THE HUMAN FACTOR

Evening Star, Issue 22353, 1 June 1936, Page 15

THE HUMAN FACTOR

TEST OF INTELLIGENCE An American student of road accidents declares that as yet insufficient attention has been given to accidents which are caused among children, as well as among adults, by faulty machinery of the human organism or the human personality. Laboratory experiments show how widely human beings vary in the perception of depth, distance, colour, and many other sensory reactions. In aviation, where the dangers are more obvious, these variations are taken into consideration before anyone is allowed to attempt to learn to control an aeroplane. In some of the European countries similar tests are applied to all prospective drivers. Their vision, hearing, strength of grip, and other faculties are tested. Not a single State in America has as yet attempted a measure of this kind, he says. In addition to sensory variations, there are differences in intelligence, emotional stability, and other personality traits which render a person more or less prone to accidents. The most widely-accepted definition of intelligence is that which terms it to be the ability to adjust oneself to new situations. On city streets and highways both drivers and pedestrians are constantly called upon to adjust 'themselves to new situations in quick succession “ A girl of eight was killed by an automobile in our city last year and another child was seriously injured. Both were members of the class for mentally backward l children, and both of them were definitely feeble-minded. Attempting to cross a street, they stepped in front of the car, unexpectedly emerging from a row of parked conveyances. Having observed their behaviour while they were in the ungraded class of which I have been in charge, 1 was well acquainted with their habit of making for their destination unaware of any obstacle in their way. Lately a young man, formerly a member of the same class and later employed as a truck driver, figured in a serious accident. “ It is, of course, impossible to test the intelligence of pedestrians, but there might be an attempt at least to make a rough test of the ability of an applicant for a driver’s license to adjust himself to new conditions. “ The co-ordination between eyes and hands is of great importance in safe driving, and this quality is closely tied up with intelligence. There is a marked decrease in eye-band co-ordination with the decrease in intelligence. “ Temperamental and l other personality characteristics may well be frequently among the causes of accidents. The over-cautiousness of which nervous drivers are often guilty may be as serious a danger to the fellow human beings as tho recklessness of others.”