Very able eleven plus children must become a rather bored at
times with the sameness of some eleven plus questions. By the time a bright ten
year old has worked out how to answer, for the third time, a similar words
question then a state of ennui may be imminent. Why not give our eleven plus children
something that he or she may enjoy?
In 1962 Witkin developed the Rod and Frame Test. The subject
was seated in a totally dark room. (Think of the squeals of excitement from
some of our eleven plus candidates!) A display of a luminous square frame had a
luminous rod mounted centrally within it.
The frame had its bottom edge parallel to the ground but it
could be tilted about a horizontal axis so that either of the bottom corners
could point towards the ground. The rod was mounted on the same axis.
The dark room was 6 feet 6 inches in cube internally. The luminous
square had sides 13 inches long. There was a slit in the square ¼ inches in
diameter. The rod was 11 inches long and also had a slit ¼ inches in diameter.
The task was for the subject to tell the experimenter to
move the rod back to a vertical position. Results were recorded.
Question 1
Where can parents buy the equipment? Is it on Amazon or from
some well-meaning but opportunist publisher?
Question 2
Which room in the family home should be darkened?
Question 3
How are the eleven plus authorities going to be able to test
lots of children at the same time?
Question 4
Would the Rod and Frame Test really test ability? Would this
be a better test than working out three per cent of the length of an animal’s
tail?
Question 4
Would a high score represent poor performance? Can the test
be standardised? Would coaching help? Would grammar schools accept the
findings? Are we right to criticise some arcane and obscure eleven plus
questions?
