Three things the record sheet tells you
1918, 1919, or 1920?
This page used to say 1920. The evidence points earlier, and one source contradicts itself. Each stamp below shows how firm the date is. Filter by status:
Built out of the schools for the deaf
Pintner and Donald Paterson had been comparing deaf and hearing children since at least 1916 [7]. Their 1917 Scale of Performance Tests was made for deaf children in the schools of Ohio, and used concrete objects rather than words [3]. Paterson's own parents were deaf [3].
That scale had to be given to one child at a time. The 1919 article's title states the next step: a non-language test for a group [2]. Meanwhile, Army psychologists had taken parts of the 1917 scale into the paper-and-pencil Army Beta [3].
Easy learning, then hard learning
Two of the six tests were digit-symbol learning tasks, one easy and one harder [1]. The box below has no instructions, as a non-language test wouldn't. Press ▶ and watch the demonstration, then carry on. Each half lasts 30 seconds.
Rudolf Pintner, 1884–1942
Born in England, Pintner was trained in Scotland and Germany and moved to the US in 1912, a year before his Leipzig doctorate is dated [1]. He spent the rest of his career at Teachers College, Columbia, where his later tests were published [1][6].
References
- [1]Psychological Test, Non-Language Mental Tests (record sheet). National Museum of American History, Gift of Samuel Kavruck.si.edu
- [2]Pintner, R. (1919). A non-language group intelligence test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 3, 199–214. doi:10.1037/h0072783. Open copy on Zenodo.zenodo.org
- [3]Psychological Test Score Sheet, Pintner-Paterson Short Performance Scale. National Museum of American History.americanhistory.si.edu
- [4]Review of Pintner, R. & Paterson, D. G., A Scale of Performance Tests. Journal of Psycho-Asthenics (1917). Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities archive.mn.gov
- [5]Test Collection Database: search "Pintner". University of Illinois Library, Social Sciences, Health and Education Library.library.illinois.edu
- [6]Psychological Test with Manual of Directions, Pintner-Cunningham Primary Mental Test. National Museum of American History.americanhistory.si.edu
- [7]Pintner, R. & Paterson, D. G. (1916). The ability of deaf and hearing children to follow printed directions. The Pedagogical Seminary, 23(4).tandfonline.com
Related historical tests
Pintner and Paterson's scale for deaf children in Ohio schools, built from form boards and other concrete materials. It had to be given one child at a time, the limitation a group non-language test removed.
Army psychologists adapted parts of the 1917 performance scale into the paper-and-pencil Beta. Beta tackled the same problem for recruits who couldn't read English.
Healy's board is an earlier picture-completion test. Pintner's sheet has a picture-completion score of its own, and the 1917 scale used a Healy-Fernald board too.
Pyle's battery already timed schoolchildren on digit-symbol substitution. Pintner split the task into an easy and a hard version.
Otis built his school group scale in the same year, but in print and English. The two show the paths group testing could take: reading-based or language-free.
Pintner and Bess Cunningham's test for kindergarten to grade 2, written at Teachers College. It carries his group-testing work down to the youngest pupils.