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Show Every Army Division Required Men from 88 Different Trades I XSvI I Jv 7 blacksmith the V M i 4P erormatlC! ' K'L-J yyTtest is conducted , I ' -A by- givlns thc J ' L- soldier twc j fe. V H small rods of iron, which he is m vT y' asked to weld together making Vj "wSvsv -r( a simple hook with a loop at the I butt entI tne sort of a hook " used for fastening a door. He rwo Pigs, Two Chickens, and Man. Modification Test. fouch with Pencil Point First, Man Only; j'hen a Pig Only; Then a Chicken Only; ,"rhen (at One Point in Each Instance) a y 'ig and a Chicken; Man and a Chicken; ,-Vjlan and Ono Pig; Man and Two Pig; J'" Ian and Two Chickens; Man, Two Pig fi and Two Chickens. 'i'N the business world and in Industry the ) great cause of failure is what Is called ' "round pegs in square holes" men 'ho are misfits in their occupations. -1 This well-known economic fact was ree-j ree-j jnized when we started to raise an army I X five million men. Every army division, ! I be efficient, must include in its person-I person-I 3l men of no fewer than eighty-eight dif-! dif-! rent tradtis. 1 Out of the great undigested mass of re- . ulted men these specialists must be se-cted. se-cted. Nor was it a safe rule to assign a an to electrical work, for instance, Sims' Sim-s' because that was his trade. He might - a "round peg in a Bquare hole" a very or workman at his trade. It was necessary, therefore, to find out th some degree of accuracy what men ,'ire fitted to do no matter what they said 1 thought they could do. For this pur- ee a very interesting series of tests were vised to find out the mental and technl-I technl-I rating of every recruit. A few of the pier tests are shown on this page to-v. to-v. ' Incidentally, in addition to sorting the Eboiin into the trades they were more or ,;y t:-is proficient in, a number of interesting a neral facts were discovered. The tests ( Vowed a startling divergence between 3 hi who work with their hands or with t ,)ls, and men who do even routine, work cf 4h their brains. The lowest were ilsrc )0rers, miners,- teamsters and farm-nUi'j, farm-nUi'j, scoring less than BO. In the next lie coup, scoring 50 to 69- were found tailors, rbers, painters, 'carpenters, bakers, nttss. jijj between 60 and 69 were railway en-lt9lS-ieers, tool-room experts, shipbuilders, ' 111 and gauge makers and auto assem-tb. assem-tb. The examining officers were ,sur-uo"sed ,sur-uo"sed to find general clerks, mailing ra!,ri rks, bookkeepers, far above mechanical !ounl -perts. locomotive engineer totS'sraged 65 to 69, but the railway cleric is IrAsraged 90 to 94. But most surprising yet ation s the discovery that stenographers and ei;e:::iist8 as. a class rated 115 to 119 away wh tve tl,e best experts with skilled tools. ''" Wore than half of the men In an up-to-'m army must be skilled in special trades .. ude order to perform their military duties 1 .isfactorily. e ai'fake the infantry, the fundamental arm , jus'J- tha fighting service. For every 100,000 j,ypn In its ranks 40.000 four in every ut (t?4 must be occupational specialists. rt;: Miere the engineers, the Signal Corps t)(J other specialized military bodies are 1 ',-icerned the number of men trained and w lrlenced In definite lines must be far Et-later proportionately, rwn-'lfty-flve distinct varieties of chemists ecjs-re been employed in this war, all of nef,t i; ru derived from civil life and assigned ff;:i this kind of duty or that, according to Ir special aptitudes and experience. t!'An aero repair squadron fn the field Is ulred to build an average of two flying sP0"',, chines a day. How many airplane me-i me-i th'-' nlo, engine repairment and other ex-,dof!l'ts ex-,dof!l'ts must it have to fulfil this function? ln?f;I how shall they be obtained quickly? st tt Whatever the lino of specialized military ' e;se F-'Ivlty. the problem Is to "spot" and as-i.,js as-i.,js 'le the requisite men determining in . e;: h caso tlier abilities by what are called W t ide tests" I. e., examinations that posi-reva'- ily fix tnejr capacity and probable use- ! ,,his business of trade