the "Alpha test" are given in the following
table, and in the diagram which restates the facts of the table in
graphic form. The Alpha test included 212 questions in all, and a
correct answer to any question netted the subject one point. The
maximum score was thus 212 points, a mark which could only be obtained
by a combination of perfect accuracy and very rapid work (since only a
limited time was allowed for each page of the test). Very seldom does
even a very bright individual score over 200 points. The table shows
the approximate per cent, of individuals scoring between certain
limits; thus, {279} of men drafted into the Army, approximately 8 per
cent. scored below 15 points, 12 per cent. scored from 16 to 29
points, etc. Of college freshmen, practically none score below 76
points, 1 per cent. score from 76 to 89 points, etc.

Per cent. of Per cent. of
drafted men college freshmen
making these making these
Scores Scores
Scores
0-14 points 3 0

15-29 12 0

30-44 15 0

45-59 16 0

60-74 13 0

75-89 11 1

90-104 9 4

105-119 7 8

120-134 6 14

135-149 4 23

150-164 2 24

165-179 1.3 13

180-194 0.5 7

195-212 0.2 1
----- ---
100 100

The "drafted men", consisting of men between the ages of twenty-one
and thirty-one, fairly represent the adult male white population of
the country, except in two respects. Many able young men were not
included in the draft, having previously volunteered for officers'
training camps or for special services. Had they been included, the
percentages making the higher scores would have gone up slightly. On
the other hand, many men of very low intelligence never reached the
receiving camps at all, being inmates of institutions for the
feebleminded or excluded from the draft because of known mental
deficiency; and, of those who reached {280} the camps, many, being
illiterate, did not take the Alpha test. It is for this reason that
the graph for drafted men stops rather short at the lower end; to
picture fairly the distribution of intelligence, it should taper off
to