no 
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
which call for fundamental abilities not included in this 
analysis. The same criticism applies to the tests given 
here to detect fundamental faculties. They are not final 
or perfect, and they must therefore be applied to work of 
other kinds with discretion. In each case, the work must 
be carefully studied, and tests tried out in a preliminary 
fashion to discover their adequacy. Particularly is this 
true of the standards which are to be used as a basis of 
employment. The work of one employer may make it 
necessary for him to have a much higher type of stenog 
rapher, let us say, than the work of another. These 
standards can be determined only by means of actual 
experiments conducted on the field. To be sure, the de 
velopment and standardization of tests elsewhere will 
make each new application increasingly simple, and the 
trained psychologist will have to expend less and less 
effort in preliminary experiments as the technique and 
material of his science grow. 
In the second place, it is necessary to determine, in 
every case, the relative importance of the abilities in 
volved. For instance, ability in spelling may be very 
important for a stenographer and somewhat less important 
for a typist. Arithmetical ability may be very important 
for a statistical clerk and also important, though less so, 
for a record clerk. When a group of tests is given to an 
individual, there must be some means by which the results 
are combined in such a way as to give every test its pro 
portionate value. How are these proportions to be de 
termined for different kinds of work? This is a problem 
which can be settled only by an immediate study of the 
work itself. The investigator must determine in each case 
what is the relative importance of various faculties in the 
accomplishment of a particular task, whether, for in