THE CONTINUATION GIRL. By Elmira
Lodor, M.A., Kensington High School, Philadelphia. With the enactment of the law stipulating that minors between the ages of fourteen and sixteen who are employed must attend school for the equivalent of not less than eight hours each week, there was introduced into the school population of Philadelphia a group of students who have brought with them, in addition to those problems arising directly from the fact that their unit of school work is not five days but only one, questions of adjustment much difficult of solution. These so-called "continuation" pupils to differ from the other students not only in their attitude appear toward school life in general, but also in their approach to any more
school work.
Since this differentiation is
reported by the charge pupils, obligation of the school to investigate whether or not these reported differences are fundamental in character or whether they grow out of hastily drawn generalizations, resulting from the superficial observations of the teacher who, accustomed to the more easily aroused responses of the full-time pupil, views somewhat askance the relatively unresponsive If the attitude of this newcomer into the school community. result of such an investigation points to the presence of differences in those competencies, the existence of which is postulated in the successful performance of school work, and not to differences in efficiencies growing out of unlike training, then the question of school adjustment resolves itself into an inquiry as to what should be the special opportunities offered to these children, whereby the eight hours a week may come to mean the fullest equipment toward These problems confronting all of the an efficient citizenship. Philadelphia high schools were especially pressing in the Kensington High School for Girls because of its location among the mills and factories of a large textile district. The neighborhood offers peculiarly easy access to industry, to the boys and girls of the community; hence there is a relatively large loss from full school work when the
specific
teachers in
of these
it becomes the
age of fourteen is reached. Because of these facts a preliminary survey of the first year pupils in both the regular full-time classes and in the continuation classes was carried on in the Kensington High School during 1918, in an attempt to find some answer to the questions arising from the (202)
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
203
As a result of this study a extended survey of the freshman girls in the two groups is in While it is impossible to present process during the present year. as yet all of the data gathered, nevertheless some of the findings presence of the continuation student.
more
seem to
be
sufficiently suggestive
to warrant their immediate state-
ment, in the hope that they may
vestigations tending
toward
a
better
provocative of other inunderstanding of the particular
prove
needs of these students. Any attempt to evaluate the competencies and efficiencies of a group of school children must include not merely an analysis of the individuals as members of the school community, but must consider also the social environment outside of the schoolroom.
Obviously question to present itself in an analytic study of the continuation girl is, therefore, that of the social stratification of the district involved. Are these continuation pupils to be explained in terms of inherent incapacity for school work as that work is generally presented, or are they workers because of economic necessity alone? Although in the study of the students in the Kensington High School it was impossible to visit all of the homes of all of the girls, a general knowledge of the social and economic condition of the neighborhood was available. This was supplemented by information obtained in part from a questionnaire sent to the home of each student and in part from personal interviews with the students. From these sources the following conclusions were drawn. The community in which the school is located is a homogeneous The girls in both the full-time one from the social point of view. and in the continuation classes are the daughters of shop keepers, tradesmen, artisans, mill operatives, etc. There are few of either the laboring or of the professional classes represented. This similarity
the first
in standards is also reflected in the fact that of the older brothers girls in both groups a very small number completed the eighth grade of the elementary schools, and less than one-half
and sisters of the
had attended high school classes. There is a difference in the size of the families of the two groups. This may be a contributing cause to a difference in economic presThe sure which may have forced the one group into industry. in students children the of families of the full-time number average is found to be three, whereas the average number of children in the
of
one per cent
families of the continuation girls is four. Racially there is little heterogeneity in the families studied. There are neither Negroes nor Mongolians in the group. The percentage of Jewish girls also is small. These facts are of significance, since they seem to indicate that any differences between the regular
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
204
full-time students and the continuation pupils are not to be accounted for by marked differences in environment or heredity in so that may be determined by a knowledge of race and economic The conclusion in regard to the similarity in environment is supported by the results of an examination of the records relating Of 197 to the place of birth of the students and of their parents.
