AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
MOTOR EDUCABILITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN A
SELECTED GROUP OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS
A Thesis Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Education
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science in Education
by
Leotha Joyce Martin
»i\
August 1965
UMI Number: EP55977
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T h i s thesis, w r i t t e n u n d e r th e d i r e c t i o n o f th e
C h a i r m a n o f th e c a n d id a te 's G u i d a n c e C o m m i t t e e
a n d a p p r o v e d by a l l m e m b e rs o f th e C o m m i t t e e ,
has been p re s e n t e d to a n d a c c e p t e d b y th e F a c u l t y
o f th e S c h o o l o f E d u c a t i o n o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f
S o u t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t o f th e
r e q u ir e m e n t s f o r th e d e g re e o f M a s t e r o f S c ie n c e
in E d u c a t i o n .
D ean
Guidance Com m ittee
C hairm an
\aa
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION . .............................. 1
The Problem
Definitions of Terms Used
Purpose of the Study
Hypothesis
II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Physical and Mental Learning
Literature on the Relationship between
Physical Skill and Intelligence
Literature on the Comparison of Physical
Ability with Intellectual Factors for
High School Girls
III. METHOD OF PROCEDURE
Subjects i
California Test of Mental Maturity I
Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor Educability
Test Administration ;
The Data
IV. ANALYSIS OF THE D A T A ................ 13!
Statistical Analysis j
Discussion j
V.SUMMARY* CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . 19 j
Findings j
Conclusions !
Recommendations j
B I B L I O G R A P H Y ........................................ 221i
A P P E N D I X E S ....................... • .................. 26|
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The relationship between measures of intelligence
and measures of motor ability has been explored by many
investigators through the years. Less attention has been
directed to the question of motor educability as the
capacity for learning motor skills. The present study is an
attempt to compare scores made on a test designed to measure!
this educability factor with scores made on a commonly-used ■
test of mental maturity.
The Problem
Statement of the problem.--The problem of this study
i
is to examine the relationship between scores made on the
Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor Educability and scores made
on the California Test of Mental Maturity by junior high !
school girls.
Significance of the study.--This study will add one
more set of observations to the literature of a problem in
which physical educators have long been interested.
Specifically, it will provide data concerning the per
formance of junior high school girls on the Metheny-Johnson
Test of Motor Educability and uncover new evidence
1
2
concerning the relationship between this measure of motor
educability and a measure of intelligence for a specific
age and sex group.
Definitions of Terms Used
The definitions are presented in order to state the
frame of reference of the terms as they are referred to in
this report.
Motor educability.--A term referring to the ease
with which an individual learns new motor skills (2:299).
Motor educability score.— Numerical unit of total
points received for testable items on the Metheny-Johnson
Test.
Intelligence.--The rate at which the individual is
developing mental ability as indicated by the score on the
California Test of Mental Maturity (8:13)*
Purpose of the Study
It was the purpose of this study to investigate the
relationship between intelligence, as Indicated by the
California Test of Mental Maturity, and motor educability
as measured by the Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor Skill.
Hypothesis
Stated in null form for purposes of statistical
testing, the hypothesis of this study is: There is no j
relationship between motor educability, as measured by the (
Metheny-Johnson Test, and mental maturity or intelligence
as measured by the California Test of Mental Maturity.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
This study combines specified -knowledge and in
formation in tests and measurement in both psychology and
physical education. Because of the vast amount of liter
ature concerned with testing and in these fields, only
those studies found most helpful in planning the present j
study are reviewed h e r e . !
Physical and Mental Learning
Learning for the below average individual.— The j
i
individual whose intelligence quotient falls within the j
i
range of fifty to seventy is generally limited in motor
skills (5:493)* but neither mental nor physical abilities
reach normal levels of development. In the Burckhart i
study, a group of feeble minded youngsters were found to be
definitely retarded in their motor functions (9**37). This
.suggests that the limited functioning of the brain serves
J
to limit physical efficiency. Thus, in the lowest range ,
of intelligence there is apt to be a positive correlation ;
between intelligence and motor quotients. However, where !
i
certain motivating factors are present, some aspect of
mental or physical functioning may be highly developed, i
4
5
and the individual may., for example, demonstrate average or
above average faculties for memorizing certain items (5:
478). Ruch accounts for this uneven development in terms
of concentrated efforts in a single direction (5:478).
