the relation of continuous association scores TO MENTAL AGE OF ADULTS By James Hargan
Psychologist, Classification Clinic, Sing Sing
Prison
the test of continuous association located by Terman instead of being used on the ten year level1 it has seemed that into a simply as an all or none test its scores should be developed done has mental ages. Wallin scale for the of In
giving
*
prediction higher some work along this line with mental defectives and epileptics, Pyle 3 has employed the test in a written form. It should be noted that this changes the test radically. Experiments at Sing Sing Prison confirm the relation between
the continuous association test and mental age. Instead employing the procedure of Terman, "Now, I want to see how many different words you can name in three minutes," etc., the following directions are used. "Now I want to see how fast you can think. I want to see how long it will take you to think up one
scores on
of
It doesn't matter what they are, just any kind of words that come into your head like table, chair, river, fight, eat, cold and so on. The idea is speed. Already, begin." For norms, see Hargan Scale below. This change was made in order to improve the motivation of
hundred different words.
With our subjects at least there is some tendency, when told that they will be given a test lasting three minutes, they to drift along comfortably until the time has expired ; if they are told it will last until they say one hundred words even the most of passive them stirs himself to finish the task. Additional cooperation was secured by showing them during the first half minute that the examiner was taking down merely the number of words uttered they and not their thoughts. Later his hand to
the test.
are
trying
tap
moved so that they were unaware of the number of words attained. Repetitions were omitted wherever noticed by the examiner. was
1 2
Terman, J. E. W.
Mon. No. 7, 3 W. H.
The Measurement of Intelligence, pp. 272?277. Wallin, Experimental Studies of Mental Defectives.
Baltimore, 1912, Pyle,
pp. 155.
The Examination of School Children.
70, especially 24-27.
55
Ed. Psy.
New York, 1913, pp.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC
56
It is not possible to take down the words verbatim even if advisable; the many attempts to do this have caused nndue neglect of this test. It is seldom that the words yielded seem to be of qualitative importance. Any striking tendencies may, however, be easily noted. that of
Terman; the number of words and the subject stopped at the end are taken down in half minutes of three minutes. The correlation between number of words and Sing Sing mental age (measured by various group and individual The
scoring
essentially
is
demands)
tests as the case
Negro, all
is found to be: t
cases
Native born white applicants for Native born white admissions
In
validity
this test
parole
seems to
rank with the
71 71 .54 ? .04 169
.58 ? .05
cases
.52 ? .06
cases
performance
cases
tests.
based only upon the cases achieving sixty words or more. Since we do not have many in Sing Sing below the mental age of ten it was felt that standardization upon the lower levels should be carried out elsewhere. Those who do not achieve at least sixty words upon the test here are simply marked These correlations
are
as fail; a judgment is made as to whether this is due to mental defect, faulty cooperation, or emotional blocking. This test more than most others reflects psychic illness, and failure need not mean
Several scales
mental defect.
tried out based upon the
were
and the
re-
tentative
norms were adopted. following gression equation, Scales are given for each of the parts as well as the total in case a shorter, if less reliable, test is desired. According to our av-
erages
:
Sing Sing 26% of 18% 16% 15% 13% 12% The
Terman in the first
total
are
given
"
11
11
"
"
11
second
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
third
"
"
half minute
"
"
"
"
"
fourth
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
fifth
"
"
11
li
"
"
"
sixth
"
figures
in
parentheses
Terman's ten year olds for the agreement.
at the end same
are
(28) (IB) (17) (14) (12) (ID
those obtained
by
intervals and show substantial
57
ASSOCIATION SCORES AND MENTAL AGE Hargan Scale For Predicting Mental Age from Continuous Association Scores Based upon 240 Adult Native-born White Cases 3 min. 60 65
70 75 80 85 90 95
26
36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69 72 75 78 81 84 87 90 93 96
64
68 71 75 79 83 86 90 94 98 101 105 109 113 116 121
1
33 35 37 40 42 44 46 48 51 53 55 57 59
20 21 22
23 25 26
27 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 38 39 40
62
64 66 68 70 r
42
.42 ? .03
r
.39 ? .04
the short hand of thought; lan?uage' thinkinS is vague, clumsy, ' VaSU6 mental C?ntent entails language agam "Success in {t (continuous association) does suppose, depend solely upon the size of the vocabof more ^ear ?lds ordinarily know the meaning ' and years the vocabulary usually exceeds
"LanSuaSe
forms
are
f
and ineffective
shorted?1
^
16 17 18
29 31
^ -03 r .53 ? .03 r .51 ? .03 r .46 ? .03
r8/
a 1
1? 611
than 9 'nnn W0
5 000
53 56 60
149
T
V
61
min.
1 min.
1? min.
49
160
115 120
ularv
45
125 130 135 140 145 150 155
105 110
not
52 57 65 69 74 78 83 87 91 96 100 104 109 113 117 121 126 130 135
100
Ihw
2 min.