far
as
status.
regular pupils, 97 per cent are native born, 80 per cent having been born in Philadelphia; and of 125 continuation pupils, 94 per cent The are native born, 86 per cent have been born in Philadelphia. records of the birthplace of the parents of these girls show that 67 per cent of the fathers and 68 per cent of the mothers of the regular students are native born, while 56 per cent of the fathers and 53 per cent of the mothers of the continuation girls are native born. There is a slightly larger number of foreign-born parents among the continuation group, but it must not be forgotten that very few of these families have lived a shorter time in the United States than fifteen or sixteen years. Furthermore, as the records show, 86 per cent of the families of the continuation girls have been in Philadelphia the entire life time of the
girls examined. of the girls in both groups have lived in many their lives all of suggests that any differences to Philadelphia during be found are probably not due to differences in elementary school
during
The fact that
training.
so
According
to the
law,
all of the
girls
must
complete
the
first six years of the elementary school before they are permitted to become continuation pupils. A very small number of the continuation girls examined?less than ten out of the whole number?had dropped out of the regular classes in the seventh grade. About
ninety per cent of these girls had completed at least the first half of the eighth grade before going to work. Since this is true, the preliminary training of the two groups of girls when they entered the ninth grade, i. e., the first year of high school, was not sufficiently dissimilar to carry any weight in the interpretation of results. There is a difference between the two groups so far as age disThe regular group includes a few thirteentribution is concerned. a still smaller number of girls sixteen years of age and year-old girls in addition to the
number of fourteen- and fifteen-year-old of girls. Since the law Pennsylvania permits continuation work between the fourteenth and sixteenth birthdays only, there are no girls in this group except those of fourteen and fifteen years. If differences are found in the performance levels of the two groups,
large
perhaps be accounted for by If, however, and this seems persist when a comparison of the same
they may tribution.
this difference in age distrue, the differences
to be
age groups is
made, then,
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
205
age is not the basic factor in producing the dissimilarities of the two groups. Since there seems to be little or no indication of social or economic differentiation nor wide variations in preliminary training
obviously, chronological
by means of which any pronounced differences in school performance might be explained, the next point of attack on the problem of the dissimilarity of the two groups was made by means of tests, some of which were given individually, some as group tests. The following tests were selected, not with any thought that they form an infallible index of the mental status of the performers, but merely in the hope that they are sufficiently diversified to furnish some clue to a possible analysis of differentiation of competencies. I.
The Witmer Formboard Test.
given individually in a room in which no one was the student and the examiner. The method employed present except was that described by Young.1 The time for the completion of each of the three trials was noted and the degree of general planfulness displayed was scored. The median time score of the regular students on the first trial was 20 seconds, on the second trial, 16 seconds and on the third trial 12 seconds; while the median scores of the conThis test
was
tinuation students for the three trials were 22 seconds, 18 seconds and 15 seconds. A rating for the planfulness displayed in the performance was given on a three-point scale, viz., good, fair and poor. Of the regular students, 55 per cent received the rating of good, 15 per cent fair, 30 per cent poor, while the records of the continuation students show 50 per cent with per cent poor. A priori there
rating of good, 5 per cent fair, 45 might have been the thought that a
the best performance of the formboard test would be found continuation girls. That this is not true is shown by the the among results, although these results do not indicate any decided difference between the two groups. Because of the relatively simple character
probably
of this test it is not II.
being
used in the present survey.
The Witmer Cylinders Test.