Similar phenomena may appear in respect to physical pro
ficiency. In physical education classes, a slow student
may perform well, but in general such low-IQ students learn
segregated skills more readily than highly organized skills
The work of Francis and Rarick provided evidence
of the extent of motor retardation in slow or below average
learners. This study found a greater lag in skills of a
complex nature than those involving natural movement pat
terns. This suggests that at least minimum intelligence
is of considerable importance in the execution of certain
skills (l4s8-9)•
Learning for the above average individual.--The
mentally limited individual is also physically limited.
This correspondence of capacities may not be necessarily
true at the other extreme. The extremely high intelligence
quotient may or may not be matched by an extremely high
motor quotient. Kulcinski found that the chances for a
positive correlation between the two faculties are greater j
1
1
in children under ten years of age, noting that: ^
In the case of the child who has superior
intelligence and superior health, the physical
quotient is apt to be higher than those of children
who have superior health but lower intelligence.
(1 9 :269 )
6
Literature on the Relationship Between Phyaic.a.1
Skill and Intelligence
Jenny found that there was plenty of evidence
1 s
javailablej but most of it unpublished, that indicated
athletic abilities vary according to the so-termed normal
curve. These aptitudes which affect such ability appear to
be muscle viscosity, leg speed, horsepower, agility and
coordination, as related to age, height and weight (16:23).
! Seegers and Postpichal considered the relationship
between intelligence and certain phases of physical
achievement. They discovered lower levels of achievement
in physical activities in the schools organized primarily
to care for children of lower mentality. It was reported
that the correlations between intelligence scores and scores
in the athletic events were positive but too low to be of
much forecasting usefulness (27:104-9).
Nemek, Cronin and Brannom reported a negative
correlation between the Brace Scale Scores and the Pressey
Intelligence Quotients. The conclusion was that measures
of intelligence, as well as chronological age, height, and
weight are of little value for predicting motor ability as
measured by the Brace tests (25:593-4).
Granville Johnson conducted a study to determine
the relationship between physical skills and intelligence
j
of college students. Tests were given to the students of
the University of Denver. Johnson concluded that there was'
7
no significant relationship between physical skill and the
mental power of general intelligence. Neither did he find
any significant indications of a relationship between
physical skills and academic grades (1 8 :57-9 )*
Burtt and a working team of Landis and Nichols
tested the freshmen of the Ohio State University. The sub
jects were administered the Ohio State University Intel
ligence T est. The results of this instrument were cor-
i
|related with the scores from physical ability tests, which
consisted of the hundred-yard dash, the running broad jump, <
the baseball throw, and the fence climb. The researchers
concluded that no relationship existed between physical
ability and intelligence. I
The reports of the Remp study are somewhat in
opposition to the previous studies cited. Remp found the
intelligence quotient of athletes to be slightly higher
than that of non-athletes. Football players received lower
test scores than other athletes but higher test scores
than the non-athletes (2 6 :191).
Literature on the Comparison of Physical Ability
with Intellectual Factors for High School Girls
Florence F y e ’s problem was:
. . . to determine whether or not there are differ
ences between high-school girls of high and low
intelligence in regard to different motor abilities j
or in motor abilities as a whole. (29**1)
She concluded that the level of the intelligence quotient
8
played a minimal part with the ability to perform certain
physical tests. The correlations indicated that ability to
perform motor ability tests decrease as age and weight
increase (2 9 :6 2 )*
One of Peterson’s endeavors was to delimit the
problem of the relationship between intelligence and motor
abilities by finding the coefficient of correlation between
the two variables (30:1). In the Peterson experiment with
'one hundred junior high school girls the correlation was
i !
obtained by comparing the scores made on the California Test;
of Mental Maturity with the motor quotient scores for the (
Sargent jump test, the Iowa revision of the Brace test, and
the Burpee test. It was reported that the correlation was !
not high enough to be of great predictive value. However, i
it would appear to be significant that the correlation
between the two quotients was higher than previous
correlations between one quotient and an acquired skill
( 30i 50) .