2? min.
times
as
the subject is
expected
many i?r eighty :?r tlree two minutes. The main factors in with '^ln (1) and of previously made associations pnmTvf10 n6SS\ S' vanety readiness of these associations to rein^ ^
to
S'
as
na
state
success
themsel
the excessive seems to me
quarters against outcry in elTr Sf6at present tests. This intelligence day some
verbal a
are
oonfnci
m
menc
1
should
t+ernJS' 7
upon them
doV
training
A
?
s
J
Tllat which is
frequently
CaUed "bookish"
or
decried
"academic."
as
verbal
Success
verbalistic intelligence but rather school arp distinction should be made between "written +
lmpfy
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC
58
'4
oral verbalistic" as they imply very different has undoubtedly been made of the first in much Too capacities. the construction of intelligence tests to the exaltation of the bookworm ; too little has been made of the second despite the importance verbalistic" and
of these functions in the adjustments of everyday life. This test is possibly the only one in the field. The ability to get along well with people seems to the practical mind an important part of general
intelligence;
this
implies
a
trained
tongue,
the
degree
of which
to measure.
continuous association attempts This test is valuable in that it is
relatively independent of school which is developed by the contraining, and measures something life. It does not produce the awkof tacts in demands everyday tests arouse in those non-clerical and wardness which paper pencil from school. It is convenient for types who have been long away not need he about the psychometrist in that carry any cumbersome material and may readily memorize the norms. It is useful in connection with other tests in showing tendencies to introversionextroversion. Those who are comparatively high in this test are probably extrovert, of good social intelligence, and incline towards such occupations as salesmanship and dealing with people. In Sing
testing
find that swindlers and confidence men while falling very high in this one. Those who are comparatively low are probably more introverted, not so well adjusted to people, and do better in more solitary occupation. According to
Sing
we
low in other tests rate
diagnoses of the psychiatrists of Sing Sing Prison 62 per cent of all admissions are "normal." A study of 165 cases who received a score of below 70 in the Continuous Association Test shows only 28 per cent "normal." It seems, therefore, that anyone who fails the
this test should be Appreciation is
regarded with suspicion. expressed to Dr. V. C. Branham, Assistant Commissioner of Correction, to Dr. A. T. Baker, Director of the Classification Clinic, and to Warden Lewis E. Lawes of Sing Sing Prison
for their encouragement of research and to Erwin Jarmel for cler-
ical assistance.
Psychologist, Classification Clinic, Sing Sing
Prison
the test of continuous association located by Terman instead of being used on the ten year level1 it has seemed that into a simply as an all or none test its scores should be developed done has mental ages. Wallin scale for the of In
giving
*
prediction higher some work along this line with mental defectives and epileptics, Pyle 3 has employed the test in a written form. It should be noted that this changes the test radically. Experiments at Sing Sing Prison confirm the relation between
the continuous association test and mental age. Instead employing the procedure of Terman, "Now, I want to see how many different words you can name in three minutes," etc., the following directions are used. "Now I want to see how fast you can think. I want to see how long it will take you to think up one
scores on
of
It doesn't matter what they are, just any kind of words that come into your head like table, chair, river, fight, eat, cold and so on. The idea is speed. Already, begin." For norms, see Hargan Scale below. This change was made in order to improve the motivation of
hundred different words.
With our subjects at least there is some tendency, when told that they will be given a test lasting three minutes, they to drift along comfortably until the time has expired ; if they are told it will last until they say one hundred words even the most of passive them stirs himself to finish the task. Additional cooperation was secured by showing them during the first half minute that the examiner was taking down merely the number of words uttered they and not their thoughts. Later his hand to
the test.
are
trying
tap
moved so that they were unaware of the number of words attained. Repetitions were omitted wherever noticed by the examiner. was
1 2
Terman, J. E. W.
Mon. No. 7, 3 W. H.
The Measurement of Intelligence, pp. 272?277. Wallin, Experimental Studies of Mental Defectives.
Baltimore, 1912, Pyle,
pp. 155.
The Examination of School Children.
70, especially 24-27.
55
Ed. Psy.
