ABSTRACT
THERE is no hard and fast distinction between the indirect tests of the previous chapter and many of the tests described below such as oscillation, will-temperament, dotting machine, and the group observation methods. However, most of the tests in this and the subsequent chapter were devised to measure directly, or to sample, particular traits or types of behaviour. It will be apparent that early workers in the field of objective tests (probably influenced by the highly analytical trend of German experimental psychology) resorted chiefly to very simple sensory, motor, or ideational tests. Particularly in Britain, the development of mental testing was dominated by C. E. Spearman, and most of the work on personality, apart from that of Burt, was restricted by his narrow views of temperament. He laid it down that there were three main factors or dimensions 1 :
p—perseveration, the tendency to inertia, or hang-over effect, in mental processes, as contrasted with the ability to switch quickly from one process to another;
f—fluency or quickness and richness of mental associations;
o—oscillation or variability in the performance of any task.