CHAPTER III
METHOD OF PROCEDURE
Subjects
A total of 317 girls, a stratified chance selection
according to grade enrollment at the Louis Pasteur Junior
High School, Los Angeles, California, served as subjects for
this study. In age the subjects ranged from eleven to
fifteen years. I
j
1
California Test of Mental Maturity
On entrance to the junior high school, the Guidance i
I
Department administers the California Test of Mental Matur- |
ity to all students. The scores from this test were used 1
1
as indices of the intelligence quotient. This test was
devised by Elizabeth T. Sullivan, Willis W. Clark and W. j
Teigs. It is described as a diagnostic test of mental '
maturity in relation to the major factors involved in 1
intellectual capacity, as well as a general measurement of
mental maturity (8:13 ff).
The reliability of the California Test of Mental
1
Maturity was established by the split-halves method, as j
corrected by application of the Spearman-Brown formula.
With three exceptions, the reliability of each of the men
tal factors scored for 600 subjects was .90 or above.
________________________________ 9 ___________
10
Reliabilities for single grades were .95 and above (8:13).
Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor Educability
i
Permission was granted by the principal to admin
ister the Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor Educability to the '
subjects during their regular physical education or health
classes. This simplified form of the Johnson test was
selected because of the ease in administration and the
established validity and reliability. It consisted of
Johnson’s items of the front roll* back roll* and the
jumping half turns, right and left alternately (2:302-3).
Barton compared the Johnson test with the Brace
test for measuring motor educability of junior high school j
girls. He concluded that the Johnson test was more accurate
but lacked practical usefulness. Roads announced a similar
conclusion in a study of senior high school girls . Koob, '
in a study with boys of the junior high level, used the I
number of trials required to learn a series of ten tumbling ji
stunts as his criterion for measuring motor educability. |
He obtained a correlation of .969 between the Johnson test J
i
and motor educability, and a correlation of .8l4 between ]
1
the test and scores made on three track and field events.
Metheny validated the Johnson test as a good measure of
motor educability by analyzing the data provided by and
suggested a short form of the test for class use (24:105-6),
Johnson reported a reliability coefficient of .97
for the test with college men (2:301). Gire and Espenschade
reported a reliability of .61 with high school girls (15:
4-3-53)> and Cooper verified this correlation in another
study of high school girls.
For the short form of the test for boys Metheny
reported a correlation of .98 with the total Johnson score,
and .93 with a criterion of learning tumbling stunts. For
girls a combination of three of the Johnson items gave a >
correlation of .86 with the total Johnson score. Johnson's;
1
items five, seven, and eight were used for both boys and |
girls. Item ten was added for boys (2:302). j
Test Administration
The California Test of Mental Maturity was admin
istered by the Guidance Department. Scores for the intel
ligence quotient were taken from existing school records.
j
The Metheny-Johnson test was the instrument I
I
utilized as a measure of motor educability. Instructions I
i
for equipment, scoring and methods for administration |
i
recommended by Clark were carefully followed.(2 :302-3). t
See Appendix B for details. All subjects were tested by j
the researcher, with the testing being done according to
grade levels during the scheduled health or physical
education class period. Demonstrations and instructions
were given by the researcher.
The testing period lasted for two-and-a-half \Ajeeks.
J
12
On specified days, certain girls from the testing list ;
j
reported to the investigator and testing was commenced or !
!
continued with each group until the set of test items was j
completed. These girls were then released and another
group took their place. !