This test was also an individual
performance. The method that standardized by Paschall. The test was rated according to the number of seconds necessary for the placing of the cylinders. The median score of the regular students on the first trial was 73 used
was
the second trial 55 seconds and on the third trial 45 The scores of the continuation girls for the three trials seconds. There is a slightly were 67 seconds, 49 seconds, and 45 seconds.
seconds,
i The
on
Witmer Formboard, Psychological Clinic, June, 1916.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
206
the part of the continuation girls than that shown Whether this is to be explained as the regular by result of greater competency and prompter adaptation to this particular stimulus or whether it is the outcome of a greater familiarity As the two with the handling of material is open to question.
greater speed
on
the
students.
groups reach the same level of performance on the third trial, the The results of the test latter explanation may prove to be true. its This is being carried on in the present suggested repetition. same method is being followed for the first investigation. The
regular students taking this test, none failed, but out of 56 continuation students, 2 were unable to complete the test. The median time for the performance was 71 seconds for the regular group and 72 seconds for the continuation pupils, consequently so
trial.
Out of 97
the first trial is concerned there is two groups in the second study.
far
as
III.
Memory Span
no
for
difference between the
Digits.
given individually according to the method standThe test included three parts: (a) Humpstone. by determination of the memory span as evidenced by a repetition in the order presented of the greatest number of digits possible to repeat without error; (b) the memorizing by means of successive presentations, of a group of digits of the next higher series to the (c) determination of the memory span as evidenced memory span; in the reverse order to that in which they were prea by repetiton of the greatest number of digits possible to repeat without sented, For 121 regular students (records of 1918 and of 1920) the error. average number of digits in the forward repetition was 6.42, with a while for 129 continuation students, the mean variation of .86; average number of digits was 5.96, with a mean variation of .76. The average number of trials necessary to learn the next higher series was 5.03 for the regular students and 5.63 for the continuation pupils. In the reverse order of repetition, the average number of digits correctly given by the regular students was 4.78, with a mean variation of .80, and for the continuation girls, the average number was 4.66, This test
ardized
with
was
H. J.
a mean
variation of .94. IV.
Memory Span
for
Syllables.
In 1920 the memory span for digits is being followed by a similar test in which the material presented to the student is a graded series of sentences in which each sentence contains one The average number of the preceding sentence.
sylable than syllables correctly
more
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
207
88 regular pupils was 21, with a mean variation of 2.00; and the average for 60 continuation students was 19.61, with a mean variation of 2.50. If associability and memory are indexed by these tests and if they play an important part in school performance,
repeated by
but constant inferiority both in the memory span and in the memory span for syllables on the part of the continuation group indicate that the lack of interest in school which
does this
slight
for digits
many of these
for the easy
girls frankly confess is due to an inherent incapacity performance of the usual school work? V.
Ball
and
Field Test.1
given as a group test in November, 1917, with surprisingly large number of girls failed, viz., 77 per cent out of 177 regular students and 89 per cent of 104 continuation pupils. Inquiry among the girls revealed the fact that the no meaning for the greater number of them. To carried field word determine whether or not this lack of familiarity with the meaning of the word field influenced the results, the following directions were substituted in 1918 for the original ones: This is a big empty lot. In it you have lost a little ball. You You only know that it is lost somedo not know exactly where. the Take where in the lot. pencil and mark the path you would follow in order to be sure to find the ball. Begin here (indicating the gap in the circle) and show me what path you would take. Following the same method of rating as that used in 1917, viz., scoring all attempts not superior as failures, the results of the test with the modified directions show that 39.36 per cent of the regular This test
was
the result that
a
students failed and 75.75 per cent of the continuation students. Using Terman's method of scoring gives the following results: Of the per
regular students, cent as inferior;
were
scored
as
21.21 per cent were scored as failures, 18.15 of the continuation students 54.54 per cent
failures and 21.21 per cent
as
inferior.
While the
change in the directions resulted in a general improvement in the performance of the test, there is no lessening of the difference shown by the two groups. This difference is also being displayed by the girls in 1920. There is so marked a dissimilarity between the two groups that we question whether this is an indication of a difference in imageability or a difference in comprehension of the directions. 1 Terman's
test from
the Stanford revision, placed at ageB VIII and XII.
208
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC. VI.
Hard Directions Test.
