Yerkes Mental Tests

Question 1

How was the army alpha test designed

Answer 1

Designed to be used with literate recruits, there were 8 sections and it was designed to be administered to a large group of recruits, less than an hour long

Question 2

Alpha test tasks

Answer 2

Filling in the next number in a sequence, unscrambling sequences, solving analogies
Multiple choice questions such as ‘crisco is a : medicine, toothpaste, food product’

Question 3

Army beta test design

Answer 3

Made up of picture based tasks designed to be used with recruits who were illiterate or failed the alpha.
Designed to be done with a large group, less than an hour

Question 4

Beta test task

Answer 4

Made up of multiple parts
Picture completion, maze running, counting cubes, translating numbers to symbols.

Question 5

Individual exam

Answer 5

Spoken exam, done with recruits who failed beta test, never actually happened

Question 6

How were the tests administered

Answer 6

Men who were illiterate automatically assigned beta test, and those who failed alpha
Men who failed beta should do individual