6o
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY
This girl had been laid off some time before.
Two girls who did poor work in the tests were hired with
the particular purpose of finding a negative proof of the
value of the tests. The section head, who knew that the
tests were being given, one day met the young woman who
had given them and said:
“I thought that you gave the tests to Miss ?”
“I did,” was the reply.
“Well, she’s no good. She’ll never make an assembler.”
“I didn’t expect her to,” was the answer. This girl
was one of the two who had done poor work in the tests.
The other one has already been referred to.
The number of instances mentioned above is hardly
sufficient to establish with scientific certainty the value
of these tests. However, the practical success with which
they were used insured the desirability of their further
use. The foreman in charge of the assembling shops
had been extremely interested in the development and
application of the tests, and was moved to write the fol
lowing letter expressing his opinion of the psychological
examination:
“The tests which you have been giving applicants for assem
bling have proven beneficial and I would like to see you not
only continue them, but extend them to the men applicants.
“We have had only two failures so far out of twelve new
girls, and the tests given these girls showed that they were slew
to begin with.
“One of the difficulties in training piece-workers is the fact
that they must first be given from two to four weeks’ training.
During this time, the aim is to train a man in thoroughness,
and he is therefore compelled to work slowly and carefully.
Consequently, it is impossible during this time to tell whether
the man will be fast or not.