Occupational Intelligence in the Army

The army data revealed that the professional groups supplied more than their quota of superior individuals, as measured by the army intelligence tests, and that the middle 50 per cents of individuals from the professions were considerably superior to the middle 50 per cents of individuals engaged in trade, on the farm, etc. These findings led to the erroneous belief that the professions supply a majority of our abler citizens. The present study makes an analysis of the percentage of A ratings given to various occupations represented in the army and applies these percentages to the number of males listed in these occupations in the 1920 census. This procedure shows that the professions include only 29 per cent of the A men of the United States. When allowance is made for (1) the selective sampling which misrepresented particularly the farmers and the skilled labores, (2) the possible unfairness of the tests, and (3) the fact that an indeterminate number of Negroes was scattered unevenly through the occupations represented, it is probable that the A men contributed by the professions would amount to not more than a fourth (possibly less) of the total number of such men in the United States. Certainly, the professions do not have a monopoly on test intelligence

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