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CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS 
 
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 No. 12 
 
 CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 An Experimental Study of Observation and Report in 
 School Children 
 
 By 
 
 W. H. WINCH, M. A. (cantab) 
 
 98 
 
 External Member of the Board of Psychological Studies of the University of 
 
 London; Chairman of the Committee of the Teachers'' Guild of Great 
 
 Britaiji and Ireland on Psychological Research in Schools; Lecturer 
 
 for the London County Council on Pedagogical Methods in 
 
 Schools; Inspector of Schools for the London County Council, 
 
 now on leave of absence for purposes of Research 
 
 in Experimental Pedagogy. 
 
 BALTIMORE 
 
 WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 
 
 1914 
 
LT3 \o<p7 
 Aa/s 
 
 Copyright, 1914, by 
 Warwick & York, Inc. 
 
 OCT 29 iai4 
 
 ©CI.A893423 
 
s 
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 Since the year 1900, when Binet published his well 
 known volume upon suggestibility, and more espe- 
 cially since the labors of Professor Stern, of Bres- 
 lau, during the next few years, there has arisen 
 among psychologists a. very keen interest in the psy- 
 chology of testimony, or psychology of report, to 
 use a more general term. The report, or Aussage, 
 as the Germans term it, is an account, either oral or 
 written, and either spontaneous or in response to 
 questions, in which a person seeks to describe a 
 scene or narrate an event that he has witnessed. 
 The report, therefore, clearly implies and hinges 
 upon a previous observation. Experiments with re- 
 porting are one way of testing the capacity of school 
 children to observe, and previous experiments with 
 school children by these methods have invariably 
 elicited results and conclusions of pedagogical, as 
 well as psychological value. 
 
 In the present monograph Mr. Winch has, hap- 
 pily, used not only the general methods of Professor 
 Stern, but also the identical picture which figured 
 so prominently in the original work of Stern and 
 other German investigators. Moreover, the picture 
 has been reproduced and inserted in the volume, so 
 that all readers may compare the work of the English 
 children with the actual test-object, and may use the 
 
VI EDITOR S PREFACE 
 
 picture and the method for repeating this very in- 
 teresting and profitable experiment upon themselves, 
 their pupils, and others. In the text of the book will 
 be found not only the statistical tables necessary for 
 this comparison, but also actual reports of children 
 of both sexes and of different ages and school grades. 
 In short, the work is designed to encourage and fa- 
 cilitate the actual trial of the experiment by the 
 reader, and should on this account be especially wel- 
 comed by teachers and others interested in experi- 
 mental pedagogy. 
 
 Finally, Mr. Winch's results have an immediate 
 bearing upon the vexed problem of the training of 
 observation in children. They serve particularly 
 to clear the ground for the consideration of this 
 problem by showing what children do, and what 
 they do not observe at different stages of their men- 
 tal development. It is evident enough that we need 
 to know these facts before we can proceed intelli- 
 gently to formulate a system of exercises for train- 
 ing observation. 
 
 G. M. W. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 This volume is a research in experimental peda- 
 gogy. 
 
 In England and in other countries, those whose 
 efforts are creating the new science of experimental 
 pedagogy are inspired by a profound belief. They 
 preach a revolution in education. But what kind of 
 revolution, for we have had many before? Most 
 thoughtful teachers indeed, and not a few educa- 
 tionists, have become a little tired of the fashion- 
 like changes which, from time to time, sweep across 
 the educational field; and, after much dislocation 
 and annoyance, vanish within the limbo of the dis- 
 credited and the forgotten. The believer in experi- 
 mental pedagogy preaches another kind of revolu- 
 tion — a revolution in the method of determining edu- 
 cational needs and practices. He holds that, until 
 an educational proposal has been submitted to defin- 
 ite tests under rigorously scientific conditions in 
 the schools themselves, there can be no adequate 
 ground for recommending it for general adoption. 
 He holds also that the teachers should have a share 
 in this work of experimental verification. 
 
 There is an increasing number of teachers who are 
 willing — nay, anxious — to carry out scientific psy- 
 chological and pedagogical experiments in schools, 
 
Vlll AUTHORS PREFACE 
 
 if proper guidance be given them. But they desire 
 to see how this experimental work bears on their 
 work ; they want it to be practical ; and surely these 
 requests are not unreasonable. 
 
 One hopes that, in education as in other arts, there 
 will never be a lack of persons to come forward with 
 new ideas. The believer in experimental pedagogy 
 will accord, both to them and to their ideas, a most 
 hearty welcome. "But," he will say, "let us see 
 how your proposals work through the teachers in 
 the schools before we accept them." Science must 
 become the handmaid of art in education as in other 
 professions. To talk of a science of education before 
 this experimental verification has been done is to use 
 inflated language which has little reference to reality. 
 But for educational ideas securely based on actual 
 knowledge, gathered under school conditions with 
 the help of teachers, there has never been, I believe, 
 throughout the whole history of education, so favor- 
 able an opportunity of realization as at present. 
 
 W. H. Winch. 
 
 London, February, 1913. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 Editor's Preface v 
 
 Author's Preface vii 
 
 Chapter I. How, if at all, can children be taught to observe? 1 
 
 Chapter II. General plan of the experiments 8 
 
 Chapter III. First Series of Experiments. School A 10 
 
 I. The work of the three-year-old children 13 
 
 II. The work of the four-year-old children 51 
 
 III. The work of the five-year-old children . . 61 
 
 IV. The work of the six-year-old children 69 
 
 V. The work of the seven-year-old children 77 
 
 Chapter IV. Second Series of Experiments. School B 90 
 
 I. The work of the four-year-old children 91 
 
 II. The work of the five-year-old children 99 
 
 III. The work of the six-year-old children 106 
 
 IV. The work of the seven-year-old children 114 
 
 Chapter V. Third and Fourth Series of Experiments. School 
 
 C. Boys and Girls 128 
 
 I. Method of Procedure in the Senior Schools 128 
 
 II. How the work in Boys' and Girls' Schools may 
 
 be compared 132 
 
 III. The work of the Standard II boys and girls.. 133 
 
 IV. The work of the Standard III boys and girls.. 142 
 V. The work of the Standard IV boys and girls.. 149 
 
 VI. The work of the Standard V boys and girls.. 156 
 VII. The work of the Standard VI boys and girls.. 164 
 
 VIII. The work of the Standard VII boys and girls.. 172 
 IX. The work of boys and girls compared age by age. 184 
 Chapter VI. The Evolution of Children's Perceptual Judg- 
 ments 1S8 
 
 I. Children's Judgments due to Suggestion 188 
 
 II. Children's Perceptions of Clothes 194 
 
 III. Children's Perceptions of Position 196 
 
 ix 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 IV. Children's Perceptions of Activities 200 
 
 V. Children's Perceptions of Things 202 
 
 VI. Children's Perceptions of Number 205 
 
 VII. Children's Perceptions of Color 208 
 
 VIII. Validity of this method of tracing the child's per- 
 ceptual evolution 212 
 
 IX. Pedagogical value of the method 213 
 
 Chapter VII. Was it the same picture which was shown the 
 
 second time? 215 
 
 Chapter VIII. How far is the relative inferiority of the older 
 
 children due to differences in the method of reporting?. . . 223 
 Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Series of Experiments. 
 
 I. The work of School D 226 
 
 II. The work of School E 228 
 
 III. The work of School F 230 
 
 IV. The oral work of the girls of School C 234 
 
 Chapter IX. Summary and Conclusions 238 
 
 Chapter X. Statistical Appendix 241 
 
 Index 243 
 
CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS: 
 
 An Experimental Study of Observation and Report 
 in School Children. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 HOW, IF AT ALL, CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT TO 
 OBSERVE? 
 
 It is quite common, at the present day, in educa- 
 tional codes and courses of study, to find instructions 
 to teachers to encourage observation among their pu- 
 pils ; and it is a general complaint that children leave 
 their schools without much knowledge of the world 
 which lies immediately about them (which, of course, 
 tthey might have gained by observation), and, above 
 all, without that inquiring glance which enables them 
 rapidly to make themselves at home in a new envir- 
 onment. Both of these defects, it is asserted, are 
 remediable by the process known as the cultivation 
 of the power of observation. Briefly, that is the posi- 
 tion today of the educational world in England, 
 America and Germany ; though with varieties of em- 
 phasis, and some divergence of views. 
 
 Side by side with this, there is the general opinion 
 of the psychological world that observation, inter- 
 preted in a psychological way, is very little sus- 
 ceptible of improvement, if at all. 
 
 It is pointed out that the specialist, whilst acutely 
 
 1 
 
1 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 alive to perceptual changes within the sphere of his 
 own studies, is often so unobservant of other things 
 that, by ordinary mortals, he is frequently regarded 
 as stupid.* And it is argued that improved discrimi- 
 nation in any one sensory department, say that of 
 vision, or even in aspects of the same sense, form, 
 color, etc., is not accompanied by improvement in 
 others, even within the same sensory field; and, a 
 fortiori, would certainly not involve improved dis- 
 crimination in another sensory field, for example, 
 in that of sound. Consequently, the all-round train- 
 ing of the 'faculty of observation' — a phrase be- 
 loved by educationists — must be an absurd ideal, be- 
 cause it is destined never to be realized; it simply 
 can't be done. The psychologist, too, lays stress on 
 the inhibitory aspects of mental life — an aspect too 
 often lost sight of by educationists. So much obser- 
 vation of plant life, shall we say, means less and not 
 more observation, shall we say, of animal life or 
 machinery. Therefore it is argued that we should 
 cease to try to cultivate an all-round power of obser- 
 vation; let us rather confine ourselves to encourag- 
 ing observation within those fields of knowledge and 
 within those sensory departments in which the obser- 
 vations are likely to be industrially or aesthetically 
 important to the pupil. 
 
 Where such diametric conflict of opinion exists, it 
 is fairly certain that the parties to the dispute do 
 not mean altogether the same thing by the terms 
 they use. The educationist maintains that he is not 
 thinking simply of sensory discrimination, and he is 
 
 *Winch, Problems in Education. London, 1900; page 32 et seq. 
 
HOW CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT TO OBSERVE 6 
 
 apt to accuse the workers of the laboratory of under- 
 standing him in too limited a sense, and of arrang- 
 ing their experiments in so artificial a way that the 
 results obtained are not applicable either to the work 
 of the school or to the work-a-day world outside it. 
 
 Fortunately for education and, I think, for psy- 
 chology also, a rapprochement seems likely to take 
 place. In Germany, a good deal of work bearing 
 on these issues has been done under the title of 
 'Aussagc,' which I have translated into English as 
 the Declaration of Perceptual Judgments; and in 
 America much the same kind of experiment has been 
 worked at and described as 'Fidelity of Eeport.' In 
 England, we shall probably, in the educational 
 world, continue for some time to use the term ' Obser- 
 vation,' whilst the more definite term 'Perception' 
 will be confined to the psychologist. But the differ- 
 ences involved imply more than is indicated by the 
 use of different terms. 
 
 Observation, as the educationist understands it, 
 implies sensory discrimination; it implies also per- 
 ception, that is, the identification or judgment of 
 what is sensorily apprehended; it also implies the 
 expression of these judgments in linguistic or 
 graphic forms. And the educationist argues that, 
 unless the psychological experiments which are con- 
 ducted to settle his difficulties take cognizance of all 
 the aspects of the case important to him, he cannot 
 be expected to change his practices in consequence 
 of their results. This contention may be granted 
 with the proviso that, so far as is known at present, 
 he must admit the declaration of the psychologist 
 against his all-round faculty of observation, and 
 
4 CHILDEEN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 must show transfer from one field of observation to 
 another before basing his practices upon a belief in 
 it. Observation should lie within those sensory fields 
 and be directed to that subject-matter, which, on in- 
 dustrial or aesthetic grounds, it is desirable to culti- 
 vate and learn. 
 
 The argument from the well-known narrowing in- 
 fluence of scientific specialism is countered by the 
 growing knowledge of the character of some of our 
 best attested correlations. These specialists, com- 
 pared with children, are veritable giants in observa- 
 tion. In the physical world, we know quite well that 
 giants are stupid people. But if we argue in conse- 
 quence that big children are more likely to be stupid 
 than little ones — a not uncommon opinion even 
 among teachers — we shall be flying directly in the 
 face of the facts. The Chicago Department of Peda- 
 gogical Investigation showed, years ago, that the re- 
 verse is the truth. Age for age, big children are 
 mentally in advance of smaller ones. The same 
 conclusion resulted from the facts collected by me in 
 London some eight years ago, and I believe corre- 
 sponding evidence has been collected in Germany. 
 So that, though bodily growth, pushed to its extreme 
 limit, as in giants, is certainly correlated negatively 
 with mental growth, that relationship is not true in 
 general, and certainly not among children, for 
 among them bodily growth and mental growth in 
 large measure vary together. 
 
 Hence we may not argue from the limiting nature 
 of the specialist's absorption — the one seeing noth- 
 ing but plants, another nothing but machines, an- 
 other nothing but microbes, to which ends their ob- 
 
HOW CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT TO OBSERVE O 
 
 servation has been solely directed, and is indeed effi- 
 cient for no other purpose — that the limited training 
 of observation in school children would have a simi- 
 larly contracting effect. Moderate amounts of ob- 
 servational work might expand the observational 
 powers in many directions rather than contract them. 
 A child might see more in machinery because he had 
 been trained to see something in plants. 
 
 To all this the apostle of the doctrines of experi- 
 mental pedagogy can only say: "Let us try it and 
 see." For he is convinced only that argument from 
 extreme cases in adult life to what happens with chil- 
 dren is worse than useless; it is misleading. 
 
 Moreover, it is argued that the extreme anti-fac- 
 ulty doctrine implies too early a commencement of 
 a child's life work. And it is asserted that there is 
 a necessary field for observation in the early years 
 of childhood, which is not, and cannot be specialized ; 
 the child must learn to observe the realities and the 
 pictorial representations of the world around him. 
 Here is a common basis upon which facultists and 
 anti-facultists can agree. If this early observation 
 helps afterwards to the specialized observation re- 
 quired in the world of work, so much the better. 
 But if it does not, it is necessary for its own sake. 
 And no one doubts that there are some common ele- 
 ments of sensory discrimination and some common 
 elements of expression, whose improvement will be 
 common to both kinds of subject-matter. That they 
 do not go so far as used to be thought will no doubt 
 influence the school-curriculum in its later years ; its 
 subject-matter will become more specialized and 
 'futures' will be dealt in more largely than at pres- 
 
6 children's perceptions 
 
 ent. But though * training of the faculty' is not 
 everything, far from it, we ought, notwithstanding, 
 to find out the most disciplinary method for the 
 teaching and learning of that which, on other 
 grounds, we have decided should be acquired. 
 
 Let us suppose we have decided that every child 
 shall be taught to observe the world around him. 
 How shall it be done? May we ever use pictures? 
 German schools have, for years, used them in con- 
 nection with their Anschauung-Unterricht* The 
 teacher asks a number of stereotyped questions 
 about a picture and the children answer them, also 
 in stereotyped form, with much attention to correct 
 linguistic expression. This exercise has its uses as 
 an introduction to German Composition (Germany 
 is a country of dialects, be it remembered), but I 
 saw no real effort of actual perception, thought and 
 memory, such as is required by Aussage exercises — 
 also German — framed by educational psychologists. 
 
 We require so to teach and train that our pupils 
 know more about the lesson next week than they do 
 immediately after it, and are made more and not 
 less expert in attacking all forms of analogous ma- 
 terial. 
 
 Impossible? A counsel of perfection? Yes, it 
 certainly is, so long as education, as with us in Eng- 
 land, means as much talking by the teacher as it does 
 at present. 
 
 But it is not impossible; nay, it is the ordinary 
 course of things when lessons are so chosen that, 
 with effort, the children can do them, and when their 
 
 *W. H. Winch, German Schools, page 203 et seq. 
 
HOW CAN CHILDEEN BE TAUGHT TO OBSERVE 7 
 
 mental activities are fully enlisted in the work. I 
 am not arguing that there is no place for teaching. 
 On the contrary. I have tried to estimate its value 
 statistically as compared with practice alone.* But 
 there are many valuable mental exercises where 
 teaching can profitably become a minimum, and 
 where self-expression and self-correction can be 
 wholly employed. Among such exercises are these 
 Aussage or 'observation' lessons. But it is time to 
 discontinue didactics. A necessary preliminary to 
 a real advance in any educational question is a dis- 
 passionate survey of what actually exists psycho- 
 logically in its bearings on the dispute. Germany 
 and America have shown the lead in Aussage work 
 with children. I offer this English contribution with 
 full recognition of the claims of my forerunners. 
 
 In one important respect — there are many minor 
 modifications — this work claims to constitute an ad- 
 vance. I have tried to make a statistical estimate of 
 the complex of functions called 'observation.' Such 
 an estimate is imperative if we are ever to come to 
 any definite conclusions about many of the questions 
 raised in this research. What children do observe 
 and how much they observe ought to be known pre- 
 liminaries to all educational theory about observa- 
 tion, and this research is offered in the hope that the 
 following experiments may help to 'advance our 
 knowledge in both these respects. 
 
 ♦How a Teacher can test the Value of his own Methods. Child- 
 Study, July, 1912. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 GENERAL PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 The work about to be described was modelled on 
 the 'Aussage' experiments of Professor Stern with 
 his own children described in Erinnerung, Aussage 
 und Luge in der ersten Kindheit* 
 
 Very broadly, the method of the experiment was 
 the same in all cases, though there were minor modi- 
 fications in detail. First, the child or children who 
 were taking part in the experiment were told that a 
 picture was about to be shown to them, and that they 
 were going to be asked to tell all about it after- 
 wards. Then the picture,f Das Fruhstuck Bild, was 
 shown for exactly one minute, after which the child 
 was invited to say what he had seen in the picture. 
 The statement then made was free and unprompted 
 in any way, and is alluded to henceforward as ' The 
 First Spontaneous Report.' After this report had 
 been given, the experimenter asked a number of 
 questions, and the child answered them. These an- 
 swers will be alluded to as 'The First Set of An- 
 swers.' Then, exactly one week later, on the same 
 
 *I wish to tender my thanks to Professor Marie Diirr-Borst and to 
 Professor William Stern for permission to utilize the picture "Da$ 
 Fruhstuck Bild." 
 
 fThis picture will be found in the front pages of the book in a de- 
 tached form, so that the reader may easily refer to it in conjunction 
 with any and every page of the monograph. 
 
 8 
 
GENERAL PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENT 9 
 
 day of the school week, at the same time of day, and 
 after the same school lesson as before, without any 
 further exhibition of it, the child was asked once 
 more to tell about the picture . The statement then 
 made will be referred to as 'The Second Spontane- 
 ous Eeport.' The questions previously asked were 
 repeated ; the answers given on this occasion will be 
 referred to as 'The Second Set of Answers.' Fi- 
 nally, the picture was shown again immediately after 
 the Second Set of Answers had been given, and the 
 children were told to put anything right which they 
 had said wrong. The statements then made will be 
 referred to as ' The Self-Correction. ' For each child, 
 therefore, there are five separate sets of data — a 
 First Spontaneous Eeport, a First Set of Answers, 
 a Second Spontaneous Eeport, a Second Set of An- 
 swers, and a Self-Correction. 
 
 The first work was done in London in two munici- 
 pal infants' schools, in one boys' school, and in one 
 girls' school. In the case of the infants — children 
 from 3 to 7 years of age — the work was done indi- 
 vidually; that is to say, each child was taken sepa- 
 rately by the experimenter in a room apart. In the 
 boys' and girls' schools the children were taken in 
 groups or classes. I propose first to describe the 
 work done in the poorer of the two infants' schools. 
 By 'poorer,' I mean situated in a neighborhood of 
 somewhat inferior social class. 
 
CHAPTEK HI. 
 FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS. SCHOOL A. 
 
 This school is a municipal school of medium size, 
 according to English ideas of size — a German or an 
 American would call it a small school. It contains 
 some 400 children whose ages range from 3 to 7 
 years. It is situated in a poor neighborhood, though 
 not in one of the poorest. If the elementary schools 
 of London were graded into four groups in accord- 
 ance with the social class of the children attending 
 the schools, this school would be found in the third 
 group, that is, towards the bottom end of the scale. 
 The school staff is a good one, and the Head Mistress 
 has had much practice in experimental work. About 
 one-third of the observations were made by the Mis- 
 tress and myself jointly; the remainder were made 
 by the Mistress alone. 
 
 Even with the unstinted aid of the Mistress, it 
 would have been almost an impossibility to take 
 every child in the school individually through this 
 Aussage experiment ; but it was hoped that, by very 
 careful choice of representative pupils of every age 
 from 3 to 7 years, the inaccuracy due to selection 
 might be, if not obviated, at least reduced within 
 very narrow limits. 
 
 First we found out how many children there were 
 of each age in the whole school ; then we decided to 
 
 10 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 11 
 
 take ten of each age, that is, ten 3-year-old boys and 
 girls, ten 4-year-old boys and girls, and so on. All 
 the children of one age would not be found in the 
 same class or grade of mental proficiency; thus, 
 every child of 6 years would not be found in Grade 
 III (an infant-school grading) ; some would be 
 higher and some would be lower in the school. So 
 the ten 6-year-old children were selected partly from 
 one class and partly from another, according to the 
 proportion of 6-year-old children contained in each 
 class in relation to the total number of 6-year-old 
 children in the school. A similar procedure was 
 adopted for the selection of typical children of other 
 ages. A further condition was insisted on : the chil- 
 dren chosen from each class were to consist of clever, 
 medium and dull children in equal proportions, and 
 the children were chosen so that, for each age-group, 
 the average age would be about half-way between 
 the limits of age for the group. Thus the 7-year-old 
 children would be so selected that their average age 
 would amount to 7 years 6 months; the 6-year-old 
 children would average 6 years 6 months ; and so on. 
 The work was necessarily spread over many months, 
 and there is always a possibility that the teachers 
 of the classes, unless they are accustomed to experi- 
 mental work, may, if aware of the nature of what is 
 being done, set themselves, as it were, to 'teach up' 
 to it. Consequently, great care was taken that the 
 character of the exercises should not be made known 
 to the class teachers until every child had done all 
 that was required. Subsequently, the method of 
 the experiment, with certain modifications, was 
 adopted in this school as a method of teaching ; but, 
 
12 children's perceptions 
 
 at the time of the experiment and previous to it, no 
 such methods were in operation. 
 
 As will be remembered, the plan of the experiment 
 required that the first spontaneous report should be 
 given just after the child had looked at the picture 
 for one minute. The first interrogatory followed 
 immediately. Then a week later, a second report 
 was given and a second interrogatory was made. 
 At the conclusion of the second interrogatory, the 
 self-correction was asked for in the way already ex- 
 plained — the self-correction involving a look at the 
 picture for the second time. The four previous ex- 
 ercises, namely, the First Eeport, the First Set of 
 Answers, the Second Eeport, and the Second Set of 
 Answers, all depended wholly upon observations 
 made by the child during one minute at the beginning 
 of the experiment. 
 
 At this juncture I ask those who read this ac- 
 count, if they are not already experts in experi- 
 mental work with children, to endeavor to take this 
 experiment themselves, with one or two children 
 at least. It will add to the ease with which the fol- 
 lowing account is comprehended if the exercises are 
 taken with the self-same picture, namely, "Das 
 Fruhstuck Bild" (The Breakfast Picture). 
 
 I think also it will add to the facility with which 
 the summing up of my results and the subsequent dis- 
 cussion are apprehended, and further will lead to a 
 more critical comprehension of them, if I give some 
 actual examples of what was done by the children 
 individually, and show in detail how the exercises 
 were marked. 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 13 
 
 L The Work of the Three- Year-Old Children of 
 School A.* 
 
 Ena M , aged 3 years and 10 months, gave her 
 
 First Spontaneous Report at 10.30 a. m., on May 6th, 
 1910. It ran as follows : — 
 
 Ena M 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 " A little hoy — a mother — a chair — a table — drip- 
 ping — basin — a floiver — a dolly." 
 
 Method of Marking the Spontaneous Reports. 
 
 I suggest the feasibility of making a numerical 
 estimate of these reports, and I propose to do so on 
 a basis of correct units of observation. Observation, 
 in the sense in which it has always been understood 
 by English pedagogy, implies perception and the 
 expression of it: there is an additional factor here, 
 for memory for a short period, a very short period, 
 is also implied. 
 
 The child, Ena M , is obviously in what has 
 
 been called the enumerative stage; she names per- 
 sons and things without any account of actions, of 
 qualities, or of the spatial relations between the per- 
 sons or things in the picture. Some of her identifi- 
 cations are not correct, but we have to ask ourselves 
 if they are allowable as fair interpretations for an 
 English child 1 The picture is a German one, and 
 some of the objects, as, for example, the 'black 
 
 *It must be understood at the outset that reliable results with very 
 young children cannot be obtained by persons who are unaccustomed to 
 work with them. A combination of sympathy and gentle insistence are 
 required in the experimenter. The questions are large in number for 
 little ones, and irrelevancies and periods of inattention are to be ex- 
 pected. The experimenter with patience will lead the children back 
 again to the matter in hand. 
 
14 children's perceptions 
 
 bread' and the school boy's 'satchel,' are not in 
 forms with which English children are acquainted. 
 Consequently, a certain latitude of identification 
 was allowed; 'basin,' for example, was accepted as a 
 correct description of the bread in the picture. But 
 it was not thought that either 'dripping' or 'a dolly' 
 were fair interpretations of any actual perception, 
 so that no marks were allowed for these. The word 
 "boy" is qualified as "little boy;" but teachers of 
 young children are of opinion that it is not a real 
 qualification; they hold that 'boy' and 'little boy' 
 are identical in meaning for young children ; so that 
 no additional mark was given for the apparent quali- 
 fication. 
 
 Thus Ena M receives 6 marks for her first 
 
 spontaneous report; one for 'little boy,' one for 
 'mother,' one for 'chair,' one for 'table,' one for 
 'basin' and one for 'flower.' 
 
 I append, immediately following, Ena M 's 
 
 Second Spontaneous Report given at 10.30 a. m. on 
 May 13th. I place the two reports in proximity for 
 convenience of comparison, but, in actual operation, 
 the First Interrogatory immediately followed the 
 First Report, and these were separated by an inter- 
 val of exactly one week from the Second Report. 
 
 Ena M 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 " A chair — a table — a box — a flower — a boy — the 
 mother — basin — a knife." 
 
 It may be profitably noted that the two inaccurate 
 enumerations, namely, 'dripping' and 'a dolly', 
 which were given in the First Report, have dropped 
 out, and two new items have come in. These are 
 
FIEST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 15 
 
 'box' and 'knife,' both of which were referred to in 
 the first interrogatory a week previous. The addi- 
 tional units of correct observation, therefore, so far 
 as this child's work is concerned, may be due to the 
 suggestive influence of certain questions in the first 
 interrogatory. Whatever be the cause, the second 
 report, as indeed is almost invariably the case with 
 children, contains more units of correct observation 
 than the first. The mark for the Second Spontane- 
 ous Eeport is easily seen to be eight as compared 
 with six for the First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 I will now show Ena M 's answers to the 
 
 First Interrogatory and Second Interrogatory, side 
 by side. They are given thus for purposes of con- 
 venience, but there was exactly a week's interval 
 between them; and the Second Set of Answers to 
 Questions actually followed in time the - Second 
 Spontaneous Report. The reader is requested 
 to compare the answers, question by question, 
 with the actual picture. 
 
 Ena M 's Fibst and Second Sets of Answers Given on May 
 
 6th and May 13th, Respectively, at 10.35 A. M. 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 1. Which side of the table On the other side Over there (showed 
 
 was the lady standing? (showed wrong- wrongly). 
 
 ly). 
 
 2. What was she doing? Holding some pud- Making a pudding. 
 
 ding. 
 
 3. How was the lady hold- Like that (showed Like that (showed 
 
 ing what she had in wrongly). wrongly). 
 
 her hand? 
 
 4. Had the lady anything Yes — dripping. Yes — dripping. 
 
 else in her hand beside 
 the thing you have 
 told me about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the A frock. A dress and a pin- 
 
1(5 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 
 Questions. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 
 afore. 
 
 6. 
 
 What sort of a hat had 
 she? 
 
 A blue hat. 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 7. 
 
 What was she wearing 
 on her feet? 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 8. 
 
 Could you see her feet? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 9. 
 
 Had she a pinafore or 
 apron on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 10. 
 
 Had she a frock on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 11. 
 
 What color was her 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 12. 
 
 What color was her 
 skirt? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Green. 
 
 13. 
 
 What color was her 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 14. 
 
 What color were her 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 Yellow. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 15. 
 
 What color was her 
 hair? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 16. 
 
 What was the boy do- 
 
 Playing and had 
 
 Playing and had 
 
 
 ing? 
 
 some cake. 
 
 some cake. 
 
 17. 
 
 How was he holding 
 what he had in his 
 hand? 
 
 ( Showed wrongly. ) 
 
 (Showed wrongly.) 
 
 18. 
 
 Where were the boy's 
 feet? 
 
 On the floor. 
 
 On the floor. 
 
 19. 
 
 What clothes was the boy 
 
 Trousers on. 
 
 Had a coat and 
 
 
 wearing? 
 
 
 trousers on. 
 
 20. 
 
 What color was the boy's 
 coat or jacket? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 21. 
 
 What color were the 
 boy's trousers or 
 knickers? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Green. 
 
 22. 
 
 What color were the 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 23. 
 
 What color were the 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 24. 
 
 What color was his hair? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 25. 
 
 What sort of boots had 
 the boy? 
 
 A pair of boots. 
 
 A pair of boots. 
 
 26. 
 
 What sort of shoes had 
 he? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 27. 
 
 Did you see anything un- 
 der the boy's chair? 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 28. 
 
 Did you see a jug or 
 vase? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
FIEST SEEIES OF EXPEKIMENTS 
 
 17 
 
 Questions. 
 
 29. What color was the jug 
 
 or vase? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug 
 or vase? 
 
 31. What color was the 
 . table? 
 
 32. What else was on the 
 
 table besides the thing 
 the lady was holding? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 35. What color was the 
 
 knife? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? 
 
 38. What color were the 
 
 flowers ? 
 
 39. How many flowers were 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves ? 
 
 41. How many leaves were 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the 
 
 flower-pot? 
 
 43. What color was the 
 
 box? 
 
 44. What could you see 
 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 
 
 45. What could you see 
 
 through the open door ? 
 
 46. Did you see a window? 
 
 47. What color were the 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- 
 
 pet? 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? 
 
 50. What room was it? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Butter. 
 
 Dripping. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 There (showed 
 
 wrongly). 
 Green. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 There ( showed 
 
 wrongly). 
 Green. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 On the floor. 
 Blue. 
 
 On a bow. 
 Blue. 
 
 Three. 
 
 Four. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 One, two, three. 
 
 Three. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 A lady. 
 
 A lady. 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 Yes. 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 It will probably be useful for illustrative purposes 
 if I give one more complete record of the worK of a 
 three-year-old child before passing on to a general 
 
18 children's perceptions 
 
 discussion of the questions and answers of these 
 three-year-old children. The work given below is 
 that of a boy, but the reader is cautioned against 
 drawing any general conclusions about sex differ- 
 ences on the basis of this and the preceding 'dossier.' 
 
 On May 6th, 1910, at 11.30 a. m., Robert H , 
 
 aged 3 years 8 months, saw the picture for one min- 
 ute and made his First Spontaneous Eeport. It ran 
 thus: 
 
 Robert H 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "A little boy — a lady — flowers — a cupboard — a 
 vase — a pudding — a table — a barrow on the floor." 
 
 Robert is still almost confined to the enumerative 
 stage. He mentions nine persons and things, and 
 for this receives nine marks for correct observation, 
 for 'barrow' is regarded as a fair identification of 
 the German satchel for a three-year-old English boy. 
 But Robert is passing beyond the enumerative stage ; 
 he has placed the * barrow' in relation to the floor by 
 using the preposition ' on. ' This positional reference 
 should also carry a mark. It is probable that, as 
 representing a higher mental stage than mere enum- 
 eration, it should carry more than one mark; but 
 partly to save complexity of marking and partly be- 
 cause I did not know how many marks to give, I de- 
 cided, at least provisionally, to give one mark for all 
 positional references. Robert therefore receives 10 
 marks for his first Report. 
 
 Then followed his first interrogation, the answers 
 to which I will give later. 
 
 On May 13th, a week later, at 11.30 a. m., he gave 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 19 
 
 his second report without again seeing the picture. 
 It ran thus : 
 
 Robert H 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "A boy on a chair — a lady against the table — a 
 floor — a box — a flower — a vase — a pudding — a bar- 
 row on the floor." 
 
 He enumerates the same things as before, with 
 the addition of the chair. This time he has made 
 three positional references, the boy is 'on' a chair, 
 the lady is 'against' the table, and, as before, the 
 barrow is 'on' the floor. He mentions 'floor' twice, 
 but, of course, does not receive an additional mark 
 because he mentions it a second time. For this re- 
 port Eobert receives 13 marks, an improvement of 
 30 per cent, on his first record. 
 
 Then followed immediately his second interroga- 
 tion and his self-correction exercise. The results of 
 the two interrogations follow : 
 
 Robert H 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on May 
 
 6th and May 13th, Respectively, at 11.35 A. M. 
 
 Fibst Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 1. Which side of the table There (showed There (showed 
 
 was the lady standi- wrongly). wrongly). 
 ing. 
 
 2. What was she doing? Making a pudding. Making a pudding. 
 
 3. How was she holding Like this (showed Like this (showed 
 
 what she had in her wrongly). wrongly). 
 
 hand? 
 
 4. Had the lady anything Yes, Bird's* cus- Yes, Bird's cus- 
 
 else in her hand be- tard. tard. 
 
 sides what you have 
 told me about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the Clothes. A lot of clothes. 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had Blue. (No answer.) 
 
 she? 
 
 *Bird is the name of a custard maker in England. 
 
20 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see them? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her 
 
 skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 14. What color were her 
 
 boots? 
 
 15. What color was her 
 
 hair? 
 
 16. What was the boy do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 17. How was he holding it? 
 
 18. Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the boy's 
 
 jacket or coat? 
 
 21. What color were his 
 
 trousers or knickers? 
 
 22. What color were his 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were the 
 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 the boy? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything un- 
 
 der the boy's chair? 
 
 First Set of 
 Answees. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answees. 
 
 Boots. 
 
 Boots. 
 
 Yes. 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 Blue. 
 
 Yes. 
 Blue. 
 
 Bed. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 White. 
 
 White. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 He was eating an- 
 other pudding. 
 
 Like this (showed 
 wrongly). It was 
 
 Eating a piece of 
 
 pudding. 
 Like this (showed 
 
 wrongly). 
 
 made of custard. 
 
 Bird's, you 
 
 know, don't you; 
 
 Bird's for the 
 
 custard? 
 On the big stick 
 
 under the chair. 
 He had a blue 
 
 jersey and blue 
 
 trousers. 
 Red. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Red. 
 Black. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 On the big stick 
 under the chair. 
 
 Blue trousers, blue 
 waistcoat and 
 blue jersey. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Red. 
 Black. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Yes. 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 
 
 21 
 
 
 Questions. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 28. 
 
 Did you see a jug or 
 vase? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 29. 
 
 What color was the jug 
 or vase? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 30. 
 
 What did you see on the 
 floor near the jug or 
 vase? 
 
 A thing. 
 
 A barrow. 
 
 31. 
 
 What color was the ta- 
 ble? 
 
 Bed. 
 
 Bed. 
 
 32. 
 
 What else was there on 
 
 Bread and butter 
 
 Bread and butter 
 
 
 the table besides what 
 
 and tea. 
 
 and tea. 
 
 
 the lady was holding? 
 
 
 
 33. 
 
 Did you see a knife? 
 
 Yes, just by the 
 
 Yes, just by the 
 
 
 
 side of him. 
 
 side of him. 
 
 34. 
 
 Whereabouts on the ta- 
 
 By the table (show- 
 
 By the table (show- 
 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 ed wrongly). 
 
 ed wrongly). 
 
 35. 
 
 What color was the 
 
 Black, and blue on 
 
 Black, and blue on 
 
 
 knife? 
 
 it. 
 
 it. 
 
 36. 
 
 Did you see a flower- 
 pot? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 37. 
 
 Where was it? 
 
 On the cupboard. 
 
 On the box. 
 
 38, 
 
 What color were the 
 flowers? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 39. 
 
 How many flowers were 
 there ? 
 
 A lot. 
 
 A lot. 
 
 40. 
 
 What color were the 
 leaves? 
 
 Bed. 
 
 Bed. 
 
 41. 
 
 How many leaves were 
 there? 
 
 A lot. 
 
 A lot. 
 
 42. 
 
 What color was the 
 flower-pot? 
 
 Bed. 
 
 Bed. 
 
 43. 
 
 What color was the cup- 
 board or box? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 44. 
 
 What did you see through 
 the open window? 
 
 (No answer.) 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 45. 
 
 What did you see through 
 the open door? 
 
 Houses. 
 
 Horses and carts. 
 
 46. 
 
 Did you see a window? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 47. 
 
 What color were the 
 walls of the room? 
 
 Blue and white. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 48. 
 
 What color was the car- 
 pet? 
 
 Blue and red. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 49. 
 
 Did you see a carpet? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 50. 
 
 What room was it? 
 
 The kitchen. 
 
 The kitchen. 
 
 
 Eobert H is marked as havins 
 
 ? 17 correct an- 
 
 swers the first week and 21 the second week. On the 
 
22 children's perceptions 
 
 first occasion only two color names were applied cor- 
 rectly, and these answers may be random shots ; for a 
 subsequent investigation showed that he called red 
 things blue; even his own red Jersey, to which he 
 was well accustomed, was called 'blue* quite unhesi- 
 tatingly. As might have been expected, he knew the 
 names of boys' clothes and mentioned various gar- 
 ments quite spontaneously, whilst he * hedged' in the 
 case of the lady's clothes by vague expressions ; and, 
 though the names of the lady's clothes were used in 
 the questions, he remained quite vague. But he is 
 certainly one of the most intelligent of the 3-year- 
 old boys in this school, and had correctly noticed 
 many things in his one minute 's look at the picture. 
 As is usually the case, his second interrogatory is 
 better than his first; and a careful comparison of 
 his second week's answers with those of his first 
 may indicate how far the actual suggestiveness of 
 the first week's questions have favorably or unfav- 
 orably influenced his second week's answers. The 
 lady's skirt, which he calls "Bed" the first time, he 
 calls "Blue" the second time, and gets a mark for 
 his second answer; this may very well be a chance 
 shot. He calls the lady's and the boy's boots "Ked" 
 the first time and "Black" the second time, and 
 scores marks for what is probably the knowledge 
 that boots are black rather than for correct observa- 
 tions of the boots in the picture. He recovers from 
 two suggestive influences which somewhat overcame 
 him in the first week. The lady's hat, which is non- 
 existent, he calls "Blue" the first week, but the sec- 
 ond week gives no answer to the question "What 
 sort of a hat had she?" To the question "What did 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 23 
 
 you see through the open window?" he gives no an- 
 swer the first week, but says, ' ' Nothing, ' ' unhesitat- 
 ingly, the second week. The walls of the room are 
 correctly described as 'blue' the second week, but are 
 described as 'blue and white' the preceding week. 
 In all other respects he repeats himself almost word 
 for word. Two of his identifications change; the 
 'cupboard' becomes the 'box;' this may have been 
 due to the questions in which the word 'box' was 
 used. 'A thing' becomes a 'barrow;' these expres- 
 sions being used for the school boy's satchel. 
 
 Method of Marking the Answers to the Questions. 
 
 I hope that Aussage experiments with this Break- 
 fast Picture will be made in other English and in 
 American schools, and that teachers and psycholo- 
 gists will wish to compare the results of their work 
 with those of mine. If this is likely to be done, it 
 becomes of extreme importance for me to make quite 
 clear how the answers were marked. What is a right 
 answer? Hasty persons, among whom there are 
 some educationists, will be very likely to pooh-pooh 
 such a question, and to regard it as superfluous. But 
 it is a very necessary one. Let me put it in another 
 form. How far shall the child be permitted to devi 
 ate from our adult perceptual attitude and our 
 knowledge before we call his answer wrong 1 ? With 
 this form of the question in mind, I propose to discuss 
 the questions and the kinds of answers which were 
 accepted. The questions vary much in difficulty, 
 and I suggest to the teachers that they put a mark 
 against those which they think the most difficult, 
 those which they think of medium difficulty, and 
 
24 children's perceptions 
 
 those which they think are easiest for children. I 
 can promise them some interesting surprises when 
 they come to compare their preconceived opinions 
 with the results actually found. 
 
 Question 1. Which side of the table ivas the lady 
 standing? The child who observed the picture and 
 was questioned about it afterwards, stood before an 
 actual table, at one end, so that the right-hand side 
 of the table in the picture where the lady was stand- 
 ing, corresponded with the right-hand side of the 
 actual table, where the child was standing. Young 
 children would therefore almost invariably point out 
 where the lady was standing, as if she were standing 
 at the very table which was then in front of them. 
 If they pointed anywhere along the right-hand side 
 of the table, their answer was accepted as correct. 
 All the 3-year-old children in this school pointed out 
 a place; they all used some words in addition, such 
 as, " There," "Over there," "On the other side;" 
 and they all, except one, pointed out the wrong side 
 of the table, or to the front, or to the back of it. 
 This is in striking contrast with the work of senior 
 children, as we shall see more fully by-and-by. When 
 we come to classify the questions later on, we shall 
 call this a ' position' question, and we shall scarcely 
 be surprised to find little children with an imperfect 
 apprehension of position ; but when we see how im- 
 perfect we shall be more careful in our teaching than 
 we now are to refrain from using positional terms to 
 them which are almost certain to be misunderstood. 
 
 Question 2. What was the lady doing f This 
 question apparently admits of a large variety of an- 
 swers. A sophisticated adult might, with consider- 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 25 
 
 able justification, say, "Nothing;" but that is not 
 
 usually what children say. Ena M , as we saw 
 
 above, said, "Holding some pudding" for her first 
 answer, and "Making a pudding" for her second an- 
 swer. Other 3-year-old children said, "Cutting pud- 
 ding," "Holding the pie," "Cutting the bread" 
 (three children said this), "She had a pudding," 
 "Making a pudding," "She's got a basin," "Put- 
 ting the dish away." All the answers are accepted 
 in which it is obvious that the children have ob- 
 served that the woman is holding something. That 
 is the action of the woman which the picture por- 
 trays. But if the children call the thing she is hold- 
 ing a pie, a cake, a basin, a dish, as well as bread, 
 are their identifications to be accepted? I asked a 
 large class of English students — principals and 
 other experienced teachers — what they thought the 
 lady was holding. Only one knew it was a loaf of 
 the German 'black-bread,' which had figured so 
 hugely on English placards (but drawn wrongly) 
 during the tariff reform and free-trade controversy 
 at recent Parliamentary elections. The majority 
 plumped for Christmas pudding (they had recent 
 memories of their own) and what Englishman shall 
 say they were wrong ! Some answers — a very few — 
 were given to this question which did not deal with 
 what the woman was holding, such as, "Looking 
 down at the table." They were accepted as indicat- 
 ing an activity of the woman, though a less obvious 
 one than that of holding the cake ; but no 3-year-old 
 child gave such an answer. 
 
 Question 3. Hoiv was the lady holding what she 
 had in her hand? This is another ' position' ques- 
 
26 children's perceptions 
 
 tion; but much more difficult than Question 1. No 
 3-year-old child was able to answer correctly; eight 
 of the ten of them showed by means of their own 
 arms and hands how the lady was holding the thing, 
 and two of them said, ' ' Like this ; ' ' one said, ' ' With 
 two hands;" another said, "As if she was going to 
 cut the bread;" another, "With that hand;" an- 
 other, "In her hand;" but none of the answers 
 showed that the children had observed and remem- 
 bered that one of the woman's hands and forearm 
 were round the front of the bread, and that the other 
 hand was lying flat, palm downwards, on an upper 
 edge of it. To expect a correct verbal description 
 of these positions, even from older children, would 
 be absurd, but I must confess to some surprise at 
 finding no spontaneous observations, or almost none, 
 which seemed to embrace these points. 
 
 Question 4. Had the lady anything else in her 
 hand beside the thing you have told me about? A 
 reference to the picture will show that the lady had 
 nothing else in her hand. What then is the pur- 
 pose of such a question as this? Inspectors and 
 teachers frequently complain that children "will 
 say anything," by which they mean they will ac- 
 cept whatever is suggested to them, even if it be put 
 indirectly as a question. And a frequent complaint 
 against many of our methods of elementary educa- 
 tion is based upon the opinion that much of our ap- 
 parently excellent teaching results in a sort of hyp- 
 notism of the pupils by the teacher. The teacher con- 
 ducts the lesson and the pupils strike in here and 
 there with wonderful success, but with little, if any, 
 real thought on their own part. In the language of 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 27 
 
 the psychologist, children are eminently suggest- 
 ible. One of the tasks of education is to break down 
 this suggestibility, and throw the children on their 
 own intellectual resources. This question then is a 
 
 question to test suggestibility. Ena M said in 
 
 answer to this question, "Yes — dripping." Other 
 answers given by 3-year-old children were, "Only 
 a spoon;" "A big pie;" "Yes, Bird's custard;" 
 "Yes, milk" (this child in the second interrogatory 
 said stoutly "No"); "Yes, the dish;" "Yes, a 
 knife;" "Yes, she had" (this child corrected herself 
 the week after, and said "No, only the pudding") ; 
 1 ' Yes, a loaf ; " " A knife, ' ' Not a single child resisted 
 the suggestion at first; two of them repeated what 
 they said before, namely, ' ' A big pie ' ' and ' ' A loaf ; ' ' 
 perhaps they did not understand what was meant by 
 that part of the question which ran "besides the 
 thing you have told me about, ' ' and just told us what 
 they had told us before about what the lady was 
 holding. 
 
 An interesting point is that, a week after, when 
 they were questioned again, the suggestion did not 
 operate with two of them, for they rejected it; 
 though all the rest repeated in identical words just 
 what they had said the week before. There is a strik- 
 ing difference in the way in which older and more 
 intelligent children respond to questions like this, 
 as will be seen more fully later on. 
 
 Question 5. What clothes was the lady ivearing? 
 We decided to accept as right answers any which 
 included the frock and pinafore or apron; thus 
 ' ' frock and apron, " or " skirt, blouse, and pinafore, ' ' 
 or "skirt, bodice, and apron" would all be accepted 
 
28 children's perceptions 
 
 as correct. No 3-year-old child gave a correct an- 
 swer the first week, though some did the second week. 
 Three of these children repeated the word 'clothes' 
 for both the first and second time of asking, and got 
 no further. The mental operation due to the subse- 
 quent questions of the first week may have pro- 
 duced the improvement found on the second occa- 
 sion. 
 
 Question 6. What sort of a hat had she? This is 
 another question to test suggestibility; since the 
 lady was not wearing a hat. Hats of various colors 
 were ascribed to her, white hats, dark hats, black 
 hats, blue hats and red hats. One child gave no an- 
 swer the first week and said "Nothing" the second 
 week ; and three children, after giving the lady a hat 
 the first week, gave no answer the second week. It 
 looks very much as if there were some factor in the 
 original impression which, so to speak, had more 
 durability than the thought which was the effect of 
 the suggestion, for the children were not told they 
 were wrong. To those adults who think these chil- 
 dren are lying or are stupid I suggest using the pic- 
 ture with one or two of their grown-up friends. 
 They will, if I mistake not, obtain more than one 
 description of the lady's hat. 
 
 Question 7. What was the lady wearing on her 
 feet? 'Boots' or 'shoes' or 'slippers' were all ac- 
 cepted as correct answers; one cannot really tell 
 from the picture which they are; though she is ob- 
 viously wearing one of the three. But her feet are 
 not clearly visible, and so the next question is about 
 them. 
 
 Question 8. Could you see her feet? This is some- 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 29 
 
 what of the nature of a suggestive question ; but as 
 the answer "Yes" is the correct answer and the 
 child may have seen them, we shall not include this 
 when we are working out a table of suggestibility. 
 
 Question 9. Had she a pinafore or an apron on? 
 This is a similar question to Number 8. It is sug- 
 gestive, and the suggested answer is the right one. 
 Only one 3-year-old child said "No," and she ad- 
 hered to it on both occasions. 
 
 Question 10. Had she a frock on? This question 
 is similar to Questions 8 and 9. All the 3-year-old 
 children answered correctly. It is a suggestive ques- 
 tion; but the suggestion may have awakened and 
 strengthened a fading memory; we cannot be sure 
 that it wholly produced the answer; consequently 
 we accepted 'yes' as correct. 
 
 Questions 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. All these are color 
 questions ; there is nothing in the form of the ques- 
 tion to suggest the answer. We ask for the color of 
 the top part of the lady's frock, of her skirt, of her 
 apron or pinafore, of her boots, or shoes, and of her 
 hair. 'Brown' and 'dark brown' were accepted as 
 correct answers about the lady's hair. Of course it 
 was unusual for the child to see a lady wearing a 
 'red' apron. "The novelty would strike them," I 
 can hear one of my readers exclaim. Well, it did 
 not appear to; both color perceptions and color 
 names with children of this age are very unreliable 
 from an adult point of view. Ena M— — 's answers 
 are obsessed by 'green.' This, however, is not the 
 most usual color name for very young children to 
 apply so freely. 'White,' 'black,' 'red' and 'blue' 
 are much more commonly used; though the word 
 
30 children's perceptions 
 
 'dark' occurs now and then also. We shall prob- 
 ably find, whatever emotional effect colors may have 
 upon children of this age, that, intellectually, as iden- 
 tified and named elements, they occupy a very low 
 place. This will very clearly be seen when we study 
 the tables which give the analyzed results for all the 
 3-year-old children. Let us now turn to questions 
 about the boy. 
 
 Question 16. What ivas the boy doing? Every 
 child has told us that there was a boy in the picture, 
 so that the observation of the presence of the boy 
 might be taken for granted. But what was he doing ? 
 A considerable variety in the answer might accom- 
 pany a correct observation. The 3-year-old children 
 gave such answers as "Had some cake," "Eating 
 his pie," "Eating a piece of pudding," "Eating a 
 cake" (this was said three times), "Eating a pud- 
 ding, " " Eating a piece of bread, " " Drinking milk. ' ' 
 One child said, at her first interrogatory, that he 
 was reading; and one child gave "Nothing" for her 
 first answer ; but both these children gave an accept- 
 able answer a week afterwards. Actions, though 
 there is less tendency with young children to make 
 a spontaneous report about them than to enumerate 
 persons and things, are still among the earlier phases 
 of mental experience which are perceived and named. 
 It is noticeable that only one 3-year-old child said 
 "Sitting down" in answer to this question, and 
 these words were given in addition to an allusion to 
 the boy's eating activities. The selective interest in 
 eating is not, be it said, confined to schools in poor 
 neighborhoods. 
 
