what is army alpha and beta tests

The Army Alpha

and Army Beta tests are some questionnaires that were developed for the United States Army during World War I. They were introduced for the first time in 1917 due to the need to develop a systematic tool to assess the intelligence and emotional adjustment of soldiers.

Full Answer

What is the beta test in the military?

Immigrants and blacks were automatically classified as illiterate and administered the Army Beta test, which included many culturally-specific items to identify that people of low socioeconomic status may not have been exposed to — i.e., light bulbs and phonographs.

What is the difference between Army Alpha and beta scores?

Scores on the Army Alpha were used to determine a soldier's capability of serving, his job classification, and his potential for a leadership position. Soldiers who were illiterate or foreign speaking would take the Army Beta, the nonverbal equivalent of the exam. [2]

How long does it take to pass Army Alpha test?

The time of the test was 50 to 60 minutes and there were up to 60 men in a group. Men who failed the "Army Beta" were subject to individual examinations. Literates who failed the "Army Alpha" and "Army Beta" are given the Stanford-Binet and/or the Point-Scale, depending on the subject.

What is the Yerkes alpha test?

By 1917, Yerkes Alpha test, the written form for literate recruits, composed of 8 parts, including analogies, sentence unscrambling, and other higher order testing. The Army Beta test, for illiterate recruits, was pictorial. The men who failed the Alpha due to illiteracy were directed to take the Beta, which without words was equally confusing.

What is the Army Beta test?

The Army Beta [4] was a non-verbal intelligence test developed shortly after the United States entered World War I by an American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on the Psychological Examination of Recruits , led by Robert Yerkes.

What is alpha and beta in military?

Scores on the Army Alpha were used to determine a soldier's capability of serving, his job classification, and his potential for a leadership position. Soldiers who were illiterate or foreign speaking would take the Army Beta, the nonverbal equivalent of the exam. Army Beta.

What was the Army Alpha test used for?

In 1917-1918, the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests were developed so that military commanders could have some measure of the ability of their personnel. The Army Alpha was a group-administered test that measured verbal ability, numerical ability, ability to follow directions, and knowledge of information.

What does Alpha mean in the army?

THREATCON ALPHA: (Threat level low) This condition applies when there is a general threat of possible terrorist activity against personnel and facilities, the nature and extent of which are unpredictable, and circumstances do not justify full implementation of THREATCON BRAVO measures.

What does Bravo Foxtrot mean?

7. What is a Blue Falcon? Answer: A Blue Falcon is also sometimes called a Bravo Foxtrot and is someone who messes things up for other members of their squad, either by causing drama or by betraying other members.

What is Oscar Tango Mike?

Oscar-Mike: On the Move. Tango Mike: Thanks Much. Tango Uniform: Toes Up, meaning killed or destroyed. Tango Yankee: Thank You.

Is Army Alpha an intelligence test?

The Army Alpha was an intelligence test developed by the United State Military for World War I.

What is the army test called?

Armed Forces Qualification TestEnlistment ASVAB The enlistment test, sometimes referred to as iCAT, or CAT-ASVAB, is adaptive, meaning it adapts to your ability level. In addition to the individual standard scores, recruits receive an Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score.

Who Developed Army Alpha and Army Beta test?

Yerkes, Lewis Terman, David Wechsler and other committee members collaborated to develop three such tests, the Army Alpha, the Army Beta (for non-English speakers and illiterate recruits), and an Individual Examination (a spoken test for those who failed the Beta).

What does Roger tango mean?

Message receivedroger/roger that Meaning: Message received. Origin: the NATO phonetic alphabet—a previous version of the alphabet used “Roger” to signify the letter R. Fun fact: Now they use “Romeo.”

What is Y in military?

A typical use of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet would be to spell out each letter in a word over the phone by saying, for example: "S as in Sierra" (or "S for Sierra"), "E as in Echo, Y as in Yankee, F as in Foxtrot, R as in Romeo, I as in India, E as in Echo, D as in Delta" to communicate the spelling of the name " ...

What is B in military alphabet?

The military phonetic alphabet uses 26 code words to represent each letter of the alphabet....Military Alphabet.CharacterCode WordPronunciationAAlphaAL fahBBravoBRAH vohCCharlieCHAR leeDDeltaDEL tah22 more rows

What is B in military alphabet?

