INTERESTS IN RELATION TO INTELLIGENCE

A STUDY OF THE RELATION OF THE MENTAL STATUS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN TO THEIR MOTIVATION AS SHOWN IN THE CHOICES OF SCHOOL PLANS AND OCCUPATIONAL PREFERENCES.

By LOUISE E. POULL, PH.D.

Table showing responses to the questionnaire on occupations:*

* The total of these tables vary since some of the children omitted to mark first, second or third choices. Occupations following "worker in laundry" were inserted by the children after they had read the lists.

STABILITY OF CHILDREN'S EXPRESSIONS OF THEIR PREFERENCES FOR OCCUPATIONS AND RECREATIONS AND OF THEIR SCHOOL PLANS

Do the child's expressions of his preferences and plans indicate an interest of sufficient persistence to warrant the assumption that we have in them clues to the sources of his spontaneous energy and power? May we count on them as constant forces?

Two methods were adopted to determine the value of the questionnaire as it was used in this investigation.

The first was tried out a month after the questionnaire had been submitted to the girls of Public School No. 3. This was also shortly before the mid-year graduation. Forty girls, com prising the graduating class, were interviewed by Miss Jennings of the Vocational and Employment Service for Juniors.

These interviews were conducted individually and the subjects were aware of the fact that their statements would be used either for placement in industry or placement in secondary school courses leading eventually to professional or industrial careers. Their statements were regularly entered on the cards of the Vocational and Employment Service for Juniors. It was found on comparing the results of these interviews with the questionnaire of the previous month that in only two cases of the forty had there been a new preference expressed. It should be noted that in introducing the questionnaire no special mention was made of plans for vocational guidance but that the natural tendency of a graduating class is probably to adopt a forward-looking attitude. Miss Jennings had not seen the results of the questionnaire before the interviews and her work was therefore free from any suggestion which might have been caused by her knowing the child's previous expression. In the comparison of results, first, second, and third choices were treated as of equal value and only the introduction of a new element was taken into consideration.

In consideration of the fact that these children probably were predisposed toward stability of expression owing to the nearness of an approaching change, and also in order to find out what value, if any, could be placed upon the expressions of the children in the grades below the eighth, the second method was devised. The 6-A class was chosen as a representative group and the questionnaires were re-submitted in May, 1921, after an

interval of six months. No discussion had taken place during this interval and the teachers had not seen the results of the first questionnaire at this time. Thirty-eight children responded to the questionnaire on school plans and recreations, and thirty-six of these to the one on occupations.

In analysing the results it was found that there were four possibilities for each choice of occupations or recreations. First choice, for instance, could remain unchanged or changed to second or third choice or disappear, a new choice being substituted. Choices of allied occupations, as for instance a change from" typewriting " to "office work" were treated as identical choices.

Choices expressed December, 1920, checked May, 1921:

Choices showing persistence as unchanged or changed in order only. 60 56 New choices.

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