to remember as many words as possible,
and write them down on such _forms_ as he may happen to recall.

[Sidenote: _Testing the Range of Attention_]

Of course, the real object is to determine whether the subject will
see more than he is told, or whether he is a mere automaton. The
result will tell whether his attention is of the narrow or broad
type. If it be narrow, he will see only the forms in the first case
and no words, and in the second case he will remember the words but
be unable to recall the shape of the pieces of cardboard.

[Sidenote: _A Guide to Occupational Selection_]

His breadth of attention will be shown by the number of correct
forms and words combined which he is able to remember in both cases.
In other words, this will measure his ability to pay attention to
more than one thing at a time.

Other things being equal, the narrow type of attention belongs to
a man fitted for work as a bookkeeper or mechanic, while the broad
type of attention fits one for work as a foreman or superintendent
or, lacking executive ability, for work requiring the supervision
of mechanical operations widely separated in space.

[Sidenote: _Test for Attention to Details_]

The ordinary man sees but one thing at a time, while the exceptional
man sees many things at every glance and is prepared to remember and
act upon them in emergency.

Having determined a person's scope of attention, you may want
to test his accuracy in details as compared with other men. To
conduct such an experiment dictate a statement which will form one
typewritten letterhead sheet. This statement should comprise facts
and figures about your business of which the subjects to be tested
are supposed to have accurate knowledge. After this original page is
written, have your typist write out another set of sheets in which
there are a large number of errors both in spelling and figures.
Then have each of the persons to be examined go through one of these
sheets and cross out all the wrong letters or figures. Time this
operation. The man who does it in the quickest time and overlooks
the fewest errors, naturally ranks highest in speed and accuracy
of work.

[Sidenote: _Other Business Applications_]

Look into your own business and you will undoubtedly find some
department, whether it be store decoration, office furnishing,
window dressing, advertising, landscape work or architecture, in
which a systematic application of a knowledge of sensory il