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Pyschological Test, Porteus Maze Test

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Description
Stanley D. Porteus (1883-1972) was born in Australia and taught in schools there. By 1914 he was head of the Victoria Education Department Special School in Melbourne. In this capacity he wrote several papers on testing the capabilities of children in his charge and developed the first form of what came to be called the Porteus maze test. In 1918, Porteus moved to the United States to work as a psychologist at the Vineland Training School in Vineland, New Jersey. A revised version of his test appeared in 1919 (see MA.316372.34), and would be published, with alterations over the years, by C.H. Stoelting Company of Chicago. This is a Stoelting version of the Vineland test. In 1922, Porteus took a teaching position at the University of Hawaii, where he remained until his retirement in 1948. Versions of the Porteus maze test still sell.
In his 1919 publication. Porteus explained that he sought “to analyze and measure personality in subnormal individuals,” complementing results of intelligence tests. The Porteus test consists of a series of thirteen mazes printed on paper sheets. In this example, the sheets fit between two red-brown covers held together with tape. The are grouped between light brown sheets of cardboard into the following categories:
1. Stoelting #27122 – This diamond-shaped maze is for Year III. There are three copies.
2. Stoelting #27123 – This cross-shaped maze is for Year IV. There are nine copies.
3. [Stoelting #27124] – This comb-shaped maze is for Year V. There are three copies.
4.[Stoelting #27125] – This rectangular maze is for Year VI. There are two copies.
5. [Stoelting #27126] – This rectangular maze is for Year VII. There are four copies.
6. Stoelting #27127 – This maze is for Year VIII. There are five copies.
7. Stoelting #27128 – This maze is for Year IX. There are ten copies.
8. Stoelting #27129 – This maze is for Year X. There are eleven copies.
9. Stoelting #27130 – This maze is for Year XI. There are five copies.
10. Stoelting #27131 – This maze is for Year XII. There are five copies.
11. Stoelting #27133 – This maze is for Year XIV. There are four copies.
12. Stoelting #27134 – This is the Adult I maze. There are six copies.
13. Stoelting #27134 (sic) – This is the Adult II maze. There are two copies.
The tests increase in complexity with year. They match descriptions of the Porteus maze test in the 1936 Stoelting catalog, which notes differences from the original Vineland test. Hence the rough date assigned.
Compare 1999.0302.17.01. See also MA.316372.48.
References:
Porteus, Stanley D. and the Training School at Vineland. Porteus Tests - the Vineland Revision, [Vineland, N. J., 1919].
Porteus, Stanley D. The Validity of the Porteus Maze Test. Journal of Educational Psychology, 30(3),1939, pp. 172–178.
C.H. Stoelting Co., Apparatus, Tests and Supplies , Chicago; Stoelting, 1936, p. 125.
Porteus, Stanley D. A Psychologist of Sorts: The Autobiography and Publications of the Inventor of the Porteus Maze Tests, Palo Alto, CA: Pacific Books, 1969.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of David Shakow
ID Number
MA.316372.16
catalog number
316372.16
accession number
316372
Object Name
Psychological Test
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
tape (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 3 cm x 21 cm x 15 cm; 1 3/16 in x 8 9/32 in x 5 29/32 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
National Museum of American History
Subject
Psychology
Mathematics
Psychological Tests
Record ID
nmah_694545
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-39e1-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Pyschological Test, Porteus Maze Test
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