Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 33, 2 September 1925, Page 62

Science Siftings

(By Vols)

Measuring the Mind: Tests for Children. An ingenious method of measuring the minds of children by means of performance tests has been introduced into the London County "? Council elementary schools. Mental 'ability is gauged by the quickness shown in solving certain problems presented pictorially. '•,''''.' I- •_•."■ The results of fourteen performance tests in three schools are described in a report issued by the Medical Research Council, and these have ; been taken as a basis for similar tests for children in other parts of the country. , , ./ One test, known as "the. Porteus maze, measures temperament as well as mind. Eleven mazes, graded progressively in difficulty, are printed on separate sheets, and the pupil is told that they show the paths in a garden surrounded... by walls. He must find his way out by the quickest route. The showing made depends on the pupil's ability to work under pressure and to withstand distraction by Unessentials in the material or by noises in the room. . . A cube imitation test involves the touching of four numbered cubes in a certain sequence as indicated by the teacher, the combinations of numbers being made more and more difficult. Each test. gives a certain score, and by combining the scores the mental age of the pupil is arrived at. Single tests are of no value. The tests of London boys and girls between the ages of eight and thirteen showed some interesting sex differences. The girls . excelled in memory tests and the boys in reasoning. Film That Talks. > The phonofilm is the latest wonder of this wonderful age. It is the invention of Dr. Lee de Forest. A few weeks ago a gathering of editors and publishers in New York both saw and heard President Coolidge deliver a speech, although the President was in Washington at the time, and the speech itself had been delivered a week before. ~ : "** When delivered, it was "tinned," or "canned," for future use. The President's gestures synchronised perfectly with the words he was uttering. The device employs only one film for both sight and sound. The speech was also broadcast. If the President happened to be listening at the time he had the strange experience of hearing himself speak over his own wireless. With a complete photofilm reproduction set he might not only have heard but actually seen himself making a speech. ■.■■■•> Freezing a Fire. ; -. i A new kind of fire extinguisher has been invented for use in petrol store-houses, oil tankers, * and other structures containing inflammable, substances. ; . r • When directed on a blaze these devices actually freeze the flames .to death. A very cold and •; dense > carbon ..dioxide* gas is re.leased so that all* oxygen: is blocked, and the -fire, with no : oxygen to -feed on, immediately

dies out no matter f how combustible r, the material burning may be. V ': \~/':'. II Tests have proved this extinguisher to., be :/, very efficient, • and even burning oil can^^ r put out by its use. •- 7 x l '/