 Question 17. How was he holding what he had in 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 31 
 
 his hand? "In his hand" was not accepted as a cor- 
 rect answer to this question ; the child was required 
 to show by holding his own hand in a similar posi- 
 tion, how the boy was holding the cake. This is a 
 position question of great difficulty, and correct an- 
 swers were very, very rare even among the boys and 
 girls in senior schools. Let anyone who is skeptical 
 as to the difficulty try a few intelligent adults with 
 the question. The interest attaching to it lies just 
 here. It is sometimes said that children notice de- 
 tails very minutely ; but details of position must de- 
 cidedly be excluded from the details which they no- 
 tice. They do not report them and do not answer 
 correctly when questioned about them. 
 
 Question 18. Where were the boy's feet? This is 
 another position question. The picture in this case 
 lays a trap for the non-observant, for it is not good 
 family etiquette for little boys in Germany to put 
 their feet on the rungs of chairs, especially when 
 they are, so to speak, officially receiving breakfast. 
 Nor for that matter is it in England. Yet the un- 
 usual position of the boy's feet does not impress 
 these children. "On the floor" was the favorite an- 
 swer: "Under the table" was another. Only one 
 3-year-old boy was marked for a correct observa- 
 tion. He said "On the big stick under the chair" — 
 a most unusual answer for so young a child. This 
 question, however, unlike the one requiring the posi- 
 tion of the boy's hands, was answered very much 
 better by the older boys and girls. We can conceive, 
 with big children, an influence from previous per- 
 sonal objurgation inducing a more perceptive atti- 
 tude on the matter ; but 3-year-old children could not 
 
32 CHILDREN^ PERCEPTIONS 
 
 get their legs on the rungs of chairs in that way, even 
 if they tried. The children are not giving us observ- 
 ations ; they are falling back on what they know to be 
 customary. But they do not knoiv that they are not 
 giving us observations, and that knowledge is just 
 what we want them to have. One boy, much older, 
 said ' ' On his legs ; ' ' but he was, I think, evading the 
 question. 
 
 Question 19. What clothes was the boy wearing? 
 In consultation with the teachers who were helping 
 me with this experiment,. I decided to allow any an- 
 swer as indicating a correct observation which gave 
 either 'coat,' 'jacket' or 'blouse' with either 
 'trousers' or 'knickers.' I am aware that 'blouse' 
 and 'coat' may seem far asunder to adult minds; 
 but after careful consideration we decided that they 
 were not thus clearly differentiated in the minds of 
 
 the little ones. In Ena M 's first report she 
 
 alludes to trousers only. Albert M said, laconic- 
 ally, "Things" for his first answer, and "Clothes" 
 for his second. One boy said "He was dressed up 
 like a girl." It is doubtful whether this answer 
 was due to the variegated nature of the boy's cloth- 
 ing, for this child had one color name only, and an- 
 swered "white" to every color-question that was 
 given him; but it might have been. One girl said 
 "black clothes." Children who gave him a hat or 
 waistcoat as well as a coat and trousers were not 
 regarded as correct; the mention or omission of 
 shoes and stockings was considered irrelevant. 
 
 Questions 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. What color ivas the 
 boy's coat or jacket; trousers or knickers; boots or 
 shoes; stockings; and hair? There is no difficulty as 
 
FIRST SEKIES OP EXPERIMENTS 33 
 
 to the answers which ought to be given to these ques- 
 tions, except with reference to the boy's hair. The 
 following answers about the color of his hair were 
 accepted as correct: golden; yellow; brown; light 
 brown ; ginger. The 3-year-old children did not give 
 all these answers. Ena M , as we saw when read- 
 ing the dossier relating to her work, said, ' ' green. ' ' 
 Other answers were 'black' (three times), 'blue' 
 (twice), 'dark,' 'white' (twice), 'red,' 'yellow.' One 
 could not be convinced that any child had made a 
 correct perception of the boy's hair; but a mark for 
 correct observation was given to the child who said 
 "Yellow." 
 
 The remaining color-questions about the boy's 
 clothing, except the one relating to his boots or 
 shoes, are not at all likely to be answered correctly 
 except on the basis of correct observation. Boys, 
 neither in Germany nor England, wear bright-green 
 jackets, bright-red trousers, and blue stockings. The 
 defective color-sense, and still more, the defective 
 color terminology of very young children, would lead 
 us to expect very few correct answers ; and the accu- 
 racy of the actual answers falls below even that lim- 
 ited expectation. For these young children do not 
 seem to have noticed even the 'red' trousers which 
 we might reasonably have supposed they would have 
 perceived and named. Only one child gave 'red' for 
 the color of the trousers, and only one gave 'green' 
 for the color of the jacket ; and both of these answers 
 may quite well have been guesses. The answers 
 were, however, accepted as correct observations. 
 There were five 3-year-old children who said the 
 boy's shoes were black, and adhered to that answer* 
 
34 children's perceptions 
 
 In all probability this high percentage of correct an- 
 swers arose from the children's knowledge that boots 
 were black and not from their recent observation of 
 the picture. Other answers were 'wides,' but in 
 every case color names of some kind were given as 
 answers. His stockings were given as 'black' 
 (twice), 'brown,' 'green,' 'white' (twice), and only 
 three times as 'blue;' and one of these answers of 
 'blue' comes from a child whose only color name is 
 'blue;' she answers "blue" to every color question 
 she is asked. It is clear that, if children at this age 
 delight in colored pictures, it is not because they are 
 keen on the identification and discrimination of the 
 colors as adults know them ; nor have they acquired 
 what, from our adult standpoint, is a satisfactory 
 color terminology by means of which to express 
 their perceptions. 
 
 Question 25. What sort of boots had the boy? 
 This is another question to test suggestibility. The 
 boy was obviously not wearing boots; but young 
 children, even if they notice the distinction between 
 boots and shoes, are ready to accept the implied sug- 
 gestion that the boy had boots on. One child said 
 "Sunday boots;" one said "A pair of boots;" but 
 the majority gave a color name. None of these chil- 
 dren rejected the suggestion. As I have said before, 
 striking differences will be found to occur with older 
 and abler children in answer to questions of this 
 kind. 
 
 Question 26. What sort of shoes had the boyf 
 Similar answers were given to those for the pre- 
 ceding question. One girl, however, having told us 
 that the boy's boots were 'dark,' repudiated 'shoes' 
 
FIKST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 35 
 
 altogether, and answered: "He ain't got no shoes, 
 he ain't." This was her first answer; the second 
 week she would not answer at all when the question 
 about the shoes was repeated; though she repeated 
 her first week's answer of "dark" when asked about 
 the boots. 
 
 Question 27. Did you see anything under the boy's 
 chair? A reference to the picture will show that 
 there is something under the boy's chair — a jug or 
 vase, to wit ; and it is a very unusual place for such a 
 thing to be. Four 3-year-old children said "No;" 
 four said * ' Yes, ' ' and two gave no answer. The an- 
 swer 'Yes' was accepted as correct unless the child 
 went on, as it did in three of these affirmations, to 
 say what it was — wrongly. One said "Yes, a 
 mouse." Another said "Yes, a bat." A third said 
 "Yes, a spoon." These are not 'lies;' the child does 
 not intend to deceive ; an associated idea comes to his 
 mind, or rather, arises within his mind, with the 
 same sort of feeling of reality as a remembered per- 
 ception. I do not assert that children of three can- 
 not lie ; that they cannot, with intent to deceive, assert 
 that which is not ; but we must not accept a solution 
 of this kind in such cases as these. These are not 
 cases of imagination, unless we are prepared to ac- 
 cept the term 'imagination' for mental products 
 which are purely matters of defective memory. A 
 spoon, a mouse, a cricket bat ; what more likely to be 
 under the boy's chair! They have probably been 
 seen under chairs on several occasions. In these an- 
 swers there has not been even a new synthesis of re- 
 membered things, and this at least we should re- 
 quire before dignifying the mental product with the 
 
36 children's perceptions 
 
 term ' imagination. ' There appears to be a mental 
 stage which is, as it were, a sort of complex which 
 is neither memory, as we know it, nor imagination, 
 as we know it ; it is that mental condition from which 
 memory and imagination are differentiated and 
 from which each emerges as such. To throw the 
 child upon his own resources in observation of this 
 kind and to endeavor to secure a self-correction of 
 his errors are some of the means of helping forward 
 this process of mental differentiation. There is no 
 way by which the teacher can do this for the child. 
 
 Question 28. Did you see a jug or a vase? This 
 question is of the nature of a suggestive question, 
 and the child that succumbs to the suggestion and an- 
 swers "Yes," without having any memory of hav- 
 ing observed the 'jug' or 'vase,' obtains a mark for 
 a correct observation. This does not seem satisfac- 
 tory ; but, having asked the question, I was bound to 
 allow a mark for the affirmative answer ; since it was 
 always possible that such an answer might arise 
 from the memory (assisted by suggestion) of an 
 actual perception of the thing, and not merely from 
 the suggestive influence of the question. At present 
 it seems to me that such questions should be avoided 
 in subsequent interrogation for Aussage purposes. 
 Two 3-year-old children said they had not seen the 
 jug and adhered to this on their second interrogation 
 a week later. Eight of them answered "Yes," both 
 on the first and second occasion on which they were 
 questioned. 
 
 Question 29. What color was the jug? Only one 
 
 child, Ena M , gave the color correctly, and she 
 
 used the color name 'green' with a lavishness which 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 37 
 
 to us adults seems quite reckless — she had probably 
 not observed that the jug was green. Other colors 
 given were 'white' and 'blue' — customary colors for 
 English jugs, which green is not. We must not, 
 however, suppose that none of the children saw the 
 jug because they could not remember the color ; any- 
 one can obtain satisfactory evidence in a minute or 
 two that children (and adults) can and do observe 
 things whose colors they have neither remembered 
 nor perceived. 
 
 Question 30. Was there anything on the floor 
 near the jug, and if so, what ivas itf This question 
 has reference to the school-boy's satchel which, as 
 has been pointed out previously, was in a form to 
 which English school-children were quite unaccus- 
 tomed. They did not know what it was, and it is 
 interesting to see that this lack of knowledge prob- 
 ably caused the thing to be passed over and neg- 
 lected. One 3-year-old said "a sugar-basin" the 
 first week and "nothing" the second week. The 
 first answer is evidently the result of an associa- 
 tion between 'jug' and 'basin.' The association 
 does not reappear the second week; the child then 
 answers "nothing." Both answers are wrong; that 
 is, neither receives a mark on our system of mark- 
 ing; but the second answer, from the standpoint of 
 fidelity of report, is obviously a better answer than 
 the first. A second child said "beer" the first week, 
 and gave no answer the second week — another asso- 
 ciated error which the interval between the two in- 
 terrogations appeared to correct. A third child 
 gave no answer on both occasions. A fourth child 
 gave "a man and a bat" the first week and "a boy" 
 
38 children's perceptions 
 
 the second week. A fifth child said "a thing" and 
 gave the same answer the second week ; this was ac- 
 cepted as a correct observation ; it was made by the 
 ablest of this group of 3-year-old children. A sixth 
 child said, "shoes" the first week and "a chair" the 
 second week ; both of these were doubtless observed 
 objects, but neither, as children express themselves, 
 could be said to be on the floor as well as near the 
 jug. A seventh child said "nothing" to both inter- 
 rogations, and ejaculated her answer with decision ; 
 she was one of the ablest of the group. Another child 
 answered "nothing" and adhered to that answer the 
 second week. *4 
 
 Question 31. What color was the table? This 
 question appears as if 'shot out of a pistol;' but it 
 must be remembered that, with scarcely an excep- 
 tion, the children had noticed and reported upon the 
 table, and that the interrogatory followed imme- 
 diately upon their report. 'Yellow,' 'brown,' and 
 'cream' were accepted as correct answers. As was 
 usual where colors were concerned, the answers of 
 the 3-year-old children were mostly 'wides;' color - 
 names were given in answer to the question, but very 
 rarely correct ones. 'Blue' and 'green' figured as 
 well as 'white;' as indeed, in one instance, did 'red.' 
 In no single case among the 3-year-old children was 
 a mark obtained for a correct answer ; though I was 
 sorely tempted to give a mark to a little boy who 
 said "I don't know;" his answer from the stand- 
 point of faithful reporting was probably the best. 
 He knew that he did not know; the others had not 
 advanced as far as that. 
 
 Question 32. What else ivas on the table besides 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 39 
 
 ivhat the lady was holding? This question suggests 
 that something was there, but does not give a clue 
 to the answer. One boy succumbed to the association 
 aroused and said "Bread and butter and tea." 
 He repeated his answer in exactly the same words 
 a week later. A second gave no answer the first time 
 and said "nothing" the second time. A third child 
 succumbed to an associative error and said "butter" 
 on both occasions. A fourth said "nothing" the 
 first time, and repeated the same answer a week 
 later. A fifth said "cups and saucers" the first 
 time, but answered correctly "a knife" a week later. 
 This may have been due to the working of the sug- 
 gestive question which followed this one on the 
 first interrogation, namely, "Did you see a knife?" 
 A sixth child gave no answer on either occasion. A 
 seventh said "only a loaf" and repeated the same an- 
 swer a week later. An eighth gave no answer the 
 first week, but at the second interrogation answered : 
 1 ' a tea-pot. ' ' A ninth child answered : ' ' butter ' ' and 
 "dripping" at the first and second interrogations, 
 respectively. And the tenth said "milk" the first 
 week, and added to her answer the second week by 
 saying "milk and sugar." 
 
 Question 33. Did you see a knife? This is rather 
 an unsatisfactory question, since an affirmative an- 
 swer must needs receive a mark as a correct obser- 
 vation ; for such an answer may have been the result 
 of an actual perception. On the other hand very 
 suggestible children will readily answer "yes." In 
 fact, every one of the ten 3-year-old children an- 
 swered "yes" to this question, both on their first 
 and second interrogation. 
 
40 children's perceptions 
 
 Question 34. Whereabouts on the table ivas the 
 knife ? It might be thought that this question and 
 the next, What color was it? would afford us a 
 means of judging whether the answer to Question 33 
 was a guess due to suggestion or an actual observa- 
 tion; but a moment's reflection will remind us that 
 children most certainly do observe things without 
 noticing their positions or colors, a consideration 
 which prevents us from accepting their answers on 
 these points as a sufficient criterion of the reliability 
 of an affirmative answer to Question 33. 
 
 This is another 'position' question, and, as usual 
 with young and mentally undeveloped children, was 
 very badly answered. One said the knife was in the 
 lady's hand and adhered to that answer. Five of 
 them showed a position on the actual table before 
 which they were standing, but their answers, though 
 given with no lack of confidence, were 'wides.' Two 
 children gave no answer or said they did not know. 
 Two only obtained marks for correct observation; 
 one of these said "Against the boy in the picture," 
 and the other said ' ' Just by the side of him. ' ' With 
 older children who gave their answers in descriptive 
 words the following answers were accepted as cor- 
 rect: "In the middle of the table near the edge;" 
 ' ' By the edge of the table ; " " By the boy ; " " Nearly 
 falling off the table. ' ' 
 
 Question 35. What color was the knife? By this 
 question was meant, "What color was the handle of 
 the knife? ; but, as the question was badly expressed, 
 it was necessary to allow "white and black," or 
 "black handle," or "black," or "brown," as correct 
 answers. It was not a very serious matter as far 
 
FIKST SEEIES OF EXPEKIMENTS 41 
 
 as the 3-year-old children were concerned, for they 
 answered "green," "blue," "black and bine," and, 
 as usual in answer to color questions, confidently 
 ascribed to the object their prevailing color-names. 
 Three children said * black' and were credited with 
 marks. Their knives at home may have been black- 
 handled; but these observation experiments cannot 
 exclude the influence of previous knowledge ; and if 
 this knowledge is sometimes helpful, it is also some- 
 times misleading. 
 
 Question 36. Did you see a floiver-pot? This is 
 another rather unsatisfactory question, for a sug- 
 gestible child can once more score a mark even 
 though it neither saw nor remembered the flower-pot. 
 Of course, we cannot be sure that a child who an- 
 swered "Yes" may not have seen and remembered 
 the flower-pot; and to some who had seen but had 
 forgotten it, the word 'flower-pot' would serve to re- 
 vive the memory. Every 3-year-old child in this 
 group answered "yes" to this question in both the 
 first and second interrogations. 
 
 Question 37. Where was the flower-pot? This 
 was another 'position' question. Only four of the 
 3-year-old children gave a correct answer at the first 
 interrogatory, though the number was increased to 
 seven at the second interrogatory. "On a box," 
 " On a stool, " "On the cupboard, ' ' were accepted as 
 correct, whilst with older children "On a trunk" and 
 "On a packing-case" were also accepted. It might 
 be objected that 'stool' is not a legitimate identifica- 
 tion of box, but that objection hardly touches the 
 position of the flower-pot in relation to the thing it 
 was standing on. One child who said ' ' On the table" 
 
42 children's perceptions 
 
 the first week, and was marked wrong, said ' ' Stand- 
 ing on a thing" the next week, and was marked right. 
 Another child who said "On the floor" the first time, 
 answered correctly the second time, "On a box." 
 One child said "Under the table" on both occasions. 
 Two others said "On the table" on both occasions. 
 Another pointed wrongly to a part of the room in 
 which she was being questioned, but, a week later, 
 answered correctly, "On a box." Older children 
 showed much superiority in answering this question. 
 
 Question 38. What color were the floiversf I ex- 
 pected rather a large number of correct answers 
 to this question, even from the 3-year-old children, 
 for 'red' is one of the earliest of children's color - 
 names, and one of the earliest color sensations to be 
 discriminated. But only three of the ten children of 
 this age answered the question correctly. Those who 
 were right gave the same answer on both occasions. 
 Two children gave "white" on both interrogations. 
 Five others gave "blue" and adhered to it a week 
 later. It is hard to believe that there is anything 
 here but sheer guess-work application of the color- 
 names of flowers known to the children, without any 
 present observational factor at all. Four-year-old 
 children are much better, and in no single case of 
 5-, 6-, or 7-year-old children is there an error. Again 
 there seems an indication that, whatever interest 
 very young children may have in colors, it is not one 
 which leads to correct identification and remem- 
 brance. 
 
 Question 39. Row many flowers were there? This 
 is an extremely hard question for very young children, 
 as, indeed, 'number' questions always are. It is true 
 
FIRST SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 43 
 
 that many of the children could have answered cor- 
 rectly if they had been told to count how many 
 flowers there were there, but the experiment aims at 
 finding out the spontaneous observations of children, 
 and very few indeed noted definitely the number of 
 the flowers, even though it was a small number, 
 namely, three. There seemed litle growth of this 
 power until 6 years of age, and even at 7 years of 
 age the answers were mostly incorrect. Of the 3- 
 y ear-old children, four answered "A lot," and ad- 
 hered to it. One said "Only one flower" the first 
 week, but advanced to "A lot" the second week. 
 Another said "them" (showing two fingers), and a 
 week later "them" (showing four fingers). An- 
 other said "three" the first week and "four" the 
 second week. Another said "three" the first week 
 and "two" the second week; another "one" the first 
 week and "two" a week later. The other answers 
 were correct. In this school there was no advance 
 in accuracy from the first week to the second ; there 
 was a slight — a very slight — movement in the op- 
 posite direction. 
 
 Question 40. What color were the leaves? All 
 but one of the 5-year-old children answered correctly 
 on both interrogations, and most of the 4-year-old 
 children. But only two of the 3-year-old children 
 gave correct answers. The older children know that 
 "leaves are green;" the answer, therefore, may not 
 have been the result of a remembered perception, 
 but the distribution of correct answers among the 
 children of various ages is almost identical with that 
 of the correct answers for the colors of the flowers, 
 and flowers are certainly not known to be red. 
 
44 children's perceptions 
 
 Among the 3-year-old children it would hardly be 
 safe to conclude that any of them perceived and re- 
 membered the color of the leaves, for the application 
 of the color-names possessed by these children might 
 give us 'green' twice as a matter of chance merely. 
 Other color names given by this group were 'blue' 
 (four times), 'red' (twice), 'white' and 'brown.' 
 
 Question 41. How many leaves were there? This 
 is another number question, a much more difficult 
 one than that about the number of the flowers. None 
 of these children in this infant school gave a correct 
 answer. It may be said, and said truly, that these 
 children do not want to know the number of the 
 leaves for any purpose whatever, and, therefore, 
 they are not likely to notice it. But every observer 
 of young children must have noticed that they often 
 count and enumerate as a matter of play, that is, as 
 a satisfying occupation for its own sake. However 
 this may be, the numerical interest as such was 
 found to be very small in these children. Answers 
 given by the 3-year-old children were 'one,' 'two,' 
 'three,' 'four,' 'five' and 'a lot.' 'A lot' was much 
 the predominating answer — a very good answer for 
 these young children; but it was not marked cor- 
 rect, for one of the objects of the experiment was 
 to see how far the spontaneous tendency to correct 
 enumeration was evident in children of various ages. 
 No infant-school child in this or in the other infant 
 school in which the experiment was made gave a 
 correct answer. It might be argued that they would 
 have done so, had more time been given for looking 
 at the picture ; but we are entitled to infer that they 
 appear to possess very little interest, as compared 
 
FIEST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 45 
 
 with that shown in other things, in the question of 
 exact enumeration. 
 
 Question 42. What color was the flower-pot? 
 This question should have been placed with Num- 
 bers 36 and 37, which also dealt with the flower-pot. 
 The flower-pot in the picture was a darkish-red, and 
 a few older children answered "brown," an answer 
 which was accepted as correct. The 4-, 5-, and 6- 
 year-old children were almost all correct, but the 
 3-year-old children gave only two correct answers, 
 those given on the first and second interrogations 
 being, for all these children, precisely the same. Of 
 the 3-year-old children, two said "black;" two said 
 "white;" three said "blue;" one said "green." 
 The two correct answers look like a chance applica- 
 tion of well-known color-names. 
 
 Question 43. What color was the box or cupboard? 
 The box was painted a light brownish-yellow, so that 
 it was necessary to accept either 'brown' or 'yellow' 
 as an answer to the question, and, with older chil- 
 dren, a few answers of 'cream' were accepted as cor- 
 rect. Five-, six-, and seven-year-old children an- 
 swered very well ; but 3-year-old children and 4-year- 
 old children were quite at sea. 'Yellow' and 'brown' 
 are color names which are late in development; 
 'yellow' especially is a hard word for young chil- 
 dren to learn to say. But is there any evidence that 
 they noticed the color of the box at all? The 3-year- 
 old children in this school gave 'dark,' 'blue' (three 
 times), 'white' (twice), 'black' (twice), and 'green;' 
 one child gave no answer. Each child repeated, a 
 week later, the same answer as at the first interro- 
 gation. 
 
46 children's perceptions 
 
 Question 44. What did you see through the open 
 window? This is a question to test suggestibility. 
 In this form a suggestive question is very difficult 
 to answer correctly, for the implication of the exist- 
 ence of the window is very strong. The word ' open ' 
 adds to the difficulty, for there was an open door in 
 the picture, though there was no window. The child 
 was considered to have resisted the suggestion if the 
 answer were given "There was no window," or 
 "Nothing," or even if the child persisted in giving 
 no answer to the question. No 3-year-old child re- 
 sisted the suggestion, though more than half of the 
 4-year-old children did so. The answers of the 
 youngest group are instructive and amusing. One 
 said "a cat" the first time and "a dog" the second 
 time; another said "flowers" on both occasions; a 
 third said "a cat" on both occasions; a fourth said 
 "curtains" twice; a fifth said "blue" the first time 
 and "all blue" the second time (she was not think- 
 ing of the appearance through the open door, as I 
 thought at first, for she called that "white" in an- 
 swer to the next question) ; a sixth said "a lady" 
 and adhered to that answer; a seventh said "a 
 flower;" an eighth said "a boy" the first week and 
 "a pussy" the second week; a ninth said "nobody," 
 but, in answer to another question, asserted that he 
 had seen a window ; the tenth child gave no answer, 
 but also asserted that he had seen a window. None 
 of these children, therefore, were considered as hav- 
 ing resisted the suggestion of the 'window.' 
 
 Question 46. Did you see a window? This was 
 another question to test suggestibility. It is in a 
 different form from that of Question 44, and one 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 47 
 
 that, with older children, would be less likely to mis- 
 lead ; the implication of the existence of the window 
 is certainly not so strong. But little children, and 
 some older ones, are anxious to gain credit for hav- 
 ing seen things, even when they may clearly remem- 
 ber that they have not seen them. Yet it is not ne- 
 cessary to adopt an hypothesis of conscious deceit. 
 For, with little ones at least, the suggested idea of 
 a window and a memory idea of a window are not 
 discriminated, as they are with older and more in- 
 telligent children. Every 3-year-old child an- 
 swered in the affirmative. 
 
 Question 45. What did you see through the open 
 door? This is another question to test suggestibil- 
 ity; for, though there ivas an open door, there was 
 nothing to be seen through it unless we accept 'the 
 sky,' or 'blue,' or 'white' as correct answers, as well 
 as 'nothing.' Let us accept these answers as indicat- 
 ing a memory of an actual perception, and regard 
 all other answers as indicating a failure to resist the 
 suggestion. Until 6 years of age, the majority of the 
 children failed to answer correctly. The 3-year-old 
 children, as in the case of Question 44, gave both 
 instructive and amusing answers. One said 
 "houses" the first week and "horses and carts" the 
 second week; a second said "a lady" (twice) ; a third 
 said "a flower-pot" the first week, but gave no an- 
 swer the second week. There is again an indication 
 here, both in the variation in the answers from the 
 first to the second week — an unusual thing — and in 
 the frequent rejection of an erroneous suggestion the 
 sceond week, after it had been accepted the week be- 
 fore, that there is an element of permanency about 
 
48 children's perceptions 
 
 the answers having some recent sensational basis 
 which is lacking to the merely suggested idea. If this 
 turns out to be true, its importance for the science 
 of evidence and the proper time for receiving testi- 
 mony is considerable. A fourth child said ' ' nobody ' ' 
 and "nothing"; a fifth gave no answer on either in- 
 terrogation; a sixth said "white" (twice) ; a seventh 
 said ' ' a knocker ' ' ( twice ) ; an eighth said ' ' a daddy ' ' ; 
 a ninth said "nothing" the first time and succumbed 
 the second time in answering "flowers" — a reverse 
 operation to the usual process; the tenth said "a 
 windmill" the first week and a week later "a lady." 
 It would be a valuable investigation, if the data were 
 sufficiently extensive for the children of each age, to 
 summarize in classes the kind of associative errors 
 which are made. All the errors of these three-year- 
 old children seem to be easily traceable to previous 
 experience, either of actual things or pictures of 
 them. 
 
 Question 47. What color were the walls of the 
 room? The color of the walls, as may be seen by 
 reference to the picture, is a greyish slatey blue ; it 
 was necessary, therefore, to accept 'blue,' 'dark- 
 blue,' 'grey,' or 'slate-color' as correct answers. 
 Not, of course, that these 3-year-old children gave 
 either 'grey' or 'slate-color' for any of their an- 
 swers; these refinements of color terminology do 
 not arise, except with older children. Of the 3-year- 
 old children in this school, one said "dark;" two 
 said "black;" three said "blue," two said "white;" 
 one said "green"; and one said "brown." It is 
 very doubtful whether there is much reliability to be 
 placed upon these results as indications of actual 
 
FIRST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 49 
 
 observation and memory of definite color ; the dark- 
 ness of the walls may have been perceived and re- 
 membered ; there is some indication that it has been, 
 but beyond that there is little to be said. All the in- 
 fant-school children in this school and, to a less ex- 
 tent, those of another school whose results will be 
 given later, show little or no power of observation, 
 or, at least, of description, when dealing with mixed 
 and nondescript colors of this kind. 
 
 Question 48. What color was the carpet? This 
 was intended as a suggestive question, implying the 
 presence of a carpet. There is no carpet on the 
 floor, and if any child answered "There isn't a car- 
 pet," the answer was accepted as correct. But it is 
 doubtful whether children could be expected not to 
 give the color of the floor — a brownish-yellow — as 
 the color of the carpet. On this consideration, the 
 question was classed also among the color-ques- 
 tions. Scarcely any 3- or 4-year-old children in 
 either infant school gave an answer which could be 
 considered correct as to color. 'Yellow' is one of 
 the latest of color-names (I am not speaking now of 
 intermediate colors) to develop, and 'brown' is also 
 late in development ; we should therefore expect that 
 a brownish-yellow would fail of identification and 
 description, as, indeed, it appeared to do. 
 
 Question 49. Did you see a carpet? More than 
 half of the 6 and 7-year-old children in both infant 
 schools resisted the suggestion and said they did 
 not see a carpet ; but all the 3-year-old children suc- 
 cumbed, and nearly all those of 4 years of age also. 
 
 Question 50. What room was it? To this ques- 
 tion there was an unusual number of correct an- 
 
50 children's perceptions 
 
 swers. At the first interrogation, five of the ten 3- 
 year-old children gave correct answers and this 
 number increased to 8 at the second interroga- 
 tion ; nearly all the 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-year-old children 
 in both infant schools gave correct answers and ad- 
 hered to them. The almost invariable answer was 
 ' ' the kitchen ; ' ' but a few children who said ' ' a back 
 room" were regarded as having given an answer 
 which, on the basis of their experience, might be re- 
 garded as correct. 
 
 Self -Correction of Three-Y ear-Old Children. 
 
 Though the procedure for self-correction was 
 carefully gone through with every child, no one of 
 3 years of age succeeded in getting a single mark 
 under this head. 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Three- Year-Old 
 Children, School A. 
 
 -Age 
 
 be 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. *■% .'- g 1 £~ g g 
 
 UCO faK few 0C« 
 
 Elsie A 3 5 Grade I* 7 13 12 
 
 Alfred W 3 6 Grade I 8 9 12 
 
 Ivy S 3 6 Grade I 10 15 12 
 
 Albert M 3 7 Grade I 9 14 8 
 
 Rose H 3 7 Grade I 7 11 9 
 
 Clara S 3 8 Grade I 12 16 16 
 
 Robert H 3 8 Grade I 10 17 13 
 
 Ena M 3 10 Grade I 6 12 8 
 
 Harry H 3 10 Grade 1 9 10 10 
 
 Daisy 1 3 11 Grade I 5 15 9 
 
 Average 3 7.8 8.3 13.2 10.9 
 
 Mean variation 1.7 2.2 2.1 
 Coefficient of 
 
 variability.... .20 .17 .19 
 
 * Grade I in London is an infants'-school grading, 
 mostly of 3-year-old and 4-year-old children. 
 
 O a> 
 
 o 
 
 a> o 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 15.8 
 
 
 
 3.0 
 
 
 .18 
 
 
 It consists 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 51 
 
 Comments on the Results of Table I. 
 
 The first outstanding result is one which was a 
 source of considerable surprise to the highly ex- 
 perienced teachers to whom I lectured in London on 
 this subject in the winter of 1910. Most of the 
 teachers were inclined to the opinion that, after a 
 week's time, the 3-year-old children would have for- 
 gotten all about it, for they had not seen the picture 
 again, nor had any references been made to it in 
 school in the interval between the first and second 
 reports. But, as will be seen from the table, that 
 was by no means the case. In all cases, except one, 
 the Second Eeport is better than the First Report, 
 and in every case except one the Second Interroga- 
 tory is better than the First Interrogatory. I at- 
 tribute this result, partly to the direct demand 
 which the work made on the child's own activities — 
 it was not something merely pumped in by the 
 teacher — and partly to the questioning which fol- 
 lowed the first report. It was also a source of sur- 
 prise to the teachers that these children so often 
 repeated on the second occasion, in both their spon- 
 taneous reports and in their answers to the ques- 
 tions, the very words they used on the first occa- 
 sion. A little reflection, however, on the poorness 
 of the vocabulary of such young children made this 
 feature seem reasonable rather than surprising. 
 The incapacity for self-correction seemed general. 
 
 II. The Work of the Four- Year-Old Children of 
 School A. 
 I do not wish unduly to swell this monograph by 
 giving illustrations from the work of individual 
 
52 children's perceptions 
 
 children. The tables and summaries of results for 
 the children of different ages and school grades by 
 whom the work was done are doubtless of much 
 more importance both for knowledge and guidance ; 
 but without a living basis in the knowledge of indi- 
 vidual cases, such summaries have an aspect of 
 vagueness and unreality which teachers dislike, and, 
 I think, rightly so. I propose, therefore, before giv- 
 ing a summary of the work of the 4-year-old chil- 
 dren in this school, to give one complete set of re- 
 ports and answers from the work of the pupils in 
 
 this group. Phyllis P , aged 4 years 9 months, 
 
 one of the best of the 4-year-old pupils, gave her 
 First Spontaneous Eeport at 3 p. m. on November 
 25th, 1909. 
 
 Phyllis P 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "I saw a lady and I saw a man. She had a basin. 
 The man was drinking something. The man was 
 sitting on a chair. There ivas a basin underneath 
 the chair and there was something else against it, 
 and there was something in the basin on the table. 
 I think it was porridge. There was some flowers] 
 behind the lady and they was in a pot, some roots 
 growing down and a little flower came up. The pot 
 was in a tin saucer. I don't know anything else." 
 
 Marking of Phyllis P 's First Spontaneous 
 
 Report. 
 
 The method of marking this report was, of course, 
 similar to that employed in the case of the work of 
 the 3-year-old children, since, later on, comparisons 
 will be required between the work of children of 
 different ages. 
 
FIKST SEEIES OF EXPEBIMENTS 53 
 
 It is obvious that, by virtue of a mere enumera- 
 tion of persons and things, Phyllis P scores 9 
 
 or 10 marks. She enumerates 'lady,' 'man' (it is 
 doubtful whether this identification should carry a 
 mark), 'basin' (two separate things, one the hemis- 
 pherical loaf, the other the jug under the chair), 
 'chair,' 'something' (the satchel), 'table,' 'flowers,' 
 'pot,' saucer.' 
 
 Two actions are noticed — the man is 'drinking' 
 and 'sitting.' There are several positional refer- 
 ences : the man is 'on' the chair ; the basin is 'under- 
 neath' the chair; something (the satchel) is 
 'against' the chair; one of the basins (the hemis- 
 pherical bread) is 'on' the table; the flowers are 'be- 
 hind' the lady and 'in' a pot; a flower is coming 
 'up', and the pot is 'in' a saucer. 
 
 A mark is given for the qualification 'little' at- 
 tached to 'flower.' 
 
 If this analysis has been made correctly, Phyllis 
 obtains 20 or 21 marks for correct observations. 
 
 For the purpose of easy comparison, I shall now 
 present her second report, though it must be re- 
 membered that in actuality it followed her first in- 
 terrogation and was not given until just one week 
 afterwards. It is dated 3 p. m. on December 2nd, 
 1909. 
 
 Phyllis P 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There's a lady, she has a basin with some por- 
 ridge in it. And there's a man. The man has a 
 saucer with a drop of tea in it. He was sitting on a 
 chair. There's a flower with some roses in it. 
 There's a jug underneath the man's chair, and 
 
54 CHILDKEN 's PEECEPTIONS 
 
 there's some water in the jug. There is something 
 else on the floor, and it looked like a saucepan. 
 There's a table and there was a knife on the table. 
 The room had green paper round it, and the door 
 was a little wide open. I don't know any more." 
 
 Marking of Phyllis P 's Second Spontaneous 
 
 Report. 
 
 In her second report, Phyllis P enumerates 
 
 'lady,' 'basin' (the hemispherical loaf), 'man,' 
 sancer (accepted as an identification of what the 
 boy is holding), 'chair,' 'flower' (by which she 
 means plant), 'roses,' 'jug,' 'something else' (the 
 satchel), 'floor,' 'table,' 'knife,' 'room,' 'paper' and 
 'door' (14 or 15 marks). Two things have dropped 
 out, the flower-pot and its saucer; four things have 
 been added, the room, the paper, the knife and the 
 door. The flower-pot, the room, the knife, and the 
 door were all mentioned in the first interrogatory, 
 but the saucer in which the flower-pot stood was not. 
 
 One action is noticed — the man is ' sitting. ' Again 
 the positional references are numerous for a child 
 of four years of age The man is 'on' the chair; the 
 roses are 'in' the flower (plant) ; the jug is 'under- 
 neath' the chair; something else (the satchel) is 'on' 
 the floor; the knife is 'on' the table; the room has 
 paper 'round' it; and the door is 'open.' 
 
 A mark for 'little wide' is given as a qualification 
 of 'open.' A total of 22 or 23 marks is thus ob- 
 tained for the second report. 
 
 I will now give the first and second set of answers 
 of the same child, each immediately following a re- 
 port, and the second exactly a week later than the 
 first. 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 55 
 
 Phyllis P 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 
 November 25th and December 2nd, Respectively, at 3.5 P. M. 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 1. Which side of the table This side (showed Over there (show- 
 
 was the lady stand- wrongly). ed wrongly). 
 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? She was holding the She was holding the 
 
 porridge. basin. 
 
 3. How was the lady hold- Like this (showed Like that (showed 
 
 ing what she had in wrongly). wrongly). 
 
 her hand? 
 
 4. Had the lady anything No. Nothing else in her 
 
 else in her hand beside hand. 
 
 the thing you have 
 told me about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the A skirt and a A skirt, a blouse, a 
 
 lady wearing? blouse, some brooch, some 
 
 stockings and shoes and stock- 
 some shoes and a ings. 
 nighty. 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had No hat. No hat. 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing Black shoes. Black shoes. 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? Yes. Yes. 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or An apron. No, she had an 
 
 apron on? apron on. 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? Yes. Yes. 
 
 11. What color was her Red. White. 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her Black. Black. 
 
 skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her She's got a white It was a blue apron. 
 
 apron or pinafore? apron. 
 
 14. What color were her Black. Black. 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 15. What color was her hair? Black. Black. 
 
 16. What was the boy do- It's a man. He It's a man. He 
 
 i n g? was drinking was drinking a 
 
 something, a drop drop of tea. 
 of tea. 
 
 17. How was he holding (Showed wrongly.) (Showed wrongly.) 
 
 what he had in his 
 hand? 
 
 18. Where were the boy's On top of one an- On the floor. 
 
 feet? other (crossed 
 
 her feet on the 
 floor) . 
 
56 
 
 children's perceptions 
 
 10. 
 
 20. 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 25. 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 31. 
 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 34. 
 
 35. 
 
 36. 
 37. 
 
 38. 
 39. 
 
 40. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 What color was the boy's 
 
 coat or jacket? 
 What color were the 
 
 boy's trousers or knick- 
 ers? 
 What color were the 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 What color were the 
 
 boy's stockings? 
 What color was his hair? 
 What sort of boots had 
 
 he? 
 What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 Did you see a jug or 
 
 vase? 
 What color was the jug 
 
 or vase? 
 Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug 
 
 or vase? 
 What color was the 
 
 table? 
 What else was on the 
 
 table beside the thing 
 
 the lady was holding? 
 Did you see a knife? 
 Whereabouts on the ta- 
 ble was it? 
 What color was the 
 
 knife? 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 The man was dress- 
 ed up. 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 They were like 
 black. 
 
 He had some slip- 
 pers. 
 
 Yes, a pot. 
 
 No, a pot. 
 
 Bed. 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Cups and saucers. 
 
 No. 
 
 There was no knife. 
 
 No knife. 
 
 Did you see a flower- Yes. 
 
 pot? 
 Where was it? On a tin saucer, 
 
 and on the floor, 
 and on the box. 
 What color were the Red. 
 
 flowers? 
 How many flowers were One. 
 
 there? 
 What color were the Green. 
 
 leaves? 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 The man was dress- 
 ed up. 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 Black. 
 
 He had boots. 
 
 Yes, a jug. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 Brown. 
 Only a knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 (Showed wrongly.) 
 
 The bottom of it 
 was yellow and 
 the top of it was 
 white. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Standing on the 
 floor. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Two. 
 
 Green. 
 
FIRST SEKIES OF EXPERIMENTS 57 
 
 Fiest Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 41. How many leaves were Two. Two. 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the Bed. Bed. 
 
 flower-pot? 
 
 43. What color was the box? It was a tin saucer. Yellow. 
 
 44. What could you see Nothing. Nothing. 
 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 
 
 45. What could you see The door wasn't The door wasn't 
 
 through the open door? open, only the open, only the 
 window. window. 
 
 46. Did you see a window? Yes. Yes. 
 
 47. What color were the Green. Green. 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- Black. Black. 
 
 pet? 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? Yes. Yes. 
 
 50. What room was it? The kitchen room. The kitchen room. 
 
 I suggest that with these questions and an- 
 swers before him, the reader turns to the discussion 
 on page 23, in which an attempt is made to give a 
 satisfactory basis for marking the answers right or 
 wrong. Then, on the lines indicated in that discus- 
 sion, I ask him, with the picture by his side, to mark 
 the answers for himself. 
 
 Phyllis P obviously fails to answer Question 
 
 I, succeeds with Question 2, fails with the second 
 positional question, Number 3, successfully resists 
 the suggestion in Number 4, omits the apron or 
 pinafore in Answer Number 5, again resists sug- 
 gestion in Question 6, gives correct answers to 
 Numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10, fails to answer correctly as 
 to the colors of blouse, skirt and apron (Numbers 
 
 II, 12 and 13), probably guesses the answer to 
 Number 14, and is quite wrong about the color of 
 the lady's hair (Number 15). In Answer 16, Phyl- 
 
58 childken's pekceptions 
 
 lis, who lias reported 'man,' will not accept the 
 suggestion that it was a 'boy' she saw. She thinks 
 the 'man' is drinking tea from a saucer, and this is 
 accepted as a legitimate identification of the ob- 
 served activity. Answer 17 is wrong, as it almost 
 invariably is with children of all ages, as is likewise 
 Number 18. Phyllis fails completely with the boy's 
 clothes, though she scores a mark for saying his 
 shoes were black (Questions 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23). 
 She is quite wrong as to the color of his hair (Num- 
 ber 24), and fails to resist the suggestion that he 
 was wearing boots (Number 25). She receives a 
 mark for describing his shoes as slippers in An- 
 swer 26 in her first interrogation, but goes back to 
 boots the week after. Marks are given for both 
 weeks' answers to Questions 27 and 28; it was 
 thought that 'pot' was a fair identification of the jar 
 under the boy's chair. Answer 29 was wrong the 
 first week and right the second week. Answer 30 
 fails to obtain a mark. 'Brown' is accepted as cor- 
 rect for the color of the table, but 'black' is not 
 (Question 31). The answer "cups and saucers," 
 given to Question 32, is an error of association, but 
 a week later the correct answer is given. Similarly, 
 to Question 33, the first answer is wrong, the second 
 one right. The positional question, Number 34, is, 
 as usual, answered badly. Neither of the answers 
 to Question 35 receive a mark ; it was not a yellow- 
 handled knife. The first week's answers about the 
 knife are interesting as showing a rejection of sug- 
 gestion as well as a lack of observation or memory ; 
 the second week's answers may have been due to 
 mnemonic revival or may have been a delayed re- 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 59 
 
 suit of the suggestive questions given the week be- 
 fore, or may have been due to a combination of these 
 factors. Questions about the flower and flower-pot 
 were well answered, but the numbers of the flowers 
 and leaves were wrongly given (Questions 36, 37, 38, 
 39, 40, 41, 42). Question 43 was evidently misun- 
 derstood on the occasion of the first interrogatory, 
 but a satisfactory answer was given the week after. 
 The answer to Question 44 appears to be correct; 
 nothing could be seen through the open window, for 
 there was no window there. In the next answer 
 (Number 45), however, the child shows that she has 
 not wholly resisted the suggestiveness of this ques- 
 tion, for she has accepted the implied presence of 
 the window. The answers to Qestions 46, 47, 48 and 
 49 receive no marks; the answer to Question 50 is 
 obviously correct from the standpoint of an English 
 child. 
 
 If this analysis of Phyllis P 's answers be 
 
 correct, it will be found that she obtains 19 marks 
 the first week and 23 marks a week later. 
 
 Phyllis P 's Self -Correction. 
 
 The self-correction followed immediately after 
 her second interrogation. She said, after she had 
 looked at the picture, "I didn't see a tin saucer. I 
 did not see any water. The paper was. blue. There 
 wasn't any cups and saucers." 
 
 Method of Marking Phyllis P 's Self -Correction. 
 
 In marking the exercises in self-correction, it was 
 necessary to see if the statements made were really 
 corrections of something wrongly stated before, 
 either in answer to the questions or in the reports 
 
60 children's perceptions 
 
 And if there was an insertion of something left out 
 in the reports, it was allowed as a correction, pro- 
 vided that the child indicated in some way that she 
 was aware that she had left it out. 
 
 If Phyllis P 's self-corrections are marked on 
 
 this basis, she obtains 4 marks for 4 definite correc- 
 tions of previous errors. 
 
 It will probably be sufficient to enable the reader 
 adequately to conceive the work of these 4-year-old 
 children if I now give the general table of results. 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 SUMMABIZED RESULTS FROM THE WORK OF FoUB-YeAB-OlD 
 
 Children, School A. 
 
 
 a ej 
 
 to tc 
 
 2 ■«+■> "2 2 
 
 og 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. «■§ £ £ *■% « & %~ ~g 
 
 O05 feM feM 02« 05 ij 05O 
 
 Rose D 4 3 Grade lib* 16 22 19 28 
 
 Hetty D 4 6 Grade Ha 10 30 19 28 1 
 
 Frank G 4 8 Grade lib 17 19 19 22 
 
 Rose C 4 9 Grade lib 12 15 12 15 3 
 
 Phyllis P 4 9 Grade 11a 20 19 22 23 4 
 
 William W 4 10 Grade Ha 12 24 22 28 5 
 
 Arthur R 4 11 Grade lib 13 23 14 23 
 
 Arthur B 4 11 Grade lib 14 19 14 20 8 
 
 Henry B 4 11 Grade Ha 18 23 24 31 6 
 
 Charles M 4 11 Grade Ha 19 22 29 24 5 
 
 Average 4 8.9 15.1 21.6 19.4 24.2 3.2 
 
 Mean variation 2.9 2.9 3.8 3.6 2.4 
 
 Coefficient of 
 
 variability.... .19 .13 .19 .15 .8 
 
 *Grade II in London is an infants'-school grading. It consists 
 mostly of children who will be five or five and a half at the end of 
 the educational year. Ila is the upper and lib is the lower division. 
 
 Comments on Table II. 
 
 Like the 3-year-old children, the children of this 
 age do better work in their second report than in 
 their first, and in their second interrogatory than 
 in their first. I offer the same explanations as be- 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 61 
 
 fore. Self-correction has begun; and, though it is 
 working by no means steadily, several of these chil- 
 dren achieve a good record. 
 
 III. The Work of the Five- Year-Old Children of 
 School A. 
 
 I give one complete set of reports and answers 
 from the work of this group. 
 
 George B , aged 5 years 7 months, who was 
 
 somewhat above the average of the 5-year-old chil- 
 dren, gave his First Spontaneous Report at 2.30 
 p. m. on November 22nd, 1909. 
 
 George B 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There's a lady with a blue pinafore on, and a 
 boy sitting up at the table eating a piece of cake. 
 There's a jug underneath the chair. She's got a 
 basin in her hand. She's got something in it. She's 
 holding it. The knife is on the table; it fell down 
 out of her hand. The boy's got red trousers and the 
 lady's got a red frock on and brown boots. There's 
 a door open. There's a bag down by the side of the 
 jug, and there's a flower pot." 
 
 Marking of George B 's First Spontaneous 
 
 Report. 
 
 By the enumeration of persons and things, George 
 
 B scores 16 marks. He enumerates 'lady,' 
 
 'pinafore,' 'boy,' ' table,' 'piece of cake,' 'jug,' 
 'chair,' 'basin,' 'hand,' 'knife,' 'trousers,' 'frock,' 
 'boots,' 'door,' 'bag' and 'flower-pot.' 
 
 Three actions are mentioned — the boy is * sitting' 
 and 'eating,' and the lady is 'holding' something. 
 
 There are several references to positions : the boy 
 
62 children's perceptions 
 
 is 'up at' the table; the jug is * underneath' the 
 chair; the knife is 'on' the table; the door is 'open'; 
 and the bag is 'by the side' of the jug. No mark is 
 given for 'in' her hand, it is regarded as equivalent 
 to 'holding,' which has already been marked. 
 
 A mark is given for the qualification 'red' which 
 is rightly applied to trousers; other qualifications 
 given, 'red' for frock, and 'brown' for boots, receive 
 no marks, since they are incorrect. 
 
 The total of the 'observation' marks for this re- 
 port is 25. 
 
 Then followed the interrogatory, which I will give 
 later; and, precisely one week afterwards, on No- 
 vember 29th, at 2.30 p. m., George B , gave his 
 
 Second Eeport. 
 
 George B 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There's a lady holding a black basin, and a boy 
 sitting up to the table. The boy's holding a piece of 
 cake. The knife is on the table. The door is open. 
 There's a flower-pot on the stool. There's a jug 
 standing underneath the chair, and there's a bag 
 down by the chair. The lady's got some cake in the 
 basin. She's standing on the floor. She's got a blue 
 pinafore and a red frock. The boy's got red trou- 
 sers and a jersey on. The boy's got a pair of stock- 
 ings on, and the mother's got stockings on as well. 
 I can't think of no more." 
 
 Marking of George B 's Second Spontaneous 
 
 Report. 
 Marks for enumeration are obtained for 'lady,' 
 'basin,' 'boy,' 'table,' 'piece of cake,' 'knife,' 'door,' 
 'flowerpot,' 'stool,' 'jug,' 'chair, 'bag,' 'floor,' 'pina- 
 
FIEST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 63 
 
 fore,' ' frock,' trousers,' 'jersey' and 'pair of stock- 
 ings,' making a total of 18, an improvement of two 
 over the enumerative marks of the preceding week. 
 
 Four actions are noted: the lady is 'holding' and 
 'standing,' the boy is 'sitting' and 'holding.' 
 
 The positional references are more numerous 
 than before. The boy is sitting 'up to' the table ; the 
 door is 'open,' the knife is 'on' the table; the flower- 
 pot is 'on' the stool; the jug is 'underneath' the 
 chair; the bag is 'down by' the chair; the lady is 
 standing ' on ' the floor. It is not considered worth a 
 positional mark to say, for example, that the trou- 
 sers are on the boy ; though it would have been had 
 the trousers, for example, been 'in' his hands or 
 'round' his neck, had these statements been correct. 
 
