Page:Margaret Mead - Coming of age in Samoa; a psychological study of primitive youth for western civilisation.pdf/330

 girls' intelligence. Also, the natives have long been accustomed to examinations which the missionary authorities conduct each year, and the knowledge that an examination is in progress makes them respect the privacy of investigator and subject. In this way it was possible for me to get the children alone, without antagonising their parents. Furthermore, the novelty of the tests, especially the colour-naming and picture interpretation tests, served to divert their attention. from other questions which I wished to ask them. The results of the tests showed a much narrower range than would be expected in a group varying in age from ten to twenty. Without any standardisation it is impossible to draw any more detailed conclusions. I shall, however, include a few comments about the peculiar responses which the girls made to particular tests, as I believe such comment is useful in evaluating intelligence testing among primitive peoples and also in estimating the possibilities of such testing.

Tests Used

Picture Interpretation. Three reproductions from the moving picture Moana, showing, (a) Two children who had caught a cocoanut crab by smoking it out of the rocks above them, (b) A canoe putting out to sea after bonito as evidenced by the shape of the canoe