I EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
speed up? Such questionings must be put to rest by a brief 
but clear explanation of the reason for the testing. Some 
investigators have adopted the additional precaution of an- 
nouncing that each man’s score will remain confidential — 
told by the examiner to no one but the man himself unless 
he asks to have it made known to the foreman or others. 
Such a policy must, of course, not be announced unless the 
investigator and the management are able and willing to 
live up to it scrupulously. Whatever the details of the ar- 
rangements, they must be such as to deserve and to secure 
the confidence and hearty cooperation of the workers being 
examined. 
The examiner should be assured, but not abrupt, pre- 
sumptuous, or tactless. A single error of strict straightfor- 
wardness or of tact may cost an examiner the cooperation of 
a whole group of workers. A young examiner discovered 
that an employee’s slowness in learning a new task was due 
to color-blindness which the supervisor had not suspected. 
This discovery was a kindness to all concerned; but both 
the worker and his fellow-employees took umbrage at the 
examiner’s manner, the zest with which he had all uncon- 
sciously humiliated the learner, or in other words, “showed 
him up.” Needless irritations of this sort may upset morale 
in a production department, as well as interfere with the 
smooth progress of the investigation. They are readily 
avoided by a wise examiner who takes the worker’s point 
of view, and governs himself accordingly. 
The purpose of the investigation should be told to the 
men, usually by the investigator. Sometimes the executive 
or foreman in immediate charge of the workers is more than 
skeptical—he is antagonistic to the whole notion of objec- 
tive tests. The investigator, under these circumstances, has 
to use skill in presentation, for otherwise he may cause 
antagonism among the men toward the tests. If the execu- 
tive in charge is favorably disposed, it is well for him to 
explain briefly to his men the purpose of the investigation. 
g6