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Home/Historical IQ Tests/California Mental Maturity 1936
Reference entry · 1936 · Los Angeles10 cited sources

California Test of Mental Maturity: the Binet's functions, as a group test.

Designed and published in 1936, the CTMM set out to assess the major mental functions tested by the individual Stanford-Binet in a form a whole class could take.1 It reported separate language and non-language scores and a diagnostic profile of mental factors, with levels from kindergarten to adult.2,3,4

Try Sensing Right and Left →Cite this page
AT A GLANCE
AuthorsElizabeth T. Sullivan, Willis W. Clark, Ernest W. Tiegs 2,5
First published1936 (Advanced Battery © 1937) 1,2
AimGroup assessment of the functions tested by the Stanford-Binet 1
LevelsPre-Primary (K–1) up to Advanced; later K–12 and adult 3,4,9
Advanced Battery16 short tests plus a diagnostic profile 2
ScoresLanguage, non-language and total; readable as IQ 3,7
Short formCTMM-SF, first published 1938 1
PublisherS. Calif. School Book Depository; later California Test Bureau 2,5
1 · AUTHORS AND PUBLISHER

Three Los Angeles school researchers and a family publishing house

Elizabeth T. Sullivan1877–1949Los Angeles-born; B.A. University of California, M.A. Stanford, Ph.D. Columbia (1922). Retired in 1944 as supervisor of psychology and educational research for the Los Angeles County Board of Education.2
Willis W. ClarkLos Angeles County SchoolsServed on the test advisory committee; earlier wrote the Los Angeles Diagnostic Tests in the Fundamentals of Arithmetic, which launched the publishing house.2
Ernest W. Tiegswith ClarkCo-authored the 1933 Progressive Achievement Test, forerunner of the California Achievement Tests, and sat on the CTMM advisory committee.5

Note on dates and publisher: sources give 1936 as the design and first publication date; the Smithsonian's Advanced Battery booklet carries a 1937 copyright by the Southern California School Book Depository, Ltd.1,2 Later editions appear under the California Test Bureau, which moved to Monterey only in 1960.5

2 · STRUCTURE OF THE ADVANCED BATTERY

Sixteen short tests grouped by mental factor

The 1937 Advanced Battery in the Smithsonian collection contains sixteen tests and a diagnostic profile on which each pupil's scores were charted.2 A 1948 description adds that the battery opened with pretests of vision, hearing and motor coordination.6

Memory
Immediate recallDelayed recall
Spatial relationships
Sensing right and leftManipulation of areasForesight in spatial situations
Reasoning
OppositesSimilaritiesAnalogiesNumber seriesNumerical quantityInference
Vocabulary
Vocabulary

Subtest names as catalogued by the Smithsonian (1937 Advanced Battery), with the museum's original spellings modernized.2

3 · LANGUAGE AND NON-LANGUAGE SCORES

Scores split by whether the item needed language

LanguageIn the 1963-era Long Form scaling, the Language section drew on Verbal Concepts, Inferences and Delayed Recall.7
Non-languageEverything else — including the spatial tests Sensing Right and Left and Manipulation of Areas.7
In IQ termsEven the kindergarten Pre-Primary level adjusted scores for "language factors" and let them be read as IQs.3
4 · FACTOR ANALYSES

What the subtests actually measured together

An original factor analysis was done in 1938; it was never published but guided how later batteries grouped the subtests.1 Anderson and Leton's 1964 analyses of the Long Form found five factors:7

ILogical ReasoningDefined by Similarities and Analogies.
IISpatial RelationsRights and Lefts and Manipulation of Areas.
IIINumerical ReasoningNumber Series, Numerical Values and Number Problems.
IVVerbal ConceptsNumber Problems, Inferences, Verbal Comprehension and Delayed Recall.
VMemoryImmediate Recall and Delayed Recall.

The fourth factor mixed verbal, numerical and memory subtests that all carried a heavy language load — one reason the "verbal concepts" label is approximate.7

5 · FORMS, EDITIONS AND LATER USE

From Long Form to Short Form to 1963

1926
California Test Bureau foundedEthel Clark started the company in Los Angeles to sell her husband Willis's arithmetic tests.5
1936
CTMM designed and publishedA group test of the Stanford-Binet's major mental functions.1
1937
Advanced and Pre-Primary batteriesDated booklets from the Southern California School Book Depository.2
1938
Short Form and first factor analysisThe CTMM-SF appears; the unpublished analysis shapes later subtest grouping.1
1963
RevisionShort Form 1963 edition, later studied as a screening device for special-education placement.8
1965
CTB/McGraw-HillThe publisher is acquired by McGraw-Hill.5
1960s
Adult usesThe College and Adult level was used in FAA air-traffic-control training research.9
6 · TRY THE ITEM TYPE

Sensing Right and Left: turned, or turned over?

Sensing Right and Left was one of the battery's spatial tests and loaded on the Spatial Relations factor.2,7 Here, each figure is the reference shape rotated — sometimes mirrored too. Decide which.

REFERENCER
12345678
Figures generated for this page; the CTMM's own items and format are not reproduced.
FIGURE 1 OF 8
R
Rotate it in your head first.
7 · REFERENCES

Sources cited on this page

  1. [1]Anderson, H. E., & Leton, D. A. (1964). Factor analyses of the California Test of Mental Maturity (introduction and background). Educational and Psychological Measurement, 24(3), 513–523. Semantic Scholar record.semanticscholar.org
  2. [2]Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Psychological Test, California Test of Mental Maturity — Advanced Battery (object MA.316371.006).americanhistory.si.edu
  3. [3]Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Psychological Test, California Test of Mental Maturity — Pre-Primary Series (1937).americanhistory.si.edu
  4. [4]Sullivan, E. T., Clark, W. W., & Tiegs, E. W. California Test of Mental Maturity (long form). WorldCat record.worldcat.org
  5. [5]Wikipedia contributors. DRC/CTB (company history; accessed 29 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
  6. [6]Description of the California Test of Mental Maturity. The Journal of Educational Research (1948).doi:10.1080/00220671.1948.10881691
  7. [7]Anderson, H. E., & Leton, D. A. (1964). Factor analyses of the California Test of Mental Maturity. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 24(3), 513–523.doi:10.1177/001316446402400305
  8. [8]The California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity, 1963 edition, as a screening device for educable mentally retarded programs. Journal of School Psychology (1968).sciencedirect.com
  9. [9]Ryan (thesis). Revision of the Logical Reasoning subtest of the CTMM, College and Adult Level 5 (FAA training study). University of North Texas Digital Library.digital.library.unt.edu
  10. [10]Review of California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity, 1950 S-Form. APA PsycNet record (Mental Measurements Yearbook review).psycnet.apa.org
HOW TO CITE THIS PAGE
What's Your IQ. (2026). California Test of Mental Maturity (1936). In Historical IQ Tests Archive. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from /en/historical-iq-tests/california-mental-maturity-1936
EDITORIAL RECORD
First published2026
Last reviewed29 September 2026
Sources10 cited
Open questionCopyright renewal status of 1936–37 forms
Canonical URLwhats-your-iq.com/en/historical-iq-tests/california-mental-maturity-1936
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Part of the Historical IQ Tests Archive. Editorial content under CC BY-SA 4.0. The 1937 booklets carry a copyright notice and renewal status is unverified, so no items are reproduced.
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