The material used in this test was Wood worth and Wells Hard It was given both in 1918 and in 1920 as a group test according to the following method. The leaflets were distributed face down to an entire class. The students were instructed to wait Directions Test.
for
a
and when this signal was given they were to turn and to follow the printed directions exactly. At a
given signal
the sheets
over
second
signal they were told to stop work, even though the test had completed. This method, of course, eliminates individual time differences, but it makes possible a scoring in regard to ability to finish the task within a specified time. The papers were scored according to the number of errors made, an error being either an In the case of the incomplete omission or an incorrect insertion. not been
unfinished papers, the blanks not filled out after the last insertion counted as errors. By this method the greatest possible number of errors is twenty-three. or
were
Hard Directions Test. Errors No.
Time
Regulars, 1918 Continuation, 1918..
5 min.
Regulars, 1920
3 min.
Continuation,
1920..
5
3
"
"
of
Cases
62
62 268 215
% Complete Mean
M. V.
90.47 72.58
2.6 4.8
1.8 3.7
68.28 55.34
4.28
3.88 3.06
6.66
With the reduction in time from five to three minutes, the regular students were able to perform the test, so far as the number of errors is concerned, as successfully as were the continuation girls in the longer period. Did the two groups differ in the length and kind of school life, these differences in the performance of the directions test might be accounted for by a difference in familiarity with printed instructions. The two groups are so similar in their school history that some other explanation must be sought to determine
why the continuation girls are unable fully as do the regular students. VII.
to
complete
the test
as success-
Vocabulary Test.
The list of words used in this test is the list printed in the record booklet of the Termain revision. The test was given individually, following the ball and field test. Each student was provided with a
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
209
copy of the entire list of 100 words, also a blank paper to the list. She was directed to fix the cover sheet so that she The examiner was also uncovers one word at a time down the list. provided with a list. The student was instructed to pronounce the words as she uncovered them and to tell what each word means. She was told to say, "I do not know," when she read a word, the
printed cover
of which was unfamiliar to her. The examiner wrote on her copy of the list the replies of the student. In scoring, the time of each pupil was recorded, the total number of correct definitions and the entire vocabulary, found by multiplying the number of words These summaries defined correctly by 180, were also recorded.
meaning
follow: Total Estimated Vocabulary. No.
Cases
30 29
Regulars Continuation.
For this
of
vocabulary
Minimum
Maximum
Median
2970 1800
9090 7600
6172 4320
test there has been substituted in 1920 a
range of information test which consists of a series of one hundred This test was given as a group test to all of the regular words.
simultaneously in one forty-five-minute period, and to the continuation girls in three smaller groups during the same week. Each of these groups also was limited to a forty-five-minute period The printed lists of words were for the performance of the test. distributed to the pupils, who were asked to write the meaning of The papers were scored the words in their appropriate spaces. according to the following method: a value of 3 was given for each correct definition, 2 for each explanation, 1 for each answer which simpty indicated familiarity with the word. students
Range
op
Information Te3T. Score. No. Tested
Age
Min.
Regular.
Continuation.
Max.
Mean.
M. V.
36
13
20
150
55.16 13.08
77
14
104
45.12 14.50
40
15
18 14
7
16
20
81 54
41.75 14.05 38.57 8.14
48 61
14 15
85 109
33.25 12.54 30.24 14.11
210
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
Like the vocabulary test, this range of information test demonstrates the difference between the two groups so far as scope of interest is concerned, as well as the difference in ability to use language as a
tool. From
a consideration of the results of all of these tests it seems reasonable to conclude that there is a demonstrable difference between the two groups of girls studied. The continuation girls have dropped out of school life, not only because of the lure of the job, but also because the school has failed or possibly has been unable to develop in both groups of girls an equal educability in the
operations required of them in the high school curricWhatever may be the ultimate explanation of this differentiation, it is evident that a curriculum not inferior in quality but different in content and method of presentation should be formulated
intellectual ulum.
for the continuation student.
