
her  poor  education,  she  displays  a  lack  of  innate  ability  by
her  performance  in  the  group  of  tests  given  for  this  purpose, ­
  the  decision  would  be  quite  obvious.  On  the  other
hand,  if  the  applicant  has  natural  ability,  a  good  commons
 ehool  education,  and  is  lacking  only  in  ability  to  take
fetation  and  transcribe,  it  is  very  advisable  to  engage  her
for  a  trial,  or  for  special  training  in  the  fields  in  which  she
Is  Weak.  Her  inability  in  dictation  and  transcribing  may
ho  due  to  poor  training  or  to  poor  opportunities,  and  may