NATO Phonetic AlphabetSymbolCode WordPhonic (pronunciation)BBravoBRAH VOHCCharlieCHAR LEEDDeltaDELL TAHEEchoECK OH22 more rows

What are the military codes?

The 26 code words are as follows (ICAO spellings): Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

What is Alpha Bravo Charlie in army?

The phonetic alphabet is often used by military and civilians to communicate error-free spelling or messages over the phone. For example, Alpha for “A”, Bravo for “B”, and Charlie for “C”. Additionally, IRDS can be used to relay military code, slang, or shortcode. For instance, Bravo Zulu meaning “Well Done”.

What are the 3 main parts of MIL letter?

THREE MAIN ELEMENTS OF A NON-MILITARY LETTER:HEADING – All of the materials/information above the first line of the body. ... BODY – The message itself, the substance of the letter.COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE – Usually followed by a comma and written one (1) space below the last line of the message.More items...

What is the Army Alpha test?

The Army Alpha test included the earliest examples of analogies tests, number-completion tests, synonym tests, and antonym tests, and the Army Beta test, designed specifically for people who were illiterate, introduced the first incomplete-pictures test and coding test, all the subtests being strictly timed.

What was the first test of intelligence?

The first group tests of intelligence, providing the prototypes of many that were to follow, intended to improve selection, placement, and training for specific occupations within the US army during the First World War, constructed by a group of US psychologists under the leadership of Robert Mearns Yerkes (1876–1956), including Lewis Madison Terman (1877–1956), and applied to approximately 1,750,000 recruits in just over one year. The test and the results that it generated were kept secret until the war ended, eventually being published by the National Academy of Sciences in 1921 in a book edited by Yerkes entitled Psychology Examining in the United States Army, and in 1919 Yerkes published a version of the tests called the National Intelligence Test, which was widely used by schools, universities, and commercial companies. The Army Alpha test included the earliest examples of analogies tests, number-completion tests, synonym tests, and antonym tests, and the Army Beta test, designed specifically for people who were illiterate, introduced the first incomplete-pictures test and coding test, all the subtests being strictly timed.

What are the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests?

The Army Alpha and Army Beta tests are some questionnaires that were developed for the United States Army during World War I. They were introduced for the first time in 1917 due to the need to develop a systematic tool to assess the intelligence and emotional adjustment of soldiers.

What is the Army Beta?

The Army Beta of 1917 is a complement to the Army Alpha, used as a non-verbal alternative . This questionnaire was used to assess people who were illiterate, had no school education, or did not know English. This questionnaire has been considered the archetype of modern cognitive skills tests, such as the WISC and the WAIS.

How many tests are there in the Army Alpha?

The Army Alpha is divided into 8 tests. The recruits had to answer the tests as quickly as possible, and these consisted of tests of arithmetic, "common sense", vocabulary, ordering words, number patterns, analogies and completing sentences. Below we will briefly see what these tests were.

What was the Army Beta test?

The Army Beta test was developed for those men with limited literacy who were unable to respond to the written test. The instructions for the test were provided using pictures and other symbols, and it tested using things like mazes, identification of patterns, and picture completion.

Who developed the Army Alpha and Beta test?

Lesson Summary. Army Alpha and Army Beta testing were developed by psychologist Robert Yerkes during World War I, designed to measure officer intelligence. The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test had proven impractical for application to large numbers of soldiers. With the new method of intelligence testing, the military could determine whether ...

How did Alpha and Beta affect psychology?

Army Alpha and Beta testing created a significant impact in the world of psychology. Intelligence testing extended into the civilian world, and everyday Americans became aware of how psychological testing was used, which made psychology a more familiar concept and more respected as a science. Yerkes' model of testing large groups ...

What was the purpose of the Yerkes test?

Yerkes and his colleagues were attempting to create a military machine , with men who were effectively organized and stratified. The test ended up becoming the mechanism by which men would fit into the military machine. Intelligence tests went on to become adapted to the field of education and eventually contributed to the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). There was some controversy over psychologists associated with the eugenics movement, which was a science designed to improve the human population through selective breeding. Additionally, there was and still is controversy over the legitimacy and efficacy of such tests, and the way in which intelligence should be measured.

Why was the Army Alpha and Beta important?