Lodor, M.A., Kensington High School, Philadelphia. With the enactment of the law stipulating that minors between the ages of fourteen and sixteen who are employed must attend school for the equivalent of not less than eight hours each week, there was introduced into the school population of Philadelphia a group of students who have brought with them, in addition to those problems arising directly from the fact that their unit of school work is not five days but only one, questions of adjustment much difficult of solution. These so-called "continuation" pupils to differ from the other students not only in their attitude appear toward school life in general, but also in their approach to any more
school work.
Since this differentiation is
reported by the charge pupils, obligation of the school to investigate whether or not these reported differences are fundamental in character or whether they grow out of hastily drawn generalizations, resulting from the superficial observations of the teacher who, accustomed to the more easily aroused responses of the full-time pupil, views somewhat askance the relatively unresponsive If the attitude of this newcomer into the school community. result of such an investigation points to the presence of differences in those competencies, the existence of which is postulated in the successful performance of school work, and not to differences in efficiencies growing out of unlike training, then the question of school adjustment resolves itself into an inquiry as to what should be the special opportunities offered to these children, whereby the eight hours a week may come to mean the fullest equipment toward These problems confronting all of the an efficient citizenship. Philadelphia high schools were especially pressing in the Kensington High School for Girls because of its location among the mills and factories of a large textile district. The neighborhood offers peculiarly easy access to industry, to the boys and girls of the community; hence there is a relatively large loss from full school work when the
specific
teachers in
of these
it becomes the
age of fourteen is reached. Because of these facts a preliminary survey of the first year pupils in both the regular full-time classes and in the continuation classes was carried on in the Kensington High School during 1918, in an attempt to find some answer to the questions arising from the (202)
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
203
As a result of this study a extended survey of the freshman girls in the two groups is in While it is impossible to present process during the present year. as yet all of the data gathered, nevertheless some of the findings presence of the continuation student.
more
seem to
be
sufficiently suggestive
to warrant their immediate state-
ment, in the hope that they may
vestigations tending
toward
a
better
provocative of other inunderstanding of the particular
prove
needs of these students. Any attempt to evaluate the competencies and efficiencies of a group of school children must include not merely an analysis of the individuals as members of the school community, but must consider also the social environment outside of the schoolroom.
Obviously question to present itself in an analytic study of the continuation girl is, therefore, that of the social stratification of the district involved. Are these continuation pupils to be explained in terms of inherent incapacity for school work as that work is generally presented, or are they workers because of economic necessity alone? Although in the study of the students in the Kensington High School it was impossible to visit all of the homes of all of the girls, a general knowledge of the social and economic condition of the neighborhood was available. This was supplemented by information obtained in part from a questionnaire sent to the home of each student and in part from personal interviews with the students. From these sources the following conclusions were drawn. The community in which the school is located is a homogeneous The girls in both the full-time one from the social point of view. and in the continuation classes are the daughters of shop keepers, tradesmen, artisans, mill operatives, etc. There are few of either the laboring or of the professional classes represented. This similarity
the first
in standards is also reflected in the fact that of the older brothers girls in both groups a very small number completed the eighth grade of the elementary schools, and less than one-half
and sisters of the
had attended high school classes. There is a difference in the size of the families of the two groups. This may be a contributing cause to a difference in economic presThe sure which may have forced the one group into industry. in students children the of families of the full-time number average is found to be three, whereas the average number of children in the
of
one per cent
families of the continuation girls is four. Racially there is little heterogeneity in the families studied. There are neither Negroes nor Mongolians in the group. The percentage of Jewish girls also is small. These facts are of significance, since they seem to indicate that any differences between the regular
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
204
full-time students and the continuation pupils are not to be accounted for by marked differences in environment or heredity in so that may be determined by a knowledge of race and economic The conclusion in regard to the similarity in environment is supported by the results of an examination of the records relating Of 197 to the place of birth of the students and of their parents.
