Brief Overview of the Period

Abstract

THE CONTRIBUTIONS of research to the construction and use of psychological tests have become so numerous that it is doubtful if any one individual, however industrious and efficient, could keep up with all of them unless he devoted his full time to the task. It is not surprising that under these circumstances summaries and bibliographies dealing with measurement have appeared frequently in recent years. During the period with which this review is concerned several valuable reviews of research, pertaining wholly or in part to psychological tests, were made available. The June 1938 number of the REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, prepared by a committee under the chairmanship of Symonds (8), reviewed the literature on psychological tests for the period January 1935 to January 1938. Greene and others (4) prepared the December 1938 issue covering educational tests from July 1935 to July 1938. A brief summary of recent research on intelligence, aptitude, personality, and achievement tests was written by Ruch and Orata (7) for the December 1939 number of the REVIEW. Watson (10) presented an overview of the historical development and implications of intelligence, aptitude, and personality testing in the Thirty-Seventh Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Hildreth (5) revised and brought up to date her well-known bibliography of mental tests and rating scales. Buros (1, 2) performed a valuable service by publishing his Nineteen Thirty-Eight and Nineteen Forty Mental Measurements Yearbooks, in which hundreds of new tests were discussed by reviewers, many of whom made reference to research data in their comments. Wang (9) prepared an annotated bibliography of mental tests and rating scales containing 1,776 items. Some textbooks on measurement, such as Freeman's Mental Tests (3), contain a large amount of pertinent information about research relating to psychological tests. Hildreth's book is the most comprehensive single bibliography of tests; Buros' yearbooks provide the most detailed and thorough appraisal of new tests; Wang's volume is the most extensive annotated list of tests of intelligence, special aptitude, and personality. Other bibliographies are given in Chapter V.