New York, 1913, pp.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC
56
It is not possible to take down the words verbatim even if advisable; the many attempts to do this have caused nndue neglect of this test. It is seldom that the words yielded seem to be of qualitative importance. Any striking tendencies may, however, be easily noted. that of
Terman; the number of words and the subject stopped at the end are taken down in half minutes of three minutes. The correlation between number of words and Sing Sing mental age (measured by various group and individual The
scoring
essentially
is
demands)
tests as the case
Negro, all
is found to be: t
cases
Native born white applicants for Native born white admissions
In
validity
this test
parole
seems to
rank with the
71 71 .54 ? .04 169
.58 ? .05
cases
.52 ? .06
cases
performance
cases
tests.
based only upon the cases achieving sixty words or more. Since we do not have many in Sing Sing below the mental age of ten it was felt that standardization upon the lower levels should be carried out elsewhere. Those who do not achieve at least sixty words upon the test here are simply marked These correlations
are
as fail; a judgment is made as to whether this is due to mental defect, faulty cooperation, or emotional blocking. This test more than most others reflects psychic illness, and failure need not mean
Several scales
mental defect.
tried out based upon the
were
and the
re-
tentative
norms were adopted. following gression equation, Scales are given for each of the parts as well as the total in case a shorter, if less reliable, test is desired. According to our av-
erages
:
Sing Sing 26% of 18% 16% 15% 13% 12% The
Terman in the first
total
are
given
"
11
11
"
"
11
second
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
third
"
"
half minute
"
"
"
"
"
fourth
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
fifth
"
"
11
li
"
"
"
sixth
"
figures
in
parentheses
Terman's ten year olds for the agreement.
at the end same
are
(28) (IB) (17) (14) (12) (ID
those obtained
by
intervals and show substantial
57
ASSOCIATION SCORES AND MENTAL AGE Hargan Scale For Predicting Mental Age from Continuous Association Scores Based upon 240 Adult Native-born White Cases 3 min. 60 65
70 75 80 85 90 95
26
36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69 72 75 78 81 84 87 90 93 96
64
68 71 75 79 83 86 90 94 98 101 105 109 113 116 121
1
33 35 37 40 42 44 46 48 51 53 55 57 59
20 21 22
23 25 26
27 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 38 39 40
62
64 66 68 70 r
42
.42 ? .03
r
.39 ? .04
the short hand of thought; lan?uage' thinkinS is vague, clumsy, ' VaSU6 mental C?ntent entails language agam "Success in {t (continuous association) does suppose, depend solely upon the size of the vocabof more ^ear ?lds ordinarily know the meaning ' and years the vocabulary usually exceeds
"LanSuaSe
forms
are
f
and ineffective
shorted?1
^
16 17 18
29 31
^ -03 r .53 ? .03 r .51 ? .03 r .46 ? .03
r8/
a 1
1? 611
than 9 'nnn W0
5 000
53 56 60
149
T
V
61
min.
1 min.
1? min.
49
160
115 120
ularv
45
125 130 135 140 145 150 155
105 110
not
52 57 65 69 74 78 83 87 91 96 100 104 109 113 117 121 126 130 135
100
Ihw
2 min.
2? min.
times
as
the subject is
expected
many i?r eighty :?r tlree two minutes. The main factors in with '^ln (1) and of previously made associations pnmTvf10 n6SS\ S' vanety readiness of these associations to rein^ ^
to
S'
as
na
state
success
themsel
the excessive seems to me
quarters against outcry in elTr Sf6at present tests. This intelligence day some
verbal a
are
oonfnci
m
menc
1
should
t+ernJS' 7
upon them
doV
training
A
?
s
J
Tllat which is
frequently
CaUed "bookish"
or
decried
"academic."
as
verbal
Success
verbalistic intelligence but rather school arp distinction should be made between "written +
lmpfy
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC
58
'4
oral verbalistic" as they imply very different has undoubtedly been made of the first in much Too capacities. the construction of intelligence tests to the exaltation of the bookworm ; too little has been made of the second despite the importance verbalistic" and
of these functions in the adjustments of everyday life. This test is possibly the only one in the field. The ability to get along well with people seems to the practical mind an important part of general
intelligence;
this
implies
a
trained
tongue,
the
degree
of which
to measure.
continuous association attempts This test is valuable in that it is
relatively independent of school which is developed by the contraining, and measures something life. It does not produce the awkof tacts in demands everyday tests arouse in those non-clerical and wardness which paper pencil from school. It is convenient for types who have been long away not need he about the psychometrist in that carry any cumbersome material and may readily memorize the norms. It is useful in connection with other tests in showing tendencies to introversionextroversion. Those who are comparatively high in this test are probably extrovert, of good social intelligence, and incline towards such occupations as salesmanship and dealing with people. In Sing
testing
find that swindlers and confidence men while falling very high in this one. Those who are comparatively low are probably more introverted, not so well adjusted to people, and do better in more solitary occupation. According to
Sing
we
low in other tests rate
diagnoses of the psychiatrists of Sing Sing Prison 62 per cent of all admissions are "normal." A study of 165 cases who received a score of below 70 in the Continuous Association Test shows only 28 per cent "normal." It seems, therefore, that anyone who fails the
this test should be Appreciation is
regarded with suspicion. expressed to Dr. V. C. Branham, Assistant Commissioner of Correction, to Dr. A. T. Baker, Director of the Classification Clinic, and to Warden Lewis E. Lawes of Sing Sing Prison
for their encouragement of research and to Erwin Jarmel for cler-
ical assistance.