In order that the test might be made as valid as (
possible, the following rules were observed throughout the j
entire testing procedure: (a) all test items were admin- j
istered and scored by the investigator; (b) the same in- j
i
structions and demonstrations were given to all subjects;
(c) the place of the test and the equipment used were the
same for all; and (d) simple scoring was used throughout
the measuring period. Every precaution was taken in
selecting and administering the test in order to make the
comparative study of the variables as reliable and valu
able as possible.
The Data
The data consisted of intelligence quotient scores
on the California Test of Mental Maturity, and the motor
educability scores on the Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor
Educability.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS OF THE DATA j
Statistical Analysis >
l
Means and standard deviations were computed for
the distributions of scores made on the California Test of <
Mental Maturity, separately for each grade level and for j
t
the total group. These are shown in Table I. j
The total group mean was 103.7 with a standard
deviation of 14.4. The means for the three grade levels
t
exhibited no pattern of change with age. However, the i
range of CTMM scores was largest for the Grade 7 group, and
declined successively in the Grade 8 and Grade 9 groups, as
indicated by standard deviations of 15.1, 14.9* and 13.4
respectively.
Similarly, means and standard deviations were com
puted for the distributions of scores obtained for the
Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor Educability. The mean for
the total group was 22.1, with no consistent pattern of
change with age evidenced in the grade-level means. How
ever, the range of Motor Educability Scores tended to
increase with age, with the smallest range shown in the
Grade 7 group, and successively larger ranges in the
Grade 8 and Grade 9 groups, as indicated by standard
deviations of 3.8, 4.8, and 5.3 respectively.
--------------------------- _13___________________________
14
TABLE I
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA
Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Total
n = 85 n « 115 n = 117 n = 317
Mental Maturity
Mean 103.3 104.3 103.4 103.7
S.D.* 15.1 14.9 13.4 14.4
Variance 227.3 222.1 179.8 208.1 |
Motor Educability s
Mean 23.0 21.4 22.0 22.1 1
S.D. 3.8 4.8 5.3 4.8 |
Variance 14.4 23.2 27.8 22.9 |
i
Mental Maturity
vs.
Motor Educability )
Correlation .20 - .17 .10 .01
Covariance 11.22 -12.31 7.01 .89 !
i
Note: S.D. sstands for standard deviation.
15
Analysis of variance techniques were used to de
termine the significance of these observed differences.
None of the differences among the means approached statis- ,
tical significance. However* the difference between the
variances for Motor Educability scores were significant at
the .05 level of confidence for the comparison between
Grade 7 and Grade 8* and at the .01 level of confidence for
the comparison between Grade 7 and Grade 9* i
The relationship between the Mental Maturity scores j
i
and the Motor Educability scores was tested in two- ways. |
i
Product-moment correlations were computed for the entire !
group and for each grade level separately. These correla
tions ranged from -.17 to .20* and none of them proved to j
be statistically significant. Analysis of the Mental
Maturity versus Motor Educability covariance within the
above-mentioned analysis of variance approach confirmed ;
this finding of no statistically significant relationship j
between the scores made on the Mental Maturity Test and |
those obtained on the Motor Educability Test. i
I
Discussion I
The review of the literature indicated that there
appears to be little if any correlation between measures '
of motor ability and measures of intelligence within the
normal range for both variables. The present study con
firms this generalization with reference to a test designed
16
to measure motor educability, defined as the ability to
learn new motor skills. Accordingly, the hypothesis, as
stated in null form, cannot be rejected.
However, the analysis has suggested that one of the
reasons for this lack of statistical relationship may be
found in the distributional patterns for the two variables
under study.
Hie means for Mental Maturity remain essentially j
constant for the three grade level groups, which suggests i
i
either that the test, as such, does not provide for an |
estimate of intellectual growth beyond the Grade 7 level, j
or that there is no substantial increase in intellectual
capacity after Grade 7* This interpretation is complicatedj
t
by the successive narrowing of the range of scores from >
Grade 7 to Grade 9. Since the means remain virtually un- 1
changed, the progressive decrease in the standard deviations
I
indicates both a raising of the lower limits and a lowering i
i
of the upper limits. However, since this pattern of change
in the variances found for the three grade levels did not
teach statistical significance, any speculations about it
must remain in the realm of conjecture. ,
The means for Motor Educability for the three grade .
