THE  SCOPE  OF  PSYCHOLOGICAL  TESTS  189
less  comprehensive  in  the  sense  that  it  includes  some  of
the  most  common  and  representative  types.  It  also  indicates ­
  the  broad  range  over  which  psychological  tests
can  be  applied  if  the  psychological  method  is  carefully
observed.  Other  types  of  work  have  already  been  successfully ­
  dealt  with  by  other  psychologists,  and  as  time  goes
on,  this  range  will  undoubtedly'increase  very  greatly.
The  question  which  is  probably  of  most  interest  to
industrial  leaders  and  to  organization  heads  is  the  choice
of  men  for  higher  positions,  executives,  planners,  organizers—the ­
  so-called  big  men.  Can  tests  be  applied  which
will  make  it  possible  to  discover  men  of  large  caliber  and
large  capabilities;  men  who  have  the  ability  to  plan  and
execute  great  projects;  men  who  stand  head  and  shoulders
above  their  fellow  men?  Can  tests  make  it  possible  to
select  the  exceptional  man,  the  genius?  This  question
must  frankly  be  answered  in  the  negative.  The  psychological ­
  method  is  at  the  present  stage  of  its  development
unable  to  select  men  who  possess  the  exceptional  qualities
required  by  the  exceptional  position.
The  reasons  for  this  limitation  have  already  been  furnished ­
  in  the  description  of  the  psychological  method  contained ­
  in  the  preceding  chapters.  In  the  first  place,
psychology,  like  every  other  science,  must  proceed  from
the  simple  to  the  complex.  The  psychologist  must  first
seek  to  apply  tests  to  the  more  ordinary  kinds  of  work,
Work  which  he  can  analyze  and  understand.  The  experiments ­
  described  here  deal,  for  the  most  part,  with  work
°f  such  a  nature.  Although  it  is  conceivable  that  the
psychological  method  be  applied  to  types  of  work  which
the  psychologist  does  not  understand,  still,  such  a  procedure ­
  will  be,  at  the  best,  haphazard  and  unreliable.  An
tntelligent  application  of  tests  requires,  on  the  part  of  the