far
as
status.
regular pupils, 97 per cent are native born, 80 per cent having been born in Philadelphia; and of 125 continuation pupils, 94 per cent The are native born, 86 per cent have been born in Philadelphia. records of the birthplace of the parents of these girls show that 67 per cent of the fathers and 68 per cent of the mothers of the regular students are native born, while 56 per cent of the fathers and 53 per cent of the mothers of the continuation girls are native born. There is a slightly larger number of foreign-born parents among the continuation group, but it must not be forgotten that very few of these families have lived a shorter time in the United States than fifteen or sixteen years. Furthermore, as the records show, 86 per cent of the families of the continuation girls have been in Philadelphia the entire life time of the
girls examined. of the girls in both groups have lived in many their lives all of suggests that any differences to Philadelphia during be found are probably not due to differences in elementary school
during
The fact that
training.
so
According
to the
law,
all of the
girls
must
complete
the
first six years of the elementary school before they are permitted to become continuation pupils. A very small number of the continuation girls examined?less than ten out of the whole number?had dropped out of the regular classes in the seventh grade. About
ninety per cent of these girls had completed at least the first half of the eighth grade before going to work. Since this is true, the preliminary training of the two groups of girls when they entered the ninth grade, i. e., the first year of high school, was not sufficiently dissimilar to carry any weight in the interpretation of results. There is a difference between the two groups so far as age disThe regular group includes a few thirteentribution is concerned. a still smaller number of girls sixteen years of age and year-old girls in addition to the
number of fourteen- and fifteen-year-old of girls. Since the law Pennsylvania permits continuation work between the fourteenth and sixteenth birthdays only, there are no girls in this group except those of fourteen and fifteen years. If differences are found in the performance levels of the two groups,
large
perhaps be accounted for by If, however, and this seems persist when a comparison of the same
they may tribution.
this difference in age distrue, the differences
to be
age groups is
made, then,
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
205
age is not the basic factor in producing the dissimilarities of the two groups. Since there seems to be little or no indication of social or economic differentiation nor wide variations in preliminary training
obviously, chronological
by means of which any pronounced differences in school performance might be explained, the next point of attack on the problem of the dissimilarity of the two groups was made by means of tests, some of which were given individually, some as group tests. The following tests were selected, not with any thought that they form an infallible index of the mental status of the performers, but merely in the hope that they are sufficiently diversified to furnish some clue to a possible analysis of differentiation of competencies. I.
The Witmer Formboard Test.
given individually in a room in which no one was the student and the examiner. The method employed present except was that described by Young.1 The time for the completion of each of the three trials was noted and the degree of general planfulness displayed was scored. The median time score of the regular students on the first trial was 20 seconds, on the second trial, 16 seconds and on the third trial 12 seconds; while the median scores of the conThis test
was
tinuation students for the three trials were 22 seconds, 18 seconds and 15 seconds. A rating for the planfulness displayed in the performance was given on a three-point scale, viz., good, fair and poor. Of the regular students, 55 per cent received the rating of good, 15 per cent fair, 30 per cent poor, while the records of the continuation students show 50 per cent with per cent poor. A priori there
rating of good, 5 per cent fair, 45 might have been the thought that a
the best performance of the formboard test would be found continuation girls. That this is not true is shown by the the among results, although these results do not indicate any decided difference between the two groups. Because of the relatively simple character
probably
of this test it is not II.
being
used in the present survey.
The Witmer Cylinders Test.