Army Alpha and Army Beta intelligence testing were crucial in assessing and classifying individual soldiers during World War I. This testing expanded beyond the military and has had a significant global impact.

What did Yerkes and his colleagues do to create a military machine?

When it came to the war, Yerkes and his colleagues were attempting to create a military machine where men were organized and stratified in such a way that they could be fully utilized. He even stated, 'the proper utilization of man power, and more particularly of mind and brain power, would assure ultimate victory.'.

Why did schools expand on the use of intelligence testing?

These schools expanded on the use of intelligence testing in an effort to measure student abilities. Because the tests could be given to large groups of people, and psychologists didn't have to be present during the testing, anyone could administer the test and send the results off for evaluation. In fact, the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) was created by some of the same psychologists that created the Alpha test.

What is the purpose of the Army Alpha test?

Yerkes outlined seven purposes for administering the "Army Alpha" test: "Classify soldiers according to their mental ability, thus supplementing personnel records of occupational qualifications and assisting with assignment in the Army. Supply a mental rating for each soldier which shall assist personnel officers in building organizations ...

How long was the Army Alpha test?

The time of the test was 40 to 50 minutes and there were 100 to 200 men in a group. Administration of the " Army Beta " (for illiterates and men who failed the "Army Alpha").

Why was the Army Alpha created?

The Army Alpha is a group-administered test developed by Robert Yerkes and six others in order to evaluate the many U.S. military recruits during World War I. It was first introduced in 1917 due to a demand for a systematic method of evaluating the intellectual and emotional functioning of soldiers.

How many men are in the Army examining room?

The general procedure of examining, which was developed to meet military requirements, is briefly describable as follows: A group of draftees, the size of which is determined by the seating capacity of examining room (it varied from one hundred to five hundred men) is reported to the psychological examining building for mental testing. The first essential step is the segregation of illiterates. This is accomplished by having all men who cannot read and write their own letters and those who have not proceeded beyond the fifth grade in school step out of the original group. The remaining men are sent to the alpha room. Naturally, among them there are likely to be several who will subsequently have to take the Army Beta examination. The illiterates are sent directly to the Army Beta room.

What happens if you fail the army beta?

Men who failed the "Army Beta" were subject to individual examinations. Literates who failed the "Army Alpha" and "Army Beta" are given the Stanford-Binet and/or the Point-Scale, depending on the subject. Illiterates who failed the "Army Beta" were given a Performance Test.

How many forms of the Army Alpha are there?

The "Army Alpha" is divided into 8 tests. There are also five forms of the test—forms 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and the questions asked are ordered in ascending difficulty. Army recruits were asked to answer the questions as quickly as possible.

Why are men sent to the army beta?

Men who fail in the alpha were sent to the Army Beta in order that injustice by reason of relative unfamiliarity with English may be avoided. Men who fail in Army Beta are referred for individual examination by means of what may appear to be the most suitable and altogether appropriate procedure among the varied methods available. This reference for careful individual examination is yet another attempt to avoid injustice either by reason of linguistic handicap or accidents incident to group examining.

Why did the Army use Alpha and Beta?

The Army Alpha and Beta tests became a tool for subjugating classes of people — immigrants, blacks, etc. — in the name of eugenics, of purifying the race, of advancing the platform of genetics. Immigrants and blacks were automatically classified as illiterate and administered the Army Beta test, which included many culturally-specific items to identify that people of low socioeconomic status may not have been exposed to — i.e., light bulbs and phonographs. And while the Beta test did not require reading, it did require using a pencil — circling, filling in bubbles, etc. — which could prove difficult for individuals who had never once held a pencil.

Who created the Alpha and Beta test?

Create by Robert Yerkes, an American psychologist, the Army Alpha and Beta tests were used as a screening tool for military recruits during the World War I before being implemented on a larger scale. By 1917, Yerkes Alpha test, the written form for literate recruits, composed of 8 parts, including analogies, sentence unscrambling, ...

What is the gold standard for determining intelligence?

In his 1982 article A Nation of Morons, Gould illuminated cultural biases related to the Army Alpha and Beta tests, which were used as the gold standard for determining intelligence.

Does the Army Beta Intelligence Test require reading?

And while the Beta test did not require reading, it did require using a pencil — circling, filling in bubbles, etc. — which could prove difficult for individuals who had never once held a pencil. Picture Completion Task from Army Beta Intelligence Test.