levels also remain essentially constant. However, here the :
pattern of progressive increase in variance within the !
three grade levels is statistically confirmed. This
pattern may then be interpreted as a widening of the range i
of performance on the Motor Educability test, in which j
i
there is regression toward lower scores for some subjects
i
and upward regression toward higher scores for others. j
4
Subjective observation of attitudes toward per-
i
formance in the three grade levels tends to confirm this
interpretation. The subjects in Grade 7 were consistently
more interested and eager to perform well on the Motor
Educability test, while the subjects in Grade 8 and Grade 9
were less consistently involved. Some subjects displayed
i
positive attitudes toward the testing situations, while |
others were disinterested or resistant. Also, some sub- !
j
jects in the upper grades seem to utilize their greater ’
I |
|height and weight to advantage in performing the tests, j
i f
Iwhile others seemed to be hampered by the bodily changes of j
I 1
!
|adolescence. j
Thus, the study indicates something of the com
plexity of any attempt to categorize the variables related
to motor performance, particularly as they are evidenced |
by girls within the period of rapid change toward maturity j
which generally falls within the junior high school years, i
i
As each girl grows toward physical maturity at her own j
rate and in her own pattern, her motor performance will j
tend to reflect both that growth pattern and her own !
|attitudes toward herself. These factors may well influence!
i ■
her performance on any kind of test, either mental or :
18
physicalj but as yet no simple way of taking these factors
into account has been developed.
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Statement of the problem.--The problem was to
investigate the relationship between a measure of intel
ligence and a measure of motor educability in junior high
school girls.
Method of procedure.--Information was collected
from physical education literature, both published and un- J
published theses, textbooks and periodical articles. The !
field of psychology supplied additional information from
text books and periodicals. j
The subjects were 317 girls of junior high school j
age. Scores made by these subjects on the California ]
Mental Maturity Test and the Metheny-Johnson Test of Motor 1
Educability were analyzed to ascertain the possibility of a;
J
relationship between these variables. :
Measures of central tendency and variance were
calculated for the motor educability scores and the
intelligence quotients. The calculations were reported by
grade levels for the total group. j
1
Findings '
1. The correlations between the measures of
intelligence and the measures of motor educability were not
19______
20
statistically significant.
2. Similarly, there were no .statistically sig
nificant differences among the means for the grade level
distributions for either of the two variables.
3. There was a consistent pattern of decrease in
variance from grade level to grade level for the measures
of intelligence, but this pattern was not statistically
significant.
4. jIin-fljU-iitmnyfr, there was a consistent pattern of
increase in variance from grade level to grade level for
the measures of motor educability. The differences found
in this pattern were statistically significant. This in
dicates that the developmental pattern related to motor
educability is not consistent for all girls in this age
range. Some tend to become less adept in motor performance
as they progress through the years of adolescence, while
others tend to become more adept.
5. Subjectively, it was noted that the pattern of
change in motor performance is also evidenced in attitudes
toward such performance.
Conclusions
Within the limitations of this study, the null
hypothesis of no consistent relationship between measures
of intelligence and measures of motor educability cannot be
rejected. However, it may also be concluded that many
21
factors enter into both measures and the relationship be
tween them, and these factors tend to establish a very com
plex set of relationships which are not accounted for with
in the limitations of single tests designed to measure
either form of ability*
Recommendations
In this study, the significant finding of a con
sistent increase in the range of performance on a motor
test during the junior high school years serves to focus
attention on the complexity of developmental patterns ex
hibited by pre-adolescent and adolescent girls. It warns
against the hazards of easy generalizations and emphasizes
the necessity for attempts to study the many factors which
may operate to increase or decrease both interest and per
formance during these years of rapid change. One such
approach might be made through an intensive study of the
characteristics of groups of girls whose motor performance
scores are in the upper and lower limits of the distribu
tion. Such a study might throw some light on the bodily
characteristics of those who excel in motor performance
and those who become progressively less able to perform;
it might also uncover some of the complex factors of
personal interest and concept of role within the cultural
pattern.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
i
"1
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
1. Brace* David. Measuring Motor Ability. New York:
A. S. Barnes & Co., 1927*
2. Clark, H. Harrison. Application of Measurement and
Physical Education. 3d ed. revised. New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall Inc., i9 6 0 .
