efrain from scolding the child or showing impatience
when his answers do not come up to expectation. This, of course,
endangers the child's success still further.

The psychologist is not surprised at such conduct. It would be foolish
to expect average parents, even apart from their bias in the particular
case at hand, to adopt the scientific attitude of the trained examiner.
Since we cannot in a few moments at our disposal make them over into
psychologists, our only recourse is to deal with them by exclusion.

This is not to say that it is impossible to test a child satisfactorily
in the presence of others. If the examiner is experienced, and if the
child is not timid, it is sometimes possible to make a successful test
in the presence of quite a number of auditors, provided they remain
silent, refrain from staring, and otherwise conduct themselves with
discretion. But not even the veteran examiner can always be sure of the
outcome in demonstration testing.

GETTING INTO "RAPPORT." The examiner's first task is to win the
confidence of the child and overcome his timidity. Unless _rapport_ has
first been established, the results of the first tests given are likely
to be misleading. The time and effort necessary for accomplishing this
are variable factors, depending upon the personality of both the
examiner and the subject. In a majority of cases from three to five
minutes should be sufficient, but in a few cases somewhat more time is
necessary.

The writer has found that when a strange child is brought to the clinic
for examination, it is advantageous to go out of doors with him for a
little walk around the university buildings. It is usually possible to
return from such a stroll in a few minutes, with the child chattering
away as though to an old friend. Another approach is to begin by showing
the child some interesting object, such as a toy, or a form-board, or
pictures not used in the test. The only danger in this method is that
the child is likely to find the object so interesting that he may not be
willing to abandon it for the tests, or that his mind will keep
reverting to it during the examination.

Still another method is to give the child his seat as soon as he is
ushered into the room, and, after a word of greeting, which must be
spoken in a kindly tone but without gushiness, to open up a conversation
about matters likely to be of interest. The weather, place of residence,
pets, sports, games, toys, travels