This test was also an individual
performance. The method that standardized by Paschall. The test was rated according to the number of seconds necessary for the placing of the cylinders. The median score of the regular students on the first trial was 73 used
was
the second trial 55 seconds and on the third trial 45 The scores of the continuation girls for the three trials seconds. There is a slightly were 67 seconds, 49 seconds, and 45 seconds.
seconds,
i The
on
Witmer Formboard, Psychological Clinic, June, 1916.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
206
the part of the continuation girls than that shown Whether this is to be explained as the regular by result of greater competency and prompter adaptation to this particular stimulus or whether it is the outcome of a greater familiarity As the two with the handling of material is open to question.
greater speed
on
the
students.
groups reach the same level of performance on the third trial, the The results of the test latter explanation may prove to be true. its This is being carried on in the present suggested repetition. same method is being followed for the first investigation. The
regular students taking this test, none failed, but out of 56 continuation students, 2 were unable to complete the test. The median time for the performance was 71 seconds for the regular group and 72 seconds for the continuation pupils, consequently so
trial.
Out of 97
the first trial is concerned there is two groups in the second study.
far
as
III.
Memory Span
no
for
difference between the
Digits.
given individually according to the method standThe test included three parts: (a) Humpstone. by determination of the memory span as evidenced by a repetition in the order presented of the greatest number of digits possible to repeat without error; (b) the memorizing by means of successive presentations, of a group of digits of the next higher series to the (c) determination of the memory span as evidenced memory span; in the reverse order to that in which they were prea by repetiton of the greatest number of digits possible to repeat without sented, For 121 regular students (records of 1918 and of 1920) the error. average number of digits in the forward repetition was 6.42, with a while for 129 continuation students, the mean variation of .86; average number of digits was 5.96, with a mean variation of .76. The average number of trials necessary to learn the next higher series was 5.03 for the regular students and 5.63 for the continuation pupils. In the reverse order of repetition, the average number of digits correctly given by the regular students was 4.78, with a mean variation of .80, and for the continuation girls, the average number was 4.66, This test
ardized
with
was
H. J.
a mean
variation of .94. IV.
Memory Span
for
Syllables.
In 1920 the memory span for digits is being followed by a similar test in which the material presented to the student is a graded series of sentences in which each sentence contains one The average number of the preceding sentence.
sylable than syllables correctly
more
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
207
88 regular pupils was 21, with a mean variation of 2.00; and the average for 60 continuation students was 19.61, with a mean variation of 2.50. If associability and memory are indexed by these tests and if they play an important part in school performance,
repeated by
but constant inferiority both in the memory span and in the memory span for syllables on the part of the continuation group indicate that the lack of interest in school which
does this
slight
for digits
many of these
for the easy
girls frankly confess is due to an inherent incapacity performance of the usual school work? V.
Ball
and
Field Test.1
given as a group test in November, 1917, with surprisingly large number of girls failed, viz., 77 per cent out of 177 regular students and 89 per cent of 104 continuation pupils. Inquiry among the girls revealed the fact that the no meaning for the greater number of them. To carried field word determine whether or not this lack of familiarity with the meaning of the word field influenced the results, the following directions were substituted in 1918 for the original ones: This is a big empty lot. In it you have lost a little ball. You You only know that it is lost somedo not know exactly where. the Take where in the lot. pencil and mark the path you would follow in order to be sure to find the ball. Begin here (indicating the gap in the circle) and show me what path you would take. Following the same method of rating as that used in 1917, viz., scoring all attempts not superior as failures, the results of the test with the modified directions show that 39.36 per cent of the regular This test
was
the result that
a
students failed and 75.75 per cent of the continuation students. Using Terman's method of scoring gives the following results: Of the per
regular students, cent as inferior;
were
scored
as
21.21 per cent were scored as failures, 18.15 of the continuation students 54.54 per cent
failures and 21.21 per cent
as
inferior.
While the
change in the directions resulted in a general improvement in the performance of the test, there is no lessening of the difference shown by the two groups. This difference is also being displayed by the girls in 1920. There is so marked a dissimilarity between the two groups that we question whether this is an indication of a difference in imageability or a difference in comprehension of the directions. 1 Terman's
test from
the Stanford revision, placed at ageB VIII and XII.
208
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC. VI.
Hard Directions Test.