3. Matthews, Donald. Measurement in Physical Education.
2d ed. revised. Philadelphia: ¥. B. Saunders Co.,
1963.
4. Pintner, Rudolph. Intelligence Testing. New York:
Henry Holt & Co.” 1941.
5. Ruch, Floyd. Psychology and L ife. Chicago: Scott, j
Foreman & C o ., 1941.
j 6 . Scott, Gladys, and French, Esther. Measurement and 1
I Evaluation in Physical Education. Iowa: Mn. C. |
| Brown Co., 1959. 1
1 !
7. Stoddard, George. The Meaning of Intelligence. New !
York: The Macmillan Co., 1947. j
I
i 8 . Sullivan, Elizabeth, et a l . California Short Form
Test of Mental Maturity: Junior High Level.
California: California Test Bureau, 1957*
Periodicals
9. Bayley, Nancy. ’’Mental and Motor Development from
Two to Twelve Years,” Review of Educational Re
search, IX (February, 1939)* 16-37• I
i 10. Brooks, Fowler. ’’Mental and Physical Development in
Adolescents,” Review of Educational Research, VIII
(April, 1933), H O .
11. Burtt, H. E., et a l . "Relation Between Physical Ef- |
ficiency and Intelligence," American Physical Edu- ;
cation Review, XXVIII (May, 1923)* 220-1. 1
— 2.3
12. Carpenter, Aileen. "Factors in Motor Educability," |
Research Quarterly, XIV (December, 1943)* 366. ■
13. Cratty, Bryant J. "An Investigation of Motor Educabil4
ity," Perceptual and Motor Skills, XIII (August,
3.961), 179-61.
14. Francis, Robert, and Rarick, G. L. "The First Project
Reports Its Findings," School Life, XXXX, No. 3
(December, 1957). (Project report to the Cooper
ative Educational Research Program, Washington,
D.C., October 24-25, 1957, 6-9.)
15. Gire, Eugenia, and Espenschade, Anna. "The Relation
ship Between Measures of Motor Educability and the
Learning of Specific Motor Skills," Research Quar
terly, XIII, No. 1 (March, 1942), 43-53.
1 6 . Jenny, John H. "The MQ is as Important as the IQ,"
Journal of Health and Physical Education, XXX ;
(April, 1959), 23. !
17. Johnson, Granville. "Physical Skill Test for Section-;
I ing Classes into Homogeneous Units," Research Quar-;
j terly, III (May, 1932), 128-36.*
i1 8 , ________ . "Study of the Relationship that Exists
between Physical Skills as Measured, and the Gener-1
1 al Intelligence of College Students," Research |
! Quarterly, XIII (March, 1942), 57-9. i
19. Kulcinski, Louis. "The Relation of Intelligence to
Learning of Fundamental Muscular Skills," Research
Quarterly, XVIII (December, 1945), 2 6 9 .
20. Lockhart, Aileene. "An Experiment in Homogeneous
Grouping and its Effects on Achievement in Sports
Fundamentals," Research Quarterly, XXII, No. 1
(March, 1951), 58-62'.
21. McCloy, C. H. "An Analytical Study of Stunt Type Test
as a Measure of Motor Educability," Research Quar
terly, XIII, No. 3 (October, 1937), TO!
1
22. ________ . "A Preliminary Study of Factors in Motor
Educability," Research Quarterly, II, No. 8 (May,
1940), 28-39.
23. McCraw, L. W* ’’Comparative Analysis of Methods of
Scoring Motor Ability Test*” Research Quarterly,,
XVI (December, 1955), 440-53.