 There are also two accurate qualifications. The 
 basin is 'black'; the boy's trousers are 'red.' The 
 other qualifications given are inaccurate. 
 
 George B 's marks for his second report 
 
 amount to 31, an improvement of six marks over 
 those of the week preceding. 
 
 George B 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 
 November 22nd and November 29th, Respectively, 
 at 2.35 P. M. 
 
 First Set op Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 1. Which side of the table That side (showed That side where the 
 
 was the lady stand- wrongly). flower-pot was 
 
 ing? (showed right- 
 
 ly). 
 
 2. What was she doing? Cutting some cake. Holding a basin. 
 
 3. How was the lady hold- With her two hands With her two hands 
 
 ing what she had in (showed wrong- (showed wrong- 
 her hands? - ly). ly). 
 
 4. Had the lady anything No. No. 
 
 else in her hand be- 
 side the thing you 
 have told me about? 
 
64 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 5. What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her 
 
 skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 14. What color were her 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 15. What color was her hair? 
 
 16. What was the boy do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 17. How was he holding it? 
 
 18. Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the boy's 
 
 jersey? 
 
 21. What color were the 
 
 boy's trousers? 
 
 22. What color were the 
 
 boy's shoes? 
 
 23. What color were the 
 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 he? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answees. 
 
 A blue pinafore and A blue pinafore and 
 
 red frock. a red frock. 
 
 A little one. A whitish color. 
 
 Boots. 
 
 Yes. 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Bkie. 
 
 Boots. 
 
 Yes. 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 Blue. 
 
 Brown leather 
 
 Brownish color. 
 
 color. 
 
 
 White. 
 
 Whitish color. 
 
 Sitting on a chair 
 
 Sitting on a chair 
 
 holding a piece of 
 
 holding a piece of 
 
 cake. 
 
 cake. 
 
 (Showed wrongly.) 
 
 With his finger and 
 
 
 thumb (showed 
 
 
 rightly). 
 
 Underneath the ta- 
 
 Underneath the ta- 
 
 ble. 
 
 ble. 
 
 Red trousers, a jer- 
 
 He put his trousers 
 
 sey, brown stock- 
 
 on first. (What 
 
 ings and shoes. 
 
 was he wearing?) 
 
 
 A jersey and a 
 
 
 pair of red trous- 
 
 
 ers. I can't think 
 
 
 of any more. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 He had shoes. 
 
 Brownish color. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 He had boots. 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 
 
 65 
 
 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 
 Questions. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 27. 
 
 Did you see anything 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 Yes, a jug. 
 
 Yes, a jug. 
 
 28. 
 
 Did you see a jug? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 29. 
 
 What color was it? 
 
 A green jug. 
 
 A blue jug. 
 
 30. 
 
 Did you see anything on 
 the floor near the jug, 
 and if you did, what 
 was it? 
 
 A bag. 
 
 A school-bag. 
 
 31 
 
 What color was the ta- 
 
 Brown. 
 
 The tablecloth was 
 
 
 ble? 
 
 
 brown. 
 
 32. 
 
 What else was on the 
 table beside what the 
 lady was holding? 
 
 The knife. 
 
 The knife. 
 
 33. 
 
 Did you see a knife? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 34. 
 
 Whereabouts on the ta- 
 ble was it? 
 
 (Showed rightly.) 
 
 (Showed rightly.) 
 
 35. 
 
 What color was the 
 
 The handle was 
 
 The handle ivas 
 
 
 knife? 
 
 brown; the other 
 
 brown, and the 
 
 
 
 part was white. 
 
 piece that you cut 
 with was white. 
 
 36. 
 
 Did you see a flower- 
 pot? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 37. 
 
 Where was it? 
 
 On a piece of the 
 high cupboard. 
 
 On a stool. 
 
 38. 
 
 What color were the 
 flowers ? 
 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 
 39. 
 
 How many flowers were 
 there? 
 
 Three. 
 
 Three. 
 
 40. 
 
 What color were the 
 leaves? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 41. 
 
 How many leaves were 
 there? 
 
 Three. 
 
 Three. 
 
 42. 
 
 What color was the 
 flower-pot ? 
 
 Brown. 
 
 A reddish color. 
 
 43. 
 
 What color was the cup- 
 
 It was a yellow 
 
 It was a white 
 
 
 board? 
 
 cupboard. 
 
 stool. 
 
 44. 
 
 What could you see 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 
 
 Some leaves. 
 
 Some 'buses. 
 
 45. 
 
 What could you see 
 through the open door? 
 
 The street. 
 
 The street. 
 
 46. 
 
 Did you see a window? 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 47. 
 
 What color were the 
 walls of the room? 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 48. 
 
 What color was the car- 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Green. 
 
 
 pet? 
 
 
 
 49. 
 
 Did you see a carpet? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 50. 
 
 What room was it? 
 
 A little room. 
 
 The kitchen. 
 
66 children's perceptions 
 
 Marking of George B 's First and Second Sets 
 
 of Answers. 
 
 George B fails to answer Question 1 the first 
 
 time, but succeeds the week afterwards; succeeds 
 on the second occasion with Question 2, fails as 
 usual with Question 3, successfully resists the sug- 
 gestion made in Question 4, includes both pinafore 
 and frock in Question 5 (the errors in color are not 
 counted for this question, they appear again later 
 on) ; fails to resist the suggestion that the lady was 
 wearing a hat, gives correct answers to Numbers 7, 
 8, 9, 10, fails to name correctly the colors of blouse, 
 skirt and apron, guesses wrongly as to the color of 
 the lady's boots or shoes, and is quite wrong as to 
 the color of the lady's hair. In Answer 16, George 
 is correct on both occasions; and in Answer 17, 
 though wrong the first week, is right the second 
 week, a sequence which happened with his first posi- 
 tional question (Number 1). He fails to answer 
 Question 18 about the position of the boy's feet, 
 though he rightly answered the more difficult posi- 
 tional question, Number 17. Question 19, about the 
 boy's clothes, is answered correctly; but the color 
 questions following are badly answered, with the 
 exception of the one about the boy's trousers; the 
 'red trousers' appear in all George's reports and 
 answers. 'Brown' is accepted for the color of the 
 boy's hair (Question 24), and the suggestion in 
 Question 25 is resisted the first week, but succumbed 
 to a week afterwards. "He had shoes," said George 
 stoutly, the first week, but equally stoutly, a week 
 later says, "He had boots." Questions 27, 28, 29, 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 67 
 
 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 were all answered well, 
 though the green jug fades to blue the second week 
 and is then wrongly colored. The questions about 
 the flowers and leaves were well answered, though 
 the leaves were not numbered rightly, as indeed 
 might well be expected. 'Yellow cupboard' is ac- 
 cepted for the answer to Question 43, but 'white 
 stool' is not. George accepts the suggestion that 
 things can be seen through a non-existent window 
 and also through the open door, though he states in 
 Answer 46 that he did not see a window. Answer 47 
 is wrong. The suggestion about the carpet is not 
 resisted (Questions 48 and 49). 'Little room' is ac- 
 cepted as a correct answer to question 50, though the 
 more usual answer 'kitchen' is given a week later. 
 
 George B is one of the very few cases among 
 
 young children who scores less marks for his second 
 set of answers than for his first set ; he scores 30 the 
 first week and 29 the week after. He improved in 
 two positional questions, but moved backward in 
 three color-questions, and failed the second week to 
 resist the suggestion that the boy was wearing 
 boots, though he successfully resisted it the week 
 previous. His work is fairly average work for 5- 
 year-old children when considered as a totality of 
 marks for reports and answers, but it is exceptional 
 in falling off a little the second week ; and is also ex- 
 ceptionally accurate in the positional answer about 
 the precise way the boy was holding the cake. 
 
 George B 's Self Corrections. 
 
 "The boy's jacket was green; I said it ivas black. 
 There's a door. I didn't see a window. The lady's 
 
68 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 apron was red and her blouse was blue and so was 
 her skirt. Here's a bag. There's a lot of green 
 leaves." 
 
 Marking of George B 's Self -Corrections. 
 
 George corrects his erroneous assertion about the 
 color of the boy's jacket. "I didn't see a window" 
 of course received a mark, and he obtained three 
 more marks for his correction of the colors of the 
 lady's apron, blouse and skirt. Though he was ob- 
 viously aware that he had given the number of the 
 leaves wrongly, a 'lot' was not held to be definite 
 enough for self-correction. 
 
 Thus George's total score for self-correction is 5 
 marks. 
 
 TABLE III. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Five- Year-Old Children, 
 
 School A. 
 
 ■off 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. 
 
 Beatrice F 5 6 
 
 George A 5 7 
 
 Florence T 5 7 
 
 George B 5 7 
 
 Alice J 5 7 
 
 Gertrude N...... 5 8 
 
 Edward M 5 8 
 
 George P 5 10 
 
 Thomas P 5 11 
 
 Barbara H 5 11 
 
 Average 5 8.2 
 
 Mean variation 
 Coefficient of 
 variability 
 
 
 *S 
 
 
 £& 
 
 - — 
 
 S3 n 
 
 X o 
 
 
 £3 
 
 
 
 o © 
 
 OK2 
 
 fa£n 
 
 0OC3 
 
 k£ 
 
 02 U 
 
 Grade Ilia 
 
 22 
 
 31 
 
 33 
 
 31 
 
 7 
 
 Grade Ilia 
 
 20 
 
 31 
 
 28 
 
 34 
 
 4 
 
 Grade 111b 
 
 40 
 
 34 
 
 45 
 
 42 
 
 4 
 
 Grade Illb 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 29 
 
 5 
 
 Grade Illb 
 
 21 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 29 
 
 3 
 
 Grade Ilia 
 
 34 
 
 20 
 
 35 
 
 20 
 
 9 
 
 Grade Ilia 
 
 20 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 Grade Illb 
 
 11 
 
 22 
 
 30 
 
 25 
 
 1 
 
 Grade Illb 
 
 38 
 
 25 
 
 46 
 
 25 
 
 3 
 
 Grade Ilia 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 & 
 
 
 25.3 
 
 26.2 
 
 31.9 
 
 28.5 
 
 4.4 
 
 
 7.3 
 
 4.4 
 
 6.2 
 
 4.5 
 
 1.7 
 
 .29 
 
 .17 
 
 .19 
 
 .16 
 
 .39 
 
 *Grade III is an infant-school grading; it consists almost exclu- 
 sively of children who will be 6 or somewhat older by the end of the 
 educational year. Ilia is the upper division, Illb is the lower. 
 
FIKST SEKIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 69 
 
 Comments on Table III. 
 A great advance is to be noticed in the sponta- 
 neous reports of children of this age, and a steady 
 advance, though much smaller, in their power to an- 
 swer questions on what they have seen. As in pre- 
 vious years, the second report is better than the first 
 and the second interrogatory is better than the first. 
 Every 5-year-old child is capable of some self-cor- 
 rections and several of them make a considerable 
 number. I have, I think, previously suggested that 
 there is no better means than self-correction of this 
 kind for forcing into prominence the difference be- 
 tween 'reality' and 'fiction,' though by 'fiction' here 
 I do not mean merely consciously imagined ideas. 
 
 IV. The Work of the Six- Year-Old Children of 
 School A. 
 Following the procedure- previously adopted, I in- 
 sert one complete set of reports and answers from 
 the work of these 6-year-old children before giving a 
 general table of results for children of this age. On 
 this occasion I shall choose the work of a girl who 
 was one of the oldest and also one of the best of this 
 
 group. Annie D , aged 6 years 11 months, gave 
 
 her first report on Thursday, October 14th, at 
 2.15 p. m. 
 
 Annie D 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "I could see a little boy sitting on a chair, and his 
 mother gave him a piece of bread. The mother had 
 a basin in her hand, and she had a blue apron on. 
 On the floor there ivas a cushion and a jar, and there 
 was a flower-pot with some flowers in it on a box 
 and there was a door. This door was open a little 
 
70 children's perceptions 
 
 bit. There was some oilcloth on the floor. There 
 ivas a white ceiling. It was brown bread the little 
 boy was eating. It was yellow oilcloth on the floor. 
 There ivere four legs to the table. The mother was 
 standing. There was a lamp and it ivas in the day- 
 time. The mother had her hair rolled round at the 
 back." 
 
 Marking of Annie D 's First Report. 
 
 Annie correctly enumerates 17 persons and 
 things: 'boy,' 'chair,' 'mother,' 'piece of bread,' 
 'basin,' 'hand,' 'apron,' 'floor' 'cushion,' 'jar,' 
 'flower-pot,' 'flowers,' 'box,' 'door,' 'legs,' 'table' 
 and 'hair.' She mentions three activities : the boy is 
 'sitting' and 'eating,' the mother is 'standing.' 
 There are a number of references to positions : the 
 boy is 'on' the chair; the basin is 'in' the mother's 
 hand; the cushion and jar are 'on' the floor; the 
 flower is 'in' the flower-pot; the flower-pot is 'on' a 
 box; the yellow (oilcloth) was 'on' the floor; and 
 the mother's hair was rolled round 'at the back:' a 
 total of seven positional references. And there are 
 several adjectival and one or two adverbial qualifi- 
 cations: the door is 'open' and, moreover, it is a 
 'little bit' open; the boy's bread is 'brown,' and the 
 color on the floor is 'yellow'; the table has 'four' 
 legs; and, a remarkable observation for a child of 
 this age, the mother's hair is 'rolled round' at the 
 back; a total of 6 descriptive qualifications. Annie 
 therefore scores 33 marks for her first report, which 
 is a very high mark for a child 6 years old. 
 
 Then followed the first interrogatory, but, for con- 
 venience of comparison, I shall insert here the sec- 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 71 
 
 ond report given a week later, on Thursday, Oct. 
 21st, at 2.15 p. m. 
 
 Annie D 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "I saw a flower-pot with some flowers in it. It 
 teas standing on a box, and there was a white table- 
 cloth on the table; and I saiv a little boy and his 
 mother was giving him a piece of bread. The 
 mother had a plait at the front of her head. The 
 door was open a little bit. The little boy had black 
 hair, and his mother had black hair, and she had a 
 blue apron on. The little boy had some black shoes 
 on, and he had black stockings. He had short hair 
 and was just going to eat a piece of bread. He was 
 sitting on a chair. There was a cushion on the floor 
 and a jar. The door was brown. The mother was 
 standing the right side, and the little boy was sitting 
 the left side. The walls were blue." 
 
 Marking of Annie D 's Second Report. 
 
 There are 21 correct enumerations of persons and 
 things: 'flower-pot,' 'flowers,' 'box,' 'table,' 'boy,' 
 'mother,' 'piece of bread,' 'head,' 'door,' 'hair' (the 
 mother's and the boy's), 'basin,' 'hand,' 'apron,' 
 'shoes,' 'stockings,' 'chair,' 'cushion,' 'floor,' 'jar' 
 and 'walls.' 
 
 The activities correctly mentioned are the same 
 as before: the mother is 'standing'; the boy is 'sit- 
 ting,' and (a slight improvement) is 'just going to 
 eat' 
 
 The positional references are the same in number 
 as before : the flowers are 'in' the flower-pot, the pot 
 is 'on' a box; the basin is 'in' the lady's hand; the 
 boy was sitting 'on' a chair; a cushion and a jar 
 
72 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 were 'on' the floor; the mother was 'on the right 
 side, ' and the boy was ' on the left side. ' This gives 
 a total of seven marks for position. 
 
 The qualitatively adjectival and adverbial modi- 
 fications correctly used are as follows: the door is 
 'open,' 'a little bit;' the boy's shoes are 'black,' and 
 his hair is 'short;' the door is 'brown;' and the 
 walls are 'blue.' In this, as in the first report, there 
 is a reference to the woman's hair ; this time it is in- 
 correct. 
 
 For the second report as a whole, Annie D 
 
 scores 37 marks, an improvement of 4 marks on the 
 work of the week previous. 
 
 Annie D 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 
 October 14th and October 21st at 2.20 P. M. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Which side of the table 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? 
 
 How was the lady hold- 
 ing what she had in 
 her hand? 
 
 Had the lady anything 
 else in her hand be- 
 side the thing you 
 have told me about? 
 
 What clothes was the 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 The right side. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 The right side. 
 
 Giving the boy Giving the little 
 some oread. boy a piece of 
 
 bread. 
 ( Showed wrongly. ) (Showed wrongly. ) 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 She had a blouse She had a blouse 
 
 and a blue apron and a blue apron 
 
 and she had a and she had a 
 
 shirt on. skirt on. 
 
 She had no hat. She had no hat. 
 
 Blacl 
 
 • boots. 
 
 They were 
 boots. 
 
 black 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 
 
 73 
 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 
 Questions. Answebs. 
 
 Answebs. 
 
 10 
 
 . Had she a frock on? Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 11 
 
 . What color was her Blue. 
 blouse? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 12. 
 
 What was the color of Black. 
 her skirt? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 13. 
 
 , What color was her Blue. 
 apron? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 14. 
 
 What color were her Black. 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 Black. 
 
 15. 
 
 What color was the Black. 
 lady's hair? 
 
 Black. 
 
 16. 
 
 What was the boy do- Eating some oread. 
 
 Eating a piece of 
 
 
 ing? 
 
 bread. 
 
 17. 
 
 How was he holding it? He was holding it 
 
 He was holding it 
 
 
 sideways ( show- 
 
 sideways (show- 
 
 
 ed wrongly). 
 
 ed wrongly). 
 
 18. 
 
 Where were the boy's On the floor. 
 
 feet? 
 
 On the floor. 
 
 19. 
 
 What clothes was the He had a blouse 
 
 He had a blouse 
 
 
 boy wearing? and some trous- 
 
 and some trous- 
 
 
 ers, some boots 
 
 ers, some shoes 
 
 
 and some stock- 
 
 and some stock- 
 
 
 ings. 
 
 ings. 
 
 20. 
 
 What color was the Black. 
 boy's blouse? 
 
 Black. 
 
 21. 
 
 What color were the Black. 
 boy's trousers? 
 
 Black. 
 
 22. 
 
 What color were the Black. 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 Black. 
 
 23. 
 
 What color were his Black. 
 stockings ? 
 
 Black. 
 
 24. 
 
 What color was his hair? Black hair. 
 
 Black hair. 
 
 25. 
 
 What sort of boots had Black boots. 
 he? 
 
 Black boots. 
 
 26. 
 
 What sort of shoes had He had boots. 
 he? 
 
 He had boots. 
 
 27. 
 
 Did you see anything No. 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 No. 
 
 28. 
 
 Did you see a jug? Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 29. 
 
 What color was it? Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 30. 
 
 Did you see anything on Yes, a cushion. 
 the floor near the jug, 
 and, if you did, what 
 was it? 
 
 Yes, a cushion. 
 
 31. 
 
 What color was the ta- White. 
 
 White. 
 
 
 ble? 
 
 
74 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 Fiest Set of 
 Answees. 
 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 34. 
 
 35. 
 
 What else was on the Sugar 
 table beside what the 
 lady was holding? 
 
 Did you see a knife? 
 
 Whereabouts on the ta- 
 ble was it? 
 
 What color was the 
 knife? 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answebs. 
 
 A knife. 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? 
 
 38. What color were the 
 
 flowers? 
 
 39. How many flowers were 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the 
 
 flower-pot? 
 
 43. What color was the box? 
 
 44. What could you see 
 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 
 
 45. What could you see 
 
 through the open door? 
 
 46. Did you see a window? 
 
 47. What color were the 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- 
 
 pet? 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? 
 
 50. What room was it? 
 
 Yes. Yes. 
 
 Left side (showed Left side (showed 
 
 wrongly ) . wrongly ) . 
 
 The handle was The handle was 
 
 black and the black and the 
 
 cut part was cut part was 
 
 brass. brass. 
 
 Yes. Yes. 
 
 On a box. 
 Red. 
 
 On a box. 
 Red. 
 
 Three. 
 
 Four. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Six. 
 
 Five. 
 
 Bed. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Yellow. 
 The street. 
 
 Yellow. 
 The street. 
 
 The street. 
 
 The street. 
 
 No. 
 
 White. 
 
 No, a door. 
 Red, I mean blue. 
 
 The oilcloth was Blue oilcloth. 
 
 yellow. 
 No. No. 
 
 The kitchen. The kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Annie D 's First and Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Annie D starts off well with her first 11 an- 
 
 swers nearly all correct, except to Positional Ques- 
 tion 3. The color of the lady's skirt is given 
 wrongly the first week, but correctly the week after, 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 75 
 
 and the answer to Question 14 might very well be a 
 guess. The position question (Number 17) is an- 
 swered wrongly, as usual; and the position of the 
 boy's feet (Number 18) had evidently not been no- 
 ticed. Her knowledge of the colors of the boy's gar- 
 ments is obviously very small, and the suggestion 
 that he was wearing boots readily accepted. The 
 jug had evidently been seen, but not accurately 
 placed (Questions 27, 28, 29). The first answer 
 given to Question 32 shows an error due to associa- 
 tion, which is corrected the week after ; a correction 
 which may be due partly to the influence of Question 
 33, though it is fairly certain that the knife had 
 been seen and remembered. The Number Questions 
 (39 and 41) are, as usual, badly answered; whilst it 
 is interesting to see that, though the implication of a 
 window is accepted in Answer 44, in the less sug- 
 gestive form of Question 46, the existence of the 
 window is negatived. The answers to Questions 48 
 and 49 are accepted as negativing the suggestion of 
 a carpet and, on the first occasion, as giving cor- 
 rectly the color of the floor. 
 
 The total number of correct observations in the 
 first interrogatory is 31, and in the second is 32. It 
 is interesting to note which of the answers, wrong 
 the first week, are right the second week, and vice 
 versa. 
 
 Annie D 's Self -Corrections. 
 
 These, as already explained, followed imme- 
 diately after the second interrogatory. After look- 
 ing at the picture, she said : 
 
 "The little hoy had a green coat, and he had red 
 
76 children's perceptions 
 
 trousers, and green stockings; and the mother had 
 a red apron, and the jar was green; and there were 
 two irons on the cushion and they were black. 
 There ivere eight green leaves on the plant and five 
 red flowers, and the mould was black. The little boy 
 had his feet on the strip of the chair. The oilcloth 
 was yellow. The box was yellow, and I could only 
 see half of it. The bread was brown bread. The 
 mother had a little bit of yellow hair and a little bit 
 of black hair, and the little boy had brown hair. The 
 jar had a handle. The mother was looking down." 
 
 Marking of Annie D 's Self -Correction. 
 
 Annie seems well aware that her answers to ques- 
 tions about color and number had often been incor- 
 rect, for she set to work to correct some of them, 
 though not always successfully. 'Green' for the 
 coat, 'red' for the trousers, 'red' for the apron are 
 really corrections of previous errors; but she had 
 already said that the jar was green. The reference 
 to the two black irons on the 'cushion' was not a cor- 
 rection ; and, as there was no indication that she was 
 aware that she had omitted any mention of them 
 before, they were not marked as corrections. The 
 attempted corrections of the number of leaves 
 and flowers were wrong. The position of the boy's 
 feet is now correctly given, but she had already said 
 that the oilcloth was yellow and that the box was 
 yellow. "I could only see half of the box" was ac- 
 cepted as a correction. "The bread was brown 
 bread" was not an amplification, so no mark was 
 given for 'brown.' The corrections as to the color 
 of the boy's hair and the mother's hair are accept- 
 
FIRST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 77 
 
 able; but as we did not know whether the 'handle' of 
 the jar and the mother 'looking down' were not 
 rather part of a fresh report than a correction of 
 the old reports and answers, no marks were allowed 
 for them. Annie's indubitable corrections are 7 in 
 number. 
 
 TABLE IV. 
 
 Stjmmabized Results fbom the Woek of Six-Yeab-Old Children, 
 
 School A. 
 
 -M -WO 
 
 a» w> fcxi -jh 
 
 A ee , ""** +* g'O-w'Og "S 
 
 seS +» S 4* B gg g £ S 
 
 »« So. ?,?> ±£ 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. Jj-g £ 8 1 £•£ S * S£ ^ o 
 
 U02 SSS few KC3 G0>3 OQU 
 
 Charles G 6 3 Standard lb 23 27 26 29 7 
 
 Gertrude D 6 3 Standard la 39 39 41 39 7 
 
 William B 6 3 Standard lb 31 38 37 38 7 
 
 Henrv S 6 4 Standard la 42 29 51 29 7 
 
 George G 6 6 Standard lb 25 31 32 31 6 
 
 Benjamin E 6 7 Standard la 22 25 37 27 5 
 
 Rose C 6 7 Standard la 18 27 19 35 8 
 
 Violet A 6 9 Standard lb 30 23 24 24 5 
 
 Annie D 6 11 Standard lb 33 31 37 32 7 
 
 Ellen C 6 11 Standard la 24 26 55 31 12 
 
 Average 6 6.4 28.7 29.6 35.9 31.5 7.1 
 
 Mean variation 6.3 4.6 8.5 4.0 1.2 
 Coefficient of 
 
 variability.... .22 .12 .24 .12 .17 
 
 * Standard I is the highest grade in an infants' school ; it is really 
 
 the commencement of the senior-school grading. la is the upper and 
 lb is the lower division. 
 
 Comments on Table IV. 
 
 There is a steady advance in all respects on the 
 work of the preceding year. Again the second re- 
 port is better than the first and the second interrog- 
 atory is better than the first. Every 6-year-old child 
 is capable of considerable self-correction; it is a 
 function, or group of functions, which now works 
 steadily. 
 
78 children's perceptions 
 
 V. The Work of the Seven- Year-Old Children of 
 School A. 
 I give below one complete set of reports and an- 
 swers from the work of the 7-year-old children. 
 
 Olive H , aged 7 years 2 months, gave her first 
 
 report on Thursday, April 14th, at 10.10 a. m. 
 
 Olive H 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "I can see a lady with a Christmas pudding, and 
 there is a jug underneath the chair. The lady has a 
 blue skirt and a blue blouse and a red apron. The 
 little boy has a green coat and blue trousers. There 
 is a table with a pot ivith flowers in it. The flowers 
 are red and the leaves are green. It is standing on 
 it. The door is open. The pudding is on the table. 
 She is holding it and resting it on the table. There 
 is a knife on the table." 
 
 Marking of Olive H 's First Report. 
 
 There are 18 correct enumerations of persons and 
 things: 'lady,' * Christmas pudding,' 'little boy,' 
 'chair,' 'piece' (of pudding), 'jug,' 'skirt,' 'blouse,' 
 'apron,' 'coat,' 'trousers,' 'pot,' 'flower' (meaning 
 the plant), 'flowers,' 'leaves,' 'door,' 'table,' 'knife.' 
 The ' table ' with the pot on it is the box on the right- 
 hand side ; ' table ' was not accepted as a satisfactory 
 identification. 
 
 The boy is 'sitting' and 'eating;' the lady is 'hold- 
 ing' the pudding and 'resting' it on the table: a total 
 of four references to action. 
 
 The positional references are 6 in number. The 
 boy is 'in' the chair, and the jug is 'underneath' the 
 chair; the flowers are 'in' the pot, the pot is stand- 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 79 
 
 ing 'on' it (the table, wrongly identified) ; the door 
 is 'open'; the pudding is 'on' the table. 
 
 There are several correct qualifications. The 
 lady's skirt is 'blue,' her blouse is 'blue,' her apron 
 is red;' the boy's coat is 'green;' the flowers are 
 'red' and the leaves are 'green:' a total of six marks 
 for correct qualifications. 
 
 Olive H thus receives a total of 34 marks for 
 
 her first report. 
 
 Then followed the first interrogatory, and, ex- 
 actly a week later, on April 21st, at 10.10 a. m., Olive 
 gave her second report. 
 
 Olive H 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "I could see a lady in a blue shirt and a blue 
 blouse, and she had a Christmas pudding on the 
 table and she was resting her hand on it. There was 
 a knife on the table and the little boy had a slice of 
 the pudding. He had a green coat and a pair of 
 trousers. The lady had ginger-colored hair. There 
 was a jug under the boy's chair. It had a yellow top 
 to it and he was resting his feet on the rail. He had 
 brown shoes. He was looking at the piece of pud- 1 
 ding. The little boy had ginger hair. There was a 
 pot with some red floivers in it and it had some green 
 leaves on it. The door was open. There was a little 
 box what you put coals in down by the side of the 
 boy's chair. The lady was at one side of the table 
 and the little boy at the other. The knife had a yel- 
 low handle; it ivas near the corner of the table. The 
 jug had a yellow handle and there were two little 
 pieces of wood sticking out at the back of the thing 
 what you put the coals in." 
 
80 CHILDRESS PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Marking of Olive E 's Second Report. 
 
 This is an excellent report for a child of 7 years 
 of age. It is quite obviously fuller and more minute 
 than the report of the preceding week. There are 
 28 correct enumerations of persons, things, and 
 parts of things. Marks are obtained for 'lady, 7 
 'skirt,' 'blouse,' 'Christmas pudding,' 'table,' 
 'hand,' 'knife,' 'boy,' 'slice,' 'coat,' 'pair of trou- 
 sers,' 'hair' (of the lady), 'jug,' 'chair,' 'top' (of 
 the chair), 'feet,' 'rail (of the chair), 'shoes,' 'hair' 
 (of the boy), 'pot,' 'flower,' 'leaves,' 'door,' 'box,' 
 'handle' (of the knife), 'corner' (of the table), 
 'handle' (of the jug), and 'pieces of wood' (straps 
 of the satchel). 
 
 There are 14 positional references. The pudding 
 is 'on' the table and the lady's hand is 'on' the pud- 
 ding; the knife is 'on' the table and 'near' the cor- 
 ner; the jug is 'under' the chair; the boy's feet are 
 'on' the rail; the pot has flowers 'in' it and green 
 leaves 'on' it (the flower) ; the box is 'down by the 
 side of the chair; the door is 'open'; the lady is 
 'one side of the table, the little boy is 'at the other;' 
 the pieces of wood were 'at the back' (of the 
 satchel), and they were 'sticking out.' 
 
 The attributive qualifications correctly mentioned 
 are also numerous. The lady's skirt is 'blue' and 
 her blouse is 'blue;' the boy's coat is green; the 
 lady's hair is 'ginger' colored and the boy's is 
 'ginger;' the flowers are 'red;' the leaves are 
 'green;' the box is 'little;' the pieces of wood 
 (straps) are 'two' in number and they are 'little' 
 pieces. This makes a total of 10 qualifications. 
 
FIKST SEEIES OF EXPEKIMENTS 
 
 81 
 
 The actions mentioned are less in number than 
 usual; the boy is ' looking at' the piece of pudding; 
 the lady is 'resting her hand on' the pudding, and 
 it is doubtful whether the second is not rather a 
 statement of position than of action. 
 
 Olive H achieves the high total of 56 marks 
 
 for her second report, an improvement of 22 marks 
 on the work of the previous week. 
 
 Olive H- 
 
 — 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 April 14th and April 22nd at 10.10 A. M. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Which side of the table 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? 
 
 3. How was the lady hold- 
 
 ing what she had in 
 her hand? 
 
 4. Had the lady anything 
 
 else in her hand beside 
 what you have told me 
 about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 This side (showed 
 rightly). 
 
 At the corner 
 ( showed right- 
 ly). 
 
 I think she was Besting her hand 
 cutting her own- on the pudding, 
 self a hit of pud- 
 ding. 
 
 Like that (showed Like that (showed 
 nearly rightly). nearly rightly). 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse ? 
 
 12. What was the color of Blue. 
 
 her skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her Red. 
 
 apron? 
 
 No, she was only 
 
 holding the 
 
 Christmas pud- 
 ding. 
 A red apron, a blue 
 
 blouse and skirt. 
 She hadn't got a 
 
 hat. 
 I had not looked at 
 
 them. 
 I don't know. 
 An apron she had 
 
 on. 
 No, she had a blouse 
 
 and skirt on. 
 Blue. 
 
 No, she was only 
 holding the 
 Christmas pud- 
 
 A red apron, a blue 
 blouse and skirt. 
 
 She hadn't got a 
 hat. 
 
 Brown boots, I 
 think. 
 
 I think I could see. 
 
 No, an apron. 
 
 No, she had a blouse 
 
 and skirt on. 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 I think it was blue*. 
 
82 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 14. What color were her / don't know 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 15. What color was the Ginger. 
 
 lady's hair? 
 
 16. What was the boy do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Brown, I think. 
 
 17. How was he holding it? 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 
 25. 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 He was eating a 
 piece of Christ- 
 mas puddling. 
 
 Like that {showed 
 nearly rightly ) . 
 
 Leaning on the rail 
 of the chair. 
 
 Re had a green 
 coat and a blue 
 pair of trousers. 
 He was smiling. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 What color was his coat? 
 What color were his 
 
 trousers ? 
 What color were the Brown shoes. 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 What color were his Black. 
 
 stockings ? 
 What color was his hair? 
 
 had 
 
 Ginger, like the 
 
 lady's. 
 He had shoes. 
 
 What sort of boots 
 
 he? 
 What sort of shoes had Brown shoes 
 
 he? 
 Did you see anything Yes, a jug. 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 Did you see a jug? 
 What color was it? 
 
 Ginger. 
 
 He was eating a 
 piece of Christ- 
 mas pudding. 
 
 Like that (showed 
 nearly rightly). 
 
 Besting on the rail 
 of the chair. 
 
 He had a green 
 coat and a blue 
 pair of trousers. 
 He was smiling. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Brown shoes. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Red. 
 
 He had shoes. 
 
 Brown shoes. 
 
 Yes, a jug. 
 
 Yes. Yes. 
 
 It had a red rim Yellow, and a blue 
 and a yellow bot- rim nearly at the 
 
 31. 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 
 Did you see anything on 
 the floor near the jug? 
 
 What color was the ta- 
 ble? 
 
 What was on the table 
 beside what the lady 
 was holding? 
 
 Did you see a knife? 
 
 torn to it. 
 
 top. 
 
 A red thing with A little box where 
 
 two sticks at the you put coals. 
 
 back. I don't 
 
 know what it 
 
 was. It might 
 
 have been a box 
 
 to put coals in. 
 A yellow color. 
 
 Only a knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 A yellow color. 
 Only a knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
FIEST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 83 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- The knife was lay- The knife was at 
 
 ble was it? ing here, beside the side of the 
 the lady where lady. I think it 
 she was stand- was the right- 
 ing (showed hand side (show- 
 rightly), ed rightly). 
 
 35. What color was the It was a lead knife, The handle was 
 
 knife? grey. yellow and the 
 
 other part looked 
 as if it was made 
 of grey stuff. 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? Standing on a box. Standing on a box. 
 
 38. What color were the Bed. Red. 
 
 flowers? 
 
 39. How many flowers were Two. Three. 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the Green. Green. 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were / don't know. I didn't count 
 
 there ? them. 
 
 42. What color was the Red. Red. 
 
 flower-pot ? 
 
 43. What color was the box? Yellow. Yellow. 
 
 44. What could you see It wasn't a win- It wasn't a win- 
 
 through the open win- dow. dow. 
 
 dow? 
 
 45. What could you see A bit of the gar- A bit of the gar- 
 
 through the open door? den. den. 
 
 46. Did you see a window? No. No. 
 
 47. What color were the Yellow. Yellow. 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- / think that was It didn't have a 
 
 pet? yellow. carpet. 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? The floor was yel- No, it didn't have 
 
 low. No, it a carpet. 
 
 didn't have a 
 
 carpet. 
 
 50. What room was it? I think it was a I think it was a 
 
 dining-room. dining-room. 
 
 Marking of Olive H 's First and Second Sets of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 The questions are excellently answered. Olive 
 H is one of the best of the children of this group 
 
84 children's perceptions 
 
 in the interrogatory work. One of the children is 
 decidedly better, and three of them are approxi- 
 mately equal to Olive. One or two notes with refer- 
 ence to her answers may be found serviceable. She 
 fails on both occasions in the position question 
 (Number 3) ; she does not exactly know how the lady 
 was holding the loaf; but she is very nearly right. 
 She resists suggestion extremely well, as witness 
 her decided answers to Questions 4 and 6. In an- 
 swer to Questions 7 and 8, she scores marks the sec- 
 ond week, but fails the first week; her failure is, 
 however, nearly, if not quite, as satisfactory as her 
 success. It is interesting to note that, in the course 
 of the week's interval, she has temporarily for- 
 gotten the color of the lady's apron (Question 13), 
 but only temporarily, one would suppose, for a min- 
 ute or so before she has said it was red (Answer 5). 
 The position question 17, like Question 3, is an- 
 swered wrongly, but again, most unusually, the an- 
 swer is nearly right. The position of the boy's feet 
 has been correctly observed and remembered, but 
 the colors of his trousers and shoes and stockings 
 are invariably given wrongly. Suggestion is re- 
 sisted as before in Answer 25 ; and the jug is gratu- 
 itously provided with a colored rim, 'red' the first 
 week and 'blue' the second. It was necessary to 
 mark the answer about the knife as correct. I have 
 explained, when discussing the marking of the an- 
 swers, that this question was badly framed, and this 
 child does seem to have noticed the appearance of 
 the blade, though she is wrong, the second week, as 
 to the handle. She knows she does not know how 
 many leaves there were on the plant (Question 41) ; 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 85 
 
 and resists the implication of the window in Ques- 
 tion 44. Dining-room is accepted as a satisfactory 
 answer to the last question. 
 
 Olive H thus receives 37 marks for her first 
 
 interrogatory and 39 for her second. 
 
 After the second interrogatory, the child was 
 again allowed to see the picture and to correct any- 
 thing which she had given wrongly, as has already 
 been explained. 
 
 Olive H~ 's Self-Correction. 
 
 "The walls were blue and I told you yellow. It 
 ivas the door that ivas yellow. The floiver had eight 
 leaves on it. The jug hadn't a blue rim round it. 
 The lady had a red apron on. She had black shoes 
 and the little boy had black shoes and black stock- 
 ings. He had red trousers; I said they were blue, 
 but they're red. The knife had a black handle, it 
 didn't have a yellow one. The pot was red and I 
 said it was yellow. No, I didn't, I said it was red." 
 
 Marking of Olive H 's Self -Correction. 
 
 From Olive's self-correction, it seems quite clear 
 that we must turn to her original reports and inter- 
 rogatories to see just what she did say. She did say 
 the walls of the room were yellow,' and 'blue' is an 
 acceptable correction. No statement had been made 
 as to the color of the door, nor was there any indi- 
 cation that the child was aware she had left it out 
 previously, so no mark was given for it ; quite obvi- 
 ously, it is offered as an excuse for having gone 
 wrong about the color of the walls. Olive was aware 
 that she had left out the number of the leaves, but, 
 unfortunately for her, there were not eight, but 
 
86 children's perceptions 
 
 nine; so that her correction is not itself correct. 
 "The jug had not a blue rim," though she had 
 formerly asserted it to have one ; this, therefore, is 
 an admitted correction. The color of the lady's 
 apron is a correction of the answer given in the sec- 
 ond interrogatory. The color of the lady's shoes, 
 and the boy's shoes, stockings and trousers are all 
 real corrections of error, as is also the statement as 
 to the color of the handle of the knife. She was 
 quite right about the flower-pot from the first; she 
 had said something was yellow which was not, and 
 the continued consciousness of this confused her a 
 little, in a way which we are indeed fortunate if we 
 have never personally experienced. Eight marks 
 are therefore gained for self-correction. 
 
 I will ask the reader to note that Olive H 's 
 
 work is distinctly above that of the average 7-year- 
 old child, as will be seen from the following table. 
 
 TABLE V. 
 
 SUMMABIZED RESULTS FROM THE WORK OF FOUR-YEAR-OLD 
 
 Children, School A. 
 
 a 
 
 a* W> 60 -rt 
 
 . w 2 to 2 bS o? ©3 <i J« 
 
 , — Age — > oj^3 n a £-3 u a v& a t> 
 
 ■».T - Vt- wii. hu -* a> ."ri 0)0) a>r] a> © 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. xjzn fees fa>q oqM 02S 02U 
 
 Olive H 7 2 Standard la 34 37 56 39 8 
 
 Isabella W 7 3 Standard la 40 43 53 42 7 
 
 Molly C 7 4 Standard lb 32 38 39 38 3 
 
 William T 7 5 Standard la 39 36 55 38 4 
 
 Constance R 7 6 Standard la 55 37 66 36 4 
 
 Annie S 7 6 Standard lb 20 25 23 27 6 
 
 John M 7 6 Standard lb 22 27 29 28 11 
 
 Eric P 7 7 Standard la 27 33 49 36 9 
 
 Arthur W 7 7 Standard lb 31 30 36 33 4 
 
 Frederic G 7 7 Standard lb 23 29 27 28 4 
 
 Average 7 5.3 32.3 33.5 43.3 34.5 6.0 
 
 Mean variation 7.8 4.7 12.4 4.4 2.2 
 
 ♦Standard I is the highest grade in an infants' school ; it is really 
 
 the commencement of the senior-school grading. la is the upper and 
 lb is the lower division. 
 
FIEST SEKIES OF EXPERIMENTS 87 
 
 Comments on Table V. 
 
 There is a steady advance shown in all respects, 
 except that of self-correction, beyond the work of 
 the 6-year-old children, though the variability with- 
 in the group is decidedly high. 
 
 Summarized Results of the Work of the Children in 
 School A. 
 A comparison between the average results of the 
 work of the 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old children may 
 most easily be made by reference to the figures of 
 Table VI. 
 
 TABLE VI. 
 
 Summarized Results for All Children of School A. 
 
 , Average Marks for \ 
 
 < 
 
 o.q ' 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 ige age.- v 
 Mths. 
 
 
 fa-H 
 
 5 <u 
 
 KP5 
 
 «2m 
 
 
 3—4 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 7.8 
 
 8.3 
 
 13.2 
 
 10.9 
 
 15.8 
 
 0.0 
 
 4—5 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 8.9 
 
 15.1 
 
 21.6 
 
 19.4 
 
 24.2 
 
 3.2 
 
 5—6 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 8.2 
 
 25.3 
 
 26.3 
 
 31.9 
 
 28.5 
 
 4.4 
 
 6—7 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 6.4 
 
 28.7 
 
 29.6 
 
 35.9 
 
 31.5 
 
 7.1 
 
 7-8 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 5.2 
 
 32.3 
 
 33.5 
 
 43.3 
 
 34.5 
 
 6.0 
 
 Comments on Table VI. 
 
 It may be of service if I call attention to a few 
 of the more prominent of the statistical relation- 
 ships between the numbers given in Table VI. 
 
 1. From 3 years to 7 years the marks both for 
 the 1st and 2nd Eeports quadruple themselves. 
 
 2. From 3 years to 7 years of age the marks for 
 the 1st and 2nd Interrogatories rather more than 
 double themselves. 
 
 3. The power of reporting, therefore, grows 
 much more rapidly than the power of observation 
 
88 children's perceptions 
 
 in the narrower sense. Whether this difference is a 
 natural one or a nurtural one, or to what extent the 
 difference is natural or environmental cannot be de- 
 termined with certainty from experiments like 
 these. The school curriculum and method of today 
 certainly favor a development of a linguistic kind 
 rather than one of an observational kind. It is true 
 that experimental work on adults also seems to show 
 comparatively little development in visual percep- 
 tion as compared with progress made in reporting 
 upon percepts. But this of itself may be a result of 
 school training and life work rather than of inade- 
 quate natural endowment. For in schools and life 
 it is very important that we should be able to give 
 accounts of what we see and know; it is of less ac- 
 count to most of us that we should see all there is to 
 be seen. The living intelligence, quite rightly, is 
 selective ; and we must remember that, in cultivating 
 observation — if we can cultivate it — we should con- 
 sider always, What for I as well as How ? 
 
 4. The self-corrections do not begin until after 
 the age of three is passed; there is then a steady 
 rise with age and capacity, but a slight fall at the 
 age of seven, which occurs also in the other infants' 
 school in which these experiments were made. This 
 self-correction is, perhaps, the most highly educa- 
 tive aspect of these experiments. The child has to 
 remember what he has already said and compare 
 with what he now sees. It is an excellent means of 
 correcting that pernicious habit of mind, which, un- 
 der the name of 'imagination' (a term falsely ap- 
 plied psychologically), cannot distinguish what it 
 thinks from what it knows, and cannot separate its 
 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 89 
 
 own contributions to, and interpolations between, 
 the facts from the facts themselves. That our most 
 confident statements may be wrong, and wrong, too, 
 on the evidence of our own perceptions, is a most 
 valuable lesson. We are frequently told by others 
 (children are very candid to one another in this re- 
 spect) that we are quite in error; but that shakes us 
 very little ; we know, we think, why other people say 
 so; and, if we cannot find an unworthy motive, we 
 can at least denounce their incompetence : but the 
 method of self-correction here adopted leaves no 
 opportunity for evasions of this kind. Of course, 
 we can deny that the picture is the same as that 
 which we saw before ; and, indeed, that is precisely 
 what large numbers of older children actually did, 
 as may appear more fully on pages 154, 219, 220, 221. 
 5. The general rise from the first to the second 
 interrogatory shows that the demand for the pro- 
 duction and reproduction of what was learned by 
 means of the original visual experience has, on the 
 whole, not rendered the memory of it more, but less 
 imperfect ; and this is the case, even though many of 
 the questions were suggestive of error and, indeed, 
 frequently produced it ; but which aspects of the ex- 
 perience faded and which aspects seemed to grow 
 more stable are questions which must be postponed 
 for the present. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS. SCHOOL B. 
 
 This school is also a municipal school in London. 
 It is situated in a good suburban neighborhood and 
 provides school accommodation for a high type of 
 child, though probably not for quite the highest type 
 of elementary school child. The school staff is a 
 good one and the Mistress had had much experience 
 in experimental work. About one-third of the ob- 
 servations were made by the Mistress and myself 
 jointly; the others were made by the Mistress alone. 
 The school is somewhat smaller than the one in 
 which the observations just described were made, 
 and there is one further feature of difference which 
 calls for notice. There were so few children in this 
 school at that time who were between 3 and 4 years 
 of age that we thought no useful purpose would have 
 been served by an endeavor to obtain representative 
 marks for 3-year-old children of this type, for we 
 had not sufficient material to ensure that our figures 
 would be fairly representative. But careful selec- 
 tions were made of 4-year-old, 5-year-old, 6-year- 
 old, and 7-year-old children in the way which has 
 already been described in the case of the previous 
 school. The precautions adopted in that case to 
 prevent the school-staff from teaching up to the 
 method, and so invalidating (for psychological pur- 
 
 90 
 
SECOND SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 91 
 
 poses) the figures obtained, were also adopted in 
 this school. Indeed, the only important differences 
 between this school and the last one are (1) the su- 
 perior social type of children in attendance and (2) 
 the paucity of 3-year-old children which, as I have 
 said, induced us to leave out the children of this age 
 altogether. We commence, therefore, with the work 
 of the 4-year-old children. 
 
 I. The Work of the Four- Year-Old Children of 
 School B. 
 
 I will give, as exemplifying the work of the chil- 
 dren of this age, the reports, answers and self-cor- 
 rections of Yola C , whose marks throughout ap- 
 proximated closely to the average mark for this 
 
 group. Yola C , aged 4 years 5 months, gave 
 
 his first report on Tuesday, January 17, 1911, at 
 2.30 p. m. 
 
 Yola C 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "A little boy — there was the mother there, the 
 flowers standing on something. The door was open. 
 The boy was eating pudding. The door was open 
 and the mother came in, she brought some pudding 
 in — she left it open, she did. There was something 
 on the floor there. There was something under the 
 table. The little boy sat on the chair." 
 
 Marking of Yola C 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 Yola C 's first report combines two aspects 
 
 which may at first appear incompatible ; he is cau- 
 tious about his identifications of things, and he tells 
 us how it was that 'the mother' came to be there. It 
 is not a sign of low intelligence to be cautious in 
 
92 children's perceptions 
 
 identifying; and on our system of marking marks 
 will be accredited for 'little boy,' ' mother,' ' flow- 
 ers,' ' something' (meaning the box), 'door,' 'boy,' 
 'pudding' (the boy's pudding), 'pudding' (the 
 mother's pudding), 'something' (the boy's satchel), 
 'floor,' 'something' (the jug), 'table' and 'chair.' A 
 total of 13 marks is thus scored for the enumeration 
 of the persons and things seen in the picture. 
 
 The observed actions are two in number ; the boy 
 'was eating,' and 'he sat.' 
 
 There are several positional references. The 
 second 'there' was neither emphasized nor accom- 
 panied by any indication of locality, so it received 
 no mark; and, of course, the first 'there' is not a 
 specific reference to position. The flowers are 
 'standing on something' is taken to indicate the 
 position of the plant; though I do not feel wholly 
 certain that, for children of this age, the word 
 'standing,' even when used about flowers, contains 
 no element of action. The door is 'open.' 'Some- 
 thing' (the satchel) is 'on' the floor. 'Something' 
 (the jug) is stated to be 'under' the table; but, as 
 the jug is actually under the chair, no mark is given 
 for this positional reference. Finally, the boy sat 
 'on' the chair. There are 'four' marks for position, 
 so that a total of 19 marks is given to Yola's first 
 report. 
 
 The second report was given exactly one week 
 later, namely, at 2.30 on January 24, after the first 
 interrogatory which followed immediately upon the 
 first report; but it is printed here so that the first 
 and second reports may the more easily be com- 
 pared. 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 93 
 
 Yola C 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "A boy — he was eating pudding. There was a 
 jug under the table. He was sitting on the chair. 
 The door was open. The flower was standing on 
 something else, a box, I think. They were red; they 
 had some red flowers. The mother was standing on 
 the floor. There is a jug. A knife on the table." 
 
 Marking of Yola C 's Second Spontaneous 
 
 Report. 
 
 On this occasion, 12 marks are scored for the enu- 
 meration of persons and things: one each for 'boy,' 
 'pudding,' 'jug,' 'table,' 'chair,' 'door,' 'flower' 
 (meaning the plant), 'box,' 'flowers' (meaning the 
 blooms), 'mother,' 'floor' and 'knife.' 
 
 There are three actions noted: the boy was 'eat- 
 ing' and 'sitting,' and the mother was 'standing.' 
 
 There are five accurate positional references : the 
 jug is not 'under' the table; but the boy is 'on' the 
 chair, the door is 'open,' the flower (plant) is 
 'standing on' the box, the mother is standing 'on the 
 floor, ' and the knife is ' on ' the table. 
 
 One descriptive adjective is used: "they were 
 red — they had some red flowers." Thus 21 marks 
 are obtained for Yola's second report, an advance 
 of two units on the work of the previous week. 
 
 Yola C 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 
 January 17th and January 24th, 1911, at 2.35 P. M. 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 1. Which side of the table That side (showed This side (showed 
 
 was the lady stand- rightly). wrongly). 
 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? Standing by him Giving the boy 
 
 holding a pud- some pudding. 
 
