, inconstancy, inordinate pride, and the countless other
faults all have their social penalties. The child of normal intelligence
sees the point, draws the appropriate lesson and (provided emotions and
will are also normal) applies it more or less effectively as a guide to
his own conduct. To the feeble-minded child, all but lacking in the
power of abstraction and generalization, the situation conveys no such
lesson. It is but a muddle of concrete events without general
significance; or even if its meaning is vaguely apprehended, the powers
of inhibition are insufficient to guarantee that right action will
follow.

It is for this reason that the generalization test is so valuable in the
mental examinations of delinquents. It presents a moral situation,
imagined, to be sure, but none the less real to the individual of normal
comprehension. It tells us quickly whether the subject tested is able to
see beyond the incidents of the given situation and to grasp their wider
relations--whether he is able to generalize the concrete.

The following responses made by feeble-minded delinquents from
16 to 21 years of age demonstrate sufficiently their inability to
comprehend the moral situation:--

_Hercules and the Wagoner._ "Teaches you to look where you are
going." "Not to help any one who is stuck in the mud." "Not to
whip oxen." "Teaches that Hercules was mean." "Teaches us to
carry a stick along to pry the wheels out."

_The Fox and the Crow._ "Not to sing when eating." "To keep away
from strangers." "To swallow it before you sing." "Not to be
stingy." "Not to listen to evil." "The fox was wiser than the
crow." "Not to be selfish with food." "Not to do two things at
once." "To hang on to what you've got."

_The Farmer and the Stork._ "Teaches the stork to look where he
steps." "Not to be cruel like the farmer." "Not to tell lies."
"Not to butt into other people's things." "To be kind to birds."
"Teaches us how to get rid of troublesome people." "Never go
with anything else."

The following are the responses of an 18-year-old delinquent
(intelligence level 10 years) to the five fables:--

_Maid and Eggs._ "She was thinking about getting the dress and
spilled the milk. Teaches selfishness."

_Hercules and the Wagoner._ "He wanted to help the oxen out."

_Fox and Crow._ "Guess that's where the fox got his name--'Old
Foxy.' Don't teach us anythi