testing has been -,ce c',(.eloped In a remarkable degree during war. Tho examlhation quickly tells ilnl'si'' a man is at his trade, and may ff!U no- conducted by any intelligent officer. iug '- 1 tow minutes it classilies soldiers into ' rtiFades of skill (1) novice, (2) ap-jfi''l ap-jfi''l ' (3) 3"rnt,"nian, (-1) expert. examination takes threo forms 1 "'' i'!' ,plcture (the soldier being called upon v's' descriptive comment) and "perform--0 iV-'-y." Thus, for example, the oral test tho " a man who claims to understand tal-'0tlierir,'lg tal-'0tlierir,'lg occupies ten minutes, during which .,.IS. 1;: -must answer seventeen question?. ap:: n cr"rect answer counts 4. each fail-e" fail-e" sii- The total score tells whether he is jc-n .,.ie rated as a novice, nu anprentice. a , fan-- .neymau, or an expert. picture test for a-man wh o claims ,0r hVe a horseshoer occupies' twenty min-0it!if- with twenty-nine questions. The ofliari'i0 ls nm(le in tfle same way. For a soV'1-..,: : iaiXr'" is provided with a forge, e(e anvil, a hammer, and other necessaries and the hook he turns -out shows how much he knows. Every man taken Into the army since we entered the war has been required tc state his acquaintance with a trade, if any Of all those claiming trade ability, 6 per cent have proved on examination to be really proficient, 24 per cent have been rated as journeymen, 40 per cent as apprentices, ap-prentices, and 30 per cent aa "inexperienced." "inexperi-enced." How Many Blocks Are There Here' For every job in the army there is today to-day an exact definition of duties. For every man there is an exact written description de-scription (procurable off-hand) of his abilities. abil-ities. The problem has been to bring the man and the job together, thereby giving the army the benefit of civilian experience, minimizing the need of army schools to develop specialists out of raw material, shortening the training period of military units, and making the soldier contented by continuing him wherever possible In his accustomed trade. We could never have overcome tha military balance, and thereby smashed the power of Germany, if it had not been for our prompt adoption of this system, by which men industrially skilled, flowing into the army from all parts of the country, coun-try, were so utilized as to turn each recruit's re-cruit's abilities to utmost possible account ac-count The Idea was derived from two distinct dis-tinct sources. On the one hand were the great industrialists the manufacturers in various lines, who had learned how to get whatever was most Valuable out of their men. On the other hand were the professional psychologists college pro- r - ' i 'n;s. V"-'' 'J ;" ' ' - 1 ' "A - r L " d ' fessors and such folk, who had worked out tests of just the sort needed. For once the theorist and the "practical man" put their heads together with profitable results. The main problem was to put the right man in the right place. To this end a card which told all about him was provided pro-vided and tiler! at tho War Department for every soldier. A duplicate of this card moved wiru htm wherever he went, hero or abroad. He did cot carry it on Jiis person, but it wns part of the traveling travel-ing record of the military organization to which he belonged. . It. was called a "qualification card" and "told his civilian occupation, his trade-skill, trade-skill, his schooling, his linguistic ability and tlie Tests Were Made to Find Out Just Wkat EacL Recruit Really Gould Do On each line of dots write the word which makes the best meaning ONLY ONE WORD ON EACH BLANK 1 The sty- blue. 1 f 2 We are going school. ( , ' 3 The kind lady .... the poor man a dollar. 1 4 The plays her dolls all day. ' 5 Time .... of ttn more valuable money. 1 6 Boys and soon, become and women. 1 7 The poor baby as if it were sick. : 8 The rises the morning and at night. ' 9 It is good to hear voice friend. : 10 She if she will. 1 11 The poor little ba3 nothing to ; lie is t hungry- 12 The boy who hard . . r do well. 13 Men more ....... . to do heavy work women. 