94 
 
 CHILDKEN S PEKCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 3. How was the lady hold- 
 
 ing what she had in 
 her hand? 
 
 4. Had the lady anything 
 
 else in her hand be- 
 sides what you have 
 told me? 
 
 5. What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse ? 
 
 12. What color was her 
 
 skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 14. What color were her 
 
 shoes? 
 
 15. What color was her hair? 
 
 16. What was the boy do- 
 
 17. How was he holding it? 
 
 18. Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the boy's 
 
 jacket? 
 
 21. What color were the 
 
 boy's trousers? 
 
 22. What color were the 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were the 
 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 he? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 In her hand (shoiv- 
 ed wrongly). 
 
 No. 
 
 She might have 
 
 blue on. 
 I didn't see one. 
 
 Shoes. 
 
 No. 
 
 An apron. 
 
 A blouse on, and a 
 belt round her. 
 
 It might be yellow. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Don't know. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Golden. 
 
 Was sitting down 
 
 on a chair eating 
 
 pudding. 
 Like that (showed 
 
 wrongly). 
 Under the table. 
 
 Black trousers and 
 
 stockings. 
 Black. 
 
 Black or red. 
 
 Black. 
 
 They might be 
 
 black. 
 Golden brown. 
 Black boots. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Like that (showed 
 wrongly). 
 
 No. 
 
 She might have 
 
 blue on. 
 She might have 
 
 black. 
 Shoes and stock- 
 ings. 
 No. 
 No, she had an 
 
 apron on. 
 She had a blouse 
 
 on, she had a 
 
 skirt. 
 It might, might be 
 
 golden. 
 Black. 
 
 Her pinafore? 
 
 white. 
 Black. 
 
 Light. 
 
 Sitting on a chair; 
 he was eating 
 
 Like thai (showed 
 
 wrongly). 
 Under the table. 
 
 He had a suit. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Brown. 
 Black. 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 95 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had His shoes were in His shoes were in 
 
 he? the bedroom. the bedroom. 
 
 27. Did you see anything No. Yes. 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug? / never saw a jug; Yes. 
 
 it might be a pot 
 there. 
 
 29. What color was the Brown. Don't know. 
 
 jug? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on Yes, it might be a A stool. 
 
 the floor near the jug? stool there. 
 
 31. What color was the ta- Brown. Brown. 
 
 ble? 
 
 32. What else was on the Tablecloth. Don't know. 
 
 table besides the pud- 
 ding? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? No, the knife was The knife was on 
 
 in the drawer. the table. 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- She cut him a piece (Showed rightly.) 
 
 ble was it? and then she put 
 
 the knife on the 
 table. 
 
 35. What color was the Black. Brown. 
 
 knife? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? Standing on some- On a great, big 
 
 thing. stool. 
 
 38. What color were the Red. Red. 
 
 flowers? 
 
 39. How many flowers were Two. Two. 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the Brown or black, no Green. 
 
 leaves? green. 
 
 41. How many leaves were Two. Three. 
 
 there ? 
 
 42. What color was the White. Brown. 
 
 flower-pot ? 
 
 43. What color was the box? Black. Black. 
 
 44. What could you see / couldn't see. The grass. 
 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 
 
 45. What could you see Yes, there might be The garden. 
 
 through the open door? a jug there. 
 
 46. Did you see a window? No. The window was 
 
 there. 
 
 47. What color were the Brown. White. 
 
96 CHILDREN'S PERCEPTION'S 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- The color of the It was golden, bits 
 
 pet? floor. of black. 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 
 
 50. What room was it? It might be the A kitchen. 
 
 kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Yola C 's First and Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 The marking of these answers presents little dif- 
 ficulty. The lady rightly placed at the table the first 
 week, is wrongly placed the week after ; the answers 
 about the woman's actions are acceptable; the third 
 question, as usual, is wrongly answered, but the sug- 
 gestion in Question 4 is resisted. Yola was too 
 vague about the woman's dress; and though he re- 
 fused at first to accept the suggestion of the hat in 
 Question 6, he weakly succumbed the week after, 
 and used his favorite formula "it might be." Let 
 me, en passant, say that 'it might be' is a step, and 
 a considerable one, in the differentiation of the 
 child's general knowledge from what he sees in a 
 particular picture; but it receives no mark, for the 
 child is regarded as having succumbed, though 
 doubtfully, to the suggestion that the woman was 
 wearing a hat. The answers to Questions 7 and 9 
 were accepted; but as I have said, the boy, gener- 
 ally speaking, is very inaccurate about the lady's 
 dress and he seems scarcely to have remembered 
 anything about the colors of her clothes. In the sec- 
 ond answer about the boy's clothes, he is said to be 
 wearing a 'suit.' On the ground that the word 
 1 suit, ' with young children, need not mean garments 
 
SECOND SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 97 
 
 all of one color or pattern, this answer was accepted. 
 The answers about the colors of the boy's clothes 
 are, like those about the woman's clothing, very in- 
 accurate; but, later on, the references to the jug, 
 the satchel (identified as a stool, not the big stool or 
 box on which the plant stands which he refers to in 
 the answer to Question 37), the flower-pot and flow- 
 ers, and the excellent answer about the color of the 
 carpet given in the second interrogatory show that 
 Yola had not altogether wasted his minute of ob- 
 servation. Twenty-one marks were obtained for his 
 first set of answers and 23 for the second. 
 
 Yola C 's Self -Corrections. 
 
 "That's a blue skirt. Her apron's red. The boy 
 had got a green coat and red trousers. A bag not a 
 stool. I can see his shoes there. I can see the table." 
 
 Marking of Yola C 's Self-Corrections. 
 
 The boy is obviously aware that several of his an- 
 swers to color-questions were wrong and he cor- 
 rects some of them. The skirt is 'blue;' he had said 
 in the interrogatories that it was black (Question 
 12). "Her apron's red;" he had said that it was 
 white, or that he did not know (Question 13). The 
 boy's coat is 'green' and his trousers are 'red'; he 
 had said they were black, though once there was a 
 glimmering memory of the redness of the trousers. 
 The satchel was a 'bag,' not a stool! The boy's 
 shoes were there, (not in the bedroom (Question 
 26). "I can see the table" does not appear to con- 
 tain an element of self-correction, so it receives no 
 mark. There are thus 6 corrections which satisfy 
 the conditions under which marks are given. 
 
98 childken's peeceptions 
 
 TABLE Via. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Seven- Year-Old 
 Children, School B. 
 
 a* m M 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. ok fa« few ootf ikm 020 
 
 Ernest M 4 3 Grade Ha 22 25 27 33 10 
 
 Phyllis S 4 5 Grade lib 15 21 19 22 1 
 
 Gladys S 4 5 Grade lib 11 20 10 22 3 
 
 Yola C 4 5 Grade lib 19 21 21 23 6 
 
 Leonard S 4 5 Grade lib 13 27 19 30 2 
 
 Dorothy H 4 8 Grade Ha 15 23 22 24 4 
 
 Eric M 4 8 Grade Ha 21 26 27 28 3 
 
 Maud C 4 9 Grade lib 14 24 29 25 5 
 
 Jack L 4 10 Grade Ha 27 27 42 35 3 
 
 Mildred G 4 11 Grade Ha 15 21 17 26 9 
 
 Average 4 6.9 17.2 23.5 23.3 26.8 4.6 
 
 Mean variation 4.0 2.3 6.4 3.8 2.3 
 
 ♦Grade II is an infant-school grading. Ila is the upper and lib ia 
 the lower division. 
 
 Comments on Table VI. 
 
 I suggest that, side by side with this table, the 
 table showing the work of the 4-year-old children in 
 School A be also consulted. There seems little 
 doubt that, in every respect, we are dealing with an 
 abler group of children in School B than in School 
 A. Their average marks are higher both for re- 
 ports and interrogations, and, what is perhaps even 
 more important as a criterion of ability, they show a 
 much greater proportionate improvement from the 
 first report to the second report and from the first 
 to the second interrogatory — moreover, all of them 
 make successful efforts at self-correction whilst, in 
 School A, there were three children out of the ten 
 selected who gained no marks whatever under this 
 head. The difference between School A and School 
 B 4-year-old children appears to be a little greater 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 99 
 
 in reporting than in actual observation, in so far as 
 this latter is measured by the answers to the 50 
 questions of the interrogatory. 
 
 II. The Work of the Five- Year-Old Children of 
 School B. 
 
 The work of the children of this age will be illus- 
 trated by the reports, answers, and self-corrections 
 
 of Harold N , aged 5 years 5 months, whose 
 
 marks are about the average for the children of this 
 age. The work was done at 10.45 a. m. on Tuesdays, 
 July 4 and 11, 1911. 
 
 Harold N '5 First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There is a little boy sitting on a chair eating 
 cake, and there's a table there and a plate on the 
 table. And the mother is there holding a dish, and 
 there's the floor with lines on it, and there's a door 
 where you go into the scullery; it was open. The 
 table had legs with curls in them, what goes in and 
 out like my mother's table. The little boy is just 
 going to put the cake on his plate. The mother is 
 standing up; the mother's got an apron on and she 
 has got her hair done up; she is just waiting for the 
 little boy to finish his cake; she is going to cut a 
 piece more. There is a gas-stove and a plant on it." 
 
 Marking of Harold N 's First Report. 
 
 Harold N 's report is a long one, and con- 
 tains much continuous narration for a child of his 
 age. He does not distinguish what he has seen in 
 the picture from what he has thought about it, and 
 therefore receives fewer marks than he would if 
 
100 children's perceptions 
 
 his efforts were merely efforts in English composi- 
 tion. 
 
 For the enumeration of persons and things he ob- 
 tains 14 marks; one each for 'boy,' 'chair,' 'cake,' 
 'table,' 'mother,' 'dish,' 'floor,' 'lines,' 'door,' 'legs' 
 (of the table), 'apron,' 'hair,' 'gas-stove' (the box 
 on the right of the picture), and 'plant.' 
 
 An unusual number of actions are reported: the 
 boy is 'sitting down,' he is 'eating cake,' he is 'going 
 to put the cake on his plate ; ' the mother is ' holding 
 a dish,' she is 'standing up,' and she is 'just wait- 
 ing' for the little boy to finish his cake. 
 
 A mark was allowed for the statement that the 
 mother was waiting; it was thought that this might 
 have been an observation from her attitude; but 
 when Harold proceeded to tell us that she is ' ' going 
 to cut a piece more, ' ' it was felt that nothing obser- 
 vational justified this remark. Harold thus notes 6 
 actions. 
 
 Accurate positional references are not numerous : 
 the boy sits 'on' the chair; but there is no plate on 
 the table. There are lines 'on' the floor, the door is 
 'open,' and the plant is 'on' the gas-stove — a total 
 of 4 correct references to position. 
 
 There is one adjectival reference which is good 
 and unusual: the mother has got her hair 'done up.' 
 The door is described as one "where you go into the 
 scullery ; " I hesitated somewhat about this, since, if 
 the room is a kitchen, the door may well be a scul- 
 lery door; but as nothing observational indicates a 
 scullery, I thought it fairer to allow no mark. 
 
 Harold's first report, therefore, obtains 25 marks. 
 The second was made, as usual, exactly one week 
 later. 
 
SECOND SEEIES OP EXPEEIMENTS 101 
 
 Harold N 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There was a knife on the table and there was the 
 mother holding a dish. There was a gas-stove, there 
 was a plant on it. It had some red flowers on it, and 
 there was some earth in the pot. The pot was red. 
 The floor had black stripes on. And the mother had 
 a blouse on, and a skirt and a red apron. She had 
 her hair rolled up. And the mother had some shoes 
 on. The little boy had some shoes on. He was eat- 
 ing some cake. There was a jar on the floor. There 
 was a door. It was blue outside. The door was 
 open. The table had legs. The little boy ivas sitting 
 on the chair." 
 
 Marking of Harold N 's Second Report. 
 
 This report makes a great advance in accuracy 
 on the first one; on this occasion every statement 
 counts. The legs of the table no longer curl in and 
 out like mother's table and the door is no longer a 
 scullery door. Nor do we learn this time that the 
 mother is just going to cut some more cake. 
 
 There are 24 correct enumerations and three ac- 
 tions are reported. The positional references are 
 numerous and there are several descriptive qualifi- 
 cations. In all Harold N scores 40 marks for 
 
 his second report — four marks above the average 
 for his group. 
 
 Haeold N 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 
 Tuesdays, July 4th and July 11th at 10.50 A. M. 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 1. Which side of the table That side (showed That side (showed 
 was the lady stand- rightly). rightly). 
 
 ing? 
 
102 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 2. What was she doing? Holding a dish. Holding a dish. 
 
 3. How was the lady hold- Like this (showed Like this (showed 
 
 ing what she had in wrongly). wrongly). 
 her hand? 
 
 4. Had the lady anything No. No. 
 
 else in her hand be- 
 sides the dish? 
 
 5. What clothes was the An apron and a An apron and a 
 
 lady wearing? blouse and a blouse and skirt, 
 skirt. 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had She didn't have one. She hadn't got one 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing Shoes. 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? Yes. 
 
 9. Had the lady a pinafore Yes. 
 
 or apron on? 
 10. Had the lady a frock Yes. 
 on? 
 
 at all. 
 Shoes. 
 
 Yes. 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 White. 
 
 White. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Eating cake. 
 
 11. What color was her Yellow. 
 
 blouse? 
 
 12. What color was her Black. 
 
 skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her White. 
 
 apron? 
 
 14. What color were her Black. 
 
 shoes? 
 
 15. What color was her Brown. 
 
 hair? 
 
 16. What was the boy do- Eating cake. 
 
 ing? 
 
 17. How was he holding it? (Showed nearly (Showed nearly 
 
 rightly. ) rightly. ) 
 
 18. Where were the boy's Hanging down. On the floor. 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the A coat, trousers, Shoes and socks 
 
 boy wearing? shoes and stock- and a coat and 
 
 ings. trousers. 
 
 20. What color was the Blue. Grey. 
 
 boy's coat? 
 
 21. What color were his Blue. Grey. 
 
 trousers ? 
 
 22. What color were the Black. Black. 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were his Dark blue. Black. 
 
 stockings ? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? Brown. Brown. 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 
 
 103 
 
 Questions. 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 he? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything un- 
 
 der the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug? 
 
 29. What color was the jug? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- 
 
 ble? 
 
 32. What else was on the ta- 
 
 ble besides the dish? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the table 
 
 was it? 
 
 35 
 
 was the 
 
 37. 
 38. 
 
 39. 
 
 What color 
 knife ? 
 36. Did you see a flower- 
 pot? 
 
 Where was it? 
 
 What color were the 
 flowers ? 
 
 How many flowers were 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the 
 flower-pot ? 
 
 What color was the box? 
 
 What could you see 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 
 
 What could you see 
 through the open door? 
 
 Did you see a window? 
 
 47. What color were the 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- 
 
 pet? 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? 
 50 What room was it? 
 
 43. 
 
 44. 
 
 45. 
 46. 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Shoes. 
 
 Shoes. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 No. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 Black. 
 
 No. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 White. 
 
 No. 
 
 White. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 A cloth. 
 
 A knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Just ~by the little 
 boy (showed 
 rightly). 
 
 White handle, the 
 other silver. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 There by the little 
 boy (showed 
 rightly) . 
 
 Silver, and white 
 handle. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 On the gas-stove. 
 Red. 
 
 On the gas-stove. 
 Red. 
 
 Four. 
 
 Four. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 A lot. 
 
 A lot. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Nothing, only a tit 
 of blue. 
 
 Red. 
 Blue. 
 
 I didn't see. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 No. 
 
 I didn't see. 
 
 No. 
 Blue. 
 
 Black, the part 
 
 with the lines on. 
 Yes. 
 The kitchen. 
 
 Grey. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 The kitchen. 
 
104 children's perceptions 
 
 Marking of Harold N 's First and Second Sets 
 
 of Answers. 
 
 There is very little in these answers that calls for 
 special comment or that presents difficulty in mark- 
 ing. This boy, with the exception of the very diffi- 
 cult question as to how the woman was holding the 
 cake (Number 3), had an uninterrupted score of 
 success until he reached the questions on the colors 
 of the woman's dress. His answers to color ques- 
 tions were almost uniformly bad, though he had per- 
 haps noticed the bluish appearance outside the 
 door and he certainly had noticed the black lines 
 on the floor, though he did not know the color 
 of the floor generally. In answer to the ques- 
 tion (Number 18) "Where were the boy's feet?" 
 he very obviously made 'shots,' not at random, 
 of course, but in accordance with customary ex- 
 perience. He did not see the satchel (Question 
 30) ; he did see the knife, though he had ap- 
 parently forgotten it for a moment; and he had 
 noticed the flowers of the plant on the box which he 
 calls the gas-stove. The question as to the color of 
 the box had little meaning for him, unless he was 
 thinking of the satchel on the floor, as it is just pos- 
 sible he might have been, though that seems, from 
 the self-correction, to have been very unlikely. I 
 found it difficult not to allow marks for his answers 
 to Question 44; but he has not resisted the sugges- 
 tion of the window, and so cannot properly be re- 
 garded as having answered this question accurately. 
 Twenty-seven marks are obtained for the first in- 
 terrogatory and 32 for the second. 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 105 
 
 Harold N 's Self -Correction. 
 
 "I said four flowers and there are only three. The 
 mother had a blue shirt on. A school-bag was on the 
 floor. Green coat; I said 'grey.' His trousers were 
 red. Stockings blue." 
 
 Marking of Harold N 's Self -Correction. 
 
 There are 6 definite corrections, as will readily 
 be seen by turning to Harold's reports and answers. 
 He had said that he had seen nothing on the floor, 
 but now finds that there is a school-bag there. Four 
 of the corrections concern color ; he simply had not 
 noticed the color before. 
 
 TABLE VII. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Five- Year-Old 
 Children, School B. 
 
 , Ago , %Z E§ ££ S| §3 sag 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. oao h& Sw scci m>3 zdO 
 
 Marjory P 5 4 Grade Ilia 35 38 39 41 2 
 
 Alice W 5 4 Grade Ilia 32 33 55 37 9 
 
 Harold N 5 5 Grade Illb 25 27 40 32 6 
 
 Eileen J 5 6 Grade Illb 42 29 49 31 5 
 
 Margaret A 5 6 Grade Illb 42 35 53 40 5 
 
 Dorothy S 5 6 Grade Ilia 18 24 23 30 5 
 
 Frederic M 5 6 Grade Illb 24 30 26 28 7 
 
 Charles C 5 7 Grade Ilia 18 24 27 27 6 
 
 William B 5 8 Grade Ilia 23 26 27 28 6 
 
 Stacey L 5 11 Grade Ilia 19 26 32 26 11 
 
 Average 5 6.3 27.8 29.2 37.1 32.0 6.2 
 
 Mean variation 8.0 3.8 10.2 4.4 1.7 
 
 ♦Grade III is an infant-school grading; it consists mostly of chil- 
 dren who will be six or somewhat older at the end of the educational 
 year. Ilia is the upper and Illb is the lower division. 
 
 Comments on Table VII. 
 
 A great advance is to be seen in the spontaneous 
 reports of the children of this age, and a steady ad- 
 
106 children's perceptions 
 
 vance, though smaller, on their power to answer 
 questions on what they have observed. The second 
 report is much better than the first, and the second 
 interrogatory is decidedly better than the first, 
 though the difference between them is much less. 
 There is also great improvement in the power to 
 make self-corrections. 
 
 III. The Work of the Six- Year-Old Children op 
 School B. 
 
 The 6-year-old children of this school show great 
 capacity in work of this kind. As an illustrative ex- 
 ample, I give the work of Roland V , aged 6 
 
 years 9 months, who did average work for this 
 group, except in his second report, which was much 
 above the average. He gave his reports on Wednes- 
 days, August 31, and September 7, 1910, at 10.30 a. m. 
 
 Roland V 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There is a flower-pot standing on a box and a 
 little boy eating a piece of cake. And there is a 
 mother cutting him a piece ivith a knife. And he is 
 sitting on a chair, and the door is open. The mother 
 is putting a pot on the table, and she is standing on 
 the floor and the little boy is tasting the cake. The 
 knife is on the table. There is the legs of the chair 
 in the picture and the legs of the table. There is 
 something standing down on the floor with hooks 
 and there is the paper on the wall. There is the sky 
 outside. The little boy has got his boots and stock- 
 ings on and the mother has got the apron on, and 
 she has got the pot on the table and she is holding it. 
 I can't think of anything else. if 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 107 
 
 Marking of Roland V 's First Report. 
 
 Eoland says that he can't think of anything else, 
 but he has certainly remembered a great deal. He 
 scores 20 marks for enumeration of persons and 
 things. 
 
 Several actions are correctly noticed; the boy is 
 'eating' and 'sitting;' the mother is 'putting' the 
 pot on the table; she is 'holding' the pot and 'stand- 
 ing' on the floor. No mark is given for "the little 
 boy is tasting the cake," it is held to be equivalent 
 to eating it, which has already been said. The 
 mother is not cutting the cake, though she has prob- 
 ably just done so ; the statement is not allowed as an 
 observed activity. The actions correctly noted num- 
 ber five. 
 
 Positional references are numerous. The flower- 
 pot is 'standing' and it is 'on' the box; the boy is sit- 
 ting 'on' a chair, and the door is 'open;' the pot is 
 ' on ' the table ; the woman is standing ' on ' the floor, 
 and the knife is 'on' the table; something (the 
 satchel) is 'standing,' it is 'down on' the floor and 
 the hooks are 'on' it; the paper is 'on' the wall, and 
 the sky is 'outside'; a total of 12. The apron is 'on' 
 the mother, but that is equivalent with these children 
 to the mother has an apron on, so no positional mark 
 is given for it. 
 
 Eoland scores 37 marks for his first report. 
 
 Roland V 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There was a little hoy with hoots and stockings 
 on, and he was tasting a piece of cake. There was a 
 knife on the table and the mother had an apron on 
 
108 children's perceptions 
 
 and she had the pot in her hand. The little boy was 
 sitting on a chair, and the door was open and he had 
 laced boots — there were the legs of the chair what 
 he was sitting on. The boy had a coat on and he had 
 dark brown hair. There ivas the table — it had j our 
 legs. The knife had a point to it, and it had a brown 
 handle and the table was fiat. The mother was 
 watching him. The door was open. I couldn't see 
 any carpet or any windoivs, and there was some- 
 thing beside the chair that ivas flat with two hooks 
 and two legs. There was the floor and no carpet on 
 it. The mother had a bodice on. There was a pot 
 with a geranium in and the pot was on the box. The 
 box ivas all made of wood and the box was red and 
 so ivas the flower. The box was yellow. There were 
 nails in it and there was mould for the flower, and 
 there were little branches to the flower. The stalk 
 was green. You could see the sky out of the door 
 and the sky was white and blue. The mother had 
 been cooking and she left the door open and the door 
 ivas brown and it was all made of wood. There was 
 the handle to the door." 
 
 Marking of Roland V 's Second Report. 
 
 It is really hard to believe that Roland had not 
 again had access to the picture ; but since there was 
 probably no other similar picture in London at the 
 time, and this particular picture was carefully kept 
 in the custody of the Head Mistress, it is certain 
 that he had not. 
 
 First, awarding marks for the enumeration of 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 109 
 
 persons and things, lie scores for 'boy,' ' stockings,' 
 'piece of cake,' ' knife,' ' table,' 'mother,' 'apron,' 
 'pot' (the hemispherical loaf), 'hand,' 'chair,' 
 'door,' 'legs' (of the chair), 'coat,' 'hair,' 'legs' (of 
 the table), 'knife,' 'point' (of the knife), 'handle' 
 (of the knife), 'something' (the satchel), 'hooks' 
 (the tabs on the satchel), 'legs' (the straps of the 
 satchel), 'floor,' 'bodice,' 'pot' (the flower-pot), 
 'geraninm,' 'box,' 'flower' (of the geranium), 
 'nails,' 'mould,' 'branches' (of the geranium), 
 'stalk' (of the geranium), and 'sky;' a total of 32 
 marks. There was no handle to the door. 
 
 Of actions it is noted that the boy 'was tasting' 
 the cake, and 'was sitting' on the chair; and the 
 mother 'was watching' him. It is not regarded as 
 observational to say 'the mother had been cooking.' 
 Actions correctly mentioned on this occasion num- 
 ber three only. Positional references total nine. 
 
 But it is in the qualifications which he inserts that 
 Eoland makes his great advance; the boy's hair is 
 'brown;' the legs of the table number 'four;' the 
 handle of the knife is 'brown;' the table 'flat;' the 
 something (satchel) is 'flat;' there are 'two' hooks 
 (the tabs of the satchel) ; there are 'two' legs (the 
 straps of the satchel) ; the box was 'made of wood;' 
 the flower-pot is 'red;' the flower is 'red;' the box 
 is 'yellow;' the branches (of the geranium) are 'lit- 
 tle ; ' the sky is ' white ' and ' blue ; ' the door is ' brown ' 
 and 'made of wood.' A total of 16 marks is scored 
 for these aspects of his reported observations. 
 
 For Eoland V 's second report the high total 
 
 of 60 marks is scored. 
 
110 
 
 CHILDBEN S PEECEPTIONS 
 
 Roland V 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 
 Wednesdays, August 31st and September 7th, Immedi- 
 ately After the Conclusion of His Reports. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Which side of the table 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set ob 
 
 Answers. 
 
 That side {showed That side {showed 
 rightly). rightly). 
 
 Cutting the cake She was cutting the 
 
 
 
 for the little boy. 
 
 boy a piece of 
 
 
 
 
 
 cake. 
 
 3. 
 
 How was the lady hold- 
 
 With her two hands 
 
 With her two hands 
 
 
 ing what she had in 
 
 { showed 
 
 wrong- 
 
 like that {show- 
 
 
 her hand? 
 
 ly). 
 
 
 ed wrongly). 
 
 4. 
 
 Had the lady anything 
 
 No, the knife was 
 
 No. 
 
 
 else in her hand be- 
 
 on the table. 
 
 
 
 side what you have 
 
 
 
 
 
 told me about? 
 
 
 
 
 5. 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 An apron 
 
 and a 
 
 An apron and a 
 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 dress on. 
 
 
 dress. 
 
 G. 
 
 What sort of a hat had 
 
 She didn't have antf, 
 
 She didn't have a 
 
 
 she? 
 
 hat. 
 
 
 hat. 
 
 7. 
 
 What was she wearing 
 
 Boots and 
 
 stock- 
 
 Boots and stock- 
 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 ings. 
 
 
 ings. 
 
 8. 
 
 Could you see her feet? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 No, I could see the 
 tip of her boot. 
 
 9. 
 
 Had she a pinafore or 
 apron on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 10. 
 
 Had she a frock on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 11. 
 
 What color was the top 
 part of her dress? 
 
 White. 
 
 
 White. 
 
 12. 
 
 What was the color of 
 her skirt? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 
 Black. 
 
 13. 
 
 What color was her 
 apron? 
 
 Blue. 
 
 
 White. 
 
 14. 
 
 What color were her 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 Black. 
 
 
 Black. 
 
 15. 
 
 What color was the 
 lady's hair? 
 
 Brown. 
 
 
 Brown. 
 
 16. 
 
 What was the boy do- 
 
 Eating a 
 
 piece of 
 
 Eating a piece of 
 
 
 ing? 
 
 cake. 
 
 
 cake. 
 
 17. 
 
 How was he holding it? 
 
 Like this 
 rightly ) . 
 
 {showed 
 
 Like this {showed 
 rightly). 
 
 IS. 
 
 Where were the boy's 
 
 In his stockings. 
 
 Below the chair. 
 
 
 feet? 
 
 
 
 
 19. 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 In a coat, 
 
 , and he 
 
 In a coat and stock- 
 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 had his 
 
 boots on 
 
 ings and boots. 
 
 and buttons to 
 his coat. 
 
SECOND SEEIES OE EXPERIMENTS 
 
 111 
 
 Questions. 
 
 20. What color was the 
 
 boy's coat? 
 
 21. What color were the 
 
 boy's trousers? 
 
 22. What color were the 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were his 
 
 stockings? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 he? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug? 
 
 29. What color was it? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug, 
 and if you did, what 
 
 was it? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- 
 
 ble? 
 
 32. What else was there on 
 
 the table bgsides what 
 the lady was holding? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 35. What color was the 
 
 knife? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? 
 
 38. What color were the 
 
 flowers? 
 
 39. How many flowers were 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were 
 
 there? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Light brown. 
 
 Light brown. 
 
 Lace boots. 
 
 Lace up. 
 
 Boots he had. 
 
 Big ones. 
 
 His legs and the 
 
 No. 
 
 legs of the chair. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 I saw something 
 
 
 like a jug. 
 
 White, with flow- 
 
 White, with flow 
 
 ers on. 
 
 ers on it. 
 
 A flat thing with 
 
 The flat thing with 
 
 something like 
 
 two hooks and 
 
 two little legs, 
 
 two legs. 
 
 and there was 
 
 
 two hooks. 
 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 A knife. 
 
 A knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Just there (showed 
 
 Just there (showed 
 
 rightly ) . 
 
 rightly) . 
 
 Brown handle, the 
 
 Brown the handle 
 
 other was white 
 
 was; the other 
 
 color. 
 
 was white. 
 
 Yes, with mould in 
 
 Yes. 
 
 the top. 
 
 
 On a box, and the 
 
 Yes, in the middle 
 
 flower was a ge- 
 
 of the box. 
 
 ranium. 
 
 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Two. 
 
 About four. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Four. 
 
 Six. 
 
112 CHILDBEDS PEECEPTIONS 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 42. What color was the Red. Red. 
 
 flower-pot? 
 
 43. What color was the box? Yellow. Yellow. 
 
 44. What did you see through Fresh air. I couldn't see any 
 
 the open window? window. 
 
 45. What did you see through The shy. Fresh air and the 
 
 the open door? sky. 
 
 46. Did you see a window? No, no window. No. 
 
 47. What color were the Shady green. Green. 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- / didn't see any I didn't see any 
 
 pet? carpet. carpet. 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 
 
 50. What room was it? Not a very big A kitchen. 
 
 room. I think it 
 was a kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Roland V 's First and Second 
 
 Interrogatories. 
 
 No difficult case arises throughout these answers, 
 and the correct answers number exactly the same in 
 both interrogatories. The woman's skirt, 'blue' the 
 first week, is 'black' the week after. But the sug- 
 gestion of a window, half accepted the first week, is 
 decidedly negatived in the second interrogatory. 
 All the remaining answers are identical in meaning 
 from week to week, though this boy varies his 
 phraseology more than most. He is very good at 
 resisting suggestions to error. "No, the knife was 
 on the table" (Number 4); "She didn't have any 
 hat" (Number 6); "I couldn't see any window" 
 (Number 44) ; but he accepts the suggestion that the 
 boy had boots and makes them 'lace-up boots.' The 
 only considerable weakness in the answers is in 
 those relating to the color of the clothing both of 
 the woman and the boy, and the errors as to the num- 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 113 
 
 bers of the flowers and leaves. Eoland's mark is 34; 
 which is the average mark of the children of this 
 group in the first interrogatory and is just below the 
 average mark for the second interrogatory. 
 
 Roland V 's Self -Correction. 
 
 "There is a jug under the chair. I said the stock- 
 ings were brown but they are blue. His coat is green 
 as well and her frock is blue and so is her bodice, 
 and his trousers are red. The mother's apron is red 
 The boy's hair is not brown, it is red and brown. 
 There are a lot of leaves — nine. There are only 
 three flowers." 
 
 Marking of Roland V 's Self-Correction. 
 
 This self-correction is well and clearly done. But 
 Eoland had already accepted the jug, though doubt- 
 fully, and he could not be marked again for that. A 
 glance at his answers in the interrogatories will 
 show that all the other statements are really correc- 
 tions. Even the 'red and brown' hair is more accu- 
 rate than 'brown,' though 'brown' has been allowed 
 as a correct answer. Eoland is quite well aware 
 that his number-answers and color-answers were 
 faulty, and puts many of them right. He scores 8 
 marks for self-correction ; the average for the group 
 is 7.0. 
 
 Comments on Table VIII. 
 
 There is a considerable advance in all respects on 
 the work of the preceding year. In the power of re- 
 porting, the advance is very great indeed; and the 
 improvement of the second week's reports upon the 
 first is also very considerable. 
 
114 children's perceptions 
 
 table viii. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Six-Year-Old Children, 
 
 School B. 
 
 a* so M a 
 
 a M 2 w2mS o 2 o 5 ^ £ 
 
 Name. Yrs. Mths. um £M few K-B5 ddm oqO 
 
 Albert W 6 1 Standard lb 35 29 37 28 9 
 
 Cyril B 6 2 Standard la 33 28 47 32 5 
 
 Percy H 6 2 Standard lb 37 37 38 36 11 
 
 Mabel M 6 3 Standard lb 36 33 43 34 9 
 
 Marjorie S 6 6 Standard la 52 33 58 34 7 
 
 Henri M 6 6 Standard lb 49 36 54 42 5 
 
 Will H 6 9 Standard la 47 34 64 34 7 
 
 Roland V 6 9 Standard lb 37 34 60 34 8 
 
 Freda R 6 10 Standard la 34 41 48 41 3 
 
 Louisa B 6 11 Standard la 54 34 57 35 6 
 
 Average 6 5.9 41.4 33.9 50.6 35.0 7.0 
 
 Mean variation 7.1 2.5 8.1 2.8 1.8 
 
 * Standard I is the highest grade in an infants' school ; it is really 
 the commencement of senior-school grading. la is the upper and lb 
 is the lower division. 
 
 IV. The Work of the Seven- Year-Old Children of 
 School B. 
 
 I give below, for illustrative purposes, one com- 
 plete set of reports and answers from the work of 
 the 7-year-old children. I select the work of Wini- 
 fred S , aged 7 years 1 month, who gave her re- 
 ports on Tuesdays, October 4 and 11, 1910, at 10.45 
 a. m. In this case, the illustration is not really 
 typical of the children of this group, since Wini- 
 fred's work is much above the average. It must be 
 regarded as of a very high character for children of 
 this age. 
 
 Winifred S 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There is a little hoy eating a piece of cake and 
 there is a lady ivith a big bowl in her hand. There 
 is a flower-pot with some flowers in. There is a 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 115 
 
 door-way behind the lady. There is a jug down by 
 the table near the little boy. There were some lines 
 on it. The door is open. The little boy is sitting on 
 a chair. He has red stockings. His mother's got a 
 red apron on. There is a big flower-pot. The cake, 
 that the little boy is eating, has got currants in, and 
 the mother is just lifting up the big bowl. There is 
 a red flower with some green and black leaves. The 
 little boy has a blue coat on. He's got black shoes 
 on. And you can see the sky through the door. 
 There is a lot of milk in the big bowl. And the little 
 boy is eating a brown and yellow cake. You can see 
 the sky through the door." 
 
 Marking of Winifred S 's First Report. 
 
 Twenty-one marks are given for enumerating 
 persons and things. 'Door' is twice mentioned to- 
 wards the end of the report, but, in the sense in 
 which it is used, is equivalent to 'doorway' which 
 has previously received a mark. 
 
 The actions noted are as follows: the boy is 'eat- 
 ng' and 'sitting'; the lady is 'lifting up' the bowl. 
 
 Positional references are numerous and yield a 
 total of 12 marks. 
 
 There is a considerable number of correct quali- 
 fications: the bowl is a 'big' one; the lady's apron 
 is 'red;' the flower is 'red;' the boy's shoes are 
 'black;' there is 'a lot of milk in the bowl (the so 
 called bowl may perhaps fairly be regarded as full 
 of milk) ; and the cake the boy is eating is 'brown' 
 and 'yellow;' a total of 9 marks. It was thought 
 that the flower-pot cannot justly be regarded as a 
 'big' one, so that no mark was given for this qualifi- 
 
116 children's perceptions 
 
 cation. One interesting and unusual adverbial 
 modification has not yet been mentioned : the lady is 
 
 'just' lifting the bowl. Winifred S totals 46 
 
 marks for her first report. 
 
 Winifred S 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "There was a knife on the table and there was a 
 little boy eating a cake sitting on a high chair and 
 there was a big jug on the floor and a little stool. 
 There was a lady lifting up a bowl and there was a 
 flower-pot. It had a flower in — it was standing on a 
 box. The flower tvas red and the leaves were green 
 and black. There was a door and it was open. You 
 could see the sky through the door. And the jug 
 was green. The little boy had red stockings. The 
 sky was blue and white. The little stool was tipped 
 up on one side. The handle of the knife was brown 
 and the lady's hair was brown. She had on a blue 
 skirt and blouse and she had on a red apron. She\ 
 was just going to turn round. The little boy's cake 
 had got currants in it. The flower-pot was brown. 
 The boivl had milk in. The cake was yellow and 
 brown. The knife was white and brown with a little 
 black round the end. The door tvas only opened a 
 little way. The floor was brown. The flower-pot 
 was in a little saucer." 
 
 Marking of Winifred S 's Second Report. 
 
 Marks for the enumeration of persons and things 
 amount to 27, in which is included 'milk' (evidently 
 the yellowish pink appearance of the top of the loaf) 
 — an improvement of 6 marks on the first report. 
 
 Of activities the following are mentioned : the boy 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 
 
 117 
 
 'is eating' and 'sitting,' and the lady is 'lifting up' 
 a bowl. Winifred says also that ' ' she was just going 
 to turn round," but there does not seem any obser- 
 vational evidence for this, so no mark was awarded. 
 
 As before, positional references are numerous; 
 in fact, they now warrant 14 marks, an improvement 
 of two upon the earlier record. 
 
 But again as before, the excellence of Winifred '3 
 report lies in the large number of correct qualifica- 
 tions (mostly colorings) which she gives. A total 
 of 21 marks is awarded for these adjectival and ad- 
 verbial qualifications — a gain of 13 marks on the 
 first week's record. 
 
 Winifred's total mark for her second report is 65, 
 an extremely high mark, higher indeed than that of 
 any other child tested in this, or in the preceding 
 infants' school. 
 
 Winifred S 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
 
 Tuesdays, October 4th and 11th, Immediately 
 After the Reports. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Which side of the table 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? 
 
 How was the lady hold- 
 ing what she had in 
 her hand? 
 
 Had the lady anything 
 else in her hand be- 
 sides what you have 
 told me about? 
 
 What clothes was the 
 lady wearing? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 On the right side On the right side 
 {showed right- {showed right- 
 ly), ht). 
 
 She was just pick- She was lifting up 
 
 ing up the big the bowl, 
 bowl. 
 
 Like that {showed With her two hands 
 
 wrongly). {showed wrong- 
 ly). 
 
 No. No. 
 
 She had a red She had a red 
 
 apron on and a apron on and a 
 
 blue blouse and blue blouse and 
 
 skirt. skirt. 
 
118 
 
 children's perceptions 
 
 Questions. 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 11. What color was the top 
 
 part of her dress? 
 
 12. What was the color of 
 
 her skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her 
 
 apron? 
 
 14. What color were her 
 
 boots or shoes. 
 
 15. What color was the 
 
 lady's hair? 
 
 16. What was the boy do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 She hadn't got any She didn't have any 
 
 hat on. hat on. 
 
 I couldn't see. I couldn't see any- 
 thing on her feet. 
 
 No. No. 
 
 Yes, a red one. Yes. 
 
 She had a Hue No, she had only a 
 
 blouse and skirt. House and skirt. 
 
 Blue. Blue. 
 
 Blue, the same Blue. 
 
 color. 
 
 Red. Red. 
 
 I didn't see the I didn't see any 
 
 toots. boots. 
 
 Brown. Brown. 
 
 17. How was he holding it? 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 Where were the boy's 
 feet? 
 
 What clothes was the 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the 
 
 boy's coat? 
 
 21. What color were his 
 
 trousers? 
 
 22. What color were his 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were his Red 
 
 stockings? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 he? 
 
 Sitting up on the 
 
 Eating a cake. 
 
 chair with his 
 
 
 feet tucked in the 
 
 
 rail eating a 
 
 
 cake. 
 
 
 In his two hands 
 
 In his two hands 
 
 ( showed wrong- 
 
 (showed wrong- 
 
 ly)- 
 
 ly). 
 
 They were tucked 
 
 They were tucked 
 
 inside the rail of 
 
 inside the rail of 
 
 the chair. 
 
 the chair. 
 
 He had a blue coat 
 
 He had a blue 
 
 on, and red trous- 
 
 jacket on and red 
 
 ers and stockings 
 
 trousers, red 
 
 and black shoes. 
 
 stockings and 
 
 
 black shoes. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Brown. Brown. 
 
 They were little They were pointed 
 
 shoes, pointed shoes. 
 
 ones. 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 
 
 119 
 
 Questions. 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug? 
 
 29. What color was it? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug, 
 and if you did, what 
 was it? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- 
 
 ble? 
 
 32. What else was there on 
 
 the table besides what 
 the lady was holding? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 35. What color was the 
 
 knife? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? 
 
 38. What color were the 
 
 flowers? 
 
 39. How many flowers were 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the 
 
 flower-pot? 
 
 43. What color was the box ? 
 
 44. What did you see through 
 
 the open window? 
 
 45. What did you see through 
 
 the open door? 
 
 46. Did you see a window? 
 
 47. What color were the 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Pointed ones. 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Pointed shoes. 
 
 The jug was near I saw the jug near. 
 
 his chair and the 
 
 little stool. 
 
 Yes. Yes. 
 
 Green with a little Green with some 
 
 Hack on. Hack on. 
 
 A little stool. I saw a little stool. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 I didn't see. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Just there (showed 
 rightly ) . 
 
 It had a white 
 blade and a 
 brown handle. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 It was on a box. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Four. 
 
 Green and black. 
 
 Five. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 A little bit yellow. 
 I didn't see a win- 
 dow. 
 I could see the sky. 
 
 No. 
 Brown. 
 
 Broicn. 
 A knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Just there (showed 
 rightly ) . 
 
 It was brown and 
 white with a lit- 
 tle black on. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 It was standing on 
 a box, near the 
 mother. 
 
 Red. 
 
 I don't know. 
 
 Black and green. 
 
 A lot of leaves. 
 
 A dark brown. 
 
 White. 
 
 I didn't see a win- 
 dow. 
 I could see the sky. 
 
 No. 
 Brown. 
 
120 children's perceptions 
 
 Fiest Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 48. What color was the car- The floor was There wasn't any 
 
 pet? brown. I didn't carpet there, 
 
 see a carpet. 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 
 
 50. What room was it? A kitchen. A kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Winifred S 's First and Second Sets 
 
 of Answers. 
 
 These questions are excellently answered. Wini- 
 fred S is one of the best of the children in this 
 
 group in interrogatory work. One of the children is 
 somewhat better and one other is equal to Winifred. 
 Little comment is demanded by her answers. She 
 does not know how the lady was holding the 'bowl' 
 (the hemispherical loaf) ; she does not know how 
 the boy was holding his piece of cake, she does 
 not know how many flowers there were on the 
 plant, nor how many leaves there were; nor was 
 she at all clear as to the woman's feet. But 
 she does know the position of the boy's feet, 
 and the position of the knife on the table; she 
 is unusually successful in resisting suggestions 
 which would have led her astray; she is quite 
 sure the woman had no hat, that there was no 
 window, and that there was no carpet on the floor; 
 and, though her observations and memories of color 
 are not invariably correct, they are extremely good, 
 bearing in mind, as we always must, that one min- 
 ute's observation has supplied all the information. 
 All the answers of the first week are identical in 
 meaning, (though there is more variation of phrase 
 than is usual with young children) with those of the 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 121 
 
 second week, except two. She did not remember at 
 once that there was a knife on the table ; the question 
 "did you see a knife?" probably reinforced the 
 memory of the evanescent perception, for the knife 
 was correctly located immediately after. But in one 
 respect Winifred's answers were less satisfactory 
 the second week, for the color of the box which was 
 correctly asserted the first week to be a "little bit 
 yellow," had faded away to 'white' a week later. 
 Thirty-nine marks were obtained for the first set of 
 answers and the same number for the second. 
 
 Winifred S 's Self -Correction. 
 
 "I made a mistake with the color of the box — it is 
 yellow with a little black on. There are three flowers 
 and nine leaves. The floor is yellow. The jug is 
 under the chair. The sky is nearly all white. The 
 chair isn't high. I thought the seat was higher up. 
 -His coat is green and his stockings are blue. The 
 bowl had a little red on." 
 
 Marking of Winifred S 's 8 elf -Correction. 
 
 "Winifred was wrong about the color of the box 
 on the occasion of the second interrogatory only, but 
 the statement is admitted as a correction. The 
 leaves and flowers have now been counted. No ques- 
 tion has been asked as to the color of the floor, and 
 brown has already been accepted as a correct state- 
 ment on the matter. The jug is now rightly placed 
 under the chair, not near the chair as before. In 
 her second report, Winifred had said the sky is blue 
 and white ; it is admittedly a correction to say that 
 it is nearly all white. In her second report, she had 
 
122 childken's perceptions 
 
 said that the chair the boy was using was a 'high' 
 one, but this statement is now corrected ; she thought 
 the seat was 'higher up.' The colors of the boy's 
 coat and stockings, wrongly given throughout, are 
 now corrected. The 'bowl' certainly had a little red 
 on, but this statement appears to be rather an ampli- 
 fication than a correction, and there is no indication 
 that it is the insertion of a known omission, so no 
 mark is given for it as a self-correction. Eight marks 
 are obtained for self-correction, the average mark 
 for the group being 7.3. 
 
 TABLE IX. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Seven -Year-Old 
 Children, School B. 
 
 a* bo bo .2 
 
 «>§ +>o *=S So g£ .9 
 
 ISame. Yrs. Mths. oco £tf few kjcc) mH mo 
 
 WinifredS 7 1 Standard lb 46 39 65 39 8 
 
 Edwin H 7 3 Standard lb 48 39 55 39 6 
 
 Milly B 7 4 Standard la 23 24 27 27 9 
 
 George M 7 4 Standard lb 33 35 52 31 7 
 
 May G 7 5 Standard lb 29 37 47 37 6 
 
 George L 7 6 Standard lb 43 34 62 31 7 
 
 May L 7 7 Standard la 39 34 43 35 9 
 
 George B 7 9 Standard la 35 41 38 38 6 
 
 Winifred F 7 11 Standard la 49 33 52 35 8 
 
 Jack P 7 11 Standard la 45 36 29 35 7 
 
 Average 7 6 39.0 35.2 47.0 34.7 7.3 
 
 Mean variation 7.2 3.2 10.2 3.0 1.0 
 Coefficient of 
 
 variability.. .18 .09 .21 .09 .13 
 
 * Standard I is the highest grade of an infants' school ; it is really 
 
 the commencement of the senior-school grading. la is the upper and 
 lb is the lower division. 
 
 Comments on Table IX. 
 Even a cursory glance at the table will show some 
 
 apparent discrepancies with the results which, by 
 now, the reader will confidently expect. 
 
SECOND SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 123 
 
 The self-corrections are slightly less than those of 
 the 6-year-old group; so are the marks for report- 
 ing ; whilst in the interrogatories, though the 7-year- 
 old group slightly more than hold their own, they do 
 not show the improvement we naturally expect. 
 Within the group itself, there is, as usual, a great 
 improvement shown in reporting, but there is no 
 advance from the first week to the second in the 
 power to answer questions ; there is rather a slight 
 decline ; no general tendency being shown either way. 
 
 Much of this difference is due to Milly B , who, 
 
 though 7 years and 4 months old, consistently, ex- 
 cept in self-correction, does the work of a rather 
 inferior 5-year-old child; her marks are practically 
 
 identical with those of her brother, William B , 
 
 who worked in the 5-year-old group. Jack P 
 
 also scored a quite exceptionally low mark in his 
 second report, 29 only ; whereas he had scored 45 the 
 first time. I cannot account for it ; it was certainly 
 not due to forgetfulness, for he answered his second 
 set of questions as well as his first. But even if these 
 marks are omitted, the 7-year-old group quite fails 
 to show the usual improvement over the children of 
 the preceding year. An attempt to explain this may, 
 perhaps, be more profitably made when further data 
 have been collected. 
 
 Summarised Results of the Work of the Children of 
 School B. 
 
 A comparison between the average results of the 
 work of the 4, 5, 6, and 7-year-old children may most 
 easily be made by means of the following table : 
 
124 childken's perceptions 
 
 
 
 
 
 TABLE 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Summarized 
 
 Results from the 
 
 Work 
 
 OF 
 
 THE 
 
 Children 
 
 OF 
 
 
 
 
 
 School 
 
 B. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 jrage Mai 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 >> 
 
 
 
 >> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 +J 
 
 
 
 ■w 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 
 
 d 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 bo 
 
 
 
 bo 
 
 
 ges. 
 
 o. of 
 
 hildre 
 
 r~ 
 
 Average Age. 
 
 J 
 
 irst 
 eport. 
 
 
 o 
 
 u 
 
 +J u 
 
 
 a ** 
 
 ^2 
 
 o o 
 
 < XV 
 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 Mtns. 
 
 feM 
 
 
 few 
 
 
 CCS 
 
 02w 
 
 WO 
 
 4—5 10 
 
 
 4 
 
 6.9 
 
 17.2 
 
 
 23.5 
 
 
 23.3 
 
 26.8 
 
 4.6 
 
 5—6 10 
 
 
 5 
 
 6.3 
 
 27.8 
 
 
 29.2 
 
 
 37.1 
 
 32.0 
 
 6.2 
 
 6—7 10 
 
 
 6 
 
 5.9 
 
 41.4 
 
 
 33.9 
 
 
 50.6 
 
 35.0 
 
 7.6 
 
 7—8 10 
 
 
 7 
 
 6.1 
 
 39.0 
 
 
 35.2 
 
 
 47.0 
 
 34.7 
 
 7.S 
 
 Comments on Table X. 
 
 1. There is a gradual advance in all the work as 
 the children increase in age and ability ; but this ad- 
 vance is not evident in the work of the 7-year-old 
 children of this school as compared with that of the 
 6-year-old children. 
 
 2. Between the ages of 4 and 7, the capacity to 
 report and to make self-corrections appears to be 
 doubled, and the power of accurate observation and 
 memory appears to show an increase of about one- 
 and-a-half times. 
 
 3. The power of reporting, therefore, grows 
 much more rapidly than the power of observation 
 in the narrower sense. This conclusion might in- 
 deed be quite independently arrived at by noticing 
 the great improvement shown in the reporting from 
 week to week and comparing it with the small im- 
 provement shown in the answers to the interroga- 
 tories. 
 
