Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 288, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1916 — Testing the Brightness of Chicago Freshmen [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Testing the Brightness of Chicago Freshmen

CHICAGO —Freshmen in the University of Chicago must undergo mental tests to determine just how bright they are. After that has been .ascertained they are expected to maintain the same standard throughout their

entire college course. Stopwatch in hand. Dr. Henry B. Kitson stands over each student and reads a passage from a book. The student- must repeat it. Then the student must read a passage from a book and repeat it without looking at the book again. A number of letters with different addresses are given him and he must arrange them alphabetically. The time required for these and other tests fix his mental powers.

Here is the crowning test of all, however. A number of short sentences are read to the student. Within one second he is expected to indicate by “yes” or “no” whether the statements made in the sentences are logically correct or not. Here are a few samples: “He was seventy and looked twice that age.” “He lit his cigar with these words.” “With one hand he caressed her, with tfie other he spoke.” “On his helmet waved the missing plume, *- ' “Two adversaries were placed at equal distance from each other.” “Freshmen are not allowed to wear soft collars or cuffs on their trousers.” “I have never had any children and my mother was afflicted In the same way.” “The woman finished dressing in her evening clothes and came down to brcflkfflst ** Doctor Kitson said he had found one-half of the students judge _§uch matters correctly. It is intended by this plan to ascertain the mental horse power of each student so that the quick ones may not get off with too little work and the slow ones may not be overburdened.