mental make-up

Howard A. Knox, a physician who developed the test, said it would sort out immigrants “who may, because of their mental make-up, become a burden to the State or who may produce offspring that will require care in prisons, asylums, or other institutions.”

“That’s what my profession requires sometimes. Peter, let’s not quarrel. Let’s work. You know the exact nature of the stimulus that caused the robot to lose himself. You have the records of his original mental make-up. I want you to tell me how possible it is for our robot to do the sort of thing I just talked about. Not the specific instance, mind you, but that whole class of response. And I want it done quickly.”

He "isn't prepared to make the changes needed to govern, because of his mental make-up", Bolkestein said.

Our article from January 9, 1915, highlights a third hurdle for the immigrants, tests for cognitive ability: “The purpose of our mental measuring scale at Ellis Island is the sorting out of those immigrants who may, because of their mental make-up, become a burden to the State or who may produce offspring that will require care in  prisons, asylums, or other institutions.”

It’s usually part of their mental make-up.