 4. The self-corrections, as in the preceding 
 school, are few in number at the age of 4 and rise 
 gradually, year by year, showing a slight drop at the 
 age of 7. 
 
SECOND SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 125 
 
 5. The general rise from the first to the second 
 interrogatory shows that the demand for the pro- 
 duction and reproduction of what was learnt by the 
 original observation has not rendered the memory 
 of it more, but less imperfect. The plant metaphor 
 often used in this connection, namely, that we must 
 not pull up our knowledge to see how it is growing, 
 utterly breaks down: the reproductive process here 
 employed is stimulating and 'fixing' in its nature, 
 the very reverse of what is implied by the analogy 
 of the plant. 
 
 Dependence of these results on Social Class. 
 
 It will be remembered that two excellent schools 
 had been chosen to do this work — chosen because it 
 was believed that there was no other relevant differ- 
 ence between them than their location. One was 
 situated in a poor neighborhood of the south-west 
 of London, and the other on the same side of London, 
 about three or four miles distant from the first and 
 in a rather good suburban neighborhood. Looking 
 at pictures and talking about them are obviously 
 functions which are singularly open to 'home-train- 
 ing,' or the like of it, so that we must beware lest 
 we draw inferences as to greater natural ability on 
 the part of the children in the good neighborhood 
 which the data of this experiment do not of them- 
 selves justify. I say this in the full belief that the 
 difference is a natural rather than a nurtural one, 
 though the result is compounded of both factors.* 
 
 *W. H. Winch, Social Class and Mental Proficiency in Elementary 
 School Children. Journal of Experimental Pedagogy, March and No- 
 vember, 1911. 
 
126 children's perceptions 
 
 But, whether natural or the effect of nurture, the 
 difference, if there be one, is significant for educa- 
 tional theory. It may be well, however, to establish 
 the fact of difference first. 
 
 TABLE XL 
 
 The Work of the Children of School A and School B Compared, 
 Age by Age.* 
 
 , — First — ^ , First N ,— Second-^ , — Second * Self- 
 Report. Interrogatory. Report. Interrogatory. Correction. 
 A. B. A. B. A. B. A. B. A. B. 
 8.3 .... 13.2 .... 10.9 .... 15.8 .... 0.0 
 15.1 17.2 21.6 23.5 19.4 23.3 24.2 26.8 3.2 4.6 
 25.3 27.8 26.2 29.2 31.9 37.1 28.5 32.0 4.4 6.2 
 28.7 41.4 29.6 33.9 35.9 50.6 31.5 35.0 7.1 7.0 
 7—8... 32.3 39.0 33.5 35.2 43.3 47.0 34.5 34.7 6.0 7.3 
 
 3—4.. 
 4—5.. 
 5—6.. 
 
 *It will be remembered that there were not enough three-year-old 
 children in School B to enable us to take a fair sample of this age. 
 
 It may also be of interest if I show the average 
 marks of the 40 children from 4 to 7 years of age of 
 School A as compared with those of the 40 children 
 of corresponding ages in School B. 
 
 In the First Report the children of School A 
 scored an average mark of 25.3 as compared with 
 31.4 for School B : for the Second Eeport the corre- 
 sponding marks were 32.6 and 39.5 : in the First In- 
 terrogatory 27.8 and 30.4: in the Second Interroga- 
 tory 29.8 and 32.1 : and for the Self-Corrections 5.1 
 and 6.4. 
 
 It is quite obvious from the fore-going table that 
 we are in the presence of some common factor which 
 is operating throughout to the advantage of School 
 B ; and I have suggested that this result arises from 
 the superior social class of the children attending it ; 
 for in length of school life the children of School B 
 are about a year less than in School A. If this be 
 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 127 
 
 the case, it seems that our educational organization 
 should take definite count of this difference in ability 
 at a very early age. Schools in poor neighborhoods 
 must have a somewhat lighter, or at least a some- 
 what different curriculum from the very first years 
 of school life. 
 
CHAPTEB V. 
 
 THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS. 
 SCHOOL C, BOYS AND GIRLS. 
 
 The third and fourth series of experiments were 
 carried out in the boys' and girls' departments of a 
 school in the south-west of London in a neighborhood 
 decidedly superior to that of School A, but inferior 
 to that of School B. All the children in the school 
 worked the exercises, but those of the few 7-year- 
 old children were not included, for, at this period of 
 the educational year, then some nine months from its 
 commencement, the 7-year-old children (if any) in 
 senior departments consist of children quite un- 
 usually advanced for their age, and no useful pur- 
 pose would be served by including them ; their work 
 would certainly mislead if regarded as typical. But 
 all the children from eight years of age upwards are 
 represented in the tables which will follow, so that 
 the dangers arising from unsatisfactory sampling 
 will be entirely obviated. 
 
 I. Method of Procedure in the Senior Schools. 
 
 Some important differences in the present pro- 
 cedure should at once be mentioned, before indicat- 
 ing the elements of method common to both the in- 
 
 128 
 
THIKD AND FOUETH SEKIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 129 
 
 f ants' and senior schools First of all, the children 
 in the senior schools wrote their answers them- 
 selves; whilst the answers of the younger children 
 had been written down for them. Secondly, whilst 
 the children of 7 years and nnder were dealt with, 
 one by one, by the experimenter, the senior children 
 were taken in classes or groups, the larger classes 
 being divided for the purpose of the experiment. 
 It is quite true that, for persons unaccustomed to 
 deal with large numbers of children, there is much 
 risk in a procedure which does not allow the per- 
 sonal observation of the experimenter to each child 
 separately; but in 'good' schools there is so little 
 danger arising from children's inattention, espe- 
 cially to an interesting matter of relative novelty, 
 that the results are often more regular than those in 
 which each child works separately under the imme- 
 diate supervision of the experimenter. 
 
 An important subsidiary difference arose from the 
 employment of the child's own writing. It would 
 have been quite impossible for the younger of the 
 senior children to have written both reports and an- 
 swers consecutively, so that the actual experiments 
 covered a slightly longer time than those in the In- 
 fant Schools. 
 
 A second important difference arose from the mass 
 method of procedure. The small original picture 
 could no longer be used. It was much enlarged so 
 as to be visible to a whole class or group of children 
 at the same time. 
 
 Further details of procedure which, as will be 
 seen, were largely identical in both infants' and 
 senior schools, now follow. 
 
130 ohildeen's pekceptions 
 
 1. The picture was so arranged that it could be 
 instantaneously exposed or covered. Before it was 
 shown to the children they were told that they were 
 going to be shown a picture for a minute, and that 
 immediately afterwards they were to write down all 
 that they could remember of what they had seen in 
 the picture. All their papers were prepared before- 
 hand, so that no part of the time allotted to the ex- 
 perimental work should be occupied by anything 
 irrelevant. After the picture was covered each child 
 began to write, and made a First Spontaneous Re- 
 port ; no time limit was imposed for this exercise. 
 
 2. On the next day at the same time of day, fresh 
 papers having been prepared, the experimenter said 
 to the children: "You remember the picture I 
 showed you yesterday; I want you to answer some 
 questions I am going to ask you about it. Begin 
 each answer on a fresh line." The questions were 
 then called out slowly, one by one, and the answers 
 were written one by one. 
 
 3. Exactly one week after the First Report, on 
 the same day of the week, and at the same hour of 
 the day, fresh papers having been previously pre- 
 pared, the children were required to make a Second 
 Report, not, of course, being made aware beforehand 
 that any second report was to be required of them. 
 The experimenter said to the children : ' ' You remem- 
 ber the picture I showed you last week ; I want you to 
 write down all that you remember to have seen in the 
 picture." No time limit was imposed for this exer- 
 cise. 
 
 4. On the next day, exactly one week after the 
 questions had been answered for the first time, the 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 131 
 
 experimenter said to the children, "I want you to 
 answer the questions about the picture again. Be- 
 gin each answer on a separate line." Then, as be- 
 fore, the questions were called out one by one, and 
 the answers were written down, one by one. 
 
 5. When the questions had been answered in writ- 
 ing for the second time, the worked papers were col- 
 lected and fresh ones supplied. The experimenter 
 then said: "I am going to show you the picture 
 again, and I want each of you to remember anything 
 he (or she) has written down wrongly before, or 
 omitted, and also to write down what he (or she) 
 ought to have said." No time limit was imposed 
 for the exercise, and the corrections were made 
 whilst the picture was exposed to view. 
 
 6. It was impossible so to arrange that every 
 class or group should take the exercises at the same 
 time of day, but the times chosen were all good times 
 of the day pedagogically, and no exercises were 
 taken on Mondays, a day of low adaptation to mental 
 work. Also great care was exercised in order that 
 no lesson preceding the tests should involve fatigue 
 in writing or practice in observation. And during 
 the period of the experiment no lessons were given 
 in English Composition, oral or written, nor any 
 exercises in unaided observation. 
 
 There were, therefore, five written papers for 
 every child in the school, both boys and girls — a First 
 Eeport, a First Interrogatory, a Second Eeport, a 
 Second Interrogatory and a Self-Correction. Each 
 child's papers were enclosed within one cover, so 
 that easy references might be made from one test to 
 another worked by the same child. 
 
132 children's perceptions 
 
 II. How the Work in Boys' and Girls' Schools 
 May be Compared. 
 
 Before attempting to summarize the results and 
 compare them with those of the younger children, 
 and before drawing attention to the comparative 
 powers of boys and girls in work of this kind, I shall 
 give an example from each class or standard. The 
 results will subsequently be given in standard- 
 groups and likewise in age-groups. Age in senior 
 schools is not so useful a determinant in school grad- 
 ing as it is in infant schools. For within any one 
 school, the standard* gradings, provided they are 
 made properly on a basis of general ability, are 
 much more satisfactory than age gradings. But if 
 one school is to be compared with another (these 
 two departments, boys' and girls', are really sepa- 
 rate schools in England) the standard gradings may 
 well be dropped or made subordinate, and groups 
 of corresponding ages substituted. In this case, 
 comparing the work of boys with that of girls, the 
 factor of social class may be ruled out ; for the boys 
 and girls belong to the same families, live in the 
 same neighborhood, and attend the same school. 
 Both boys' and girls' departments are of good peda- 
 gogical efficiency. In the work of the infants' schools 
 previously given, I refrained from making compari- 
 sons between the work of the boys and the work of 
 the girls ; the risk due to sampling was, in my judg- 
 ment, too great to allow of conclusions of high prob- 
 ability; but no such risk attaches to the present in- 
 vestigation. 
 
 *The term 'standard' is here used in the English sense, the equiva- 
 lent of a school grade in America. — Editor. 
 
THIED AND F0UETH SEEIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 133 
 
 But there is a factor which may produce variation 
 apart from the differing natural abilities of the boys 
 and girls, namely, the differing sex of the teachers ; 
 for the boys are taught by men, the girls by women. 
 And it is well to have the relevant possibilities in 
 mind before commencing the study of the detailed 
 results of the work. 
 
 The instances given will be chosen from work 
 typical of each standard, and will consist of the 
 work of children who are at what is considered in 
 England to be about the normative age for the given 
 standard or grade. 
 
 III. The Woek of the Standaed II Boys 
 
 AND GlELS. 
 
 The illustrative work first given is that of Jessie 
 
 I) , in Standard II, aged 8 years 3 months. The 
 
 reports and answers are printed exactly as written, 
 with all errors, orthographical and otherwise. 
 
 Jessie D 's First Report. 
 
 "In the picture that ive was looking at was a lit- 
 tle boy on a chair eatting a slice of cake. On the 
 table there is a knife the mother is standing by the 
 right side of the table with a bowl between her hands. 
 Beside the boys chair there is a green pot on the 
 other side were the mother is standing ther is a 
 brown flower pot with a lot of green leaves. The 
 mother has a white lace bonit and a blue aprin with 
 ivhite spots. The boy looks nice and kind, and the 
 mother looks nice mid kind. They both look as if 
 they both live happily to gether, and do not quorrel 
 with one an other. The boy looks thin and the 
 
134 children's perceptions 
 
 mother looks fat. I cannot tell you anything about 
 the father because he is not their.'' 
 
 Marking of Jessie D 's First Report. 
 
 Esthetic and moral terms figure in this report, 
 and Jessie provides the lady with a bonnet and an 
 appropriately colored apron. Marks are given for 
 the enumeration of 'little boy,' 'chair,' 'slice of cake,' 
 'table,' 'knife,' 'mother,' 'bowl,' 'hands,' 'pot,' 
 'flower-pot,' 'leaves,' 'apron;' a total of 12 marks. 
 
 The boy is 'eating' and the mother is 'standing.' 
 The positional references are as follow: the boy is 
 'on' the chair; a knife is 'on' the table; the mother 
 is standing 'by the right' of the table and the bowl 
 is 'between' her hands; the pot is 'beside' the chair; 
 the flower pot is 'on the other side,' the side 'where 
 the mother is standing;' a total of 7. 
 
 The descriptive qualifications are as follow: the 
 pot is 'green;' the flower-pot is 'brown;' the leaves 
 are 'green' and there are 'a lot' of them; the boy is 
 'nice and kind;' the mother is 'nice and kind;' the 
 mother looks 'fat;' the boy looks 'thin;' and they 
 appear to live ' happily ; ' a total of 11 marks. 
 
 Jessie D thus scores a total of 32 marks for 
 
 her first report. 
 
 Jessie D 's Second Report. 
 
 "In the picture that ive were looking at was a 
 lady on the right-hand side of the table ivith a bowl 
 in her two hands. On a box beside the lady was a 
 brown flower-pot. It didn't have any flowers but it 
 had some green leaves. On the other side of the 
 table was a little boy sitting on a chair. Beside the 
 
THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 135 
 
 boy's chair there is a green pot. On the table there 
 is a knife. The mother has a black scourt [skirt] a 
 blue aprin with white spots she has a lace bonit. The 
 boy is eating a slice of cake. The door was wide 
 open and the window was shut. The boy had a 
 brown jacket and a brown coat and a brown waist- 
 coat. And the boy is opening his mouth wide. The 
 colour of the bowl is brown the colour of the bowl 
 inside is a kind of yellowish white. The kind of cake 
 that the boy is [eating] is yellow with currants. The 
 cealing is paited blue. The knife has a yellow 
 handle, the side in which you have to cut with is 
 made of solid? silver. The lady has brown slipers. 
 The boy has heavy lace up boots. The lady has grey 
 hair and the little boy has brown hair. I cannot tell 
 you anything about the mother and the little boy 
 father, because he is not there." 
 
 Marking of Jessie D 's Second Report. 
 
 The influence of the preceding week's questioning 
 seems obvious, but rather in the direction of induc- 
 ing the child to make statements of some kind than 
 in improving the accuracy; though, as the answers 
 to the second set of questions will show, some ad- 
 vance in accuracy has been made. The esthetic and 
 moral judgments have disappeared, but there is 
 more enumeration and descriptive qualifications of 
 things than before. Of enumerations we have 23. 
 Three actions are included: the boy is 'sitting* and 
 'eating' and 'opening his mouth.' Of positional ref- 
 erences there are 10. 
 
 The descriptive qualifications are as follow: the 
 flower-pot is 'brown;' the leaves are 'green;' the pot 
 
136 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 (jug) is 'green;' the bowl (the hemispherical loaf) 
 is ' brown, ' and the inside of it is ' yellowish white ; ' 
 the cutting part of the knife is 'silver' (it is hard to 
 believe that the question stop after the word 'solid' 
 in Jessie's report has its usual signification); and 
 the boy has 'brown' hair; a total of 7 marks. 
 
 For the second report, therefore, 43 marks are 
 obtained, showing an improvement on the first report 
 beyond the average for the children of this class. 
 
 
 Jessie D — -'s First 
 
 and Second Sets 
 First Set of 
 
 of Answers. 
 Second Set of 
 
 
 Questions. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 1. 
 
 Which side of the table 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 right side. 
 
 The right side. 
 
 2. 
 
 What was she doing? 
 
 Standing. 
 
 holding a bowl. 
 
 3. 
 
 How was she holding 
 what she had in her 
 hand? 
 
 With her hands. 
 
 with her two hands. 
 
 4. 
 
 Had the lady anything 
 else in her hands? 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 5. 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 A aprin. 
 
 scuort, a brouce, a 
 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 
 aprin, a bonit. 
 
 6. 
 
 What sort of a hat had 
 she? 
 
 a lace bonit. 
 
 a lace bonit. 
 
 7. 
 
 What was she wearing 
 on her feet? 
 
 she had shoes. 
 
 slippers on her feet. 
 
 8. 
 
 Could you see them? 
 
 No. 
 
 I could not. 
 
 9. 
 
 Had she a pinafore or 
 apron on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 10. 
 
 Had she a frock on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 11. 
 
 What color was her 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 red, white spots. 
 
 blue. 
 
 12. 
 
 What color was her 
 skirt? 
 
 Hack. 
 
 black skirt. 
 
 13. 
 
 What color was her 
 
 blue white spots. 
 
 blue white spots 
 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 
 Aprin. 
 
 14. 
 
 What color were her 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 black. 
 
 shoes black. 
 
 15. 
 
 What color was her hair? 
 
 brown. 
 
 gray hair. '•■ 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 137 
 
 16. What was the boy do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 17. How was he holding 
 
 what he had in his 
 hand? 
 
 18. Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the 
 
 boy's coat or jacket? 
 
 21. What color were the 
 
 boy's trousers or knick- 
 erbockers ? 
 
 22. What color were the 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were the 
 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 the boy? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 the boy? 
 
 27. Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug or 
 
 vase? 
 
 29. What color was the jug 
 
 or vase? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug 
 or vase, and if you did, 
 what was it? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- 
 
 ble? 
 
 32. What else was there on 
 
 the table beside the 
 thing the lady was 
 holding? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 35. What color was the 
 
 knife? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? 
 
 eating a slice of 
 
 cake, 
 with two hands. 
 
 eating a slice of 
 
 cake, 
 with two hands. 
 
 by the legs of the 
 
 table. 
 in a suet and trous- 
 
 ers. 
 brown. 
 
 below the chair, 
 
 gaket boots trous- 
 ers waistcoat, 
 brown jacket. 
 
 brown trousers. 
 
 brown trousers. 
 
 black boots. 
 
 black boots. 
 
 black stockings. 
 
 black stockings. 
 
 brown hair, 
 lace up boots. 
 
 black hair, 
 heavy boots. 
 
 know shoes. 
 
 no shoes. 
 
 No. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 a green jug. 
 
 green jug. 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 a brown table. 
 
 brown table. 
 
 nothing else. 
 
 a knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 by the boy. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 by the boy. 
 
 yellow handle. 
 
 yellow. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 on a box. 
 
 on a box. 
 
138 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 38. What color were the 
 
 flowers? 
 
 39. How many flowers were 
 
 there ? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves? 
 How many leaves were 
 
 there ? 
 What color was the 
 
 flower-pot ? 
 What color was the box? 
 What did you see through 
 
 the open window? 
 45. What did you see through 
 
 the open door? 
 Did you see a window? 
 What color were the 
 
 walls of the room? 
 What color was the car- 
 pet? 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? 
 
 50. What room was it? 
 
 41. 
 42. 
 
 43. 
 
 44. 
 
 46. 
 47. 
 
 48. 
 
 green flower. 
 
 a nober [number]. 
 
 green leaves. 
 
 six leaves. 
 
 brown flower-pot. 
 
 yellow box. 
 nothing. 
 
 nothing. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 I do not know. 
 
 I do not know. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Kitchen room. 
 
 no flowers. 
 
 I do not no. 
 
 green leaves . 
 
 6 leaves. 
 
 brown pot. 
 
 yellow box. 
 nothing. 
 
 nothing. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 red walls. 
 
 I do not know. 
 
 Yes. 
 Kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Jessie D 's First and Second Sets of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Very little comment is needed, but one general 
 observation must be made. The answers to two of 
 the position questions, the first one referring to the 
 way in which the lady was holding the loaf and the 
 second one to the way the boy was holding his piece 
 of bread, were almost invariably wrong; and the 
 question arose whether this was due to the difficulty 
 of writing down an intelligible and accurate answer. 
 To test this point, a large sample was taken from 
 several classes, and the children were questioned 
 separately one by one. In one or two ( !) cases only 
 did the child know the answers, though even then 
 unable apparently to express them in writing. The 
 marks for the first set of answers total 25, and for 
 
THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 139 
 
 the second set of answers 26. If these are average 
 marks, as they are, for girls of this age, it is quite 
 obvious that for the observation of such a picture 
 as the one given, which we may call a domestic in- 
 terior, the 8-year-old child is no further forward 
 than 5-year-old children — indeed, is less forward. 
 But, of course, there are two conditions of the 
 method which render exact comparison impossible; 
 the older children had to write their answers and 
 they wrote them on the day following their report 
 and not immediately after it, whereas the younger 
 children had their answers written for them and 
 gave their first set of answers immediately after 
 their first report. I emphasize once more these dif- 
 ferences in conditions because they would usually be 
 supposed to make a considerable difference to the 
 accuracy of the answers. Personally, I think their 
 influence is slight. Children often remember more 
 the day, or several days, after an experience (if 
 they have given much attention to it) than they do 
 immediately after the actual experience; and the 
 rate at which the questions were asked and the an- 
 swers written gave little opportunity for manual 
 fatigue, though there is necessarily some dispersal 
 of attention caused by the writing process. Fatigue 
 due to writing is much more likely to operate in the 
 reports; but in the capacity to report, the 8-year- 
 old children are found superior to the 5-year-old 
 children, and, indeed, superior in their first report 
 to the 7-year-old children of School A. I briefly dis- 
 cuss these possibilities at this juncture because any- 
 one who reads Jessie D 's work, even hurriedly, 
 
 will be struck by the absence of that improvement 
 
140 children's perceptions 
 
 with age which the preceding illustrations, as well as 
 the tabulated figures previously given, will by now 
 have led him to expect. Some of Jessie's answers 
 call for special comment. The knife came in more 
 decidedly the second week, but she had apparently 
 noticed it the first week, unless placing it by the 
 boy was a 'lucky shot.' She did not know the color 
 of the handle, but by this time no reader will sup- 
 pose that a thing has not been seen because its color 
 is not remembered, and of course the knife is more 
 likely to be by the lady, for it is she who cuts the 
 cake, though the boy is 'eating' it. The color of the 
 bodice was rightly given the second week, though 
 wrongly the week before; but the color of the hair, 
 which was given as 'brown' both for the woman and 
 the boy at the first interrogation, became 'black' for 
 the boy and 'gray' for the woman the week after. 
 Colors, badly observed, appear to be insecurely re- 
 membered, which is precisely what we should expect 
 on general psychological principles. The woman's 
 clothes were more accurately given the second week 
 than the first — an improvement which may have 
 been due to the suggestive influence of the questions 
 of the first interrogatory. 
 
 Jessie D 's Self Correction. 
 
 "I said the flower-pot was brown and it is red. 1 
 said there ivas not any flowers and there is three. 
 I said the lady's hair was grey and it is brown." 
 
 Marking of Jessie D 's Self -Correction. 
 
 Though 'brown' has been allowed as a correct de- 
 scription of the color of the flower-pot, 'red' is ac- 
 cepted as a self-correction. The remaining correc- 
 
THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 141 
 
 tions are three in number ; one as to the existence of 
 the flowers, one as to their number — a correction of 
 omission, and one as to the color of the woman's 
 hair which was wrongly classed in the second in- 
 terrogatory, though rightly given the week before. 
 Jessie obtains 4 marks for self-correction, slightly 
 less than the 5-year-old average for School A. 
 
 TABLE XII. 
 Scores of the Standard II Children, Both Sexes, School C. 
 
 bo bo 
 
 g -O+S T3 g 
 
 . , mX »n °o °« nir 
 
 Average Age. t. §■ £-g g g 1 g-g Hg 
 
 Yrs. Mths. faei Ehm wtf raw mo 
 
 34 Girls 8 10.9 Aver. Mark 32.4 24.3 34.5 25.3 5.0 
 
 Mean Variation 7.7 2.8 7.0 3.8 1.8 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .24 .12 .20 .15 .36 
 
 49 Boys 8 11.3 Aver. Mark 24.2 24.8 24.6 25.4 3.9 
 
 Mean Variation 7.0 5.0 7.2 5.0 1.8 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .29 .20 .29 .20 .46 
 
 Comments on Table XII. 
 Though the boys in Standard II are older than the 
 girls, there is little doubt that the girls show greater 
 superiority in reporting and self-correction, whilst 
 in their capacity to answer questions on what they 
 had seen, the average marks of boys and girls are 
 practically identical, though amongst the boys this 
 capacity is much more variable. Where the average 
 marks are so nearly alike it will be necessary to com- 
 pare by age-groupings rather than by standard- 
 groupings, and this will be done later compendiously 
 in a single table ; but it may be said at once that, at 
 this age, the linguistic development of the girls 
 seems superior to that of the boys, though there is 
 practically no difference in their powers of observa- 
 tion as measured by the capacity shown in their in- 
 terrogatories. 
 
142 children's perceptions 
 
 IV. The "Work of the Standard III Boys and 
 Girls. 
 
 I give one complete set of papers, choosing on this 
 occasion, the work of a boy ; after which, the average 
 marks of the boys and girls will be given in a com- 
 parative table as before. The work selected for il- 
 lustrative purposes is that of John S , aged 9 
 
 years 4 months. 
 
 John 8 f s First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "A little boy is sitting on a chair near a table, 
 and his mother is giving him some food. Under the 
 table their is a vase. The door is open and by it there 
 is a box and on the box is a floiver-pot with a plant- 
 in it. On the table is a knife. The house is made of 
 ivood. The lady is rather tall. On the floor is the 
 little boy's books with something binding it." 
 
 Marking of John S 's First Report. 
 
 It is quite obviously better work than the average 
 work of the Standard II boys, and is given in notably 
 concise form, which is rather characteristic of boys 
 than of girls ; but its brevity is accompanied by dis- 
 tinct poverty of material, and its conciseness is jerky. 
 It looks as if John had very little to say and not 
 that he was choosing wisely from an abundance of 
 material. The report is weak in every respect. For 
 enumeration of persons and things John receives 14 
 marks. The only action correctly noted is that the 
 boy is ' sitting. ' The positional references carry 7 
 marks. There are a few qualifications: the lady is 
 'tall;' and 'rather' yields an additional modifica- 
 
THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 143 
 
 tion; and something is 'binding' the books; a mark 
 is also given for the material qualification 'made of 
 wood.' In allJohn obtains 26 marks. 
 
 John S 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 11 A hoy was sitting on a chair near a table, and 
 his mother was giving him some bread. Under the 
 table was a vase, and on the flour [floor] was a book. 
 The door was open and by it was a box, and on the 
 box was a flower-pot with a plant in it. The window 
 was open. The lady was wearing a blouse, an apron, 
 and a skirt. On the table was a knife. The lady ivas 
 going to cut some bread, and the boy ivas eating a 
 piece of bread and butter. The vase was a green one. 
 The plant in the flower-pot on the box had several 
 leaves on it. The boy had his feet on one of the 
 rails of the chair. The boy was wearing a pair of 
 shoes." 
 
 Marking of John S 's Second Report. 
 
 It is obvious that the questions have influenced 
 many of the statements, and that there is a consid- 
 erable improvement on the work of the previous 
 week; but also noticeable is the exact repetition of 
 some of the sentences of the first report. 
 
 Marks for enumeration total 19. 
 
 The boy was 'sitting' and 'eating' bread. That 
 the mother was 'giving him bread,' or 'just going to 
 cut bread' were not regarded as observed activities. 
 Of course, strictly speaking, no activity in a motion- 
 less picture can be other than an inferred activity, 
 but the inferences in these cases were considered too 
 far away from their observational basis. 
 
144 children's perceptions 
 
 The positional references are 10 in number. 
 
 There is only one correct qualification: the vase 
 is rightly described as 'green.' Hence, 32 marks 
 are obtained for John's second report — an improve- 
 ment of 6 on his previous week's report. 
 
 John S 's First and Second Sets of Answers. 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 1. Which side of the table The right side. On the right side. 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? She was giving the Cutting a piece of 
 
 boy some food. bread. 
 
 3. How was she holding She was holding it Between her hands. 
 
 what she had in her between her 
 hand? hands. 
 
 4. Had the lady anything No. No. 
 
 in her hands besides 
 the thing you have told 
 me about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the An apron and a A pinafore, a skirt, 
 
 lady wearing? blouse and a and a blouse, 
 
 skirt. 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had I don't no. I don't no. 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing A pair of shoes. I don't no. 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? Yes. No. 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or an A apron. An apron. 
 
 apron on? 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? Yes. Yes. 
 
 11. What color was her / don't no. I don't no. 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her Her skirt was Blue. 
 
 skirt? black. 
 
 13. What color was her White. White. 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 14. What color was her / don't no. I don't no. 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 15. What color was her hair? Black. Black. 
 
 16. What was the boy do- Eating a piece of Eating a piece of 
 
 ing? bread and butter. bread. 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 145 
 
 Questions. 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 25. 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 31. 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 
 34. 
 
 35. 
 
 36. 
 
 He had something in his Between two fin- 
 hand ; how was he gers. 
 holding it? 
 
 Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 What color was the 
 boy's coat or jacket? 
 
 What color were the 
 boy's trousers or knick- 
 ers? 
 
 What color were the 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 What color were the 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 What color was his hair? 
 
 What sort of boots had 
 the boy? 
 
 What sort of shoes had 
 he? 
 
 Did you see anything 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 Did you see a jug or 
 vase? 
 
 What color was the jug 
 or vase? 
 
 Did you see anything on 
 the floor near the jug 
 or vase, and if you did, 
 what was it? 
 
 What color was the ta- 
 ble? 
 
 What else was there on 
 the table beside the 
 thing the lady was 
 holding? 
 
 Did you see a knife? 
 
 Whereabouts on the ta- 
 ble was it? 
 
 What color was the 
 knife? 
 
 Did you see a flower- 
 pot? 
 
 On one of the rails 
 of the chair. 
 
 Trowers, toots, 
 coat and waste- 
 coat. 
 
 Grey. 
 
 Grey. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black stockings. 
 
 I don't no. 
 I don't no. 
 
 I don't no. 
 
 A vase, yes. 
 
 A vase. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 white. 
 A knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 At the edge. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Between a finger 
 
 and a thumb 
 (shoioed wrongly 
 
 when asked). 
 On the rail of the 
 
 chair. 
 A wastcoat, a pair 
 
 of trowsers and 
 
 a coat. 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black. 
 
 I don't no. 
 I don't no. 
 
 I don't no. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes, a vase. 
 
 A green vase. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 I don't no. 
 A knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 On the edge. 
 
 Black. 
 Yes. 
 
146 
 
 CHILDEEN S PEKCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 37. Where was the flower- 
 
 pot? 
 
 38. What color were the 
 
 flowers ? 
 
 39. How many flowers were 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the 
 
 flower-pot? 
 
 43. What color was the box? 
 
 44. What did you see through 
 
 the open window? 
 
 45. What did you see through 
 
 the open door? 
 
 46. Did you see a window? 
 
 47. What color were the 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- 
 
 pet? 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? 
 
 50. What room was it? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 On a box. 
 I don't no. 
 I don't no. 
 Green. 
 I don't no. 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 On a box. 
 
 Green. 
 
 I don't no. 
 
 The leaves were 
 
 green. 
 Four. 
 
 The flower-pot was Green. 
 
 red and green. 
 The box was white. White. 
 I did not see any- Nothing. 
 
 thing. 
 Nothing. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 I don't no. 
 
 I don't no. 
 
 No. 
 
 I don't no. 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 I don't no. 
 
 They hadn't got a 
 
 carpet. 
 No. 
 
 The kitchen. 
 
 Marking of John S 's First and Second Sets of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 The answers are poor and rather below the aver- 
 age for the grade or standard in which the boy is 
 classed. He obtains 24 marks for the first week and 
 25 the second week. John's characteristic answer 
 is "I don't no." This answer may very well be 
 typical of a boy who refuses to guess and demands 
 a distinct memory before he will venture on an asser- 
 tion ; but it may also, as in the present case, be found 
 a very present help in trouble when the boy is rather 
 stupid and knows very little. A good guess in itself 
 implies much previous accurate observation, though 
 it may not be applicable to the present case. When 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 147 
 
 John does guess, he sometimes guesses very badly, 
 as when he calls the flower-pot 'red and green' the 
 first week and ' green' the week after. His written 
 answer the second week appeared to indicate that he 
 had observed how the boy was holding his piece of 
 bread, but a request to show the way the boy was 
 holding it made it evident that he did not know. The 
 accuracy of these interrogations is distinctly below 
 that of the average of the 5-year-old infant-school 
 children. 
 
 John S 's Self-Correction. 
 
 "1 said there was a window and there is not. I 
 said there was no carpet and there is a carpet. I 
 said there were four leaves and there is five. I said 
 the boy had a black coat and he has a green coat. I 
 said the boy had a black pair of trousers and he has 
 a pare of red trousers. I said the boy had black hair 
 and he has yellow. I said the boy had black stockings 
 and he has blue. I said the lady had a white apron 
 and she has a red one.' 1 
 
 Marking of John S 's Self -Corrections. 
 
 There are 6 quite obvious corrections, but the as- 
 sertion of the carpet is a new error, and the altera- 
 tion of 'four' leaves into 'five' is a curious blunder, 
 as it is obvious that the boy, who is 9 years old, had 
 actually looked at the leaves to ascertain their num- 
 ber at this final exposure of the picture. 
 
 Comments on Table XIII. 
 
 The First Report of the Standard III girls is, un- 
 fortunately, not a reliable index of their capacity 
 for reporting what they have seen ; for recently, be- 
 
148 children's perceptions 
 
 fore the experiment commenced, they had received a 
 lesson in writing a story about a picture, and several 
 girls had been influenced by that lesson and had not 
 understood that they were required to report on 
 what they had seen, and not to write a story about it. 
 Doubtless, this attitude towards the picture some- 
 what influenced their capacity to answer questions 
 on it ; and that the low mark for the first report was 
 principally due to misunderstanding is indicated by 
 the mark obtained by the girls for their second re- 
 ports. There is a decided advance on the work of 
 the Standard II children, both of the boys and girls, 
 and the same relationships subsist between the work 
 of the boys and girls as was found previously. In 
 their capacity to answer the interrogatories and in 
 self-correction the boys and girls are practically the 
 same, whilst in their power of reporting the girls are 
 much superior. It is, however, important to note 
 that the boys of this class (or standard) average 5 
 months older than the girls. And we may again 
 profitably note that the marks are lower than those 
 of the infant-school children. 
 
 TABLE XIII. 
 
 Scores of the Standard III Children, Both Sexes, School O. 
 
 34 Girls 
 42 Boys 
 
 
 
 
 
 t-i 
 o 
 
 
 u 
 © 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■w 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cj 
 
 
 cS 
 
 © 
 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 bo 
 
 
 Average Age 
 
 
 
 "a 
 
 o 
 
 S-i -*-» 
 
 -a+s 
 
 a " 
 
 H 
 
 © <D 
 CJ-t-J 
 
 s5& 
 
 Yrs. Mths. 
 
 
 
 
 S3 
 
 
 0) a 
 
 02U 
 
 9 9.9 
 
 
 
 28.2 
 
 25.1 
 
 45.2 
 
 27.9 
 
 4.9 
 
 
 Mean Variation 
 
 
 9.1 
 
 4.6 
 
 8.2 
 
 5.0 
 
 1.3 
 
 
 Coefficient of Yaria 
 
 bility.. 
 
 .32 
 
 .18 
 
 .18 
 
 .18 
 
 .27 
 
 10 2.9 
 
 
 
 27.4 
 
 26.5 
 
 35.6 
 
 28.3 
 
 5.5 
 
 
 Mean Variation 
 
 
 5.4 
 
 4.2 
 
 8.5 
 
 3.6 
 
 2.0 
 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. 
 
 .19 
 
 .16 
 
 .24 
 
 .13 
 
 .36 
 
THIRD AND FOUETH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 149 
 
 V. The Work of the Standard IV Boys and Girls. 
 
 The work of this grade will be illustrated by the 
 
 papers of Charles B , aged 10 years 7 months, 
 
 whose marks were slightly below the average mark 
 for his class. 
 
 Charles B 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "In the picture there is a woman and her son,. 
 There is a chair and table, and on the table is a 
 knife. In the chair sits a boy eating some bread and 
 butter. Underneath the chair is an earthernware 
 jug. The door is half open. On the floor is a book 
 with a bookmarker to keep the page. The walls of 
 the house are a pale green. The floor is brown. The 
 woman has brown hair and wears a pink coloured 
 dress. She also wears a green coloured blouse. By 
 the open door is a plant which looks like a geranium. 
 It is planted in a red flower-pot, and is situated on 
 a pile of bricks which form a square. The bricks are 
 colour red. On the table there is a loaf of bread- 
 The jug underneath the chair in which the boy is 
 sitting is broken. The book marker is coloured 
 black." 
 
 Marking of Charles B 's First Report. 
 
 This is a clearly written report, and looks as if 
 it had been prepared in answer to our interroga- 
 tories; but the true relationship is an inverse one; 
 the questions were, of course, largely determined by 
 the children's spontaneous reports. 
 
 There are enumerative marks for 'woman,' 'chair,' 
 'table,' 'knife,' 'boy,' 'bread,' 'jug,' 'floor,' 'book' 
 
150 children's perceptions 
 
 (the satchel), 'bookmarker' (the supports of the 
 satchel), ' walls,' 'hair,' 'dress,' 'blouse,' 'plant,' 
 'geranium,' 'flower-pot,' 'pile of bricks' (the box), 
 and ' loaf ; ' a total of 20. 
 
 The boy 'sits' and 'is eating.' 
 
 The positional references number nine. There are 
 several accurate qualifications, 7 in all. Twice 
 Charles calls blue by the name of 'green' and calls 
 the blue dress 'pink;' though this latter error may 
 be due to confusion with the color of the apron. 
 
 Thirty-eight marks are scored by the first report. 
 
 Charles B 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "In the picture there is a lady and her son. The 
 boy is sitting on a chair. He has a piece of bread in 
 his hands. Underneath the chair is a broken jug. 
 The boy has blue trousers and a green jacket. The 
 lady is standing at the right side of the table. In her 
 hand she holds a knife, and in the other she holds a 
 loaf. She wears a blue skirt. Her hair is brown. 
 On her feet she wears brown slippers. She also 
 wears an apron which is white. The door is open. 
 There is no window. By the door is a pile of bricks. 
 On top of the bricks is a geraineum. The plant is 
 planted in a red pot. On the floor is a book with a 
 book marker in it. It lies with its back on the floor. 
 On the table is a knife. Underneath the table is a 
 broken jug." 
 
 Marking of Charles B 's Second Report. 
 
 Charles has written a very clear report, closely 
 resembling his first one. 
 Enumerative items admit a total of 21 marks. 
 
THIED AND FOUETH SEEIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 151 
 
 The knife appears twice, and so does the jug; in each 
 case once placed rightly and once wrongly. 
 
 There are 2 references to action and 14 to position. 
 
 The correct qualifications are as follows : the jug 
 is 'broken;' the boy's jacket is 'green;' the lady's 
 skirt is 'blue;' and her hair 'brown;' the flower-pot 
 is ' red : ' — a total of 5. 
 
 Charles scores 42 marks for his second report, 
 which is 3.5 less than the average for his class 
 (standard) and one mark less than the average mark 
 of the 7-year-old children of School A. 
 
 Charles B- 
 
 -'s First and Second Sets of Answers. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Which side of the table 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was she doing? 
 
 3. How was she holding 
 
 what she had in her 
 hand? 
 
 4. Had the lady anything 
 
 else in her hand be- 
 side what you have 
 told me about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 the lady? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her 
 
 skirt? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Right. 
 
 Cutting bread. 
 In her left hand. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Right. 
 
 Cut some oread. 
 In her right hand. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Blouse and skirt. 
 
 A blouse and skirt. 
 
 She had no hat. 
 
 None. 
 
 Shoes. 
 
 Slippers. 
 
 Yes. 
 Apron. 
 
 Yes. 
 Yes. 
 
 No, she had a 
 blouse and skirt. 
 Creen. 
 
 No, she had a 
 
 blouse and skirt, 
 blouse blue. 
 
 Pink. 
 
 Skirt blue. 
 
152 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 
 
 Fibst Set of 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 
 Questions. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 13. 
 
 What color was her 
 
 White. 
 
 Apron white. 
 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 
 
 14. 
 
 What color were her 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Shose brown. 
 
 15. 
 
 What color was her hair ? 
 
 Hair Brown. 
 
 Hair Brown. 
 
 16. 
 
 What was the boy do- 
 
 Eating. 
 
 Eating. 
 
 ing? 
 
 17. He had something in his 
 
 hand ; how was he 
 holding it? 
 
 18. Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the boy's 
 
 coat or jacket? 
 
 21. What color were the 
 
 boy's trousers or knick- 
 ers? 
 
 22. What color were the 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were the 
 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 the boy? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug or 
 
 vase? 
 
 29. What color was the jug 
 
 or vase? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug 
 or vase, and if so, 
 what was it? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- 
 
 ble? 
 
 32. What else was on the 
 
 table beside the thing 
 that the lady was 
 holding? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 Up to his mouth. Up to his mouth. 
 
 On the chair. 
 
 Blouse and knick- 
 ers. 
 Coat, light blue. 
 
 On the rungs of 
 
 the chair. 
 Trousers and 
 
 jacket. 
 Boy's coat, blue. 
 
 Light blue. 
 
 Trousers green. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Boys' shose brown. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Hair, brown. 
 Brown. 
 
 Boys' stockings 
 
 black, 
 boys' hair black. 
 Shoes black. 
 
 He had boots. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 A jug. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 jug, brown. 
 
 Yes, a book. 
 
 Yes, a book. 
 
 White. 
 
 Table Brown. 
 
 A loaf. 
 
 Knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 In the middle. 
 
 Yes. 
 Middle. 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 153 
 
 Questions. 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 the White, what you handle yellow, 
 cut with. 
 
 35. What color w 
 
 knife? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was it? by the door. by the door. 
 
 38. What color were the Yellow. Yelloio flowers. 
 
 flowers? 
 
 39. How many flowers were three. about a dozen. 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the Green. leaves green. 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were Half-a-dozen. A lot. 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the Red. flower-pot Red. 
 
 fl6wer-pot ? 
 
 43. What color was the box? Pale Brown. box light brown. 
 
 44. What did you see through Trees. no icindow. 
 
 the open window? 
 
 45. What did 5 ou see through Trees. The garden. 
 
 the open door? 
 
 46. Did you see a window? No. No. 
 
 47. What color were the Pale brown. Walls white. 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- No carpet. no carpet. 
 
 pet? 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 
 
 50. What room was it? Kitchen. Kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Charles B 's Answers. 
 
 Charles obtains 26 marks for his first interroga- 
 tory and 30 for his second. This mark is slightly 
 below the average mark for his class for the first, 
 and almost identical with the average mark for the 
 second set of answers. The work is at the same level 
 as that of the 5-year-old children of School A, and 
 decidedly below that of the 5-year-old children of 
 School B. His answer to Question 10 is not re- 
 garded as correct; for though 'blouse' has been ac- 
 cepted in the answer to Question 6, provided that 
 apron or pinafore and skirt have been noted as well, 
 
154 children's perceptions 
 
 and accepted on the ground that a knowledge of the 
 distinction between a lady's blouse and the upper 
 part of her frock is not possessed by many children, 
 yet this boy clearly does distinguish and does so 
 wrongly. He accepts erroneous suggestions less 
 easily the second week (Questions 25, 26, 44), but 
 his flowers and leaves increase in number and are 
 more inaccurately remembered (Questions 39 and 
 41) ; his colors, contrary to the general tendency, are 
 ^lightly more accurately remembered the .second 
 week than the first. 
 
 Charles B 's Self Correction. 
 
 Charles at first wrote that the picture now ex- 
 hibited was 'A different picture,' and wrote no 
 more; but, on being assured that the picture was 
 really the picture that he had seen 8 days before, 
 wrote the following corrections of his reports and 
 interrogatories. 
 
 "I thought her apron was white, but it is red. I 
 thought his coat was blue, but it is green. The walls 
 are gray and I thought they were brown. His 
 trousers are red I thought they were green. The 
 lady is dressed in blue but I thought she was dressed 
 in green. The plant is on a box. I thought it was on 
 some bricks." 
 
 Marking of Charles B 's Self -Correction. 
 
 The first four corrections are quite clear. Green 
 and pink were given as the colors of the woman's 
 dress in the first interrogatory, but corrected in the 
 second (Questions 11 and 12) ; a mark, however, is 
 allowed on the ground that the wrong assertion had 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 155 
 
 been made and was now corrected. ' ' Pile of bricks ' ' 
 has been accepted as a reasonable identification of 
 the box in the corner; but as it is more like a box 
 than a pile of bricks, the last sentence about the box 
 and bricks is accepted as a correction. Charles re- 
 ceives 6 marks for self-correction, which is slightly 
 higher than the average mark for his standard 
 (class) and slightly lower than that of the 5-year-old 
 children of School B. 
 
 TABLE XIV. 
 
 SCOBES OF THE StANDABD IV CHILDBEN, BOTH SEXES, SCHOOL O. 
 
 Yrs. Mths. *j| £g §| gg ^8 
 
 Average Age. &.CJ fc« xtiA oq~ ku 
 
 64 Girls 10 9.5 Aver. Mark 42.5 29.0 49.8 30.2 6.3 
 
 Mean Variation 10.6 4.0 12.3 3.1 1.8 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .25 .14 .25 .10 .29 
 
 41 Boys 11 1.2 Aver. Mark 39.6 28.5 44.5 29.7 5.4 
 
 Mean Variation 8.2 3.4 8.2 3.5 1.6 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .21 .12 .18 .12 .30 
 
 Comments on Table XIV. 
 
 There is a distinct advance in all respects upon 
 the work of the Standard III children, and, so far 
 as reporting is concerned, the work of the infant- 
 school children has now been surpassed, but in the 
 interrogatories the infant-school children still more 
 than hold their own. In comparing the work of 
 the boys and the girls it is important to note the 
 greater age of the boys in this standard, since there 
 are indications that the girls are forging ahead of 
 the boys in their capacity to answer questions on 
 what they have observed, as indeed is clearly found 
 to be the case when boys and girls of the same age 
 
156 children's perceptions 
 
 are compared. "We have already seen reason to be- 
 lieve that, in their power of reporting, the girls, 
 standard for standard, are in advance of the boys ; 
 and the present result strengthens that belief. 
 
 VI. The Work op the Standard V Boys and Girls. 
 
 The work of this standard will be illustrated by 
 
 means of a girl's papers, worked by Connie T , 
 
 aged 11 years 9 months. The papers are slightly 
 above the average of those worked in the Standard 
 V girls' class. 
 
 Connie T 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "In the picture I saiv a little boy and Ms mother. 
 His mother was holding a coco-nut. She had cut a 
 piece out and he was eating it. A knife was on the 
 table with a black handle. The little boy's mother 
 had brown hair, and so had the boy. The little boy 
 had a red blouse and blue knickers on. The door of 
 the house was open and was painted brown. The 
 boy ivas sitting at a table which was painted brown. 
 He was sitting on a brown chair and the part of the 
 chair that is used for sitting on had holes in it. The 
 little boy had socks on which were brown and black 
 shoes. His hair was short and a little bit curly. By 
 the door was a box with a dark red pot on it. In the 
 pot was a geranum with a red blossom. The mould 
 tvas very black and looked rich looking mould. The 
 box on which it was standing was a light brown. In 
 the picture there were no pictures hanging on the 
 floor there were bare boards. The little boy and his 
 mother were dressed nicely. There was on the floor 
 a book with a red cover and the leaves were white 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 157 
 
 the book ivas broken a little. The mother had a white 
 apron on and she was not very tall and not very 
 short." 
 
 Marking of Connie T 's First Report. 
 
 It is quite obvious that this report represents a 
 considerable advance on those previously given. 
 
 Enumerative marks are given for * little boy,' 
 'mother,' 'cocoanut' (the hemispherical loaf of 
 bread), 'piece' (the bread which the boy was holding), 
 'knife,' 'table,' 'handle' (of the knife), 'hair' (the 
 mother's), 'hair' (the boy's), 'blouse,' 'knickers,' 
 'door,' 'chair,' 'part of the chair used for sitting 
 on,' 'holes' (in the seat of the chair), 'shoes,' 'box,' 
 'pot,' 'geranium,' 'blossom,' 'room,' 'floor,' 'book,' 
 'cover' (of the book), 'leaves' (of the book), 'legs' 
 (of the table), and 'apron:' a total of 27. 
 
 The woman is 'holding' the cocoanut and the boy 
 is 'eating' and 'sitting.' 
 
 A knife was 'on' the table; the door was 'open'; 
 the boy was 'at' the table 'on' a chair; there were 
 holes 'in' the seat of the chair; a box was 'by' the 
 door with a pot 'on' it; and there was a book 'on' 
 the floor ; a total of 8 positional references. 
 
 Connie is very successful with her qualifications: 
 the handle of the knife was 'black;' the woman's 
 hair was 'brown;' the boy's hair was 'brown;' the 
 door was 'brown;' the chair was 'brown;' the boy's 
 shoes were 'black;' his hair was 'short' and 'curly,' 
 'a little bit;' the pot was 'dark red,' and the blossom 
 of the plant was 'red;' the box was 'light brown;' 
 the floor was 'bare;' both the woman and the boy 
 were dressed 'nicely' (two marks) ; the cover of the 
 
158 children's perceptions 
 
 book was 'red,' and ' broken' 'a little;' the table bad 
 'four' legs; the lady was of 'medium' height (not 
 very tall and not very short) : thus scoring a total 
 of 20 marks. 
 
 Fifty-eight marks are thus obtained for the first 
 report. 
 
 Connie T 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "In the picture there ivas a little boy and his 
 mother. The mother was holding a cocoa-nut. The 
 little boy ivas holding a piece of cocoa-nut and eating 
 it, it was a piece that had been cut out of the cocoa- 
 nut. The mother had light brown hair. She had a 
 blue blouse and a black skirt and ivhite apron. Her 
 shoes were just peeping out of her skirt and they 
 were black. The little boys hair was light brown 
 and he had a blue blouse and red knickers. He also 
 had blue socks and brown shoes. He ivas sitting back 
 on a cane chair, which was brown. There was a table 
 in the room which was light brown it had four legs. 
 On the table was a knife with a brown handle. There 
 was also a door which ivas open. By the door there 
 was a light brown box. On the box there ivas a 
 flower-pot. The flower-pot was dark red. There 
 ivas some rich-looking mould in the flower-pot. In 
 the pot there was a geranium. The flower was red 
 and there ivas five flowers and seven leaves. Some 
 of the leaves were green and some yellow. There 
 was on the floor by the chair a book which had a red 
 cover and was bound in black, it was broken a little. 
 The walls were black. It looked like the kitchen and 
 it was badly furnished. There was no lino on the 
 floor." 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 159 
 
 Marking of Connie T 's Second Report. 
 
