ntil the
test has been finished. If the first response is a poor one and we
pronounce it "fine" or "very good," we tempt the child to persist in his
low-grade type of definition. By withholding comment until the last word
has been defined, we give greater play to spontaneity and initiative.

SCORING. As a rule, children of 5 and 6 years define an object in terms
of use, stating what it does, what it is for, what people do with it,
etc. Definitions by description, by telling what substance it is made
of, and by giving the class to which it belongs are grouped together as
"definitions superior to use." It is not before 8 years that two thirds
of the children spontaneously give a large proportion of definitions in
terms superior to use.

The test is passed in year V if _four words out of the six_ are defined
in terms of use (or better than use). The following are examples of
satisfactory responses:--

_Chair_: "To sit on." "You sit on it." "It is made of wood and
has legs and back," etc.

_Horse_: "To drive." "To ride." "What people drive." "To pull
the wagon." "It is big and has four legs," etc.

_Fork_: "To eat with." "To stick meat with." "It is hard and has
three sharp things," etc.

_Doll_: "To play with." "What you dress and put to bed." "To
rock," etc.

_Pencil_: "To write with." "To draw." "They write with it." "It
is sharp and makes a black mark."

_Table_: "To eat on." "What you put the dinner on." "Where you
write." "It is made of wood and has legs."

Examples of failure are such responses as the following: "A chair is a
chair"; "There is a chair"; or simply, "There" (pointing to a chair). We
record such responses without pressing for a further definition. About
the only other type of failure is silence.

REMARKS. It is not the purpose of this test to find out whether the
child knows the meaning of the words he is asked to define. Words have
purposely been chosen which are perfectly familiar to all normal
children of 5 years. But with young children there is a difference
between knowing a word and giving a definition of it. Besides, we desire
to find out how the child apperceives the word, or rather the object for
which it stands; whether the thing is thought of in terms of use,
appearance (shape, size, color, etc.), material composing it, or class
relationships.

This test, because it throws such interesting light on the maturity of
the child's appe