14 It is a !. task to be kind to every beggar for money. i 15 Worry , . never improved a situation but has made conditions ...... v 16 A home is . . . . . merely a place ; . one ........ live comfortably. 17 It is very to become acquainted per- , sons who timid. 18 To ... ; many things : . ever finishing any of them .... a habit. 19 One's real appears ......... often in bis ; : than in his speech. 20 When one feels drowsy and , it happens that he is to fix his attention very successfully anything. 21 The knowledge of use fire is of important things known by but unknown- animals. 22 that are to one by an friend should be pardoned readily than injuries done by one ........ is not angry. " 23 To friends is always . . . ; tha .; ..it takes. 24 One ought to gret.l care to the right of habits, for one who . bad habits . it to get away from them. lEiiiiiiliMllillKi Fv &n' z,,"mjsi " rf " "T" t L ), , ..-1 J.?"" . iiMiMMiisiiiSS lOPdG Journeyman ' Tongs 1 If ' "'w & ' 4 rVjL. : ' f ; v. v . 1 1 Li.' v (if any), his mental capacity, his physical capacity, hi3 military experience, the kind of service ho liked best and various other things. One should understand that the soldier himself had nothing to do with the mak-ine mak-ine of the card record. The latter was written out in every case by an officer-specially officer-specially trained as an "interviewer," who a?l;ed questions, put down answers and derived his real information from sources extraneous to the man's control. The cards thus made out were placed alphabetically in numbered boxes at-the War Department. Thus Box Xo. 22 contained con-tained all the personal records cf military chauffeur:-,. To the cards were attached tabs of different colors. An orange tab in-Coryrlsht, in-Coryrlsht, 1015, by Siar Comrar.y. Performance f ' ' Test for i , An Army . Telegraph j Lineman. t (Above) " ' ' Manual Test i " for Blacksmiths. x; It ' Hov Great Britain Rights F.eien-ed. ' i ; ri Enter This Maze at the Point Marked "S." Then Find the Way Out. dicated a semi-skilled auto driver. A green tab on a card in Box No. 32 referred to a skilled telegraphic lineman. A green tab on a card in Box No. 10 was for an expert electrician. An orange tab on a card in Box No. 61 showed that the soldier' represented repre-sented by it had had a high school education. educa-tion. The filing system was so excellent that at a moment's notice any number of men required for a special purpose in an emergency emer-gency could be located and called upon for How Many Blocks in This Pile? service. The best talent was always available avail-able for whatever duty might be demanded. Certain specialists were needed in the field who could not be obtained in sufficient suf-ficient numbers men whose skill was the result of many years of civilian training in Industries not extensively developed. This difficulty was overcome to a great extent - by picking out men of nearly-related occupations occu-pations and giving them a brief but com prehensive course in the military work required re-quired of them. i There were plenty of "ersatz" workers (as the Germans would call them) in various lines. Thus, if a sailmaker was lacking, a tailor could be taught to sew wings for airplanes. A good painter could easily learn 'how to mix and apply the "dope" for shrinking and w-aterproofing the linen parts of flying machines. Or an automobile auto-mobile repairman could quickly acquire the art of repairing aeros. Radio work, Signal Corps work, and 'the work of the army engineers demanded an exceptionally high average of intelligence. So likewise the artillery branch. And one f I j ' x ' SOLDiER I if - &f -I ' p v to I 1 J' - " i j t r - , m j ,. .... . ! ' ' i i" - r . ! X ' ' .- ' --' i : How the Recruit Is Tested. 