 Again we have a full and clear report, very like 
 the first one, but influenced here and there by the 
 questions of the first interrogatory. Enumerative 
 marks are obtained for 31 items. 
 
 The mother was 'holding' the cocoa-nut; the little 
 boy was 'holding' a piece of the cocoa-nut, was 'eat- 
 ing' it, and 'sitting' on a chair. There are also 10 
 references to position and 18 qualifications. 
 
 Connie T thus scores 62 marks for her second 
 
 report. It is very doubtful whether anything is to 
 be seen in the flower-pot which is distinguishable as 
 mould at all; it is quite certain that nothing can be 
 seen to indicate that it is rich mould. 
 
 
 Connie T 's First 
 
 and Second 
 
 Sets 
 
 of Answers. 
 
 
 
 First Set 
 
 OF 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 
 Questions. 
 
 Answers, 
 
 
 Answers. 
 
 1. 
 
 Which side of the table 
 was the lady standing? 
 
 Right side. 
 
 
 Right side. 
 
 2. 
 
 What was the lady do- 
 
 Holding a cocoa- 
 
 Looking at the boy. 
 
 
 ing? 
 
 nut. 
 
 
 
 3. 
 
 How was she holding 
 
 Holding it to 
 
 the 
 
 In her two hands 
 
 
 what she had in her 
 
 boy. 
 
 
 {showed wrong- 
 
 
 hand? 
 
 
 
 h). 
 
 4. 
 
 Had the lady anything 
 else in her hand be- 
 sides what you have 
 told me about? 
 
 No. 
 
 
 No. 
 
 5. 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 Blouse and sJcirt. 
 
 Blouse and skirt. 
 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 
 
 
 6. 
 
 What sort of a hat had 
 she? 
 
 Nurse's cap. 
 
 
 A nurse's cap. 
 
 7. 
 
 What was she wearing 
 on her feet? 
 
 Black shoes. 
 
 
 shoes. 
 
 8. 
 
 Could you see her feet? 
 
 No. 
 
 
 Yes, the tips of her 
 black shoes. 
 
 9. 
 
 Had she a pinafore or 
 apron on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 10. 
 
 Had she a frock on? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
160 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her 
 
 skirt? 
 
 13. What was the color of 
 
 her apron or pina- 
 fore? 
 
 14. What color were her 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 15. What color was her hair ? 
 
 16. What was the boy doing? 
 
 17. He had something in his 
 
 hand; how was he 
 holding it, 
 
 18. Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the boy's 
 
 coat or jacket? 
 
 21. What color were his 
 
 trousers or knickers? 
 
 22. What color were the 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were his 
 
 stockings ? 
 
 24. What color was his hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 the boy? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything un- 
 
 der the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug or 
 
 vase? 
 
 29. What color was the jug 
 
 or vase? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug 
 or vase, and if you did, 
 what was it? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- 
 
 ble? 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Blue blouse. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Black skirt. 
 
 Black. 
 
 White apron. 
 
 White. 
 
 Black shoes. 
 
 Black shoes. 
 
 Lightish brown 
 
 Light brown. 
 
 hair. 
 
 
 Eating a piece of 
 
 Eating a cocoa-nut. 
 
 cocoa-nut. 
 
 
 Between thumb and 
 
 Between his finger 
 
 four fingers. 
 
 and thumb 
 
 
 (showed wrong- 
 
 
 ly). 
 
 Hanging by the 
 
 Leaning on the 
 
 chair. 
 
 chair. 
 
 Blue blouse and red 
 
 Blouse and knick- 
 
 knickers. 
 
 ers. 
 
 Blue blouse. 
 
 Blue blouse. 
 
 red knickers. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Black shoes. 
 
 black. 
 
 Black stockings. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Light Brown. 
 
 Light Brown. 
 
 Slippers. 
 
 Slippers. 
 
 I forget. 
 
 black ones. 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 I forget. 
 
 There was not a 
 
 
 jug at all. 
 
 Yes, a book. 
 
 Yes (see second re- 
 
 
 port). 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Brown. 
 
THIKD AND FOUKTH SERIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 161 
 
 Questions. 
 
 First Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 32. What else was there on A knife. 
 
 the table beside what 
 the lady was holding? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? Yes. 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- Near the boy. 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 35. What color was the Brown handle. 
 
 knife? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- Yes. 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Whereabouts was it? 
 
 38 
 
 were the 
 
 What color 
 flowers ? 
 
 39. How many flowers were 
 
 there? 
 
 40. What color were the 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were 
 
 there? 
 
 42. What color was the 
 flower-pot? 
 
 What color was the box? 
 
 What did you see through 
 the open window? 
 
 What} did you see through 
 the open door? 
 
 Did you see a window? 
 
 What color were the 
 walls of the room? 
 
 What color was the car- 
 pet? 
 
 Did you see a carpet? 
 
 43. 
 44. 
 
 45. 
 
 46. 
 47. 
 
 48. 
 
 49. 
 
 50. What room was it? 
 
 On a box near the 
 
 window. 
 Red flowers. 
 
 5. 
 
 Some green, some 
 yellow. 
 
 7. 
 
 Red. 
 
 Brown. 
 Nothing. 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Black walls. 
 
 There was not any 
 
 carpet. 
 No. 
 Kitchen. 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 A knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Near the mother. 
 
 Light brown han- 
 dle. 
 
 On the box by the 
 
 window. 
 Red flowers. 
 
 Five flowers. 
 
 Some green, some 
 
 yellow. 
 Severn leaves. 
 
 Dark red flower 
 
 pot. 
 Light brown box. 
 Nothing. 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 No. 
 Black. 
 
 There icas not any. 
 
 No. 
 Kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Connie T '5 First and Second Sets 
 
 of Answers. 
 
 In the first interrogatory Connie obtains marks 
 for 31 correct answers, and in the second 32 ; in each 
 case abont two or three marks lower than the aver- 
 age for the grade or standard. The two sets of an- 
 swers are almost identical. She was not snre, on 
 
162 CHILDREN^ PERCEPTION'S 
 
 the first time of asking, that the lady's feet were 
 visible; but, by the second week, remembered that 
 the tips of her shoes could be seen (Question 8). 
 Also by the second week she was quite sure that 
 there was no window; the position of the boy's legs 
 seemed clearer too after the lapse of time; but the 
 question as to the color of the boy's knickers, rightly 
 answered a day after the observation, was forgotten 
 a week afterwards ; although the day before, in her 
 second report, she had stated that they were red. 
 The handle of the knife was 'brown' the first week, 
 which is a fair description, but 'light brown' the sec- 
 ond week, which is certainly wrong. 
 
 These interrogations are at about the same level 
 as those of the 6-year-old infants of School A. 
 
 Connie T 's 8 elf -Correction. 
 
 "I said the lady had a Mack shirt and she had a 
 blue one. I said the lady had a white apron and it is 
 red. I said there ivas not a jug under the chair and 
 there is a green one. I said the booh was bound in 
 blach and it is bound in red. I said the boy had a 
 blue suit and he has a green blouse. I said there 
 were seven leaves and there are nine. I said there 
 ivere five flowers and there are three. I said the 
 leaves were green and they have some blach in them. 
 I said the little boy had blach stochings and he has 
 blue. I said the lady had light brown hair and she 
 has darh brown hair. I said it was a brown-handled 
 hnife and it is a blach-handled hnife." 
 
 Marhing of Connie T — — 's 8 elf -Correction. 
 Most of these corrections, numbering 11 alto- 
 gether, are quite clear and definite. Two marks are 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 163 
 
 obtained for the correction about the jug; its exist- 
 ence, formerly denied, is now asserted, and its color, 
 necessarily omitted, is now given. I am doubtful 
 whether the woman's hair ought to be called dark 
 brown or light brown, but the girl's assertion that 
 light brown is wrong is accepted as a correction. 
 It is also very doubtful whether the handle of the 
 knife is dark brown or black, but again the correc- 
 tion is accepted; for, in her second interrogatory, 
 Connie had called it ' light brown, ' which is certainly 
 wrong. The self-correction is two or three marks 
 above the average for the standard. 
 
 TABLE XV. 
 
 Scores of the Standard V Children, Both Sexes, School C. 
 
 Average Age. % o 
 
 Yrs. Mths. Ss3 
 
 42 Girls 12 1.8 Aver. Mark 59.5 
 
 Mean Variation 10.4 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .17 
 
 32 Boys 12 2.9 Aver. Mark 41.9 
 
 Mean Variation 7.2 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .17 
 
 Comments on Table XV. 
 
 There is an advance on the work of Standard IV, 
 slight, except in the power of self-correction, on the 
 part of the boys, but very marked in the case of the 
 girls. It is, of course, to be noted that this is the 
 first standard in which the ages of the boys and girls 
 are practically the same, though even here the boys 
 are slightly older. In the interrogatories these chil- 
 dren are not yet outside the infant-school range, but 
 
 bo 
 
 
 60 
 
 .25 
 
 o 
 u 
 
 8§ 
 
 
 
 fcC+-> 
 
 
 
 V O 
 
 O) <5 
 
 a; a 
 
 OJ © 
 
 fa£ 
 
 02 tf 
 
 mH 
 
 02 CJ 
 
 33.1 
 
 65.2 
 
 35.7 
 
 7.5 
 
 3.6 
 
 9.8 
 
 3.5 
 
 1.9 
 
 .11 
 
 .15 
 
 .09 
 
 .25 
 
 29.6 
 
 46.8 
 
 31.7 
 
 9.0 
 
 3.4 
 
 8.0 
 
 2.2 
 
 2.1 
 
 .11 
 
 .17 
 
 .07 
 
 .23 
 
164 children's perceptions 
 
 in the reports the girls are definitely so, though the 
 boys are scarcely better than the 7-year-old infants 
 of School B. Comparison between the boys and 
 girls shows the girls to be superior all along the line, 
 except in their power of self-correction ; but the girls 
 have fewer errors to correct in this and the succeed- 
 ing grades. 
 
 VII. The Work of the Standard VI Children, 
 Boys and Girls, of School C. 
 
 The work of this grade will be illustrated by the 
 
 papers of a boy, Thomas Gr , aged 12 years 5 
 
 months. His work is somewhat uneven, being quite 
 average work for the first week, and in the second 
 week showing no improvement in his report, but 
 great improvement in his interrogatory. His self- 
 correction is normal for the standard. 
 
 Thomas G 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "In the picture I saw a wooden table with a lady 
 and a boy beside it. The boy was sitting on a chair 
 eating. The lady had a large bowl in her hands. I 
 also saw a large box with a floiver-pot on it; the plant 
 was in full-bloom. Under the table was a large 
 pitcher and on the floor was a book with two hookers 
 on it. There was also a large ivooden door which 
 was partly open. The chair on which the boy was 
 sitting ivas made of ivood. The plant that was on 
 the box was a geranium. On the boy's back ivas a 
 school-bag so that illustrates probably the boy was 
 going to school." 
 
THIRD AND FOUKTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 165 
 
 Marking of Thomas G 's First Report. 
 
 The report is clearly written and tersely ex- 
 pressed, but Thomas appears to have very little to 
 say. He enumerates very few of the things repre- 
 sented in the picture. 
 
 Marks are obtained for 15 items. The school-bag 
 mentioned may have been the satchel on the floor, but 
 this has been definitely called ' a book with two hook- 
 ers,' and it certainly is not on the boy's back. Per- 
 haps the inclusion of the school-bag is merely an 
 error of association; but the second report makes 
 this somewhat doubtful. 
 
 The boy is ' sitting' and 'eating.' 
 
 Positional references total 9. 
 
 The correct qualifications are more numerous than 
 is usual with younger children, except that, through- 
 out the whole of this and the next week's report, 
 there is only one reference to color, and that one 
 doubtful. The boy has noticed the colors, as we 
 find by his interrogatories, but he has not deemed 
 them worthy of a place in his reports ; they are prob- 
 ably not aspects interesting to him. The qualifica- 
 tions he does give are as follow : the table, the door, 
 and the chair are 'made of wood' (three marks) ; 
 the bowl, the box, and the pitcher are 'large' (three 
 marks) ; the plant is in 'bloom' (full is a doubtful 
 qualification) ; the book has 'two' hookers, and the 
 door is 'partly' open : a total of 9. 
 
 Thomas scores a total of 35 marks for his first 
 report. 
 
 Thomas G 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "In the picture I saw a large wooden box with a 
 plant. The plant had about six flowers and about 
 
166 children's perceptions 
 
 twenty leaves; the plant was named a geranium. 
 There ivas also a door which was partly open. A 
 large table ivas near the door. A small boy was sit- 
 ting on a wooden chair near the table. Under the 
 chair on which the boy was sitting was a school-bag ; 
 the boy had something in his hand which he appeared 
 to be eating. A woman was at the left-hand side of 
 the table. Between her two hands she had what ap- 
 peared to be a large bowl. Under the table was a 
 lage (this word spelt wrongly) pitcher, and on the 
 floor near the boy ivas a book with two hookers on it. 
 The colour of the walls ivas a Cambridge* colour." 
 
 Marking of Thomas G 's Second Report. 
 
 Again Thomas has given a clear report much re- 
 sembling his first. The most interesting point lies 
 in the reappearance of the school-bag, which, how- 
 ever, is no longer placed on the boy's back, but under 
 the chair; yet the actual satchel still seems to be 
 identified as a "book with two hookers." 
 
 Seventeen enumerative marks are obtained. There 
 are two references to action, and seven to position. 
 
 The correct qualifications are very similar to those 
 previously given: the box, table, bowl and pitcher 
 are 'large' (four marks) ; the box and the chair are 
 made of 'wood' (two marks); the door is 'partly' 
 open; the boy is a 'small' boy; the woman's 'two' 
 hands appear to have been observed; there are 'two' 
 hookers (the supports of the satchel) ; and the walls 
 are a 'Cambridge' color. The grayish blue of the 
 walls may, perhaps, be fairly called a light blue, so 
 that a mark is allowed for the last qualification men- 
 tioned, making a total of 11. 
 
 *The colors of Cambridge University are light blue. 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 167 
 
 Thomas scores in all 37 marks for his second re- 
 port, an improvement of only two marks upon his 
 first. 
 
 Thomas G 's First and Second Sets of Answers. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Which side of the table 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was the lady do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 3. How was she holding 
 
 what she had in her 
 hands? 
 
 4. Had she anything else in 
 
 her hand beside what 
 you have told me 
 about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her 
 
 skirt? 
 
 13. What color was her 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 14. What color were her 
 
 boots or shoes? 
 
 15. What color was her 
 
 hair? 
 
 16. What was the boy do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 17. How was the boy hold- 
 
 ing what he had in his 
 hand? 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 The left side of the The left side of the 
 table. table. 
 
 Holding a bowl. Holding a bowl in 
 her hands. 
 
 Between her two Between her hands 
 hands (showed (showed wrong- 
 
 wrongly), ly). 
 
 No. No. 
 
 Bright coloured 
 
 clothes. 
 No hat. 
 
 Sandles. 
 
 Yes. 
 No. 
 
 Frock, yes. 
 Red. Blouse. 
 
 Blue. Frock. 
 
 Bright coloured 
 
 clothes. 
 Hat, had not one. 
 
 Shoes. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Apron. 
 
 No. 
 
 Blouse — blue. 
 
 Had no skirt. 
 
 She did not have Red, 
 
 one. 
 Shoes, brown. 
 
 Dark hair. 
 
 Eating. 
 
 Between thumb 
 and finger 
 ( showed wrong- 
 
 ly). 
 
 Brown shoes. 
 
 Dark hair. 
 
 Boy, eating. 
 
 Between thumb 
 and finger 
 (showed wrong- 
 ly). 
 
168 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Questions. 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Feet on chair rail. 
 
 18. Where were the boy's On rail of the 
 
 feet ? chair. 
 
 19. What clothes was the Bright coloured 
 
 boy wearing? clothes. 
 
 20. What color was the Coat, Hue. 
 
 boy's coat or jacket? 
 
 21. What color were the Knickers. Red. 
 
 boy's trousers or knick- 
 ers? 
 
 22. What color were the Shoes, had none 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were the Blue stockings. 
 
 boy's stockings? 
 
 24. What was the color of Hair. Fair. 
 
 the boy's hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had had no boots. 
 
 the boy? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had had no shoes. 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything School-lag. 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug or Yes. Vase. 
 
 vase? 
 
 29. What color was it? Jug. White. 
 
 30. Did you see anything on Yes, book with two Yes. 
 
 the floor near the jug hookers. 
 or vase ; if so, what 
 was it? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- Brown table. 
 
 ble? 
 
 32. What else was there on Nothing. 
 
 the table beside the 
 thing the lady was 
 holding ? 
 
 33. Did you see a knife? No knife. 
 
 34. Whereabouts on the ta- Nowhere on table. Centre of table 
 
 ble was it? 
 
 35. What color was the Was not a knife. Brown handle. 
 
 knife ? 
 
 36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 
 
 pot? 
 
 37. Where was the flower- On a wooden box. On a box. 
 
 pot? 
 
 38. What color were the Red flowers. Pinkish red. 
 
 flowers ? 
 
 39. How many flowers were Four flowers. Six. 
 
 there? 
 
 Bright coloured 
 
 clothes. 
 Red. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Navy blue. 
 
 Fair. 
 
 Shoes, had no 
 boots. 
 
 black. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 No, a large pitcher. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Brown. 
 Knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 169 
 
 First Set of Second Set of 
 
 Questions. Answers. Answers. 
 
 40. What color were the leaves green. Green. 
 
 leaves? 
 
 41. How many leaves were leaves ten. about twenty. 
 
 there ? 
 
 42. What color was the Flower Pot. dark Red. 
 
 flower-pot? red. 
 
 43. What color was the box? box. white. White. 
 
 44. What did you see through No window to see Was no window. 
 
 the open window? through. 
 
 45. What did you see through The door was not Nothing. 
 
 the open door? open wide 
 
 enough. 
 
 46. Did you see a window? No. No. 
 
 47. What color were the Walls, blue. Blue, light. 
 
 walls of the room? 
 
 48. What color was the car- There was no car- Was no carpet. 
 
 pet? pet. 
 
 49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 
 
 50. What room was it? Boom. Dont no. Probably the 
 
 kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Thomas G 's Answers. 
 
 Thomas answered 28 questions accurately the first 
 week and 35 the week afterwards, which indicated 
 an exceptional improvement. He denied that the 
 woman had an apron in the first interrogatory, but 
 admitted it and remembered the color a week later. 
 He denied that the boy had either boots or shoes 
 the first week, but allowed shoes the week after. 
 The four questions about the knife (Numbers 32, 
 33, 34, 35), all answered at first by a denial of the 
 knife, were answered correctly a week later. These 
 corrections could hardly have been due merely to 
 delayed suggestion, since he persevered, and 
 rightly, in his negative answers about the woman's 
 hat, the window, what could be seen through the 
 door, and the carpet. It would appear that the sug- 
 
170 children's perceptions 
 
 gestion works affirmatively much more easily when 
 there has been a basis of perception, though tempo- 
 rarily forgotten and even denied. 
 
 Thomas G 's Self -Correction. 
 
 "I said the boy's stockings were navy blue they 
 are Cambridge colour. I said there were six flowers 
 and twenty leaves there are only three flowers and 
 nine leaves. I said she has no frock but she has a 
 blue one. I also mentioned the boy had a blue blouse 
 and he had a green one; I said the pitcher was under 
 the table but it is under the chair on which the boy 
 is sitting. I mentioned the lady was holding a bowl 
 between her hands but it appears to be part of a loaf 
 of bread. I said the knife was in the centre of the 
 table but it is on the edge. I also said the handle of 
 it was brown but it is black." 
 
 Marking of Thomas G 's Self -Correction. 
 
 'Blue' has been allowed, even navy blue, as a cor- 
 rect description of the color of the boy's stockings, 
 but 'Cambridge blue' is more accurate and is there- 
 fore allowed as an actual correction. 'Brown' has 
 been regarded as correct for the color of the knife- 
 handle, and, though it is very doubtful whether it 
 ought to be called brown or black, 'black' is accepted 
 as a correction since the boy, on further perception, 
 decides it to be black. The other assertions are 
 straightforward corrections of obvious errors, 
 though, as has already been explained, 'bowl' has 
 been accepted as an identification of the loaf of Ger- 
 man bread. Thomas obtains a total of 9 marks for 
 self-correction. 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 171 
 TABLE XVI. 
 Scores of the Standard VI Children, Both Sexes, School C. 
 
 o o . 
 
 as el 3 
 
 M fep ji 
 
 +s 2 ^ti "°S « 
 Average Age. £o || go §g ^g 
 
 Yrs. Mths. &.B5 few sc« dq« oqU 
 
 20 Girls 12 8.0 Aver. Mark 66.3 33.8 76.5 34.8 7.6 
 
 Mean Variation 12.6 2.5 14.3 3.1 2.3 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .19 .07 .19 .09 .30 
 
 26 Boys 13 0.3 Aver. Mark 34.9 29.5 44.5 31.5 8.9 
 
 Mean Variation 9.7 3.7 10.9 2.7 1.1 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .28 .13 .24 .09 .12 
 
 Comments on Table XVI. 
 
 In their power of reporting, the girls continue to 
 make considerable advances upon the work of the 
 preceding standard ; but, in their capacity to answer 
 questions on what they have observed, they are ap- 
 parently on a level with the children of Standard V. 
 The work of the Standard VI boys is also, in this re- 
 spect, equal to that of the preceding class ; whilst, in 
 their power to report, they are found to be below 
 Standard V. 
 
 Comparisons between the boys and the girls show 
 the latter to be superior in every respect (except 
 that of self -correction) ; in the fluency and accuracy 
 of reporting, very seriously superior. And, of 
 course, the boys have many more obvious errors to 
 correct ; so that it is doubtful whether they are really 
 better than the girls, even in self-correction. Doubt- 
 less, a 'domestic interior' offers more of interest to 
 girls than to boys ; but the striking difference in the 
 reports seems more likely to be due to superior de- 
 velopment of the girls of this age on the linguistic 
 and observational side. It is well known that girls 
 
172 children's perceptions 
 
 will write more than boys ; but, in this case, they have 
 written more on an accurate observational basis, 
 and what they have written is relevant to the require- 
 ments of the experiment. In their capacity to re- 
 port, the girls are now enormously advanced beyond 
 the infant-school children, but the boys are not; 
 and in the interrogatories the balance is still slightly 
 in favor of the 7-year-old children of the infant 
 school. 
 
 VIII. The Work of the Standard VII Children, 
 Boys and Girls, of School C. 
 
 The work of this class or grade will be illustrated 
 
 by the papers of Mabel P , aged 13 years 2 
 
 months, whose work is, on the whole, just above the 
 average for that of the girls of Standard VII. 
 
 Mabel P 's First Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "I can see in the picture a small boy. He has a 
 very pale face. He has golden hair. He is dressed 
 in a green coat, and red knickerbockers. He has blue 
 stockings. Also black shoes. He is sitting on a 
 chair. By his side is a nurse. She is dressed in a 
 blue skirt and blouse. She has on a red apron. In 
 her hand she has a big black basin. She has handed 
 the boy something out of the basin. By the side of 
 the boy there is a table, yellow in colour. On the 
 table is a knife with a dark handle and ivhite blade. 
 At the end of the room there is a door. It is yellow 
 in colour. It is also a little way open. By the side 
 of the boy there is a sort of stand. On this stand is a 
 big red book. By the side of the nurse is a big box. 
 It is yellow in colour. It also has one or two nails in 
 
THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 173 
 
 it. On the box their is a flower pot. In the flower 
 pot are some geraniums. The flowers of the gera- 
 nium are red. The leaves are green, with black 
 stripes across. 
 
 "The nurse's hair is very dark. The boy is evi- 
 dently an invalid. The homestead looks very poorly 
 furnished. The door has bars of wood across it. 
 The boy's feet are resting on one of the bars of the 
 chair. The nurse is standing. The pot of geraniums 
 are standing on a wooden box, that has one or two 
 bars of wood across." 
 
 Marking of Mabel P 's First Report. 
 
 Again we have a report which seems closely to 
 follow the questions of the interrogatory; but, as a 
 matter of fact, the questions have not yet been asked, 
 and the closeness is due to the circumstance that the 
 questions were formed to run along the lines on 
 which the child's mental evolution takes place. The 
 persons and things are mentioned, located, and 
 qualified by adjectival and, to a slight extent, by 
 adverbial description. As we have seen, the reports 
 improve in every respect as the child grows more 
 proficient, but especially in the location and quali- 
 fication of the things enumerated. 
 
 Mabel obtains 34 enumerative marks. The last 
 sentence about the geraniums on the wooden box 
 with bars of wood across it is a repetition of state- 
 ments which have been made before. 
 
 The boy 'is sitting,' the nurse 'is standing,' and 
 'has handed' the boy something out of the basin. 
 The last assertion, however is thought perhaps too 
 
174 CHILDRESS PERCEPTIONS 
 
 inferential and doubtful in nature to permit a mark 
 to be given to it as a correct observation. 
 
 With locational terms and phrases, Mabel's paper 
 is abundantly supplied. She obtains, in fact, 16 
 marks for positional references. 
 
 But it is in the qualifications attached to the per- 
 sons and the things enumerated that the more pro- 
 ficient children make their ability especially evident. 
 The boy is 'small,' his face is 'pale,' he has 'golden' 
 hair, a 'green' coat, 'red' knickerbockers, 'blue' 
 stockings, and black 'shoes.' The woman has a 'blue' 
 skirt, a 'blue' blouse, a 'red' apron and 'dark' hair. 
 The basin is 'big' and 'black;' the boy has something 
 'out' of the basin (similarity of appearance is held 
 to justify this) ; the table is 'yellow;' the knife has 
 a 'dark' handle and a 'white' blade; the door is 'yel- 
 low, ' and open ' a little way ; ' the book on the stand is 
 'big' and 'red;' the box is 'big;' and the nails are 
 'one or two' in number. If we accept 'one or two' 
 as an indefinite expression meaning 'several,' this is 
 admissible. The flowers are 'red,' the leaves are 
 'green,' and the stripes across the leaves are 'black.' 
 The furniture is 'poor' (involved in the phrase 
 'poorly furnished'). A total of 27 marks is gained 
 for accurate qualification. 
 
 Mabel P therefore scores 79 marks for her 
 
 first report. 
 
 Mabel P 's Second Spontaneous Report. 
 
 "The boy in the picture has on a green coat. He 
 also has on a pair of red knickerbockers. Also a 
 pair of blue stockings and a pair of black shoes. He 
 is sitting on a chair. He has his feet on the front bar 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SEMES OF EXPERIMENTS 175 
 
 of the chair. By his chair stands a woman evidently 
 his mother. She has in her hands a big black bowl. 
 She has on a blue skirt and a blue blouse. Over these 
 she has a red apron. She has a very pale face and 
 very dark hair. On the boy's left side there stands 
 a table. It is yellow in color. On the table is a 
 knife. The handle is black and the blade is white. 
 On the right side of the table there is a door. It is 
 yellow in color. It also has two or three bars of wood 
 across it. It is about half-way open. On the right 
 side of the woman there is a big box. It is yellow in 
 color and has some nails in it. It also has a few bars 
 of wood across it. On the box, there is a flower pot. 
 It is red in color and contains a few geraniums. The 
 flowers of the geraniums are red. The leaves are 
 green. The leaves have a thick black stripe across 
 them. There is about three leaves and four flowers. 
 They are in full-bloom by the look of them. On the 
 right side of the boy is a large book. It is red in 
 color and is very thick. The boy is evidently an in- 
 valid. He has a very pale face. He has beautiful 
 golden hair. In his hands he is holding, what looks 
 like a piece of cake. The homestead looks extremely 
 poorly furnished. The boy's shoes are laced up 
 ones. The book is on a stand. The boy is about 
 eleven or twelve years of age. 
 
 <( The stand on which the book is is very dark in 
 color it is almost black. The chair on which the boy 
 is sitting is fairly high. The woman's hair shines 
 very much in the picture. She has handed him some 
 of the contents of the basin. The ivoman looks very 
 sad. She is of a very slender build." 
 
176 children's perceptions 
 
 Marking of Mabel P 's Second Report. 
 
 This report very closely resembles the one given 
 the week before, though it is obviously fuller. One 
 rather noticeable object, the jug under the chair, is 
 still omitted, and, notwithstanding the suggestive 
 force of the questions about the jug, its existence is 
 denied in both the interrogatories. The woman in 
 the picture, formerly identified as a nurse, is now 
 perceived as * evidently his mother.' The 'some- 
 thing out of the basin' of the first report is now 
 identified as a * piece of cake.' These identifications 
 improve without any suggestive force in the ques- 
 tions bearing on them. But the boy is still ' evidently 
 an invalid ; ' this is an inference from a pale face, or, 
 rather, one with no color in the cheeks. And the 
 satchel is still a big red book on a stand ; a descrip- 
 tion, by the way, which several adults have given me 
 from time to time. She no longer tells us that the 
 woman has handed him something out of a basin; 
 the usual tendency at this age is towards observation 
 and away from inference, but possibly the identifica- 
 tion of the ' something' as a 'piece of cake' may in 
 this case account for the omission of 'handed out of 
 the basin.' 
 
 Enumerative marks are obtained for 37 items, an 
 improvement of 4 marks on the enumeration in the 
 first report. The additional enumerations, involving 
 the bars of wood on the box and the slender figure of 
 the woman, were in no way due to any suggestive 
 influence of the interrogatories, for no questions 
 bore even indirectly on these points. 
 
 The boy 'is sitting' and 'holding' a piece of cake. 
 Positional references are numerous. The boy is 'on' 
 
THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 177 
 
 the chair and his feet are 'on' the bar of the chair. 
 Mabel misplaces the woman in relation to the boy, 
 for she is not 'by his chair,' an error evident in both 
 interrogatories. The bowl is ■ in ' the woman 's hands. 
 The apron is 'over' the skirt and blouse. It is doubt- 
 ful, perhaps, whether 'over' should receive a mark, 
 since the wearing of an apron at all implies such a 
 position. The table is on 'the left side' of the boy; 
 a knife is 'on' the table; and 'on the right side' of 
 the table there is a door. Bars of wood are seen 
 'across' the door which is 'open.' 'On the right 
 side' of the woman, the box 'in' which there are nails 
 is situated, and bars of wood run 'across' the box. 
 The flower-pot is ' on ' the box, and the leaves of the 
 geraniums have black stripes 'across' them. 'On 
 the right side' of the boy is a book, and he has a 
 piece of cake 'in' his hands. The book is 'on' the 
 stand: making a total of 16 references to position. 
 The accurate qualifications are again very numer- 
 ous. The boy's coat is 'green;' his knickerbockers 
 are 'red;' his stockings are 'blue' and his shoes are 
 'black;' his feet are on the 'front' bar of the chair; 
 the bowl is 'big' and 'black.' The woman's skirt is 
 'blue,' her blouse is 'blue' and her apron is 'red;' 
 her face is 'pale;' her hair is 'dark.' The table is 
 'yellow.' 'The knife is 'black' in the handle and 
 'white' in the blade. The door is 'yellow,' but it 
 has not 'two or three bars' across it, but it is 'half- 
 way' open. The box is 'big' and 'yellow;' but it has 
 only one, not a 'few' bars across it. The flower-pot 
 is 'red;' the flowers are 'red;' the leaves are 'green' 
 with 'thick,' 'black' stripes, and the flowers are in 
 'full bloom.' The book (the satchel) is 'large,' 'red' 
 
178 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 and 'thick.' The boy's face is 'pale' and his hair 
 is 'beautiful' (a rare aesthetic qualification), and 
 'golden;' and he is 'about eleven or twelve years 
 old.' The room is 'poorly' 'furnished.' The stand 
 is 'very dark;' the chair is 'fairly' 'high.' The 
 woman's hair 'shines' and shines 'very much;' her 
 figure is 'slender' and she looks 'very sad.' Mabel 
 thus achieves a total of 41 good qualifications. The 
 high total of 96 marks is obtained for this second 
 report. 
 
 Mabel P 's First and Second Sets of Answers. 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Which side of the table 
 
 was the lady stand- 
 ing? 
 
 2. What was the lady do- 
 
 ing? 
 
 3. How was she holding 
 
 what she had in her 
 hands? 
 
 4. Had she anything else in 
 
 her hand besides what 
 you have told me 
 about? 
 
 5. What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 
 
 6. What sort of a hat had 
 
 she? 
 
 7. What was she wearing 
 
 on her feet? 
 
 8. Could you see her feet? 
 
 9. Had she a pinafore or 
 
 apron on? 
 
 10. Had she a frock on? 
 
 11. What color was her 
 
 blouse or the top part 
 of her frock? 
 
 12. What color was her 
 
 skirt? 
 
 First Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 Second Set of 
 Answers. 
 
 left of the table. The Left. 
 
 She was holding a She was holding a 
 
 big basin. big black bowl. 
 
 She was holding it She was holding it 
 near the boy's with two hands 
 face (showed (showed wrong- 
 wrongly), ly). 
 
 No. No. 
 
 A blue skirt 
 blouse. A 
 
 and 
 Bed 
 
 A blue skirt 
 blouse and a 
 
 and 
 red 
 
 apron. 
 She had no hat 
 
 on. 
 
 apron. 
 She had no hat 
 
 on. 
 
 I 
 
 No. 
 
 Yes, she had 
 
 an 
 
 I could not 
 anything on 
 feet. 
 
 No. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 see 
 her 
 
 apron on. 
 Yes. 
 Blue in color 
 
 blouse. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Blue Blouse. 
 
 
 Blue in color skirt. 
 
 Blue Skirt. 
 
 
THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 179 
 
 13. What color was her Bed in color apron. Bed apron. 
 
 apron or pinafore? 
 
 14. What color were her I did not see any I could not see any 
 
 boots or shoes? loots. 
 
 15. What color was her hair? A dark brown. 
 
 16. What was the boy do- He was about to 
 ing? eat something. 
 
 17. How was he holding He was hold 
 
 what he had in his 
 hand? 
 
 18. Where were the boy's 
 
 feet? 
 
 19. What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 
 
 20. What color was the 
 
 boy's coat or jacket? 
 
 21. What color were the 
 
 boy's trousers or knick- 
 erbockers? 
 
 22. What color were the 
 
 boy's boots or shoes? 
 
 23. What color were his 
 
 stockings ? 
 
 24. What was the color of 
 
 the boy's hair? 
 
 25. What sort of boots had 
 
 the boy? 
 
 26. What sort of shoes had 
 
 he? 
 
 27. Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair? 
 
 28. Did you see a jug? 
 
 29. What color was the jug? 
 
 30. Did you see anything on 
 
 the floor near the jug 
 or vase; if you did, 
 what was it? 
 
 31. What color was the ta- 
 
 ble? 
 
 Besting on a bar of 
 
 the chair. 
 A green coat, Bed 
 
 Knickers, Blue 
 
 Stockings, Black 
 
 Shoes. 
 Green coat. 
 
 Bed trosers. 
 
 Black Shoes. 
 
 Blue Stockings. 
 
 Golden Color. 
 
 Black shoes. 
 
 Black lace up 
 Shoes. 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 (No answer.) 
 A stand with a 
 book on it. 
 
 Yellow. 
 
 A dark orown color 
 was her hair. 
 
 He was holding 
 something in his 
 hand; he was 
 sitting on a 
 chair. 
 
 Towards his mouth, 
 holding it with 
 two hands. 
 
 On the front bar of 
 the chair. 
 
 A green coat and 
 black shoes, Bed 
 knickerbockers, 
 blue stockings. 
 
 Green coat. 
 
 Bed knickerbock- 
 ers. 
 
 Black Shoes. 
 
 Blue stockings. 
 
 Very fair, other- 
 wise golden. 
 Laced shoes. 
 
 Laced shoes. 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 I never saw one. 
 
 Yes, a big red book. 
 
 Yellow table. 
 
180 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 34. 
 
 35. 
 
 36. 
 
 37. 
 
 38. 
 39. 
 40. 
 
 41. 
 42. 
 
 43. 
 
 44. 
 
 45. 
 
 46. 
 47. 
 
 48. 
 
 49. 
 50. 
 
 What else was there on A knife. 
 the table beside the 
 thing the lady was 
 holding? 
 
 Did you see a knife? 
 
 Whereabouts on the ta- 
 ble was it? 
 
 What color was the A black handle and 
 knife? 
 
 Did you see a flower- 
 pot? 
 
 Where was the flower- On a big box. 
 pot? 
 
 A knife. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Next to the basin. 
 
 a white blade. 
 Yes. 
 
 What color were the Red Flowers. 
 
 flowers? 
 How many flowers were / don't remember. 
 
 there? 
 What color were the Green leaves. 
 
 leaves ? 
 
 How many leaves were 
 there? 
 
 What color was the 
 flower-pot ? 
 
 What color was the box? 
 
 What did you see through 
 the open window? 
 
 What did you see through 
 the open door? 
 
 Did you see a window? 
 
 What color were the 
 walls of the room? 
 
 What color was the car- 
 pet? 
 
 Did you see a carpet? 
 
 What room was it? 
 
 four leaves. 
 
 Redish color. 
 
 Yellowish color. 
 There was not a 
 
 window. 
 Nothing. 
 
 No. 
 
 I did not notice the 
 
 color. 
 I did not see any 
 
 carpet. 
 No. 
 Evidently the 
 
 kitchen. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 On the edge near 
 
 the boy. 
 A black handle and 
 
 a white blade. 
 Yes. 
 
 On the right side 
 of the woman 
 standing on a 
 big box. 
 
 Red flowers. 
 
 About three. 
 
 Oreen with a thick 
 
 black stripe 
 
 across, 
 four leaves. 
 
 Red flower pot. 
 
 yellow box. 
 I did not see a win- 
 dow. 
 Nothing. 
 
 No. 
 
 I did not notice the 
 walls. 
 
 There was no car- 
 pet. 
 
 No. 
 
 The kitchen. 
 
 Marking of Mabel P 's First and Second Sets of 
 
 Answers. 
 
 Mabel's answers are slightly more accurate than 
 the average for her standard. She obtains 38 marks 
 
THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 181 
 
 for her first interrogatory and 39 for her second, 
 given a week later. Though she varies their phras- 
 ing from week to week*, there is one case only in 
 which her second week's answers differ in meaning 
 from those given the week before. She did not re- 
 member (Question 39) how many flowers there were 
 on the plant when she was asked on February 2nd., 
 but on the 9th. said " About three." There are 
 other indications that the second week's remem- 
 brance is clearer than the first, as may easily be seen 
 by reference to the answers to Questions 34, 37 and 
 40. Her resistance to suggestibility is very high ; 
 and, had she not failed to notice the jug and dis- 
 placed the woman, she would have reached a total 
 of 43 marks, the highest mark obtained by any girl 
 of her grade. The highest mark obtained by any 
 boy of the corresponding grade or standard was 38. 
 
 Mabel P 's Self -Corrections. 
 
 "1. I said there was nothing under the boy's 
 chair, but there is a green jug. 
 
 2. I said, I did not notice the walls of the room, 
 they are a grayish blue. 
 
 3. I said there was only 4 geranium leaves there 
 are nine. 
 
 4. I said the handle of the knife was black, it is a 
 very dark brown. 
 
 5. I said the boy was holding his food with both 
 hands he is only holding it with one hand. 
 
 6. I said the woman was at the left of the table, 
 she is in front of the table. 
 
 *It will be remembered that the children had no chance of seeing 
 their first week's answers when giving those of the second week. 
 
182 children's perceptions 
 
 7. I said he had laced shoes, but I cannot see 
 whether they were laced or buttoned. 
 
 8. I said I could not see her feet but I can see 
 them now. 
 
 9. I said she had no shoes on but she has black 
 ones on. 
 
 10. I said the door ivas yellow but it is streaked 
 with green and red." 
 
 Marking of Mabel P 's Self -Corrections. 
 
 This is excellent work. Two marks are obtained 
 for the first sentence, for the existence and color of 
 the jug, formerly omitted, are now inserted. The 
 corrections in Sentences 2 and 3 are obvious. 'Black' 
 is allowed for the knife-handle, but 'very dark 
 brown' is nearer to complete accuracy, and is ac- 
 cepted as a correction. Sentence 5 is an obvious cor- 
 rection. In Sentence 6, Mabel realizes that she has 
 misplaced the woman, and, if we accept the larger 
 edge of the table as the 'front,' the statement may 
 be regarded as a correction. 'Laced shoes' was an 
 acceptable answer, but the correction in Sentence 7 
 is a real one. Corrections 8 and 9 are obvious. It 
 is right to say the door is 'yellow' or 'brown,' but it 
 is the correction of an omission to say "it is streaked 
 with green and red." 
 
 Mabel scores 10 or 11 marks for self-correction, 
 according as we do or do not accept her answer 
 about the front of the table. Her mark has been 
 listed as 10, two and a half marks above the average 
 for her grade in the girls ' school, and one mark above 
 the corresponding mark for her grade in the boys' 
 school. The boys, of course, had more obvious 
 errors to correct. 
 
THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 183 
 
 TABLE XVII. 
 SCORES OF THE STANDARD VII CHILDREN, BQTH SEXES, SCHOOL C. 
 
 +-> *» a 
 
 P S. © 
 
 to 5? E 
 
 +5 2 ^t! * 8 « 
 Average Age. -go £§j go gjg ^ g 
 
 Yrs. Mths. fatf fa£ 02(3 saw wU 
 
 14 Girls 13 1.8 Aver. Mark 81.4 34.5 89.6 36.2 7.5 
 
 Mean Variation 16.8 4.0 13.4 3.4 2.2 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .20 .11 .15 .09 .29 
 
 10 Boys 13 7.5 Aver. Mark 34.9 31.4 50.6 32.3 9.0 
 
 Mean Variation 4.3 3.2 8.6 3.7 2.0 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .13 .10 .17 .11 .22 
 
 Comments on Table XVII. 
 
 The boys show a slight advance on the work of the 
 preceding standard and the girls show a very great 
 advance in their reports and a smaller one in their 
 interrogatories. Even the boys are now beyond the 
 range of the 7-year-old infant-school children in 
 their capacity to report accurately on what they have 
 seen, though only slightly so ; and the 6-year-old in- 
 fants of School B are still slightly superior ; but the 
 7th standard girls are very greatly superior to the 
 children of all previous standards. In the interroga- 
 tories there is still very little difference between the 
 infants and the boys and girls. The girls' work is 
 slightly above that of the best of the infants, and 
 the boys' decidedly below it. 
 
 The comparison between the work of the boys 
 and girls of the same school grade (Standard VII) 
 is markedly in favor of the girls, though the girls 
 of this standard are 6 months younger than the boys. 
 The high variability in the girls' reports is due to 
 the extremely good work of two or three girls who 
 score marks well over the hundred ; the highest mark 
 
184 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 TABLE XVIII. 
 
 Work of Boys and Girls Compaeed Age by Age (Average Mabks 
 with Coefficients of Variability*).! 
 
 
 Average Age. 
 
 28 Girls 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 8 
 
 Mths. 
 6.6 
 
 32 Boys 
 
 8 
 
 6.2 
 
 37 Girls 
 
 9 
 
 4.4 
 
 34 Boys 
 
 9 
 
 4.9 
 
 32 Girls 
 
 10 
 
 5.6 
 
 43 Boys 
 
 10 
 
 6.1 
 
 42 Girls 
 
 11 
 
 6.0 
 
 27 Boys 
 
 11 
 
 7.0 . 
 
 33 Girls 
 
 12 
 
 6.3 
 
 31 Boys 
 
 12 
 
 4.3 
 
 26 Girls 
 
 13 
 
 6.0 
 
 26 Boys 
 
 13 
 
 5.6 
 
 M 
 
 
 ba 
 
 u 
 
 0) 
 
 u 
 
 a u 
 
 *2 
 9^ 
 
 w X 
 
 £& 
 
 O o> 
 
 JB £ 
 
 7* O 
 
 few 
 
 oaM 
 
 a> a 
 
 02m 
 
 « © 
 
 25.2 
 
 37.7 
 
 26.4 
 
 6.3 
 
 .10 
 
 .18 
 
 .11 
 
 .36 
 
 23.9 
 
 24.4 
 
 25.0 
 
 3.9 
 
 .20 
 
 .28 
 
 .18 
 
 .46 
 
 25.7 
 
 41.6 
 
 26.9 
 
 5.2 
 
 .17 
 
 .25 
 
 .15 
 
 .29 
 
 27.4 
 
 33.2 
 
 28.6 
 
 5.1 
 
 .12 
 
 .30 
 
 .13 
 
 .37 
 
 27.8 
 
 47.6 
 
 30.2 
 
 6.0 
 
 .17 
 
 .19 
 
 .13 
 
 .22 
 
 27.4 
 
 40.1 
 
 29.0 
 
 5.4 
 
 .15 
 
 .23 
 
 .13 
 
 .44 
 
 30.7 
 
 58.5 
 
 32.2 
 
 6.6 
 
 .13 
 
 .26 
 
 .13 
 
 .29 
 
 27.9 
 
 44.7 
 
 29.3 
 
 7.3 
 
 .12 
 
 .19 
 
 .13 
 
 .34 
 
 32.8 
 
 73.6 
 
 35.1 
 
 7.0 
 
 .13 
 
 .22 
 
 .10 
 
 .34 
 
 28.9 
 
 41.1 
 
 31.2 
 
 7.6 
 
 .13 
 
 .21 
 
 .09 
 
 .28 
 
 33.8 
 
 73.6 
 
 35.6 
 
 7.0 
 
 .09 
 
 .22 
 
 .08 
 
 .24 
 
 30.7 
 
 47.8 
 
 31.7 
 
 8.8 
 
 .11 
 
 .26 
 
 .08 
 
 .23 
 
 u » 
 
 -- a> 
 
 Aver. Mark 29.1 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .30 
 
 Aver. Mark 24.2 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .29 
 
 Aver. Mark 32.7 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .29 
 
 Aver. Mark 28.4 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .29 
 
 Aver. Mark 39.4 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .27 
 
 Aver. Mark 32.6 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .24 
 
 Aver. Mark 52.0 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .27 
 
 Aver. Mark 36.8 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .22 
 
 Aver. Mark 65.5 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .24 
 
 Aver. Mark 36.8 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .21 
 
 Aver. Mark 64.9 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .15 
 
 Aver. Mark 39.3 
 
 Coefficient of Variability.. .28 
 
 *The coefficient of variability used in the above table is the quotient 
 of the mean variation divided by the average. 
 
 fThe results shown in this table should be compared with those of 
 infants in Table XL 
 
 TABLE XIX. 
 
 The Percentage Increase in Accuracy from the First to the 
 Second Interrogatory ; Boys and Girls Compared, School C. 
 
 Aver. Mark Aver. Mark 
 
 First Second Percentage 
 
 Sex. Interrogatory. Interrogatory. Increase. 
 
 Girls 25.2 26.4 5% 
 
 Boys 23.9 25.0 5% 
 
 Girls 25.7 26.9 5% 
 
 Boys 27.4 28.6 4% 
 
 Girls 27.8 30.2 9% 
 
 Boys 27.4 29.0 6% 
 
 Girls 30.7 32.2 5% 
 
 Boys 27.9 29.3 5% 
 
 Girls 32.8 35.1 7% 
 
 Boys 28.9 31.2 8% 
 
 Girls 33.8 35.6 5% 
 
 Boys 30.7 31.7 3% 
 
 Age-Group. No. 
 8-year 28 
 
 32 
 9-year 37 
 
 34 
 10-year 32 
 
 43 
 11-year 42 
 
 27 
 12-year 33 
 
 31 
 13-year 26 
 
 26 
 
THIED AND FOUETH SEEIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 185 
 
 achieved by any boy of the corresponding grade is 
 76. Not only are the girls superior in their capacity 
 to report accurately on what they have noticed, they 
 are also superior in accurate observation, as shown 
 by their superior marks in both interrogatories. 
 Doubtless some of this superiority is due to the sub- 
 ject-matter of the picture, but, in my judgment, not 
 very much; this consideration, however, impels us 
 to further research with the subject-matter in favor 
 of the boys. 
 
 IX. The Woek of Boys and Giels Compaeed Age 
 
 by Age. 
 
 Hitherto the work of boys and girls has been com- 
 pared standard by standard, but such a proceeding 
 is not quite fair. For the schools may be differently 
 organised ; the boys may be promoted more rapidly 
 than the girls or vice versa. Let us now therefore 
 cut right across the school organisation and show the 
 work of the boys and girls of corresponding ages. 
 
 Comments on Tables XVIII and XIX* 
 
 Age for age, the girls are undoubtedly superior 
 to the boys — greatly so in their capacity for accurate 
 reporting and definitely so, though to a less degree, 
 in their power to observe accurately. In self-correc- 
 tion, the boys appear to have the advantage slightly ; 
 but, as I have' pointed out previously, the boys have 
 more obvious errors to correct. There is one break 
 in the regularity of the figures. The girls of Stand- 
 
 *There are no girls in the school over 14 years of age, but there are 
 seven boys above 14 ; these are excluded from Tables XVIII and XIX, 
 though, of course, they appear in the 'standard' groupings elsewhere. 
 
186 children's perceptions 
 
 ard III, predominantly 9 years old, had had a lesson 
 on making stories about a picture. This is an excel- 
 lent exercise; but the children did not at once dis- 
 tinguish it from the present exercise, which required 
 them to say what they actually saw. Hence their 
 interrogatories were worse than they would other- 
 wise have been. Of course, both these exercises are 
 valuable pedagogically and, indeed, should be used 
 in distinction from each other. For all ages, and for 
 young children especially, to distinguish what one 
 sees from what one thinks in accounting for what 
 one sees is a most valuable mental acquisition, and 
 is rarely possessed by the mentally confused and 
 undisciplined. 
 
 The general rise in the character of the work from 
 year to year is more easily seen when the organisa- 
 tion of the schools into standards is cut right across, 
 as it were; though such a generalization might at 
 least have been guessed at with considerable prob- 
 ability from the average marks for the various stand- 
 ards which were given at the end of each descriptive 
 section of the work. The marks for the children 
 over 11 should be slightly higher in both boys' and 
 girls' schools, for a few of the abler children after 
 that age leave to attend secondary or central ele- 
 mentary schools. In the girls' school, for example, 
 seven such children, on a basis of fair sampling, 
 would have to be credited to the 13-year-old section, 
 and five to the 12-year-old section ; whilst the corre- 
 sponding figures for the boys are very similar. 
 
