Read D. Tuddenham

SIMPLICITY/COMPLEXITY OR SYMMETRY/ASYMMETRY? A RE-ANALYSIS OF THE BARRON-WELSH ART SCALES.

The Barron-Welsh Art Scale has been interpreted as a measure of Simplicity/Complexity within people. Re-analysis of the test by scaling the individual figures revealed that the stimulus dimension of Simplicity/Complexity (S/C) was highly confounded with the stimulus dimension of Symmetry/Asymmetry (S/A). It proved possible to separate these two stimulus dimensions and evaluate their significance independently. S/C and S/A appeared to be of equivalent and usually small importance in determining figure preferences. These results suggest the need for caution in attributing preferences to the single S/C attribute of the stimulus figures, or by extension, to the psychological simplicity or complexity of test-takers.

Development from Grades V through XI of Children's Ability to Make Correct Causal Inferences.

Pupils in Grades V, VIII, and XI (ages 11, 14, and 17) were compared for ability to draw legitimate causal inferences with respect to 10 simple logical problems. Two versions of the instrument were used, a “synthetic” free-response form which made it easy for children to carry deductions beyond the permissible, and an “analytic” multiple-choice form. Internal consistency reliability of both forms was in the range .75c to .90c. Sex differences on both forms were trivial, but grade differences, especially Grade V vs Grade VIII and Grade XI, were significant and substantial in size. Unless sensitized to avoid them, children, regardless of grade, tended to draw overly sweeping inferences, perhaps because of a need for closure. Older children, however, were more successful at suspending judgment when no definite conclusion was justified. Apparently tolerance of ambiguity, which has been described as an adult personality trait, has a developmental aspect.

Relationships Between the Progressive Matrices and Agct-3a Among Older Military Personnel:

as either a group or individual test. It enjoys a wide range of difficulty. It makes no demands upon language or hearing, and its puzzle-like content has intrinsic interest for most subjects. On the other hand, the normative sample though very large, is not well described in Raven’s manual, and information on the relationship between PM and other measures is only slowly accumulating. In the course of an investigation into changes in ability associated with age, it was possible to administer PM to a substantial sample of professional military personnel retiring from the U. S. Army for length of service after completing the required twenty years. The purpose of this paper is to present Raven norms for a