the left, beyond the zero of the Alpha test.

[Illustration: Fig. 46.--Distribution of the scores of drafted men,
and also of college freshmen, in the Alpha test. The height of the
broken line above the base line is made proportional to the percent of
the group that made the score indicated just below along the base
line. (Figure text: army median--65, freshman median--150)]

College freshmen evidently are, as they should be, a highly selected
group in regard to intelligence. The results obtained at different
colleges differ somewhat, and the figures here given represent an
approximate average of results obtained at several colleges of high
standing. The median {281} score for freshmen has varied, at different
colleges, from 140 to 160 points.

[Footnote: The "median" is a statistical measure very similar to the
average; but, while the average score would be obtained by adding
together the scores of all the individuals and dividing the sum by
the number of individuals tested, the median is obtained by
arranging all the individual scores in order, from the lowest to the
highest, and then counting off from either end till the middle
individual is reached; his score is the median. (If the number of
individuals tested is an even number, there are two middle
individuals, and the point midway between them is taken as the
median.) Just as many individuals are below the median as above it.
The median is often preferred to the average in psychological work,
not only because it is more easily computed, but because it is less
affected by the eccentric or unusual performances of a few
individuals, and therefore more fairly represents the whole
population.]

It will be noticed in the graph that none of the freshmen score as low
as the median of the drafted men. All of the freshmen, in fact, lie
well above the median for the general population. A freshman who
scores below 100 points finds it very difficult to keep up in his
college work. Sometimes, it must be said, a freshman who scores not
much over 100 in the test does very well in his studies, and sometimes
one who scores very high in the test has to be dropped for poor
scholarship, but this last is probably due to distracting interests.

No such sampling of the adult female population has ever been made as
was afforded by the draft, and we are not in a position to compare the
average adult man and woman in regard to intelligence. Boys and g