 The sex difference in linguistic power as applied 
 to observation, small at first, seems rapidly to dif- 
 ferentiate with age, at least up to 14 years. But, of 
 
THIRD AND FOURTH SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 187 
 
 course, we are not absolutely guarded from the pos- 
 sibility that this is a difference due to the curricu- 
 lum and method of teaching of the girls' school as 
 compared with the boys. But there is one considera- 
 tion which makes it very unlikely that we are deal- 
 ing with an environmental difference rather than 
 one due to sex. For there are five class teachers in 
 the boys' and five in the girls' school, and they are 
 individually different in their methods. Yet, stand- 
 ard by standard, and age by age, the boys and girls 
 differ regularly. It is true that all the girls' teach- 
 ers are women and all the boys' teachers are men, 
 but that brings us to a sex difference over again. 
 The time-tables of the schools resemble each other 
 in the time given to work in English Composition 
 and to observational work in science. Observational 
 work of the kind given in this experiment was new 
 to both schools. 
 
 The figures in these tables now admit of satisfac- 
 tory comparison, age for age, with those for the in- 
 fant schools given in a preceding section. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF CHILDREN'S PERCEPTUAL 
 JUDGMENTS. 
 
 The picture obviously contains many aspects and 
 elements, and an analysis of the children's answers 
 to the questions which were asked will throw much 
 light on their capacities and interests at various ages 
 and grades of mental development. 
 
 I. Childken's Judgments due to Suggestion". 
 
 It is still a disputed point as to whether there is 
 such a thing as general suggestibility, and the fol- 
 lowing tables will help us to see how far suggestibil- 
 ity, if it exists, diminishes pari passu with advancing 
 years and intelligence. 
 
 TABLE xx. 
 
 Suggestibility in Infants (Boys and Giels, Aged 3 to 7 Yeabs), 
 
 School A. 
 
 , — Number of correct answers among — , 
 
 mo mo mo mo mo 
 
 m % m dq y oq m % m m H m m *-< m 
 
 ^'Sib ^'S- ^'S^ **"•'&- ^'Eflt! 
 
 flflg JO'S £ B73* B-d J Brg« 
 
 o« h oo^ ©a* ©a^ ©a* 
 
 .H TO CO i-t CC *«3< rH TO lO t-i CB CO rHCdr^ 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What sort of a hat was the lady 
 
 wearing? 01434657 10 10 
 
 Had the lady anything else in 
 
 her hand besides the bread or 
 
 cake or basin, etc.? 33897899 10 10 
 
 What kind of boots had the boy ? 1 3 4 3 2 4 8 8 
 What did you see through the 
 
 open window? 0077453477 
 
 What did you see through the 
 
 open door? 3245246667 
 
 Did you see a window? 0067343389 
 
 What color was the carpet? 0013246677 
 
 Did you see a carpet ? 0033245577 
 
 Totals 6 6 34 40 28 38 39 44 63 65 
 
 188 
 
EVOLUTION OP PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 189 
 
 The sequence of the figures will be more conven- 
 iently shown by means of a table worked out in per- 
 centages. 
 
 TABLE XXa. 
 
 The Percentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Infants at 
 Various Ages, School A. 
 
 Age 3 years. 4 years. 5 years. 6 years. 7 years. 
 
 Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 Percentage Resistance... 7 7 42 50 35 47 49 55 79 81 
 
 Average 7 46 41 52 80 
 
 The figures indicate an enormous decrease in sug- 
 gestibility (the numbers show the accurate answers 
 — the rejections of the suggested errors) from 3 to 
 4 years of age, and, with a slight break at 5 years of 
 age, show a continuous decrease up to the age of 7. 
 At this age, the resistance to suggestibility is very 
 high. It is very important to note that the children 
 are less susceptible to suggestion the second week 
 than the first. There appears to be a durability 
 about what was actually seen that does not belong 
 to the creations of the suggestive question. 
 
 We now proceed in the same way to examine 
 the resistance to suggestibility in School B. 
 
 There are not enough 3-year-old children in this 
 school — situated in a good neighborhood residen- 
 tially — to enable me to take a fair sample; but the 
 4-year-old children show similar suggestibility to 
 the 4-year-old children of School A. After this age, 
 the children of School B are markedly superior, with 
 the exception of the 7-year-old children. The 7-year- 
 old children of School B, it will be remembered, were 
 found slightly inferior generally to the 6-year-old 
 children of the same school. It seems, therefore, 
 that, in impermeability to suggested error, we have 
 
190 CHILDREN^ PERCEPTION'S 
 
 TABLE XXI. 
 
 Suggestibility in Infants (Boys and Giels Aged 4 to 7 Years), 
 
 School B. 
 
 Number of correct answers among 
 
 wo mo w o mo 
 
 m^to co'Jco m^tfl m<-> t» 
 
 !?M!rt ^'mS fi'stb >>*SbtJ 
 
 Ofl? ^'Sgi • C "OSi ^"Ogi. 
 
 iHcj-^ THrtm i-(a3cD i-trtr> 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What sort of a hat was the lady wearing? 6 5 6 9 10 10 10 10 
 Had the lady anything else in her hand 
 
 besides the bread, cake, basin, etc.?.... 9 10 9 9 10 10 8 8 
 
 What kind of boots had the boy? 22346555 
 
 What did you see through the open 
 
 window? 4 6 6 6 6 6 9 8 
 
 What did you see through the open door ?566798 10 9 
 
 Did you see a window? 557787 10 9 
 
 What color was the carpet? 11126866 
 
 Did you see a carpet? 33348 10 87 
 
 Totals 35 38 41 48 63 64 66 62 
 
 TABLE XXIa. 
 
 The Peecentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Infants at 
 Various Ages, School B. 
 
 Age 4 years. 5 years. 6 years. 7 years. 
 
 Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 Percentage Resistance 44 48 51 60 78 80 83 78 
 
 Average 46 56 79 80 
 
 a rather good criterion of general mental develop- 
 ment. The superiority of School B over School A 
 is doubtless due to heredity and home environment 
 rather than to pedagogical influences. 
 
 Table XXII shows the results with suggestive 
 questions for the girls in School C. 
 
 Since, however, the number of children in the 
 different standards or grades varied considerably, 
 it will be necessary in addition to show the results 
 in percentages. 
 
 Unless we are prepared to throw the comparative 
 inferiority of these results to those of the infant 
 
EVOLUTION OP PEECEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 191 
 
 TABLE XXII. 
 
 Suggestibility in Girls (Aged 8 to 13 Years), School C. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among — ^ 
 
 J H t> .MM 
 
 M M M > > > 
 
 »] | q_i e*— i *H *W 3-1 
 
 C 'O' O^ C^J O ^ © T3 O ^ 
 
 &4 &■< P-) t4 Ch t-< 
 
 ■» ed «J <3 J* o3 ,2 c3 ,2 sj "J eS 
 
 7^73 ^,-0 ^-a fc,T3 ^^3 tn'O 
 
 M§ 60 § 'SiJ '&§ "Si § '&§ 
 
 5=S So! SS 35 «a!! Sa2_ 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What sort of a hat was 
 
 the lady wearing? 16 14 12 22 36 36 30 37 19 19 13 16 
 
 Had the lady anything 
 
 else in her hand besides 
 
 the bread, cake, basin, 
 
 etc.? 25 24 24 20 45 40 35 38 15 18 15 16 
 
 What kind of boots had 
 
 the boy? 3 5 4 5 12 7 11 15 10 10 10 12 
 
 What did you see 
 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 6 7 5 5 17 33 21 29 17 16 11 15 
 
 What did you see 
 
 through the open door? 10 7 8 6 28 35 27 33 16 16 14 13 
 Did you see a window? 11 10 9 6 26 32 31 33 16 17 15 14 
 What color was the 
 
 carpet? 3 10 5 10 27 29 23 34 17 20 12 14 
 
 Did you see a carpet?.. 10 15 19 19 33 35 35 39 19 20 15 14 
 
 Totals 84 92 86 93 224 247 213 258 129 136 105 114 
 
 TABLE XXIIa. 
 
 The Percentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Girls at 
 Various Grades of Proficiency, School C. 
 
 Standard r-H.-> rill.-, r-IV.^ r-V.-, r-VI.^ r-VII.^ 
 
 Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 Percentage Resistance.. 31 34 36 39 55 60 65 78 81 85 82 89 
 
 Average 32 37 58 72 83 86 
 
 schools upon the variations in method — the girls 
 wrote their answers, the infants had theirs written 
 for them, and the girls answered their first interroga- 
 tory the day after seeing the picture whilst the in- 
 fants answered theirs immediately afterwards — we 
 must admit a remarkable set-back in the early years 
 of the senior school. There is a regularity about the 
 figures which quite excludes 'chance.' It may be 
 that the definite acquisition of knowledge in reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, and other school studies has tern- 
 
192 childeen's pekceptions 
 
 porarily weakened that attitude of inquiry which the 
 growing infant manifests so markedly; it may be 
 an increasing subordination to the teacher which the 
 work of the senior school demands, resulting in an 
 increased suggestibility. Of the causes I am doubt- 
 ful, but the fact seems clear that it is not until Stand- 
 ard V (with an average age of 11+) is reached that 
 the girls are equal to 5 and 6-year-old children in 
 their power to resist erroneous suggestion. There is 
 one other factor of course ; the infants are boys and 
 girls mixed, the girls' department contains girls only. 
 There is one point of complete agreement between 
 the girls and infants; the second week's answers are 
 better than the first. 
 
 Let us now turn to the work of the boys of the 
 same school. 
 
 The number of boys in the various grades or 
 standards varied considerably not only from each 
 other, but also from the corresponding grades in the 
 girls' departments, so the numbers will be shown in 
 percentages (Table XXIIIa). 
 
 The boys compare unfavorably with the infants: 
 the discussion of the causes need not be repeated. 
 There seems the same set-back in the early years 
 of senior-school life. In the early grades the boys 
 are less suggestible than the girls. At Standard IV 
 they are approximately the same, and in later stand- 
 ards the girls show a decided superiority. It is pos- 
 sible, as we have explained already, that the subject- 
 matter may account somewhat for this. But on the 
 other hand the decreased suggestibility may be a 
 part of the more rapid physical and mental growth 
 of the girls at these ages ; for, in certain aspects of 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 
 
 TABLE XXIII. 
 Suggestibility of Boys (Aged 8 to 13 Yeaes), School C. 
 , Number of correct answers among — 
 
 193 
 
 b s t > ^> J> 
 
 o , o o"0- j efl ofl o'O ©t3 
 
 ajsj t»eS » s3 oa sj io ci ™ sS 
 
 >i>0 >2'a fs-j'O t^'O ^■'O ^>'0 
 
 * - S3 "° 03 -° 03 <° si - s3 fl cj 
 
 ? gS §02 J 5!» . " S3sG §02 SS 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What sort of a hat was 
 
 the lady wearing? 46 47 27 23 28 26 22 28 17 20 8 9 
 
 Had the lady anything 
 
 else in her hand besides 
 
 what you have told 
 
 me about? 35 43 23 29 29 32 27 27 21 22 9 10 
 
 What sort of boots had 
 
 the boy? 13 12 13 9 13 19 9 10 5 10 4 6 
 
 What did you see 
 
 through the open win- 
 dow? 27 22 16 25 19 27 13 17 22 24 7 7 
 
 What did you see 
 
 through the open door? 25 25 18 15 23 19 15 17 16 12 3 3 
 
 Did you see a window? 16 22 13 20 24 28 18 14 19 22 7 9 
 What was the color of 
 
 the carpet? 11 15 20 23 27 27 22 25 22 23 9 8 
 
 Did you see a carpet ..20 24 24 25 31 28 26 27 26 25 9 9 
 
 Totals 193 210 154 169 194 206 152 165 148 158 56 61 
 
 TABLE XXIIIa. 
 
 The Percentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Boys at 
 Various Grades of Proficiency, School O. 
 
 Standard ^II.-n r III.-i r-IV.-^ r-V.-^ r-VI.^ r-VII.-> 
 
 Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 Percentage Resistance.. 48 52 46 50 59 63 58 62 71 76 70 76 
 
 Average 50 48 61 60 74 73 
 
 mental capacity, girls are decidedly superior to boys 
 at these ages, though inferior in others, such as 
 draftsmanship and the functions of abstract reason- 
 ing. We are, of course, comparing boys and girls 
 of the same social grade ; without this identity all our 
 conclusions as to the mental differences of boys 
 and girls are exposed to serious error arising from 
 difference in class or social environment. 
 
194 children's perceptions 
 
 II. Children's Perceptions of Clothes. 
 
 Many of the questions dealing with the clothing 
 of the woman and the boy are of a suggestive nature, 
 sometimes leading to error as in the question "What 
 sort of boots had the boy ? " In others, such as ' ' Had 
 
 TABLE XXIV. 
 
 Perceptions of Clothes Among Infants (Aged 3 to 7 Years), 
 
 School A. 
 
 , — Number of correct answers among — > 
 
 »Q ^3 t3 rO *0 
 
 TOO TOO wo too V) o 
 
 w <-< ai to £2 oa to £* to wi* » to** oo 
 
 *">'Eib ^'5oi ^'Sob ^Mii ^>mS3 
 
 O 03 o cd o «* O Bj o eS 
 
 •°-d£. ■ Q, oSi ■ Qr ='SL •°'°SL • Q, °te. 
 
 t-I sSeO tHOJtH iHCOUS r-lOjCD i-tSJC- 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What clothes was the lady «..„„'„ 
 
 wearing? 0444666799 
 
 What clothes was the boy 
 
 wearing? 11113 4 4JSJ7 
 
 Totals 1 5 5 5 9 10 10 12 13 16 
 
 Percentages correct 5 25 25 25 45 50 50 60 65 80 
 
 Average percentage 15 25 48 55 73 
 
 TABLE XXV. 
 
 Perceptions of Clothes Among Infants (Aged 4 to 7 Years), 
 
 School B. 
 
 Number of correct answers among 
 
 rQ t3 'O *0 
 
 TO o to © <b © ,2 © 
 
 to ^ to to i* to cn^tn 00*3 <a 
 
 yaa £' Q s o'^s ^ & 5 
 
 js-og. fi-o? flflS fiflg 
 a^> a*> ofl^ ©a 1 * 
 
 SeS-* JhsJio r-tfico .hsjc- 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What clothes was the lady wearing ? 3 5 5 6 5 6 7 6 
 
 What clothes was the boy wearing? _£_£_f_____ 
 
 9 13 13 15 12 14 16 15 
 
 Totals. 
 
 Percentages correct 45 cc 65 ^rn 75 ^k 10 ^to 75 
 
 Average percentage B& 7U 0D ,0 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 195 
 
 the lady a frock on?," which assist to re-establish a 
 forgotten percept or act independently of it, the 
 right answer is suggested. Two questions as to the 
 clothes are, however, quite free, at least at first, 
 from the influences of suggestion. These questions 
 are "What clothes was the lady wearing?" and 
 "What clothes was the boy wearing? 3 
 
 1 1 } 
 
 TABLE XXVI. 
 
 Perceptions of Clothes Among Girls (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 
 School O. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among » 
 
 • . . M 
 
 E 3 C > > !> 
 
 <H. t-l_ ">-<_ "H "*-!_ *- | _ 
 
 0*0 © O ©O CO Co CO 
 
 &* H pi %t t-t M 
 
 ,2 eS ,2 oj £ <st & at ™ eS <n et 
 
 tnO tnO tiO tiO tn'O JhO 
 
 'G>rt 'Sog *Sb§ M§ M§ "&§ 
 
 «K2 mGG SsG 3o2 *50 StC 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 10 11 12 23 32 42 36 39 17 19 16 16 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 11 20 5 20 25 45 36 40 16 18 16 15 
 
 Totals 21 31 17 43 57 87 72 79 33 37 32 31 
 
 Percentage correct 31 45 28 71 56 85 88 96 83 93 100 97 
 
 Average percentage 38 50 71 92 88 98 
 
 TABLE XXVII. 
 
 Perceptions of Clothes Among Boys (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 
 School C. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among -^ 
 
 > 
 
 p— i i— i 
 
 > > > 
 
 f»* "-•_. ,W ~ "- 1 — "W-. "-!_ 
 
 CO oO Co ©O o"o CO 
 
 fc* S* P* tH P* fr* 
 
 aic3 <x at 03aJ to cj m e3 t» sj 
 
 >tiS ^O '"''O fcvO ^O >"0 
 
 &a °a gfl ©a o a © d 
 
 gSS 53S 35 S?w «£ SS 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 What clothes was the 
 
 lady wearing? 19 16 11 13 20 15 12 10 8 5 7 6 
 
 What clothes was the 
 
 boy wearing? 35 34 23 25 21 23 20 26 17 17 8 9 
 
 Totals 54 50 34 38 41 38 32 36 25 22 15 15 
 
 Percentages correct 54 50 40 45 50 46 49 55 48 42 75 75 
 
 Average percentage 52 43 48 52 45 75 
 
196 children's peeceptions 
 
 A scrutiny of the foregoing tables shows, as in 
 previous cases, the superiority of the infants of 
 School B to those of School A, which seems consid- 
 erable in their greater knowledge of the clothes the 
 boy was wearing. The general superiority of the 
 answers of the second interrogatory may be due to 
 the suggestive influences of some of the questions 
 which were asked the first week, such as "Had the 
 lady an apron or pinafore on!" and "What color 
 was the boy's coat or jacket?" 
 
 In the younger classes of the senior schools there 
 seems, at first, a decline, more marked among the 
 girls than the boys ; but the girls show much improv- 
 ability and definitely surpass the boys in their higher 
 standards. In fact, notwithstanding the influence of 
 the suggestive questions of the first interrogatory, 
 the boys' knowledge of the woman's clothes, poor at 
 first, is worse the second week than it was the week 
 before. 
 
 The results of Standard III in the girls' depart- 
 ment show the peculiarity which I have already com- 
 mented upon and explained. 
 
 III. Children's Perceptions op Position. 
 
 The interest attaching to this group of answers is 
 considerable, not only for the closeness of the results 
 for boys and girls and for their general poorness, 
 but as illustrating the advance from one week to the 
 next in a case where no suggestive influence, except 
 of course the stimulation which a question always 
 gives, could arise in consequence of the first week's 
 interrogatory. 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 
 
 197 
 
 TABLE XXVIII. 
 
 Perceptions of Position Among Infants (Aged 3 to 7 Years), 
 
 School A. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among — , 
 
 m o mo tji o mo mo 
 
 m^m w u m m *j to 93 ij »> m**m 
 
 >>&>% >>'Zh% >>SoS >>&>% <*>tott 
 
 O s3 © sfl os3 o°j os3 
 
 ^"o s» flu* as* flflg; flo* 
 a ^ o o a o a o° 
 
 i-ieSoo S ej-* 3 0S10 Ssjco 3 e3«— 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 Which side of the table was the 
 
 lady standing? 1146569989 
 
 Whereabouts on the table was 
 
 the knife? 2223665645 
 
 Where were the boy's feet? 1155235555 
 
 Where was the flower-pot? 47799989 10 10 
 
 How was the lady holding the 
 
 bread of cake or basin, etc.?... 0000000011 
 How was the boy holding what 
 
 he had in his hand? 0001243200 
 
 Totals 8 11 18 24 24 28 30 31 28 30 
 
 Percentage correct 13 18 30 40 40 47 50 52 47 50 
 
 Average percentage 16 35 43 51 48 
 
 TABLE XXIX. 
 
 Perceptions of Position Among Infants (Aged 4 to 7 Years), 
 
 School B. 
 
 Number of correct answers among 
 
 13 *0 'O t3 
 
 ceo mo mo m o 
 
 m <-< m tatim te i m mhi m 
 
 >»'Soi ^'Slb >>&>% >>bnh 
 
 O sS o S3 o °3 o e3 
 
 •=«*• .a-oS? flfl? Bfl« 
 
 a>> ofl^ O o^ O o>> 
 
 1HS3-* r-IS3lO S OitO rH C3t- 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 Which side of the table was the lady 
 
 standing? 8 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 
 
 Whereabouts on the table was the knife? 5 6 8 8 10 10 8 10 
 
 Where were the boy's feet? 11442355 
 
 Where was the flower-pot? 9 9 8 9 10 10 10 10 
 
 How was the lady holding the bread, or 
 
 cake, or basin, etc.? 00000000 
 
 How was the boy holding what he had 
 
 in his hand? 0100 10 954 
 
 Totals 23 24 30 31 42 42 38 39 
 
 Percentage correct 38 40 50 52 70 70 63 65 
 
 Average percentage 39 51 70 64 
 
198 
 
 CHILDEEN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 Comments on Tables XXVIII and XXIX. 
 
 The superiority of the children of School B over 
 those of School A is shown at every age. The 4-year- 
 old children of School B (there is no sample of 3- 
 year-old children for this school) obtain 39 per cent. 
 (38 + 40 divided by 2) of correct answers compared 
 with 35 per cent, for School A. The 6-year-old chil- 
 dren of School B score 70 per cent., those of School 
 A 51 per cent. The 7-year-old children of School A 
 and B score 48 and 64 per cent., respectively. In 
 this respect, therefore, there is a drop in both schools 
 from the age of 6 to that of 7 years. The advance 
 from the first week to the second is practically in- 
 variable. 
 
 TABLE XXX. 
 
 Perceptions op Position Among Girls (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 
 
 School C. 
 
 -Number of correct answers among- 
 
 5S5 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 
 
 Which side of the table 
 was the lady standing? 21 21 
 
 Whereabouts on the 
 table was the knife?. 26 26 
 
 Where were the boy's 
 feet? 14 12 
 
 Where was the flower- 
 pot? 22 26 
 
 How was the lady hold- 
 ing the bread, cake, 
 basin, etc.? 1 
 
 How was the boy hold- 
 ing what he had in 
 his hand? 1 1 
 
 Totals 84 87 
 
 Percentage correct 41 42 
 
 Average percentage 42 
 
 H 
 
 •I« 
 
 ■as 
 
 > 
 
 OT3 
 
 o*d 
 u 
 
 ■as 
 
 CO 
 
 h£>5 beg bjo£ bog "5l)od 
 
 c&za £22 3i« §<« 3k 
 
 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 18 15 13 15 
 
 16 16 12 12 
 
 10 10 10 10 
 
 15 18 14 15 
 
 0000110100 
 
 0000010043 
 
 58 77 144 160 132 145 59 60 53 55 
 
 32 43 47 52 54 59 49 50 55 57 
 38 50 56 50 56 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 
 
 199 
 
 TABLE XXXI. 
 
 Peeceptions of Position Among Boys (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 
 School C. 
 
 -Number of correct answers among 
 
 o'p 
 s? 3 
 
 ■° e3 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 
 
 Which side of the table 
 was the lady standing? 33 39 
 
 Whereabouts on the 
 table was the knife . 27 31 
 
 Where were the boy's 
 feet? 27 30 
 
 Where was the flower- 
 pot? 30 29 
 
 How was the lady hold- 
 ing the bread, cake, 
 basin, etc 
 
 How was the boy hold- 
 ing what he had in 
 his hand? 
 
 Totals 117 129 
 
 Percentage correct 39 43 
 
 Average percentage. 41 
 
 O q 
 
 ■°3 
 
 9a 
 
 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 33 31 34 36 26 27 
 
 33 34 28 32 29 28 
 
 25 28 31 31 20 23 
 
 31 31 26 30 25 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 > 
 
 °v 
 
 CO sj 
 
 ■° OS 
 
 > 
 W oj 
 
 ■Sjj 
 
 1st 2nd 
 
 1st 2nd 
 
 19 20 
 
 9 9 
 
 17 21 
 
 8 7 
 
 19 23 
 
 8 8 
 
 21 23 
 
 9 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 11 
 122 124 121 129 101 109 
 
 
 
 77 87 
 
 48 49 49 53 51 55 
 49 51 53 
 
 49 56 
 53 
 
 
 34 34 
 
 57 57 
 57 
 
 Comments on Tables XXX and XXXI 
 
 Grade by grade the boys and girls approximate 
 very closely in their perceptions of position; there 
 are, indeed, slight indications here and there that 
 the boys are more accurate than the girls. The re- 
 sults for Standard III class of girls are very in- 
 ferior ; it will be remembered that many of the chil- 
 dren in this class looked at the picture to make 
 stories about it rather than to make accurate obser- 
 vations. We see again the characteristic drop in the 
 lower standards of the senior departments as com- 
 pared with the older infants. 
 
200 children's perceptions 
 
 IV. Children's Perceptions of Activities. 
 
 Questions concerning the activities of persons rep- 
 resented in the picture rarely fail to receive an an- 
 swer; errors arise rather from the inference to a 
 previous activity than the neglect of observation, 
 so to speak, of the present activity. 
 
 TABLE XXXII. 
 
 Perceptions of Actions Among Infants (3 to 7 Years), 
 School A. 
 
 , — Number of correct answers among — 1 
 
 ■O 13 H3 ^ T3 
 
 BO O 0j O CCO 00 © W Q 
 
 b'Sbii ^"SblS ^Ui; £>m5j £>"S>!!s 
 
 OoS OS e * © "oJ o" 
 
 COj flflj flflj .CO?? .©"dS 
 
 O o^ n^ a*> a^ ^p* 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What was the lady doing? 7999999999 
 
 What was the boy doing? 7 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 
 
 Totals 14 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 
 
 Percentage correct 70 90 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 
 
 Average percentage 80 95 95 95 95 
 
 TABLE XXXIII. 
 
 Perception of Actions Among Infants (4 to 7 Years), 
 School B. 
 
 Number of correct answers among 
 
 T3 T3 t3 *D 
 
 tc'o to © d © *> © 
 
 mJti aa coi ai coi; to 00*300 
 
 >>Hth ^S>52 **>Hi ^^eh 
 
 O c« o 0J © 03 © OS 
 
 fiflS ^tsS ■ c "ogi • a 'oS!. 
 O o h © g ©o © H 
 
 rH CO'V tH 03O rH OStD rH COO 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What was the lady doing? 10 10 9 9 10 10 10 10 
 
 What was the boy doing? 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 
 
 Totals 20 20 19 19 20 20 20 20 
 
 Percentage correct 100 100 95 95 100 100 100 100 
 
 Average percentage 100 95 100 100 
 
EVOLUTION OP PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 201 
 
 TABLE XXXIV. 
 
 Perceptions of Actions Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
 School 0. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among , 
 
 ■_: 2 i> .mm 
 
 ^E ^E ^m > ^> t* 
 
 cd co ofl ofl co ofl 
 
 fr-i M t4 fti fc« M 
 
 ,2 e3 ajes ,£2 co ™ o3 ,2 sj »oJ 
 
 h'O fci'O (h^ tn'O fci'O f-i'O 
 
 ■Bb§ "So§ "Sb§ US "EdS "&§ 
 
 »5 coK 5S 3c« §02 5SsO 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What was the lady 
 
 doing? 24 23 21 22 36 38 31 31 13 15 14 14 
 
 What was the boy 
 
 doing? 34 32 24 26 44 45 40 39 19 20 14 16 
 
 Totals 58 55 45 48 80 83 71 70 32 35 28 30 
 
 Percentage correct 85 81 75 80 78 81 87 85 80 87 88 94 
 
 Average percentage 83 78 80 86 84 91 
 
 TABLE XXXV. 
 
 Perceptions of Actions Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
 School O. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among N 
 
 *A • . M 
 
 M ^H M > > £ 
 
 ©T3 o"S 0"0 CO O'O 0"0 
 
 0103 to si jo sj to es <? cJ to e] 
 
 >>T3 iJ'O '•i'O >>'0 ^T3 >*B 
 
 S a _o a So gfl 9a gp 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What was the lady 
 
 doing? 31 24 18 23 21 29 24 23 18 23 9 10 
 
 What was the boy 
 
 doing 41 44 36 42 40 38 32 31 25 25 10 10 
 
 Totals 72 68 64 65 61 67 56 54 43 48 19 20 
 
 Percentage correct 72 68 64 77 74 82 85 82 83 92 95 100 
 
 Average percentage 70 71 78 83 88 98 
 
202 
 
 CHILDKEN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 TABLE XXXVI. 
 
 Perceptions of Things Among Infants (3 to 7 Years), 
 School A. 
 
 , Number of correct answers amoiig- 
 
 to o to o to © WO to © 
 
 W % W tO ^ t« to ^ to wj* to w £3 to 
 
 & M tf &"»8 &"»s %*»% %'*>% 
 
 ja-a? a-d? flflS .©'SS' BflJ 
 o ;r OS OS 0*1 o *: 
 
 rH 03 CO i-H C3"<*« T-H03LO iH Cd CD iH 03 f- 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What else was on the table be- 
 sides the thing the lady was 
 holding? 1 1 1 4 4 8 7 9 9 9 
 
 Did you see anything under the 
 boy's chair? 256 7793489 
 
 Did you see anything on the 
 floor near the jug, and if you 
 did, what was it? 2 2 8 8 10 10 10 10 9 9 
 
 Totals 5 8 15 19 21 27 20 23 26 27 
 
 Percentage correct 17 27 50 63 70 90 67 77 87 90 
 
 Average percentage 22 57 80 72 88 
 
 TABLE XXXVII. 
 
 Perceptions of Things Among Infants (4 to 7 Years), 
 School B. 
 
 Number of correct answers among 
 
 too to o too too 
 
 coj^to w *-" tQ GQ^tO to *-< to 
 
 £>'&!>£ >>"injj ^M^ >a"5oti 
 
 ©OS o & O & © 03 
 
 aid? AB J ca? at)? 
 
 r-HCS-* ,-HOjlO r-ICS'-O i-hMC- 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What else was there on the table besides 
 
 the thing the lady was holding? 1 5 4 8 8 10 6 10 
 
 Did you see anything under the boy's 
 
 chair? 46464567 
 
 Did you see anything on the floor near 
 
 the jug, and if you did, what was it?.. 8 8 7 7 9 9 7 7 
 
 Totals 13 19 15 21 21 24 19 24 
 
 Percentage correct 43 63 50 70 70 80 63 80 
 
 Average percentage 53 60 75 72 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 203 
 
 Comments on Tables XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV 
 and XXXV. 
 
 So far as the observation of simple activities are 
 concerned, it is extremely doubtfnl whether, during 
 school-life, there is any evolution at all. 
 
 V. Children's Perceptions op Things. 
 
 It is well known that children observe and indicate 
 'persons' before 'things,' and also that the enumer- 
 ation of things is a very early stage in the evolution 
 of perception ; it is indeed marked among children of 
 3 years of age. But there are certain things repre- 
 sented in the picture that are by no means obvious, 
 such, for instance, as the knife on the table, the vase 
 under the boy's chair, and the satchel on the floor 
 close by. Other questions relating to the observa- 
 tion of things in the picture contain a large ele- 
 ment of suggestion and have been excluded from the 
 following tables. 
 
 Comments on Tables XXXVI, XXXVlI, XXXVIII 
 and XXXIX. 
 
 The older infants score heavily as compared with 
 the boys and girls, and the comparison between the 
 boys and the girls themselves seems to show no 
 definite and continuous differences. The abler chil- 
 dren soon become aware that they had more than 
 once been questioned about non-existent things; 
 there was therefore a slight tendency among them 
 to answer these questions in the negative. A vivid 
 memory of the knife, jug and satchel doubtless over- 
 came this tendency, but dubious memories would not 
 overcome it. 
 
204 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 TABLE XXXVIII. 
 
 Pebceptions of Things Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
 School C. 
 
 -Number of correct answers among- 
 
 ** l-1 ^ sT 5 5 
 
 l-H 1-1 l-l >> P> ►> 
 
 1-1 _ I" 1 —, I" 1 —. "-!_ 1-1 I -1 —, 
 
 ©*o © 'o o*n o'O co co 
 
 t4 t^ tH Ch t- S* 
 
 mo »cs «a »<B »»« ,2 es 
 
 fci"0 tntS ^"O ti'O ^"O (h 1 © 
 
 m5 t*S as as mS m« 
 
 «S ^02 302 3«2 gW rfS 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What else was there on 
 
 the table besides the 
 
 thing the lady was 
 
 holding? 12 23 17 23 38 44 29 38 16 16 12 12 
 
 Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair? 17 18 18 23 30 29 18 20 11 10 7 6 
 Did you see anything 
 
 on the floor near the 
 
 jug, and if you did, 
 
 what was it? 20 20 22 21 39 33 28 29 14 17 9 10 
 
 Totals 49 61 57 67 107 106 75 87 41 43 28 28 
 
 Percentage correct 48 60 63 74 70 69 61 71 68 72 58 58 
 
 Average percentage 54 69 70 66 70 58 
 
 TABLE XXXIX. 
 
 Perceptions of Things Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
 School C. 
 
 -Number of correct answers among- 
 
 H H b > > > 
 
 ti_* i- 1 ^ i- 1 ™* i-*-< "y_ i- 1 ™* 
 
 O'p © 'Q ©^ ©V ©"O O'O 
 
 w cd (»aj wos o> cd tdsj i» ed 
 
 >>T3 P>n3 ^i-O >>■& P*)>0 >a<a 
 
 °a ga go grt gri ga 
 
 fl a -° od •= ed - cd - cd - ed 
 
 gw SS 3oQ ??S Sx Sos 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 What else was there on 
 
 the table besides the 
 
 thing the lady was 
 
 holding? 26 26 28 34 26 33 27 30 16 20 7 7 
 
 Did you see anything 
 
 under the boy's chair ? 15 22 19 30 27 28 17 24 17 18 6 6 
 Did you see anything 
 
 on the floor near the 
 
 jug, and if you did, 
 
 what was it? 17 15 25 31 35 35 21 25 18 20 10 7 
 
 Totals 58 63 72 95 88 96 65 79 51 58 23 20 
 
 Percentage correct 39 42 57 75 72 78 66 80 65 74 77 67 
 
 Average percentage 40 66 75 73 70 72 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 205 
 
 VI. Children's Perceptions of Number. 
 
 There are two questions dealing with number, the 
 one relating to the number of flowers, the other to 
 the number of leaves. It may be of interest and 
 value to note how far, if at all, the spontaneous in- 
 terest in, and perception of, mere number appears to 
 develop. 
 
 TABLE XL. 
 
 Perceptions of Numbee Among Infants (3 to 7 Yeaes), 
 School A. 
 
 , — Number of correct answers among — < 
 
 co o to © «> © co © oo © 
 
 tB^to co £; co co £j co oaiJtn coi oo 
 
 ^'&53 b'Soii "*>mS ^Sbi bwB 
 
 OCj Orf © C3 o°3 ©03 
 
 •e-egi -co Si ^wSi • a, aSi *"d£. 
 fl>> ©a*" ©o^ oa^ ©«** 
 
 iHCSeo iho3t#< ncsm th eS'as .h c3t— 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 How many flowers were there?.. 4212225533 
 How many leaves were there?... 0000000000 
 
 Totals 4212225533 
 
 Percentage correct 20 10 5 10 10 10 25 25 15 15 
 
 Average percentage 15 7.5 10 25 15 
 
 TABLE XLI. 
 
 Perceptions of Number Among Infants (4 to 7 Years), 
 School B. 
 
 Number of correct answers among 
 
 'O t3 *0 "O 
 
 co o w © M © 02*0 
 
 co f^ co m£ co co i co co £j co 
 
 ^G)i ^"Sib ^'S)i2 f*»'5b*J 
 
 O o3 O =3 o oj O «S 
 
 ■cog. -a-oSi .caSi -^^Si 
 a^ ©a 1 * 1 fl ^ ©a^ 
 
 i-(C^ i-lC3ia ,-(C3CO rHCJt* 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 How many flowers were there? 56443244 
 
 How many leaves were there? 00000000 
 
 Totals 56443244 
 
 Percentage correct 25 30 20 20 15 10 20 20 
 
 Average percentage 28 20 13 20 
 
206 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 TABLE XLIL 
 
 Perceptions of Number Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
 School C. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among * 
 
 S" M M > > > 
 
 <W , <H , e H_, *■'_. **-'_, <-t , 
 
 O'O ©T3 Co 0*0 O*o CO 
 
 M ^ t4 t4 &4 h 
 
 w ej M ed «> si m sj » ej "> oS 
 
 "SO "SO "So hO ThO "So 
 
 wig "Sag *w>g wig 'Scg m^ 
 
 nX «02 SOS 3i/2 §5Q ?h50 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 How many flowers were 
 
 there? 7 6 9 9 12 12 12 11 10 8 2 
 
 How many leaves were 
 
 there? 021021113000 
 
 Totals 7 8 10 9 14 13 13 12 13 8 2 
 
 Percentage correct 10 12 16 15 13 12 16 15 32 20 6 
 
 Average percentage 11 16 13 15 26 3 
 
 TABLE XLIII. 
 
 Perceptions op Number Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
 School 0. 
 
 , Number of correct answers among , 
 
 L_; H t> . »-i hh 
 
 Jr Jr ^ J* ^ ^ 
 
 oo cd ©o ©o ofl ©o 
 
 oieS go 03 t»eS «oi a> oj a> cj 
 
 t^'o >*a p^o f^o t^o >>"o 
 
 g a ga gfl op o fl oa 
 
 gS ^w 3«2 go; gS Sw 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 How many flowers were 
 
 there? 11 8 15 13 10 6 12 13 5 10 7 4 
 
 How many leaves were 
 
 there? 003205121001 
 
 Totals 11 8 18 15 10 11 13 15 6 10 7 5 
 
 Percentage correct 11 8 21 18 12 13 20 23 12 19 35 25 
 
 Average percentage 10 20 13 21 15 30 
 
EVOLUTION" OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 207 
 
 Comments on Tables XL, XLI, XLII and XLIII. 
 
 The spontaneous interest in number is small and 
 shows no appreciable or steady development. It is 
 of considerable importance in connection with this 
 weakness that the second week's results are not bet- 
 ter than those of the week before. The children 
 notice the numbers but little and, compared with 
 their other memories, forget them easily. 
 
 TABLE XLIV. 
 
 Perceptions of Color Among Infants (3 to 7 Yeabs), 
 School A. 
 
 , — Number of correct answers among — , 
 
 ^3 *© 'O *© *CJ 
 
 !» o w'q mo aj O m© 
 
 »Hw tfi^M hj^cc m^ w r/i \* m 
 
 k'Mi ^'Sof2 ^"SL!i3 >isoSj ^'Soi 
 
 •Q-oSi *-©g. ««? ■ s, Oti ^"VcL 
 ©9 ©a^ oo © fl ©«^ 
 
 r-lWCO H Oi^ H CJlO r-t TO CO 1-1 to" l>- 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What color was (or were) — 
 The lady's blouse (or the top 
 
 part of her frock) ? 3322457877 
 
 The lady's skirt (or the bottom 
 
 part of her frock) ? 4463545767 
 
 The lady's apron or pinafore?... 3345336754 
 
 The lady's boots or shoes? 2677778965 
 
 The lady's hair? 0023544577 
 
 The boy's coat or jacket? 1100112122 
 
 The boy's knickers or trousers?. 0111112333 
 
 The boy's boots or shoes? 3587898877 
 
 The boy's stockings? 3232012143 
 
 The boy's hair? 2211554566 
 
 The table? 0011123266 
 
 The knife? 0034789988 
 
 The flowers? 3 3 6 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 
 
 The leaves? 2 2 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 10 
 
 The flower-pot 229999 10 10 99 
 
 The box? 0002766699 
 
 The jug or vase? 0001322244 
 
 The walls of the room? 2300002223 
 
 Totals 30 37 61 65 85 86 100 105 HI 110 
 
 Percentage correct 17 20 34 36 47 48 55 58 61 61 
 
 Average percentage 19 35 48 66 62 
 
208 children's perceptions 
 
 VII. Children's Perceptions of Color. 
 
 Even a comparatively unobservant reader can 
 scarcely have failed to note, from time to time, how- 
 very little attention children seem to have given to 
 the colors in the picture, even though, in many cases, 
 the objects are purposely colored in such an unusual 
 way as to arrest attention. As one child said during 
 her self-correction, "Isn't the boy dressed funny? 
 If I saw him coming along the street like that, I 
 should laugh." Yet in her interrogatories, this 
 
 TABLE XLV. 
 
 Pebceptions of Color Among Infants (4 to 7 Yeabs), 
 School B. 
 
 Number of correct answers among 
 
 T3 'O T3 *0 
 
 t» © 03 "3 03 O 02 O 
 
 03 H 02 03^* 03 03 ^ 03 03 ^ 02 
 
 &'«>S 5*8 S"S>5 S"&5 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What color was (or were) — 
 The lady's blouse (or the top part of her 
 
 frock)? 2 1 4 6 4 5 6 6 
 
 The lady's skirt (or the bottom part of 
 
 her frock)? 13757475 
 
 The lady's apron or pinafore? 21554565 
 
 The lady's boots or shoes? 459 10 5732 
 
 The lady's hair? 4545799 10 
 
 The boy's coat or jacket? 11113211 
 
 The bov's knickers or trousers? 01212222 
 
 The boy's boots or shoes? 569 10 5677 
 
 The boy's stockings? 00111034 
 
 The boy's hair? 5 7 5 7 10 9 10 8 
 
 The table? 4 5 6 6 8 8 10 10 
 
 The knife? 2 4 1 4 10 10 8 10 
 
 The flowers? 7 8 8 9 8 9 10 10 
 
 The leaves? 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 
 
 The flower-pot? 7 7 7 7 9 10 10 8 
 
 The box? 1 4 5 7 8 8 9 9 
 
 The jug or vase? 23422242 
 
 The walls of the room? 00346454 
 
 Totals 56 70 90 99 109 110 120 113 
 
 Percentage correct 31 39 50 55 61 61 67 63 
 
 Average percentage 35 53 61 65 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 
 
 209 
 
 child had dressed the boy gravely in grays and blues. 
 If children are fond of colored pictures, as doubtless 
 they are, the coloring must be rather a source of 
 emotional than of intellectual satisfaction. The 
 elder girls, however, as will be seen from the tables, 
 show much more capacity and have given a high per- 
 centage of accurate answers. 
 
 TABLE XLVI. 
 
 Perceptions of Color Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
 School C. 
 
 -Number of correct answers among- 
 
 S M M > > > 
 
 q-i cm **-*_, cw _. q ™'_ **-*_. 
 
 0*0 O 'O O 'O CD O T3 Co 
 
 fin t-t f-i t-( (h t-i 
 
 & d ™ c$ «Jctf & & &> cS »c3 
 
 faT3 f_i X3 t^'O &hX3 fc'O fr^'O 
 
 m3 mS mS m 3 ^S m 3 
 
 ^S SS Sm ^S SS Soq 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What color was (or 
 were) — 
 The lady's blouse (or the 
 
 top part of her frock)? 16 18 18 19 31 33 38 36 19 18 16 16 
 The lady's skirt (or the 
 
 bottom part of her 
 
 frock)? 12 15 20 16 31 32 37 35 18 18 16 15 
 
 The lady's apron or 
 
 pinafore? 7 7 11 11 18 17 26 29 17 14 15 16 
 
 The lady's boots or 
 
 shoes? 29 22 24 22 37 33 34 31 7 5 13 12 
 
 The lady's hair? 12 14 16 17 34 32 35 36 17 19 13 13 
 
 The boy's coat or jacket ? 3 4 6 8 10 10 24 18 8 6 6 7 
 The boy's knickers or 
 
 trousers? 4 4 2 3 18 15 16 16 9 6 3 2 
 
 The boy's boots or shoes? 27 24 23 11 38 30 31 34 15 13 15 15 
 
 The boy's stockings?.... 624312 1199 11966 
 
 The boy's hair? 18 21 14 17 33 35 33 36 15 17 14 14 
 
 The table? 30 28 24 24 47 50 36 41 20 18 14 16 
 
 The knife? 15 17 14 18 30 26 24 22 8 12 10 8 
 
 The flowers? 24 26 27 23 43 42 39 40 18 19 15 16 
 
 The leaves? 34 33 26 27 48 45 34 39 20 20 15 16 
 
 The flower-pot? 29 29 28 29 42 41 35 37 19 18 11 13 
 
 The box?. 23 26 20 23 38 34 31 34 15 17 14 13 
 
 The jug or vase? 54789 11 14 13 7723 
 
 The walls of the room? 6 4 3 7 8 10 20 20 7 81211 
 
 Totals 300 298 287 286 527 507 516 526 250 244 210 212 
 
 Percentage correct 49 49 53 53 57 55 70 71 69 68 73 74 
 
 Average percentage 49 53 56 71 69 73 
 
210 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 TABLE XLVII. 
 
 Perceptions of Color Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
 School C. 
 
 -Number of correct answers among- 
 
 h-J HH >• " fc? t! 
 
 1-1 HH H-l K" r" C" 
 
 cd co cd ©d o 7 ^ ©^ 
 
 <* eS &> e3 to cj » 03 to 03 <*> ej 
 
 l^'O P^-O ^W ►*> r O ^"O ^"O 
 
 ®h ® a ® a ©a ©a ©a 
 
 ■° 03 - cd - eS - 03 -° 03 - 03 
 
 OS «S i-<S Mm? b£ Om 
 
 io02 ttSC -fl>!B coCC eqW thK2 
 
 Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
 
 What color was (or 
 were) — 
 The lady's blouse (or the 
 
 top part of her frock)? 23 17 11 11 11 11 18 18 6 7 4 6 
 The lady's skirt (or the 
 
 bottom part of her 
 
 frock)? 13 18 9 15 9 13 22 21 12 9 5 4 
 
 The lady's apron or 
 
 pinafore? 3588979 11 4320 
 
 The lady's boots or 
 
 shoes? 46 35 37 33 28 28 23 26 14 11 7 6 
 
 The lady's hair? 22 23 19 20 34 23 22 26 17 23 5 7 
 
 The boy's coat or jacket? 16 17 8965353321 
 The boy's knickers or 
 
 trousers? 642678455411 
 
 The boy's boots or shoes? 38 42 31 38 33 34 24 24 14 20 8 8 
 
 The boy's stockings?.... 6 11 3413556753 
 
 The boy's hair? 30 29 18 16 26 26 27 24 21 18 5 6 
 
 The table? 42 37 33 34 36 38 30 30 22 21 7 10 
 
 The knife? 32 24 30 35 22 27 19 19 16 17 5 5 
 
 The flowers? 34 36 34 33 30 32 28 30 23 23 8 9 
 
 The leaves? 37 43 39 39 38 38 30 29 25 25 10 10 
 
 The flower-pot? 40 44 33 36 37 35 29 30 24 26 9 10 
 
 The box? 30 33 32 33 25 33 29 30 24 23 9 9 
 
 The jug or vase? 55 10 864778612 
 
 The walls of the room? 96 10 7778 10 9 10 22 
 
 Totals 432 429 367 385 365 372 337 350 253 256 95 98 
 
 Percentage correct 48 48 49 51 49 50 57 59 54 55 53 54 
 
 Average percentage 48 50 50 58 54 54 
 
 Comments on Tables XLIV, XLV, XLVI and 
 XLVII. 
 
 Though the colors of the things in the picture do 
 not appear to have been very accurately perceived, 
 except among the highest classes in the girls' school, 
 yet there seems no falling off in accuracy from the 
 first week to the second. The questions of the first 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 211 
 
 interrogatory have no suggestive influence on the 
 colors, so that we cannot attribute the second week's 
 superiority to suggestion. The children did not 
 know they were ever to be asked about the picture 
 again, so that we can only attribute the accuracy 
 of their memory, indeed their gain in memory, if 
 we may so speak, to their own activity in percep- 
 tion, and to the i mm ediate effort to remember to 
 which the questions of the first week acted as a stim- 
 ulation. It would appear likely, with children as 
 with adults, that the influence of a question by no 
 means ceases when an attempt has been made to an- 
 swer it. 
 
 The infants of the younger ages, 3 and 4 years, 
 show very little power of perceiving and remember- 
 ing colors; but of course the naming of the colors, 
 apart from their perception, forms a real difficulty 
 to many of these children. The 6-year-old and 7- 
 year-old children do rather well. There is a drop 
 shown by the 8-year-old children of the senior schools 
 and the boys subsequently remain at a low level 
 throughout the grades. The girls, however, show 
 considerable improvement and, in the higher classes, 
 answer much more accurately. There appears to 
 be a steady sex difference in favor of the girls. A 
 comparison between the two infant schools (School 
 A and School B) shows a steady superiority, age 
 for age, in favor of the school whose children are 
 better-born and more favorably situated as to home 
 environment. 
 
212 children's perceptions 
 
 VIII. Validity of This Method of Tracing the 
 Child's Perceptual Evolution. 
 
 I have postponed any discussion as to the validity 
 of this Aussage method until the reader has had an 
 opportunity of studying the results. But it now 
 seems worth while to give some consideration to it. 
 Obviously, we have by this method a way of present- 
 ing things to children as they appear in a concrete 
 situation, and we trace the development of percep- 
 tion under those conditions which are, in fact, the 
 conditions to be found in actual life. For many psy- 
 chological purposes, we must undoubtedly use the 
 highly artificial arrangements of the laboratory: I 
 am by no means unmindful of the need for such 
 work. But there is always a risk in artificializing a 
 process, that the conclusions from the results will 
 not really apply to the actual work of life and school, 
 though they may appear to do so at first sight. The 
 method adopted in this research escapes this diffi- 
 culty. There is, however, a limitation to our con- 
 clusions, regarded psychologically. For example, 
 we may not say that, because boys do not notice 
 colors accurately, and show little or no improvement 
 in this work throughout their school life, color dis- 
 crimination does not improve in boys from the ages 
 of 8 to 14 years. It may not, but other methods 
 would have to be employed to demonstrate such a 
 contention. We are entitled only to conclude that, 
 when capacity and interest are considered jointly 
 and working together, no such improvement takes 
 place. And the conclusions are subject to a further 
 condition. They are true under certain pedagogical 
 conditions prevalent in elementary schools in Eng- 
 
EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 213 
 
 land at the date of the experiment. Timeless or 
 eternal truth may be very true; it is usually also 
 very useless ; we must, and I think ought to be satis- 
 fied to get truth applicable to the conditions of prac- 
 tice; and the contention is that many such truths 
 have been obtained. 
 
