5 8 
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
Heretofore tests had first been tried in the shops where a 
comparison with the actual production of those to whom 
they were given made it possible to get an immediate 
index of their value. In this case it was impossible to 
do this, because, as has already been stated, the force 
intended to do this work had not yet been built up. 
Therefore, tests having been chosen as well as possible 
under the circumstances, they were given immediately 
to new girls as they came into the employment office in 
search of work. 
The girls chosen on the basis of these tests were carefully 
watched, and after a period of from one to two months 
from the time at which they had been chosen, an attempt 
was made to compare their performance in the tests with 
their ability as assemblers. However, because each girl 
was assembling slightly different parts it was impossible 
to rank their ability on the basis of production records. 
Consequently, the opinions of the foreman and section 
head were sought. It may be said here that personal 
opinions of this kind are a very poor substitute under any 
circumstances for the impersonal testimony expressed by 
cold production figures. However, the girls concerned 
had been watched with particular care, since this was 
also an experiment on the part of the shop in introducing 
women for this kind of work. The rankings of the fore 
man and section boss were obtained independently of 
each other and agreed in every case but one. The records 
of the girls in the tests were then compared with these 
rankings, and a remarkable agreement was found. 
Eighteen girls had been tested. Of this number twelve 
had been hired for assembling work. Ten of the twelve 
were still there. The two who had left were girls who had 
done poor work in the tests. Those girls who had done