The SAT was a supplement to the College Board's essay examinations, not a replacement; most of the June 1926 candidates took the traditional Boards as well [2]. The essay exams were dropped during the Second World War [3]. A commission headed by the Princeton psychologist Carl Brigham built the test, and five of its nine sub-tests came from his 1925 Princeton Psychological Examination, itself derived from the Army Alpha [2].
The nine sub-tests, in the booklet's order
Seven sub-tests were verbal and two mathematical [1]. The samples below are from the 1926 practice booklet [1]. Select a sub-test, try the item, then reveal the answer.
Translate the artificial language
The vocabulary and three rules exactly as the 1926 practice booklet gives them [1]. The booklet warned candidates not to memorise them: the real test would bring "a different vocabulary and another set of rules".
Built to be unfinishable
The early SAT was "quite speeded". As late as 1943 the directions told candidates that the time for each sub-test "has been fixed so that very few test-takers can finish it" [1]. Many of the first changes were attempts to loosen the time limits.
Twenty years of reshaping
References
- [1]Lawrence, I. M., Rigol, G. W., Van Essen, T. & Jackson, C. A. (2003). A Historical Perspective on the Content of the SAT. College Board Research Report 2003-3 (ETS RR-03-10), with the 1926 practice test (Practice Form A-B) as an appendix. ERIC ED562571.files.eric.ed.gov
- [2]A (mostly) brief history of the SAT and ACT tests. Erik the Red tutoring.erikthered.com
- [3]History of the SAT. Wikipedia.en.wikipedia.org
- [4]Johnson, D. (2016). Can you answer these questions from the original SAT? TIME.time.com
Related historical tests
Brigham's 1925 Princeton examination was derived from Alpha, and five of the SAT's nine sub-tests came from it. Alpha's analogies and number series are recognisable here.
Brigham helped develop the Army's tests in the First World War. The Army report documents the methods his SAT drew on.
The Thurstones' annual examination for college freshmen began two years earlier. Both reported results as standings in a college population.
Otis's scale used many of the same timed, objective item types. The SAT pushed that approach up to college entrance.
The GRE carried the same kind of verbal and quantitative testing to graduate admissions. It came out of the testing organisation the College Board helped found.
The Stanford measured what pupils had learned; the SAT claimed to measure aptitude for learning. The two names mark the distinction the 1920s drew.