 IX. Pedagogical Value of the Method. 
 
 We are rapidly moving away from the days in 
 which it was supposed that the psychologist, being a 
 clever fellow who knew all about the mind, could sit 
 down in his study and excogitate general directions 
 for the use of schools and teachers. The psycholo- 
 gist is needed as much, indeed, more than ever (he 
 is, in fact, being asked for by the teachers them- 
 selves, even in England) ; but his work will no longer 
 mainly consist in writing Psychology for Teachers. 
 Every now and then, some capable person who 
 knows both psychology and education must make a 
 summary of the ascertained knowledge which inter- 
 relates the two fields of inquiry. But this will be, 
 so to speak, a bye-product. The actual work of 
 educational psychology will be done experimentally 
 in the schools (with reference to the laboratory for 
 disputed theoretical points), and will be done with 
 the ready aid and cordial support of the teachers. 
 But the work must be so arranged that its methods 
 and conclusions are clear to the teachers ivho help. 
 If this is done, we shall hear no more of the teacher's 
 antagonism to psychology. He will, and she will (I 
 am writing in England and cannot give place dux 
 dames) become its most faithful adherent and advo- 
 
214 children's perceptions 
 
 cate. Some rather important corrollaries will fol- 
 low. Books dealing with children's ways and with 
 method in schools will (some day) cease asserting 
 as mere guesswork that this or that mental function 
 is within the capacity of children or lies within the 
 track of their interests, and will base their state- 
 ments upon ascertained fact. Unhappily, these facts 
 cost time, knowledge, and industry to collect, and the 
 number of persons ready to spend private means in 
 making this knowledge will always be small and can- 
 not safely be relied on. Meanwhile, guess-work will 
 go on whenever there is no real knowledge available. 
 Unfortunately, it will go on for some time after 
 there is. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WAS IT THE SAME PICTURE WHICH WAS SHOWN 
 THE SECOND TIME? 
 
 We have seen how almost invariably the work of 
 the second week has proved itself to be superior to 
 that of the week before, even though the picture has 
 been quite inaccessible in the meantime.* Moreover, 
 the children did not know that they were ever to 
 write about it or be questioned about it again. Yet, 
 with no chance of renewing their original percep- 
 tions, and with no extraneous motive for remem- 
 brance, they were quite clearly more accurate the 
 second week than the first. This increase of accu- 
 racy in memory after a lapse of time is often, and 
 probably rightly, explained by recovery from fatigue. 
 The original perception is often too protracted ; and 
 immediately-tested memories show poor results. A 
 few days later, when the fatigme due to the original 
 effort to learn has passed away, the memory of what 
 has been learnt is clearer, easier and more accurate. 
 Have we similar phenomenon in this Aussage work, 
 and is it due to the same cause ? A similar phenome- 
 
 *This picture, Das Friihstiick Bild, had not previously been used in 
 England ; and, with the exception of, perhaps, a few copies of Stern's 
 'Erinnerung' and of an issue of the Zeitschrift filr Experimentelle 
 Padaffogik containing the picture, to be found in the university cen- 
 tres, there were no copies of it in the country. 
 
 215 
 
216 children's perceptions 
 
 non we certainly appear to have; but it seems hard 
 to attribute it to the same cause ; unless we are pre- 
 pared to admit that the one minute's observation of 
 the picture on which both reports and interrogatories 
 rest — an observation, moreover, unguided and un- 
 stimulated by any expectation of examination after a 
 long interval — was, in itself, productive of fatigue. 
 It has been suggested that both the free reporting and 
 the answering of questions have had a fixing and clari- 
 fying influence. It is certain that the child knows more 
 about the picture afterwards and knows it better 
 than he did at first. So that this suggestion seems, 
 indeed, to be a merely conservative conclusion from 
 the facts; unless there is some other general factor 
 which may account for the improvement. It has 
 sometimes been asserted by some of those to whom 
 I have lectured on the subject that the difference be- 
 tween the work of the first week and that of the sec- 
 ond week is not due to any psychological factor at 
 all, but simply to the likelihood that, during the in- 
 terval between the reports and interrogatories of the 
 first week and those of the second week, the children, 
 or some of them, have communicated with each other. 
 I am quite willing to allow the good pedagogical con- 
 dition of most of the schools in which the experiment 
 was conducted; I am willing to admit the general 
 interest of the children in their work ; but I can only 
 say that, if the boys and girls discussed their school- 
 work in play-time and out of school-hours, these 
 schools were the fortunate possessors of a type of 
 school-child not very common in London. I am pre- 
 pared to admit that the novelty of the exercise may 
 have somewhat removed the Aussage work from the 
 
WAS SAME PICTUEE SHOWN SECOND TIME? 217 
 
 daily round and the common task; and therefore I 
 should not like to assert that no child mentioned this 
 work to any other child during the week's interval 
 between the tests. Let us suppose, therefore, that it 
 is, in certain circumstances, a possibility ; and then let 
 us ask, in those circumstances, had such communica- 
 tion occurred, what effect would it have had on the 
 results ? For first of all, we know that at one point 
 in the procedure, namely, after the second observa- 
 tion, some of the older boys and girls did discuss the 
 picture among themselves when the question was 
 raised as to the identity of the second picture with 
 the first. In this doubtful issue there was, of course, 
 something to argue about, something on which they 
 differed among themselves, some thesis on which 
 they could hang their assertions and denials. More- 
 over it took place at the close of the procedure. Was 
 there communication during the interval between the 
 reports 1 First, let us deal with facts of observation 
 and then with the possibilities or likelihood of the 
 alleged communication between the children working 
 the experiment. In the first place, no child was ob- 
 served during the interval in communication with 
 another on the subject. It would seem certain, there- 
 fore, that there could scarcely have been any general 
 communication. But there might have been some 
 communication here and there. Well, as far as the 
 infant schools, Schools A and B, were concerned and 
 as far as the senior schools, Schools D, E, F, and C,* 
 where the children were individually examined in 
 sample and orally, even this partial communication 
 was very unlikely. For the exercises, especially in 
 the infant schools, were spread over several months, 
 
 *See page 222 et seq. 
 
218 children's perceptions 
 
 and a child had often completed all his work weeks 
 before another child, also of the same class, was called 
 upon to do it, and very few children of the same class 
 did it at all. In the case of School C, boys and girls, 
 where the children of the same class all answered in 
 writing, all at one time, we cannot say that no com- 
 munication occurred between any of the pupils. We 
 have to remember that they did not know that they 
 were ever again to be called on to describe the pic- 
 ture. But let us suppose that some of them had com- 
 municated, no one who knows school-children will 
 accept for a moment the hypothesis that all of them 
 had done so. Let us suppose, I say, that some of 
 them had, and let us suppose, and this is a big suppo- 
 sition, that the communication was always advan- 
 tageous to all parties concerned. Is this the common 
 factor we are seeking which produces the general im- 
 provement from one week to the next? The figures 
 themselves enable us to answer in the negative. For 
 if some of the children had profited by some extrane- 
 ous factor unknown among the others, these children 
 would have ' jumped up' in the lists over the others 
 the second week, and the high positive correlations 
 actually found between the results of the first week 
 and those of the second week would have been much 
 reduced. One further point; all the children at 
 School C, both boys and girls, were thoroughly ac- 
 customed to writing both in cursive English composi- 
 tion and in answering questions, so that practice in 
 these factors may be practically ruled out.* 
 
 I reject, therefore, the supposition that the im- 
 provement is due to communication between the chil- 
 dren and again suggest that it is due to the effort of 
 
 *The relevant figures are given in a statistical summary on p. 241. 
 
WAS SAME PICTURE SHOWN SECOND TIME? 219 
 
 reporting and the effort of answering and trying to 
 answer the questions of the first interrogatory. 
 
 Is there, then, nothing to be said for those who tell 
 us that to examine on imperfectly known material 
 may be an incitement to error ; for error, as well as 
 truth, may be ' fixed' thereby. Quantitatively, their 
 objection is quite overborne. Practically, we may 
 be quite sure that we are doing well to insist on pro- 
 duction and reproduction, even of material imper- 
 fectly known; but there is a tendency to fix the er- 
 roneous as well as the true ; though, fortunately for 
 us, it is, on the whole, a weaker tendency. 
 
 Once or twice in the course of the individual self- 
 corrections it had become apparent that the child 
 was doubtful whether he was really looking at the 
 same picture as before or at a different one ; and in 
 the Girls' department of School C, after the self- 
 corrections were over, the girls were asked, class 
 by class, whether they thought the picture shown 
 the second time was the same as that which they had 
 seen the week before. There were some in every 
 class who did not; but the numbers were very few 
 until the upper classes were reached. In Standards 
 VI and VII (girls of 12 and 13 years of age) there 
 was a decided majority in favor of the opinion that 
 the picture was not the same. They had, of course, 
 corrected their previous work on the basis of the 
 assumption that the picture was the same, for that 
 was what they had been required to do. Notwith- 
 standing this, 23 out of 34 girls said that they 
 thought it was not the same picture. These girls 
 had been encouraged to bring their intellectual diffi- 
 culties to their Head Mistress, and several of them 
 
220 children's perceptions 
 
 came afterwards, one by one, and spoke to her about 
 it. One girl said she was quite certain that in the 
 first picture the boy was sitting round the corner of 
 the table, with both elbows resting on it. Another 
 said it was a different picture because there was a 
 brown flower-pot in the first and a red one in the 
 second. A third was quite sure that the lady's dress 
 was yellow before and the boy's coat, too. Another 
 said "It looks like the same things, but they are not 
 so spread out this time." A fifth girl said "The 
 woman was in front before ; the leaves were a darker 
 green and the dabs of black were on the flowers not 
 on the leaves." Another thought that there were 
 two pictures, copies of the same things, slightly 
 differently arranged. Yet another said that the 
 back of the picture had been altered; there was no 
 wall before on the right-hand side. On the basis of 
 these notes should we be wrong in attributing the 
 errors of identification almost wholly to mistakes in 
 positional references and in color? If this be the 
 case, the error appears to arise just in those cases 
 where the questioning is least effectual in interrelat- 
 ing the answers. There is a fixation of error, but it 
 appears to be largely a fixation of an emotional 
 kind produced by mere repetition. 
 
 So much for the girls, but what of the boys j Boys 
 are more obstinate than girls — though the relation 
 of the sexes in this respect is asserted to be different 
 later in life! What did the boys say? It was quite 
 clear that the upper classes of the boys' school did 
 not believe it was the same picture. By an over- 
 whelming majority the 'Noes' had it. The Head 
 Master was a man whom the boys respected — a re- 
 
WAS SAME PICTUKE SHOWN SECOND TIME? 221 
 
 spect with its due ingredient of fear. He told them 
 authoritatively that it was the same picture, and 
 then said "Now boys, do you believe it!" "No, 
 Sir," they shouted, much to his disgust, though he 
 saw subsequently that to change their conviction 
 merely on his assertion would not have been the 
 most complimentary consequence of his teaching. 
 Of individual records of boy's opinions I have none, 
 but some of the boys were heard subsequently dis- 
 cussing the question, and were unostentatiously ob- 
 served. Truth, alas! represented by only one boy 
 (not of a forceful nature) went down ingloriously. 
 Four or five of the boys had points of dissimilarity 
 to insist upon and with inter jectional addresses of 
 'Fool' and 'Silly Ass,' they held triumphant debate 
 with the sole advocate of identity, and silenced him. 
 I do not suppose he was convinced, except perhaps 
 of the rashness of trying to persuade a crowd of its 
 own folly. Boys might be convinced if they were 
 allowed to keep the picture themselves in sealed 
 envelopes. Breaking the seals at a given time, they 
 could make a 'self-correction' from which all possi- 
 bility of doubt would be removed. I suggest this as 
 a useful variant in the method by which the above 
 exercises were given. 
 
CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 HOW FAR IS THE RELATIVE INFERIORITY OF THE 
 
 OLDER CHILDREN DUE TO DIFFERENCES 
 
 IN THE METHOD OF REPORTING? 
 
 FIFTH, SIXTH, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH SERIES OF 
 EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 It will be remembered that the infant-school chil- 
 dren (Schools A and B), from 3 to 7 years of age, 
 had given their reports, interrogatories and self- 
 corrections orally, whilst the boys and girls of School 
 C, children from 8 to 13 years of age, had given 
 theirs in writing. 
 
 It would be commonly supposed, especially with 
 the younger children, that the actual difficulty of 
 penmanship would have a serious effect upon the 
 length and accuracy of their reports, especially upon 
 their length; and that even their answers to the 
 questions of the interrogatories would be less accu- 
 rate, if they were compelled to write their answers, 
 than if they were allowed to express themselves by 
 word of mouth. It might, therefore, fairly be held 
 that, whereas the methods employed in this research 
 enable us to come to correct conclusions concerning 
 the relative powers of boys and girls from 8 up to 
 14 years of age, no conclusions can properly be ar- 
 
 222 
 
DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 223 
 
 rived at about the comparative capacities of the boys 
 and girls and younger children, namely, those from 
 3 up to 8 years of age. 
 
 As one important generalization from this re- 
 search declares the relative inferiority of boys and 
 girls in the lower classes of senior departments as 
 compared with older infants — children of 6 and 7 
 years of age — , it seems necessary to try some fair 
 samples of boys and girls in typical schools by ex- 
 actly the same procedure as that which was adopted 
 in the infants' schools. The generalization may 
 otherwise be disputed on the score of difference in 
 method. This new step was not easy to take, for the 
 work, done orally, takes an enormous amount of 
 time. Each child works for 20 minutes or more on 
 each occasion, indeed, for considerably longer on the 
 second occasion, because the 'Self-Correction' is 
 taken then. The writing of the reports and answers 
 at the speed required is fatiguing to the experi- 
 menter, and not less than half-an-hour is occupied 
 by the marking of each of the papers, the ' Self-Cor- 
 rections ' especially requiring great care, and con- 
 stant references back to the 'Eeports' and 'Interrog- 
 atories.' And only trained observers or examiners 
 can hope to get the reports and answers free from 
 the personal influence of the experimenter. In each 
 school where the work was done about one-third of 
 the reports, answers, etc., were received by me per- 
 sonally, the others were given to a member of the 
 staff, in all cases but one, to the Head Teacher. In 
 every instance the teacher assisting in the experi- 
 ment had had some years of experience of practical 
 work in experimental pedagogy. 
 
224 children's perceptions 
 
 As it was the inferiority of the boys rather than 
 of the girls that was so marked, I determined that 
 the great bnlk of this oral work should be done in 
 boys ' schools, and that I would take one girls ' school 
 only, the school in which the work had been done 
 originally, for it would, I knew, be possible to get a 
 fair sample of 8-year-old children who had not been 
 in the school when the experiment had been pre- 
 viously carried out. The boys' schools I selected 
 were quite new to the work and situated very va- 
 riously. I obtained fair samples of 8-and 12-year- 
 old children from (a) an excellently placed subur- 
 ban school, attended by well-grown intelligent chil- 
 dren, (b) a 'slum' school, not of the worst type, in 
 the south-east of London, and a fair sample of 8-and 
 9-year-old children from (c) a 'slum' school, also 
 not of the worst type, but attended solely by the 
 children of Jewish aliens. The well-placed suburban 
 school was regarded as being in a high state of peda- 
 gogical efficiency, but both the 'slum' schools had 
 been under a cloud from which, however, they were 
 now decidedly emerging, one rapidly, the other more 
 slowly. The girls' school — School C — was rather 
 well placed and was pedagogically efficient ; but I am 
 afraid my figures for the oral work of the 8-year-old 
 children of this school are of little value, except ped- 
 agogically, for in the period intervening between the 
 first set of experiments — the written ones — and 
 those now to be recounted — the oral ones — the in- 
 fants ' department of School C had done rather more 
 work with pictures than before, so that in the oral 
 work of the girls we may have a pedagogical factor 
 of some magnitude. In one other case, with two of 
 
DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 225 
 
 the boys in one school, I discovered a direct and posi- 
 tive pedagogical influence; in another case I found 
 an indirect and negative one, which I will point out in 
 their respective places. The 'fair samples' were 
 selected in all cases in the way described in the sec- 
 tion on infant-school work. 
 
 I. The Work of School D. 
 
 This was a 'slum' school attended by English chil- 
 dren in the south-east of London. I do not propose 
 to give at present any individual specimens of their 
 work, though I may publish some of the dossiers 
 later. I shall give merely the average marks of the 
 age-groups, sectionized in standards or classes. 
 Standard I is the lowest class of the senior school 
 and might be described as first school year. 
 
 TABLE XLVIIL 
 
 SumrABizED Results fboii the Work of Eight- Yeae-Old Chil- 
 dren, School D. 
 
 Standard. ~ Average to to — 
 
 .m Age. ■£ E "3 ■? - 2 « 
 
 o -^ S *>* 53 5 ^ .2 
 
 2 2 m <s ox, g « «h S 
 
 o ij ^a Jo £ a "So 
 
 £ Yrs. Mths. &.S5 fai-3 mH osw m'~> 
 
 I 3 8 4.3 31.0 29.0 31.3 28.7 9.3 
 
 H. 7 8 6.9 25.4 27.7 36.2 26.8 8.5 
 
 Both 10 8 6.9 27.1 28.0 34.8 27.4 8.8 
 
 M. V 4.5 3.2 6.4 3.5 2.2 
 
 Comments on Tables XLVIII and XLIX. 
 
 Let us first compare this work with that of the 
 
 8-year-old children and 12-year-old children of 
 School C* If the samples are fair ones of the chil- 
 
 *See pages 141, 163. 
 
226 children's perceptions 
 
 table xlix. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Twelve- Year-Old Chil- 
 dren, School D. 
 
 Standard. .§ Average w> m 33 
 
 * Age - ^ Ǥ a* oS S 
 
 S§. S3 SS §5 »S 
 
 % Yrs. Mths. fart fa5 £« $5 02U 
 
 II 1 12 11.0 27.0 26.0 45.0 23.0 11.0 
 
 III 1 12 7.0 20.0 26.0 24.0 25.0 11.0 
 
 IV 3 12 5.3 20.7 28.0 26.0 28.3 5.3 
 
 V 1 12 2.0 44.0 35.0 50.0 34.0 9.0 
 
 VI 2 12 8.0 32.5 32.0 35.0 29.5 10.5 
 
 VII 2 12 7.5 51.5 38.0 70.5 39.0 6.0 
 
 All Standards. 10 12 6.7 32.1 31.1 40.8 30.4 8.0 
 
 M. V 10.9 4.3 14.6 4.8 2.4 
 
 dren of School D, we are undoubtedly entitled to 
 conclude that the children of this school, unless the 
 difference in method of reporting, etc., is a consid- 
 erable factor, are more proficient in the functions 
 measured than those of School C. Most teachers 
 would, I am sure, be inclined to believe that the chil- 
 dren of School D are less proficient than those of 
 School C, but that the former have been favored by 
 the 'oral' as opposed to the 'graphic' method. 
 
 Comparing the 12-year-old children of School D 
 and School C, we find the figures running extremely 
 closely together. Unhappily, however, the figures 
 for the two Standard VII boys of School D are 
 largely pedagogical results, for the teacher of this 
 class had long been in the habit of teaching much 
 of his history and geography by means of carefully 
 elicited descriptions of pictures. Making allowance 
 for this factor, we can have little doubt that the 12- 
 year-old children of School D, though favored (it 
 will be thought) by an oral method, are naturally 
 
DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 227 
 
 inferior to those of School C in the functions meas- 
 ured in these experiments. Both of School D as well 
 as of School C the boys are inferior to the older in- 
 fants of Schools A and B. But School D is a 'slum' 
 school and though, like the infants, the boys did the 
 work orally, the 'slum' factor needs eliminating. It 
 ought to be remembered that of the two infants' 
 schools, School A was similarly situated socially, 
 though in quite a different part of London, and 
 School D is, as I have said, not regarded, at present, 
 as at the height of pedagogical proficiency. So let 
 us take the work of a boys' school extremely well 
 placed geographically and distinguished pedagog- 
 ically. 
 
 One point of extreme importance must be noted: 
 the children of School D, though improving from one 
 week to the other in their power to report, fall a 
 little in their interrogatories. This result is almost 
 unique, and I attribute it to 'poor memory,' whether 
 congenital, the result of poor home environment, or 
 of a pedagogical factor, I am unable to say. I think 
 all these factors operate, but incline to attach most 
 weight to the first named. The teachers of schools 
 in poor neighborhoods say that their children, though 
 receptive to easy things, soon forget even them. The 
 experimental work which I have done from time to 
 time in 'slum' schools tends in some measure to sup- 
 port that contention. 
 
 II. The Work of School E. 
 
 School E, situated in a good suburban neighbor- 
 hood among open fields and well-built houses, pre- 
 sents us with the highest type of elementary school 
 
228 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 child. I propose to give the figures for the work of 
 'fair samples' of 8- and 12-year-old boys who at- 
 tended this school. 
 
 TABLE L. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Eight-Year-Old Chil- 
 dren, School E. 
 
 Standard. >w Average ■£ 
 
 ° Age. +> o 
 
 6 Yrs. Mths. g §" 
 
 *& Em 
 
 II 5 8 2.6 26.4 
 
 III 4 8 4.8 23.0 
 
 IV 1 8 9.0 34.0 
 
 All Standards. 10 8 4.1 25.8 
 
 M. V 5.2 
 
 +j u 
 
 w a> 
 
 *a 
 
 fetH 
 
 28.0 
 26.8 
 38.0 
 
 28.5 
 3.1 
 
 o & 
 !»M 
 
 34.0 
 25.8 
 46.0 
 
 31.9 
 5.5 
 
 30.8 
 28.5 
 33.0 
 
 30.1 
 3.3 
 
 % © 
 
 8.4 
 9.3 
 9.0 
 
 1.4 
 
 TABLE LI. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Twelve- Year-Old Chil- 
 dren, School E. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 >3 
 
 
 >> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 (4 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 © 
 
 
 © 
 
 za 
 
 
 >> 
 
 
 
 
 4-1 
 
 
 -4-> 
 
 a 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 Cj 
 
 © 
 
 
 ■O 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 6D 
 
 
 Standard. 
 
 <M 
 
 Average 
 
 +j 
 
 © 
 
 13 +j 
 
 ^2 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 © 
 
 Age. 
 Yrs. Mths. 
 
 si 
 
 to OJ 
 
 3- 1 
 
 11 
 5 <B 
 
 5 *-■ 
 
 © o> 
 
 c p 
 
 0? 
 
 a^ © 
 
 
 £ 
 
 
 
 faM 
 
 i=ll-l 
 
 KM 
 
 Km 
 
 O&U 
 
 V 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 2.8 
 0.0 
 
 30.0 
 34.5 
 
 32.6 
 30.5 
 
 36.0 
 38.5 
 
 31.8 
 32.5 
 
 9.2 
 
 VI 
 
 8.5 
 
 VII 
 
 3 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 7.0 
 3.5 
 
 28.7 
 30.5 
 
 35.0 
 32.9 
 
 32.0 
 35.3 
 
 35.3 
 33.0 
 
 7.0 
 
 All Standards. 
 
 8.4 
 
 M. V 
 
 
 
 
 5.0 
 
 4.1 
 
 4.8 
 
 3.6 
 
 2.6 
 
 Comments on Table L and Table LI. 
 
 The work of the 8-year-old children in School E 
 is slightly inferior in several aspects to that of the 
 8-year-old children of School D. The former are 3 
 months younger, which may account for the inferior- 
 ity. But they are superior in one important respect ; 
 their second interrogatory is better than their first, 
 
DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 229 
 
 which is indeed the rule and not the exception. But 
 the important point is the 'closeness' of the figures 
 for the children of this age in the two widely differ- 
 ent schools. We are compelled, I think, to enter- 
 tain the hypothesis that for boys there may be no 
 great closeness of positive relationship between gen- 
 eral mental ability and natural proficiency in these 
 exercises, since without doubt the 8-year-old boys 
 of School E are mentally much superior to those of 
 School D. And the 12-year-old pupils of the two 
 schools show similar relationships in these Aussage 
 exercises. The 'slum' school boys are slightly supe- 
 rior in oral reporting; but their interrogatories are 
 poorer and they remember less from one week to the 
 next. The relationships between the work of School 
 E (working orally) and that of School C (with writ- 
 ten exercises) are similar on the whole to those be- 
 tween the work of School D and that of School C, 
 except that the boys of School E appear to know 
 more, though they say less about it spontaneously. 
 The boys of School E are, as usual, distinctly below 
 the older infants in proficiency in these exercises, 
 with the exception of the capacity for self-correction. 
 
 JUL The Work of School F. 
 
 This was a 'slum' school in the east of London, 
 attended solely by children of Jewish aliens. It 
 was possible to take a 'fair sample' of 8-year-old 
 children and 'fair samples' of 9-year-old and 10- 
 year-old children, but after Standard IV, the boys 
 were transferred to a neighboring school, conse- 
 quently no 'fair samples' of 12-year-old children 
 could be obtained. One-third of the experiments 
 
230 children's perceptions 
 
 were made by me, the remainder by the Head Mas- 
 ter, who had had several years' experience of work 
 in experimental pedagogy. 
 
 TABLE LII. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Eight-Year-Old Boys, 
 
 School F. 
 
 Standard. 
 
 t-t 
 
 © 
 
 6 
 
 Average 
 
 Age. 
 
 Yrs. Mths. 
 
 si 
 
 fcM 
 
 © 
 
 (4 
 
 ■J. '-J 
 fcH-> 
 
 r o 
 
 u 
 
 O 0) 
 UP 
 
 a) a 
 
 o 
 
 <0> O 
 
 SCO 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 4 
 
 8 
 8 
 8 
 
 0.7 
 3.7 
 4.8 
 
 24.7 
 17.4 
 12.5 
 
 32.3 
 25.3 
 23.5 
 
 38.0 
 25.3 
 18.2 
 
 34.0 
 26.8 
 23.5 
 
 7.0 
 
 II 
 
 III 
 
 8.6 
 11.2 
 
 All Standards. 
 M. V 
 
 14 
 
 8 
 
 3.9 
 
 17.6 
 5.7 
 
 26.3 
 3.7 
 
 26.0 
 7.6 
 
 27.4 
 4.6 
 
 9.0 
 2.6 
 
 Comments on Table LII. 
 
 We were a little perplexed at some characteristics 
 which became obvious quite early in the work done 
 in this school, so in order to be quite sure that we 
 were getting a fair sample, we increased from 10 to 
 14 the number of boys tested. But the result re- 
 mained unaffected. The work is worse than that of 
 either the South London slum school or the well- 
 placed suburban one. And the children 'go down' 
 as they rise in school standards of pedagogical pro- 
 ficiency. The Standard I boys are best, the Standard 
 II boys are next, and the Standard III boys are 
 worst, though they rise in age, standard by stand- 
 ard, rather than fall. A similar relationship ap- 
 peared between the Standard I and Standard II 
 8-year-old boys of School D, and between the Stand- 
 ard II and Standard III boys of School E. In oral 
 work, therefore, the younger boys show a decline in 
 
DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 231 
 
 proficiency as they rise in the school standards — 
 age, of course, remaining constant. The interesting 
 feature in this school is the very rapid and decided 
 decline. This is partly accounted for by a pedagogi- 
 cal factor. Some of the children now in Standard 
 III had been taught to make up a story about a pic- 
 ture, and this practice tended to abstract their atten- 
 tion from the picture itself. Quite apart from this 
 factor, I am not sure that a racial characteristic 
 was not also present, which tended to the loss of 
 marks. There was no lack of fluency in English and 
 many of the children said a great deal, but much of 
 what they said did not result from accurate obser- 
 vations of the picture. 
 
 Of course, we have always to remember that there 
 is much written work for boys in the lower stand- 
 ards of the senior schools, and that they have now 
 seriously to * tackle' reading, writing and arithmetic. 
 Might we not expect just such a standstill of de- 
 velopment in observation of this kind and in the oral 
 expression of it as we actually find? Let us suppose 
 the fact is accepted. What shall we do? That will 
 depend upon our ideal of education. If we believe 
 that reading, writing and arithmetic, as ordinarily 
 understood, are of more importance than an observ- 
 ant outlook on things and a fluent accurate expres- 
 sion, whether oral or written, of what is seen, we 
 shall continue our present practices. If not we shall 
 make some changes. 
 
 Comments on Table LIIL 
 
 Once again we increased our sample so as to make 
 sure it was adequate. There is a rise all round 
 when compared with the work of the 8-year-old boys 
 
232 
 
 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
 TABLE LIII. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Nine- Year-Old Boys, 
 
 School F. 
 
 Standard. 
 
 o 
 6 
 
 Am 
 
 Yrs 
 
 erage 
 kge. 
 . Mths. 
 
 
 o 
 
 02 <D 
 fa 5 
 
 73 J-> 
 
 MM 
 
 O <0> 
 
 o a 
 QQhh 
 
 o 
 
 CD O 
 
 two 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 1 
 3 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 9 
 9 
 9 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 6 
 5 
 
 27.0 
 22.3 
 26.1 
 23.5 
 
 24.0 
 26.3 
 29.5 
 26.5 
 
 31.0 
 42.3 
 32.8 
 33.0 
 
 22.0 
 29.6 
 31.5 
 25.0 
 
 7.0 
 10.0 
 
 Ill 
 
 11.5 
 
 IV 
 
 15.5 
 
 All Standards. 
 M. V 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 4.C 
 
 24.8 
 7.8 
 
 27.7 
 2.6 
 
 35.1 
 
 9.1 
 
 29.2 
 3.0 
 
 11.4 
 2.6 
 
 — a very considerable one so far as the reports and 
 self-corrections are concerned, but very small in- 
 deed in the interrogatories. The same features of 
 fluency and inaccuracy are present as in the work 
 of the 8-year-old boys. It is probably worth noting 
 that the two boys most advanced pedagogically for 
 their age — the two boys in Standard IV — make a 
 very poor show at this work ; except in the one fea- 
 ture of self-correction. 
 
 TABLE LIV. 
 
 Summarized Results from the Work of Ten-Year-Old Boys, 
 
 School F. 
 
 Standard. <h Average 
 
 ° Age. 
 
 6 Yrs. Mths. 
 Z 
 
 II 2 10 8 
 
 III 4 10 3 
 
 IV 6 10 3 
 
 All Standards. 12 10 4 
 
 M. V 
 
 
 oj 
 
 
 ed 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 be 
 
 33 
 o 
 
 0) 
 
 ^ V 
 
 
 
 a u 
 
 ■»2 
 
 O G> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fc« 
 
 h" 
 
 02 S3 
 
 OQm 
 
 ECU 
 
 32.0 
 
 33.5 
 
 43.5 
 
 36.5 
 
 7.0 
 
 23.0 
 
 25.2 
 
 29.2 
 
 28.2 
 
 9.2 
 
 26.0 
 
 30.0 
 
 40.5 
 
 31.6 
 
 7.8 
 
 26.0 
 
 29.0 
 
 37.2 
 
 31.3 
 
 8.2 
 
 5.8 
 
 3.5 
 
 8.2 
 
 3.9 
 
 1.7 
 
DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 233 
 
 Comments on Table LIV. 
 
 Twelve boys were selected to form an adequate 
 sample from the various standards in which the 10- 
 year-old boys were to be found. There is a slight 
 advance upon the work of the 9-year-old boys in both 
 the reports and interrogatories ; but there is a fall- 
 ing off in self-correction. The same features of 
 fluency and inaccuracy were noticeable as in pre- 
 ceding years. It is probably worth mention that the 
 two boys least advanced pedagogically — those in 
 Standard II — do by far the best work for children 
 of this age. 
 
 IV. The Oral Work of the Girls of School C. 
 
 Hitherto it has not appeared that the method of 
 taking the reports, interrogatories, and self-correc- 
 tions orally, rather than in writing, will lead to any 
 serious modification in our conclusions. The 
 younger children in the senior schools work rather 
 better orally than in writing, but the conclusions 
 drawn as to the relative work of infants and older 
 children have not been invalidated. Nor shall we, 
 I think, find them invalidated in the work now about 
 to be described ; but there is a marked difference be- 
 tween the oral and the written work of the girls; 
 and the steady progression from infants to older 
 children, which we might reasonably have expected, 
 and have never found, seems here on the verge of 
 realization. This School C was the one in which the 
 written work was done two years previously. " Why, 
 those children had done the work before!" a hasty 
 critic may exclaim. No, they had not ; for the 8-year- 
 old children had all passed up from the infants' de- 
 
234 
 
 CHILDBEN S PERCEPTIONS 
 
 partments since the work had been done. And we 
 had also ten 12-year-old children, who had entered 
 from other schools since the Aussage work had been 
 taken. All the 8-year-old children now in the school 
 did the exercises, so that in their case we are run- 
 ning no risks from inadequate sampling. As in other 
 instances where the work was done orally, one-third 
 of the reports, interrogatories and self-corrections 
 were heard and written down by me. The remainder 
 were taken by the Head Mistress, who had had sev- 
 eral years' experience of work in experimental peda- 
 gogy. 
 
 TABLE LV. 
 
 Results from the Oral Work of Eight-Year-Old Girls, 
 School C. 
 
 Standard. <« Average +3 
 
 ° Age. +; o 
 
 6 Yrs. Mths. % g* 
 
 "A fo« 
 
 lib 5 8 5.2 28.5 
 
 II 14 8 3.8 40.2 
 
 III 7 8 7.0 47.3 
 
 All Standards. 26 8 4.9 39.8 
 
 M. V 11.2 
 
 £5 
 
 5 <v 
 
 o o 
 
 ai H 
 
 <D O 
 
 32.6 
 
 39.6 
 
 33.0 
 
 13.4 
 
 31.8 
 
 43.3 
 
 33.8 
 
 14.3 
 
 32.3 
 
 50.9 
 
 36.0 
 
 11.6 
 
 32.1 
 
 47.7 
 
 34.2 
 
 13.4 
 
 4.1 
 
 11.3 
 
 3.5 
 
 3.2 
 
 TABLE LVI. 
 Results from the Oral Work of Twelve- Year-Old Girls, 
 
 Standard. «w Average tj 
 
 ° Age. +• o 
 
 © Yrs. Mths. £ £ 
 
 IV 4 12 1.3 55.5 
 
 V 4 12 2.3 61.0 
 
 VI 2 12 8.0 60.5 
 
 All Standards. 10 12 3.0 58.7 
 
 M. V 19.8 
 
 m a; 
 
 36.8 
 38.8 
 43.0 
 
 2.8 
 
 73.8 
 80.0 
 75.5 
 
 76.6 
 18.6 
 
 2 ^ 
 9 a 
 
 ECl— i 
 
 37.3 
 41.0 
 44.0 
 
 40.1 
 2.9 
 
 10.0 
 
 12.0 
 
 8.5 
 
 10.5 
 1.9 
 
DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 235 
 
 Comments on Tables LV and LVI. 
 
 Undoubtedly we have here, in the oral work of 
 these girls, some factor or factors which are mark- 
 edly different from those which have operated in the 
 oral work of the boys in Schools D. E and F. The 
 children of the same age rise in observational pro- 
 ficiency as they rise in standard, whereas the tend- 
 ency among the boys was rather to fall than to rise. 
 And the oral work of the girls is certainly clearly 
 better than their written work. The 8-year-old chil- 
 dren are equal to the best infants in reports and in- 
 terrogatories, and are better in self-correction; and 
 the oral work of the 12-year-old children shows a 
 very satisfactory advance on that of the children 
 of 8 years of age. How shall we account for these 
 differences between the oral work of the boys and 
 girls? Let us consider the likely hypotheses one by 
 one. 
 
 ' Grirls talk more than boys ' is a popular explana- 
 tion, 'and they go on advancing in loquacity up 
 to (and beyond?) maturity.' This may be so, but 
 what the girls say in these exercises is not mere talk ; 
 only accurate observations are counted; they are 
 required to answer the same questions as the boys, 
 and they correct themselves more efficiently. No 
 'mere talking' hypothesis will account for these 
 things. 
 
 'Oh, it's the teaching' is the next explanation 
 freely proffered. Well, I am fully aware that a 
 psychologist frequently bears away to his labora- 
 tory work which teems with what he believes to be 
 fruitful conclusions of great moment when he has 
 merely lighted upon some result of a pedagogic 
 
236 children's perceptions 
 
 method which he does not understand. We are all 
 liable to errors of that kind. But I hope I am always 
 on my guard against pedagogic influences ; my expe- 
 rience as an inspector of schools tends rather to 
 make me over-rate than under-rate them. Do they 
 operate here? Suppose that the teachers of the 
 school, influenced by the written Aussage work of 
 two years previous, had directed their oral work by 
 Aussage methods. Still these 8-year-old and 12- 
 year-old children are new children, not yet seriously 
 affected by the general methods of the school. And 
 I am quite sure that no specifically similar work had 
 ever been taken with them. Of course, with 8-year- 
 old children their infant-school preparation is very 
 important; and more observational work had been 
 taken in recent years as I have already pointed out ; 
 but no such factor operated with the 12-year-old girls 
 who came in from outside, and not from the infants ' 
 department. 
 
 One important hypothesis remains; "the girls con- 
 tinue," it is said, "to be interested in 'domestic in- 
 teriors ' and the boys do not. ' ' For myself, I incline 
 to attach much weight to this hypothesis, supple- 
 mented, perhaps, by the more ready oral expression 
 of girls than boys. But even in this very favorable 
 case, the 8-year-old girls are no better than the best 
 infants, except in their power of self-correction. 
 But in the case of the girls there is a decided ad- 
 vance from the 8-year-old to the 12-year-old group, 
 an advance much less noticeable among the boys, 
 both in linguistic expression and actual perception. 
 These differences, however, have by no means been 
 just discovered by an 'oral' method; they were defi- 
 nitely and steadily apparent in the 'written' work. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 It is contended at the outset that the only method 
 of resolving the vexed questions underlying the dis- 
 cussions about Perception and Observation among 
 psychologists and teachers is, so far as Educational 
 Theory and Practice are concerned, the experimental 
 investigation of them under school conditions. With 
 school children, both boys and girls, from the age of 
 three up to fourteen in six different schools in vari- 
 our parts of London, an attempt has been made to 
 show experimentally what children do actually ob- 
 serve. The senior pupils in the earlier experiments 
 made their reports and answers in writing, whilst 
 the younger children gave theirs orally. In order that 
 the differences between the work of the younger and 
 older children might not be regarded as due merely 
 to the differences in their method of reporting, fur- 
 ther reports and answers were' obtained orally from 
 senior children in other schools. It seems that the 
 capacity to observe and report grows rapidly from 
 the age of three up to the age of six or seven and 
 then suffers a check. The question is raised whether 
 our changed methods and differences in curriculum 
 are the cause of this set-back in senior schools or 
 whether there is a natural decline of interest and 
 capacity in observational work of this kind in the 
 younger children of senior schools. 
 
 237 
 
238 children's perceptions 
 
 We are probably not called upon to make any vio- 
 lent alterations in curriculum for the younger classes 
 of senior schools. It would perhaps be sufficient if 
 more adequate means were taken to secure that our 
 observation lessons were really lessons in perception 
 and accurate expression on the part of the children 
 nnd not instructional lessons by the teacher. It is 
 doubtful even then whether the natural decline of 
 interest in this work (if it exists) would not bring 
 our results below those of the older children in infant 
 schools (containing children from three to seven). 
 That observational work of a very high character 
 can be obtained from all children is shown by the 
 whole progress of this research. With few excep- 
 tions they know more about their lesson a week after- 
 wards than they do at the time, even ivhen the period 
 of observation is so short that a fatigue factor is ex- 
 cluded. It is claimed that this result, most pleasing 
 to teachers, is a direct consequence of the method 
 employed, which requires on the part of the child 
 both spontaneous expression and accurate answering 
 to searching examination by the experimenter. For 
 work done in this way children's memories are most 
 surprisingly full and accurate. 
 
 In Chapter VI an endeavor has been made to show 
 precisely what it is that children of different ages 
 and of different sexes actually do observe, and also 
 what they neglect to observe. To the teacher, the 
 detailed study of this section will be useful. Subject 
 to the break in progress found in the younger classes 
 of senior schools, a progress which is afterwards re- 
 sumed, there seems an increasing resistance to sug- 
 gestion, and an increasing capacity to observe cloth- 
 ing and the position of and relations between things. 
 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 239 
 
 In the numerical enumeration of things there 
 seems no great advance, the spontaneous interest in 
 mere numbering seems small. 
 
 In the perception of color the results are unex- 
 pected. Young children, if they are pleased by col- 
 ors, appear to be pleased in an emotional way, for 
 they show very little accurate observation and mem- 
 ory of them. Only among the older girls of the 
 senior school, not the boys, are the observations of 
 color really full and good. In this connection it 
 should be mentioned that the curriculum of all Eng- 
 lish elementary schools is at present supposed to be 
 specially favorable to the acquisition of the percep- 
 tion of color ; probably this aspect of the curriculum 
 receives an amount of time which can hardly, from 
 an intellectual point of view, at any rate, be held to 
 have justified itself. 
 
 Girls are more proficient than boys both in the 
 linguistic expression of their observations and in the 
 number and accuracy of them ; but the subject-matter 
 in this case probably makes more appeal to girls 
 than to boys. I believe that these differences are 
 natural advantages in favor of the girls, but for cer- 
 tainty in this respect we require observations simi- 
 larly conducted in which the subject-matter favors 
 the boys. 
 
 From the standpoint of the Psychologist or the 
 Teacher who uses these Aussage exercises as a Men- 
 tal Test for the proper grading of children, it seems 
 possible with confidence to recommend them for use 
 with children up to the age of seven ; but after that 
 age it is very doubtful if the closeness of the rela- 
 tionship between their capacity in this work and 
 
240 children's perception's 
 
 their general mental advance is maintained. For 
 older children more tests are needed than we have at 
 present of what we usually call the 'higher mental 
 faculties, I do not wish it to be understood that I am 
 suggesting that this exercise has no value as a mental 
 test even for older children; but, standing by itself, 
 it would be very uncertain as compared with its reli- 
 ability with very young children. 
 
Statistical Appendix. 
 
 Shoicing the Correlation-coefficients Between the First and Second 
 Reports and the First and Second Sets of Answers for School 
 C, with the Differences Between the Means and the 'Probaole 
 Error' of Those Differences. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1st and 2d Sets of 
 
 
 
 Av. age. 
 
 1st and 2d Reports. 
 
 * 
 
 
 Answers 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 a • 
 
 
 
 r ' " 
 
 a . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 oti 
 
 0) 
 
 +> & 
 
 ©*; 
 
 flj 
 
 ai 
 
 13 
 
 -a 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 CO 
 
 
 4-3 
 
 
 — a 
 3 3 
 
 H 9 
 
 "3 o a 
 •5 v 
 a u u 
 
 11 
 
 
 ■3 ° a 
 
 _ o 
 
 oj ti h 
 -° OS 
 
 oi 
 
 
 rt 
 
 « V 
 
 w+j s 
 
 O !h!H 
 
 « o 
 
 jta-g g 
 
 O tnia 
 
 
 © A 
 
 0) 
 
 
 o o 
 
 ■ ^H Q> ^ 
 
 tH S-l-S 
 
 o o 
 
 
 tn t-— 1 
 
 02 
 
 go 
 
 kH 
 
 £ 
 
 OO 
 
 A«S 
 
 ftHfl 
 
 OO 
 
 QMS 
 
 ftKft 
 
 Girls. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 VII 
 
 14 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 .57 
 
 8.3 
 
 3.2 
 
 .85 
 
 1.4 
 
 .4 
 
 VI , , . , 
 
 . 20 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 .84 
 
 10.2 
 
 1.6 
 
 .65 
 
 1.0 
 
 .4 
 
 V. , , 
 
 42 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 .74 
 
 5.7 
 
 1.1 
 
 .77 
 
 2.6 
 
 .3 
 
 IV 
 
 , 54 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 .71 
 
 7.3 
 
 1.1 
 
 .73 
 
 1.2 
 
 .3 
 
 III 
 
 . 34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 .57 
 
 17.0 
 
 1.2 
 
 .62 
 
 2.8 
 
 2 
 
 II 
 
 . 34 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 .58 
 
 2.1 
 
 1.0 
 
 .73 
 
 0.9 
 
 !i 
 
 Boys. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 VII 
 
 10 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 .35 
 
 15.7 
 
 2.2 
 
 .81 
 
 0.5 
 
 .6 
 
 VI , , 
 
 , 26 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 .73 
 
 9.9 
 
 1.3 
 
 .71 
 
 2.0 
 
 .5 
 
 V 
 
 . 32 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 .43 
 
 4.2 
 
 1.3 
 
 .59 
 
 2.1 
 
 .4 
 
 IV , 
 
 41 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 .60 
 
 4.9 
 
 1.0 
 
 .78 
 
 1.2 
 
 .3 
 
 III 
 
 d-2 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 .68 
 
 8.1 
 
 0.8 
 
 .72 
 
 1.9 
 
 .4 
 
 II 
 
 49 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 .76 
 
 0.6 
 
 0.6 
 
 .71 
 
 0.9 
 
 .3 
 
 Note. — The Correlation-coefficients have been calculated from 
 the individual results by means of the Pearson 'r' formula, and the 
 "Probable Errors" of the differences between the means from the 
 
 formula "p. e." = .67 v /- 
 
 / a? -f- ov — 2ro- 1 o 
 
 The meaning of the 
 
 formulae and the methods of calculation are simply explained in 
 two statistical notes, one in my Monograph When Should a Child 
 Begin School? and the other in Inductive versus Deductive Meth- 
 ods of Teaching, both published by Warwick & York, Baltimore, 
 U. S. A. 
 
 241 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Accuracy, increase in, 15, 19, 21, 51, 54, 59, GO, 63, 72, 75, 81, 85, 93, 
 
 97, 101, 104, 109, 117, 136, 139, 144, 146, 151, 153, 159, 161, 167, 
 
 169, 178, 181, 185, 228. 
 Activities, perceptions of, 25, 30, 53, 58, 61, 63, 70, 71, 78, 81, 92, 93, 
 
 100, 107, 109, 115, 117, 134, 135, 142, 143, 150, 151, 200. 
 Answers, method of marking, see "Marking Answers." 
 
 sets of, 15, 19, 55, 63, 72, 81, 93, 101, 110, 117, 136, 144, 
 151, 159, 167, 178. 
 Association, influence of, 37, 39, 48, 58, 75, 165. 
 Aussage, meaning of term, v, 3. 
 
 experiments of Prof. Stern, 8. 
 validity of method, 212. 
 Boys versus Girls, 132, 141, 148, 156, 164, 171, 183, 184, 192, 196, 
 
 211, 235, 239. 
 Clothes, perceptions of, 22, 32, 66, 96, 140, 194, 238. 
 Color, names, 29, 34, 36, 38, 41, 42, 45, 48, 49, 211. 
 
 perceptions of, 22, 29, 30, 33, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 48, 57, 58, 
 66, 75, 84, 86, 97, 104, 105, 112, 135, 140, 165, 207, 212, 239. 
 Enumeration, numerical, in young children, 44, 239. 
 Environment, influence of, 189, 190. 
 Evidence, science of, 48. 
 'Faculty' doctrine, 5. 
 Girls versus Boys, 132, 141, 148, 156, 164, 171, 183, 184, 192, 196, 
 
 211, 235, 239. 
 Growth, bodily versus mental, 4, 192. 
 Heredity, influence of, 189, 190. 
 Imagination, 35, 69, 88. 
 Marking answers, method of, 23, 52, 54, 57, 61, 62, 66, 68, 70, 71, 74, 
 
 76, 83, 85, 91, 96, 97, 99, 101, 104, 105, 107, 108, 112, 113, 115, 
 
 116, 117, 120, 121, 134, 135, 138, 142, 143, 146, 149, 150, 153, 154, 
 
 157, 159, 161, 162, 169, 170, 172, 174, 180, 182. 
 Memory, 51, 89, 124, 125, 211, 215, 227, 238. 
 Number, perceptions of, 43, 44, 59, 112, 147, 205, 239. 
 
 243 
 
244 children's perceptions 
 
 Observation, cultivation of, 1, 2, 238. 
 
 growth of, 43, 87, 124, 176, 235, 237. 
 bow to teach it, G, 7. 
 what it implies, 3, 13. 
 Persons, perceptions of, 53, 61, G2, 70, 71, 78, 80, 92, 93, 97, 100, 109, 
 
 115, 116, 134, 135, 142, 143, 149, 150, 157, 159. 
 Position, perceptions of, 18, 19, 24, 26, 31, 40, 41, 53, 57, 58, 61, 63, 
 66, 67, 70, 71, 75, 78, 80, 84, 92, 93, 100, 107, 109, 115, 117, 134, 
 135, 138, 142, 143, 150, 151, 157, 159, 174, 177, 196, 238. 
 Qualifications, perceptions of, 53, 62, 63, 70, 72, 79, 80, 93, 100, 109, 
 115, 117, 134, 135, 142, 144, 150, 151, 157, 159, 165, 166, 174, 177. 
 Reports, spontaneous, 13, 14, 18, 19, 52, 53, 61, 62, 69, 71, 78, 79, 91, 
 93, 99, 101, 10G, 107, 114, 116, 134, 135, 142, 143, 149, 150, 156, 
 158, 164, 165, 172, 174. 
 Reporting, power of, 87, 124, 172, 237. 
 Science of Education, 8. 
 Science of Evidence, 48. 
 
 Selection of pupils for experiment, 10, 11, 224, 229. 
 Self-corrections, children's, 50, 59, 67, 85, 97, 105, 113, 121, 140, 
 
 147, 154, 162, 170, 181, 236. 
 value of, 69, 75, 88. 
 Sex of pupils, 132, 141, 186. 
 
 of teachers, 133, 187. 
 Social class of pupils, 125, 126. 
 Spontaneous reports, see Reports. 
 
 Suggestion, influence of, 15, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 34, 36, 39, 41, 46, 47, 
 49, 57, 58, 59, 66, 67, 75, 84, 104, 112, 140, 170, 176, 188, 194, 238. 
 Table, showing work of 3-year-old children, 50. 
 
 work of 4-year-old children, 60, 98. 
 
 work of 5-year-old children, 68, 105. 
 
 work of 6-year-old children, 77, 114. 
 
 work of 7-year-old children, 86, 122. 
 
 work of 8-year-old children, 225, 228, 230, 234. 
 
 work of 9-year-old children, 232. 
 
 work of 10-year-old children, 232. 
 
 work of 12-year-old children, 226, 228, 234. 
 
 work of all children of School A, 87. 
 
 work of School A and School B compared, 126. 
 
 work of Standard II, 141. 
 
 work of Standard III, 148. 
 
INDEX 245 
 
 work of Standard IV, 155. 
 work of Standard V, 1GB. 
 work of Standard VI, 171. 
 work of Standard VII, 183. 
 work of boys and girls compared, 185. 
 increase in accuracy, 185. 
 perceptions of actions, 200, 201. 
 clothes, 194, 195. 
 color, 207, 20S, 209, 210. 
 number, 205, 20G. 
 position, 197, 198, 199. 
 things, 203, 204. 
 suggestibility, 188, 189, 190, 191, 193. 
 Teachers, co-operation of, vii. 
 
 Things, perceptions of, 38, 39, 53, 57, 61, 62, 67, 70, 78, 80, 92, 93, 97, 
 100, 109, 115, 116, 134, 135, 142, 143, 149, 150, 157, 159, 165, 166, 
 202, 238. 
 

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