judgment, it might still be that great
differences in mental efficiency existed between different groups of men.
Probably no single test could do justice to so complex a trait as
intelligence. Two important features of intelligent action are
quickness in seizing the key to a novel situation, and firmness in limiting
activity to the right direction, and suppressing acts which are
obviously useless for the purpose in hand. A simple test which calls for
these qualities is the so-called "form test." There are a number of
blocks of different shapes, and a board with holes to match the
blocks. The blocks and board are placed before a person, and he is
told to put the blocks in the holes in the shortest possible time. The
key to the situation is here the matching of blocks and holes by their
shape; and the part of intelligence is to hold firmly to this obvious
necessity, wasting no time in trying to force a round block into a
square hole. The demand on intelligence certainly seems slight
enough; and the test would probably not differentiate between a
Newton and you or me; but it does suffice to catch the feeble-minded,
the young child, or the chimpanzee, as any of these is likely to fail
altogether, or at least to waste much time in random moves and
vain efforts. This test was tried on representatives of several races
and considerable differences appeared. As between whites, Indians,
Eskimos, Ainus, Filipinos, and Singhalese, the average differences
were small, and much overlapping occurred. As between these
groups, however, and the Igorot and Negrito from the Philippines
and a few reputed Pygmies from the Congo, the average differences
were great, and the overlapping small.[1]

[Footnote 1: Woodworth: _loc. cit._, pp. 171-86.]

Equality among races in the various traits that have been
measured by psychologists does not imply that common
observation is wrong in counting one race as intellectually
superior to another. There have, as yet, been no measurements
of such general features of social life as energy, self-reliance,
inventiveness, and the like. But from indications of
experiments already made, these so-called (and for practical
purposes genuine) intellectual differences between the
individuals of different races must be attributed to differences in
environment. Races _as_ races seem to be equally gifted.

Professor Boas points out that civilized investigators traveling
among savage tribes commit one serious fallacy