How was Galton’s work on mental tests influenced by Locke’s empiricist view?
The word mental test was given by James Mckeen Cattell. Cattell was a student of Galton. It was Galton, who originally conceptualized the idea of mental tests. Galton wanted to measure a person’s intelligence in terms of his or her sensory capacities. He got influenced by Locke’s view that all knowledge is acquired through the senses.
Galton wanted some instruments by which he could measure intelligence. He used a whistle. He strolled through the zoo to witness the reaction of animals when the whistle was blown. Galton also used a photometer, to check whether the subject could differentiate between two different colored spots.
A calibrated pendulum was used to measure the speed of reaction, by the subjects to lights and sounds. To measure kinesthetic, he used a range of heavy weights to measure muscle sensitivity. To test olfactory senses, several bottles containing different substance were used for testing.
Galton’s laboratory also measured the strength, height, weight, among others. Galton’s scope of measurements looked like he wanted to test all the human capacities, of the entire population of Britain. Galton’s data provided information about adolescence, childhood, and adulthood.