A study of the possibility of prognosis of school success in typewriting

Abstract

To discover what factors were indicative of success or failure in typewriting, 75 tenth-grade pupils were subjected to a battery of 6 tests (Thurstone Employment Test; Terman Test of Mental Ability; Arithmetic; Spelling; Physical Examination). The pupils were then given the Blackstone proficiency and the Underwood tests. The scores on these tests were then correlated. In addition to these data, those of 3159 high school students in the Los Angeles school system were studied with the purpose of determining the relationship between intelligence (as measured by tests) and success in typewriting. It was found that intelligence tests, as such, had little or no diagnostic value in predicting success in typing. Maximum proficiency in typing was shown by students with an IQ between 114 and 125 (chronological age 14) while those with a higher IQ performed less well. It may be interesting to note that arithmetic correlated with typing higher than did a test of spelling. The correlation between the Thurstone Clerical Test and typing was low (.21 ± 11); the correlations between typing and the McQuarrie Test of Mechanical Ability were also low. The highest score of the "healthy" group was 185, whereas that for the "physically handicapped" was 81. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)