34
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY
Because of the nature of the eye test, only individual
correspondences could be shown. Some of these will be
mentioned later. It was plainly evident, however, that
an inspector needed two very good eyes in order to succeed
at this work.
From the above figures, it can be seen that three tests
show a correlation which is really significant. Two of
these show a correlation of over .60 which is very good,
and one shows a correlation of .56 which is also quite good.
The significance of these correlations will be more ap
parent if we compare them with those brought out by
another section of this experiment. Besides giving the
tests to girls engaged in visual inspection, the same tests
were given to twenty-one girls engaged in gauging the
head-thickness of shells. This work does not require the
use of the eyes. The operator simply picks up a handful
of shells and, with or without looking, tries the head of
each shell on a gauge. The gauge is a piece of steel with
two notches or openings. The shells which are too small
pass through the first opening and fall into a box of re
jects below. Those that do not pass through are tried on
the second opening and, if they pass through, they are of
the right size. If they fail to pass through, they are too
large and are thrown aside. The operator sits in front of
her gauge which is rigidly fixed, and tries each shell at
one opening and then at another, just as rapidly as she
can move her hands up and down. It will readily be seen
that this work requires qualities quite different from those
required by the girls engaged in the work of inspecting.
This difference was admirably brought out by the tests.
The tests showed, in this instance, an entirely different
set of correlations. The correlations found in both in
stances are given below.