Army Alpha

Army Alpha is a cognitive test that was administered to new Army recruits during WWI. Developed in 1917, it measured a recruit's capability of serving, his potential job classification, and his potential for a leadership position. This test was designed to measure "verbal ability, numerical ability, ability to follow directions, and knowledge of information." This process was used to sort out recruits who showed psychopathology, or "feeeble-mindedness" (an old catch-all phrase that could mean any serious intellectual/psychological/behavioral abnormalities). The use of this test was discontinued after WWI.