24. Metheny, Eleanor. ’’Studies of the Johnson Test as a
Test of Motor Educability," Research Quarterly, IX,
No. 4 (December, 1938), 1 0 5 - W I
25. Nemzek, Claude L., et a l . ’’Motor Ability of High
School Girls," Journal of Educational Research,
XVII (April, 1933), 593-4.
26. Remp, M. "A Comparison of the Scholastic Records of
Athletes and Non-Athletes," American Physical Edu-
cation Review, XXX (April, 1925), 191.
27. Seegers, J. C. "Relation between Intelligence and
Certain Aspects of Physical Activity," Journal of
Educational Research, XXX (October, 1938),. 104-9.
28. Wettstone, Eugene. "Test for Predicting Potential
Ability in Gymnastics and Tumbling," Research
Quarterly, IX, No. 4 (December, 1938), 121-7.
Unpublished Materials
29. Eye, Florence. "A Comparative Study of Motor Ability
of High and Low Intelligence." Unpublished
Master’s thesis, Department of Education, Universi
ty of Southern California, 1935.
30. Peterson, Marcia Madole. "A Study and Extension of
Interpretations of Research Concerning the Relation
ship between Intelligence and Motor Ability.”
Project, Department of Physical Education, Univer
sity of Southern California, 1950.
I
I
A P P E N D I X E S ;
n
APPENDIX A
I
THE JOHNSON TEST
In 1932 Johnson set up a battery of tests designed
to measure "native neuromuscular capacity." The test con
sists of performing the following ten exercises down the
length of a five by ten foot gymnasium mat, especially
marked for this purpose: (l) straddle jump; (2) stagger
skip; (3) stagger jump; (4) forward skip, holding opposite
foot from behind; (5 ) forward roll; (6) jumping half-turns,
right or left; (7 ) back roll; (8) jumping half-turns, right I
i
and leftalternately; (9 ) front and back rollcombinations;!
j !
jand (10) jumping full turns. A score of ten is given for
» <
the perfect execution of eachexercise, andpoints are j
1 deducted for such violations as overstepping or missing
squares, failure to land on both feet at the same time,
failure to maintain rhythm, improper use of the hands,
turning the wrong way, and so forth. The individual’s
final score, therefore, is on the basis of one hundred
i
points. j
APPENDIX B
METHENY-JOHNSON TEST OP MOTOR SKILL
With the elimination of six of the original Johnson
items , Metheny simplified the mat used in the performance
test as shown below. A lane twenty-four inches wide was
marked down the center of a fifteen foot mat. This lane
is divided into two equal narrow lanes by a center line,
and into ten equal parts lengthwise by lines placed every
eighteen inches. These lines are alternately three-fourths
inches wide, the eighteen inch width being measured to the
i
'middle of the line in each case.
Marking for Metheny-Johnson Test
29 |
Items of the Test and Scoring |
On the mat, the selected Johnson items are per- j
formed and scored as follows. (Numbers refer to Johnson’s
original designations.)
Item N o . 5 Front R o l l . Perform rolls in the entire
twenty-four inch lane. Start with feet
outside of the markings. Perform two
front rolls, the first within the limits
of the first half of the lane (not going
beyond the middle three-inch line)j the
second x^/ithin the limits of the second ;
t
half, never touching or overreaching the J
lanes. i
Scoring. Count five points for each !
i
roll. Deduct two for overreaching side j
line right or left for each roll; and
five for failure to perform a true roll.j
Item No. 7 Back R oll. Perform two back rolls in en-j
tire twenty-four-inch lane, one in each j
half of the lane. Start with feet out- j
i
side of markings. j
Scoring. Same as in item No. 5. j
i
Item N o . 8 Jumping Half-Turns, Right and Left A l
ternately . Start with feet on first !
i
three-inch line, executing a half-turn
in opposite direction; continue the !
length of the mat, alternating directions
i
of rotation.
Scoring. Deduct two points for each
jump in which the subject does not land
with both feet on the three-inch line,
or turns the wrong way, or both.
UNIVERSITY OF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
LIBRARY-