3 F.eierved. should remember that artillery work fcai been far more highly differentiated in this war than ever before. Nowadays there must be railroad artillery (with guns mounted on specially-constructed cars), "motorized" artillery, and anti-aircraft artillery. In former days a recruit underwent no examination' that extended beyond his physique. To-day his mental equipment is deemed of even greater importance though, of course, he cannot gain acceptance accept-ance as a soldier unless bodily fit. The tests to which he Is subjected ara most elaborate, and determine to a nicety tno rtrpe rf his intelligence and mental alertness. Some of them are extremely simple as, for example, when Ave wooden cubes of equal size are placed before tha man. They look exactly alike, but differ ' in weight, containing more or less lead. The man is required to arrange them in the order of their weights, from lightest to heaviest. There are also jigsaw pii77.1es. which the recruit must fit together. They are sinmle ones, but It Is the time he 'takes that counts. "Mazes" printed on cardboard ara put before him. The starting point is marked, and he must follow with a pencil the way out of the graphic labvrlnth. Mixed-up sentences are referred to him, such as the following: Arctic monkeys In live ivgtons. Fingers many toes as have men as. Pig legs a six has. Water in ice it makes warmer. Now, the recruit is instructed not to re- write these sentences, making sense out of them, but merely to underline tho word "true" or the word "false" printed opposite oppo-site each. Thus he would rearrange the first ona In his mind, so as to make it read, "Mon-kevs "Mon-kevs live In Arctic reeions," and would underline the word "false" opposite. Of course, men have as many toes aa fingers, and so lor that sentence he would underline under-line the word "true." Even sitnnler is a test given with a sheet of picture-drawines. Each drawlnar lacks something essential, and the problem Is to determine what that something is. A child eating porridge out of a bow! has no ppoon. A rabbit hap but-one ear. A violin has no strings. A pistol lacks a trigger. A crnb Is "shy" one leg. The chimney on a cottage does not come through the roof. The knave of diamonds has no figure of a diamond at one end of the card. A woman is powdering her nose before a looking-glass, looking-glass, but the arm and hand that bold tha powder puff do not apnear in the reflection. reflec-tion. Two cats fightine on a roofton in the moonlight'Iook all right at first glance, but presently one notices that only one of them throws a shadow. It is not any single test (wlnh ni'ght give a false Impression) that determines the recruit's degree of Intelligence. It is the sura of many, differing in kind, and the result ,is of sure and absolute accuracy. ac-curacy. Mentally the man 13 "sized up." For every officer (as for every privnfa Soldier) there Is on file a card. It tells bis occupation as a civilian, his degree of skill, his military experience and proficiency, pro-ficiency, his schooling, his acquaintance with languages and varlou? other things. In our service during the war there hava been 1P4.228 officers, every one of whom has been freshly "rated" four times a year by a superior In rank. This rating (which appears as a special Item on tha card) is based upon a sort of measuring reals. It covers five primary qualllica.-tlons qualllica.-tlons physique, intelligence, leadership, personal attributes and general value as a fighter or worker. The standards by which these qualifications qualifica-tions are measured are Individual officers of corresponding rank, recognized en representing repre-senting different degrees of usefulness, and value. These officers are picked out by a superior, and a "match" determines the rating. For each qualification there Is a set of five officers accepted as standards, from highest to lowest. Jiut, obviously enough, the officer chosen 83 representing the highest standard of intelligence may be lowest In respect of physique or in some other quality. Hence, tho errane-r-meiil in se.s "f Iivf, When a "match" in obtained, a numerical rating 1-3 given 8'Torrti!)ly, and the mini of the numbers for the five ratings in Hie total rating. Officer.1! as well as enlisted recruits are FUbjecfcd to c rtaln psychologic tests to dc terming the,,- intr lligerico and menial slTlrmns. The results, a:; recorded, nil a high intelligence a:j "A." Superior infHli-gence infHli-gence Is put down as "15." Averai-e i;'te!i-J.nce i;'te!i-J.nce is quoted an "C," and interior L'fel-ligence L'fel-ligence as "D." |