The material used in this test was Wood worth and Wells Hard It was given both in 1918 and in 1920 as a group test according to the following method. The leaflets were distributed face down to an entire class. The students were instructed to wait Directions Test.
for
a
and when this signal was given they were to turn and to follow the printed directions exactly. At a
given signal
the sheets
over
second
signal they were told to stop work, even though the test had completed. This method, of course, eliminates individual time differences, but it makes possible a scoring in regard to ability to finish the task within a specified time. The papers were scored according to the number of errors made, an error being either an In the case of the incomplete omission or an incorrect insertion. not been
unfinished papers, the blanks not filled out after the last insertion counted as errors. By this method the greatest possible number of errors is twenty-three. or
were
Hard Directions Test. Errors No.
Time
Regulars, 1918 Continuation, 1918..
5 min.
Regulars, 1920
3 min.
Continuation,
1920..
5
3
"
"
of
Cases
62
62 268 215
% Complete Mean
M. V.
90.47 72.58
2.6 4.8
1.8 3.7
68.28 55.34
4.28
3.88 3.06
6.66
With the reduction in time from five to three minutes, the regular students were able to perform the test, so far as the number of errors is concerned, as successfully as were the continuation girls in the longer period. Did the two groups differ in the length and kind of school life, these differences in the performance of the directions test might be accounted for by a difference in familiarity with printed instructions. The two groups are so similar in their school history that some other explanation must be sought to determine
why the continuation girls are unable fully as do the regular students. VII.
to
complete
the test
as success-
Vocabulary Test.
The list of words used in this test is the list printed in the record booklet of the Termain revision. The test was given individually, following the ball and field test. Each student was provided with a
THE CONTINUATION GIRL.
209
copy of the entire list of 100 words, also a blank paper to the list. She was directed to fix the cover sheet so that she The examiner was also uncovers one word at a time down the list. provided with a list. The student was instructed to pronounce the words as she uncovered them and to tell what each word means. She was told to say, "I do not know," when she read a word, the
printed cover
of which was unfamiliar to her. The examiner wrote on her copy of the list the replies of the student. In scoring, the time of each pupil was recorded, the total number of correct definitions and the entire vocabulary, found by multiplying the number of words These summaries defined correctly by 180, were also recorded.
meaning
follow: Total Estimated Vocabulary. No.
Cases
30 29
Regulars Continuation.
For this
of
vocabulary
Minimum
Maximum
Median
2970 1800
9090 7600
6172 4320
test there has been substituted in 1920 a
range of information test which consists of a series of one hundred This test was given as a group test to all of the regular words.
simultaneously in one forty-five-minute period, and to the continuation girls in three smaller groups during the same week. Each of these groups also was limited to a forty-five-minute period The printed lists of words were for the performance of the test. distributed to the pupils, who were asked to write the meaning of The papers were scored the words in their appropriate spaces. according to the following method: a value of 3 was given for each correct definition, 2 for each explanation, 1 for each answer which simpty indicated familiarity with the word. students
Range
op
Information Te3T. Score. No. Tested
Age
Min.
Regular.
Continuation.
Max.
Mean.
M. V.
36
13
20
150
55.16 13.08
77
14
104
45.12 14.50
40
15
18 14
7
16
20
81 54
41.75 14.05 38.57 8.14
48 61
14 15
85 109
33.25 12.54 30.24 14.11
210
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
Like the vocabulary test, this range of information test demonstrates the difference between the two groups so far as scope of interest is concerned, as well as the difference in ability to use language as a
tool. From
a consideration of the results of all of these tests it seems reasonable to conclude that there is a demonstrable difference between the two groups of girls studied. The continuation girls have dropped out of school life, not only because of the lure of the job, but also because the school has failed or possibly has been unable to develop in both groups of girls an equal educability in the
operations required of them in the high school curricWhatever may be the ultimate explanation of this differentiation, it is evident that a curriculum not inferior in quality but different in content and method of presentation should be formulated
intellectual ulum.
for the continuation student.
