OCR Text |
Show 1 TESTS PROVE WILLSlS FIT TO MEET DEMPSEY; ICOLORED HEAVY IN MANY WAYS EXCELS BEST COLLEGIANS j ' A jjjjP M BSSJfJ CoLjt Kami 1?' PROFtSSOIl nOLMES, ( FIART OF VIDTJS' TEST, AND WILLS. BY JOSEPH HOLMES, M. A. P.s.vrhcloftloiil lic-i iii'i h laboratory, Colombia University COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York. For the first time psychological; tests huv been employed to determine a man's fitness for the prize ring. The subject of these tests, which' I have just made for NF.A Service, was' Harry Wills, who is a leading colored heavyweight pugllst and who is seek-In seek-In a title bout with Jack Dempsey. The tests given to Wills wero of three kinds, namely; tests of motor ability, tests of perception and tests! of the higher mental processes. Tho first two kinds of tests are those which are practically uninfluenced by education and are diagnostic of tho particular abilities which arc of greatest great-est significance in his work as a pug-lis: pug-lis: The norms or standards or averages with which he Is compared were got-j ten by testing college students who) comprised a highly selected group., Slie e W ills' education is v ery limited, I having gone only as far as the sixth! grade, the results Of the tests dopcnd-l ant on degree of education should bei discounted considerably MOTOR l BSTS The motor tests with the results and; their significance ire as follows: Tapping test Score, 470 Average. 376. Wills' score is not only far su- 1 perlor to the average but Is equal to the highest score made by any college student 1 ('- (rdlnatlon fst Score, 120. Av- eragc, 83. This score is one-half again as great us the average and exceeds the highest score of college students by manj points Steadiness test This test consisted of holding a Stylufl In smull holes in a metal plate so that the stylus did not touch the sides. When the sides of the holes were touched an electric counter recorded. Thet" were five holes decreasing in size from 16-64 to 7-64 of an Inch In diameter. Tho number of touches recorded was, for the first two holes 0, for tho third 3, for Ihe fourth IS. and for the last and smallest hole 28. This record la so far above th.- range of i ollepc students stu-dents or people in general that wo can only say that it Is very superior and Indicates a phenomenal degree of nervous and muscular control Reaction Time t IJght Wills' average av-erage time of SO trials was .169 second, which is faster than the average time of college students which Is lso second. sec-ond. Reaction Time to Sound Wills' average av-erage for 50 trials was 140 second The average Is .150 second. tests of Perception Tests of Visual Perception, dots wltH the tachlstoscope. Score, 13. Average Aver-age 8. This Indicates a keenness of visual perception that is nearly twlco the average Form Board Test Score, 13. Average. Aver-age. 13. The reaction time tests and tho coordination co-ordination test are also indicative of Keenness of perception. Substltution Test Scoro. 169. Average, Aver-age, 253. His score Is 2-3 of the aver-ege, aver-ege, i. e., he is below average In this test. Number Checking Test Score, 70 Average. 5C. He is below averago hj re, being in the poorest quarter of college etudents. Number Checking Test Score 87. Average, 103 Here he ii also In tho poorest fourth of colle,-r. students. Directions Tost Score, 184. Average. Aver-age. 92. This score 1b 1-2 the average, placing him in the lowest fourth of college students. Lauguage Test Score. 10 Average 24. Here his scoro Is about 1-2 tho average. These last tests Involve language, and success In them Is greatly dependent de-pendent on education. Thereforo these must be greatly discounted in the case of Wills who undoubtedly has greater Innate ability than these tests indicate. His real ability is fairly fair-ly shown by the tests first listed. That Wills' eyes and ears function more, rapidly than those of the average aver-age man That his brain records sensations and transmits orders to tho muscles much faster thun that of the ordinary man. That the co-ordin itlon of eye, brain, nerves and muscles Is nearly perfect In a word, Wills has natural physical physi-cal and mental powers which place him far above the ordinary man, and j houid prove a dangerous opponent for I Dempsey. |