Part 2 (2/2)

_A R Girl, age 11; in low second grade_ She was able to do the work of this grade, not well, but passably The teacher's judgence was ”dull but not defective” What the teacher overlooked was the fact that she had judged the child by a 7-year standard, and that, instead of only being able to do the work of the second grade indifferently, a child of this age should have been equal to the work of the fifth grade In reality, A R is definitely feeble-e culture, is 11 years old, and has attended school five years, she has barely the intelligence of the average child of six years

_D C Boy, age 17; in fifth grade_ His teacher knew that he was dull, but had not thought of hied this boy by the 11-year standard and had perhaps been further misled by his normal appearance and exceptionally satisfactory behavior The Binet test quickly showed that he had a mental level of approximately 9 years There is little probability that his coe 10-year-old

_R A Boy, age 17; e”; teacher's estie”_ Test plainly shows this child to be a high-grade ularly 11 years and had rades Teacher had compared child with his 12-year-old classrade; school work ”inferior”; teacher's estie”_ The teacher blamed the inferior quality of school work to ”bad home environment” As a matter of fact, the boy's father is feeble-minded and the normality of the mother is questionable

An older brother is in a refor that this boy will not corade even if he attends school till he is 21 years of age

_F I Boy, age 12-11; e”; teacher's estie”; health good and attendance regular_ Intelligence and school success are e should expect of an average 9-year-old

_D A Boy, age 12; rade; school work ”inferior”; teacher's estie”_ Teacher imputes inferior school work to ”absence from school and lack of interest in books”; we have yet to find a child with a e as_ particularly interested in books or enthusiastic about school

_C U Girl, age 10; e”; teacher's estie”_ Teacher blames adenoids and bad teeth for retardation No doubt of child's e 6-7; has been in first grade 2 years; school work ”average”; teacher's estie”_ The irl are both feeble-rade for 2 years; school work ”inferior”; teacher's estie”_ The teacher nevertheless adds, ”This child is not normal, but her ability to respond to drill shows that she has intelligence” It is of course true that even feeble-ence are able to profit a little froht in their inability to perforher types of mental activity

THE INTELLIGENCE OF SUPERIOR CHILDREN USUALLY UNDERESTIMATED We have already mentioned the frequent failure of teachers and parents to recognize superior ability[7] The fallacy here is again largely due to the neglect of the age factor, but the resulting error is in the opposite direction from that set forth above The superior child is likely to be a year or two younger than the average child of his grade, and is accordingly judged by a standard which is too high The following are illustrations:--

[7] See p 13 _ff_

_M L Girl, age 11-2; rade; school work ”superior”; teacher's estie”_ Teacher credits superior school work to ”unusual hoe professor The teacher considers the child accelerated in school In reality she ought to be in the second year of high school instead of in the sixth grade

_H A Boy, age 11; e”; teacher's esti to the supplementary information the boy is ”wonderfully attentive,” ”studious,” and possessed of ”all-round ability” The estience” was probably the result of coed about a year older

_K R Girl, age 6-1; e”; teacher's estie”_ Is it not evident that a child froe quality in the second grade when barely 6 years of age, should be judged ”very superior” rather than ence quotient of this girl is 140, which is not reached by e 8-10; e”; teacher's estie”_ Teacher attributed school acceleration to ”studiousness” and ”delight in school work” It would be more reasonable to infer that these traits are indications of unusually superior intelligence

OTHER FALLACIES IN THE ESTIMATION OF INTELLIGENCE Another source of error in the teacher's judgenuine dullness from the mental condition which results someti

_V P Boy, age 7_ Had attended school one year and had profited very little from the instruction He had learned to read very little, spoke chiefly in monosyllables, and seeence and asked for a mental examination The Binet test showed that except for vocabulary, which was unusually low, there was practically no mental retardation Inquiry disclosed the fact that the boy's parents were uneducated deaf-mutes, and that the boy had associated little with other children Four years later this boy was doing fairly well in school, though a year retarded because of his unfavorable hoe 10_ Son of a successful business man, he was barely able to read in the second reader The Binet test revealed an intelligence level which was absolutely normal The boy was removed to a special class where he could receive individual attention, and two years later was found doing good work in a regular class of the fifth grade His bad beginning seemed to have been due to an unfavorable attitude toward school work, due in turn to lack of discipline in the home, and to the fact that because of the father's frequent change of business headquarters the boy had never attended one school longer than three ence from coence of the sprightly, talkative, sanguine child, and to underestience of the child who is less emotional, reacts slowly, and talks little One occasionally finds a feeble-ence, whose verbal fluency, mental liveliness, and self-confidence would ist One individual of this type, a border-line case at best, was accustoue street audiences and had served as ”major” in ”Kelly's Army,” a horde of several hundred uneanized and started to ton

BINET'S QUESTIONNAIRE ON TEACHERS' METHODS OF JUDGING INTELLIGENCE[8]

Aroused by the skepticism so often shoard his test method, Binet decided to make a little study of the h the cooperation of the director of elementary education in Paris, he secured answers fro questions:--

[8] See p 169 _ff_ of reference 2, at end of this book

1 _By what ence of your pupils?_ 2 _How often have you been deceived in your judgments?_

About 40 replies were received Most of the answers to the first question were vague, one-sided, ”verbal,” or bookish Only a feed ence is and what its sye intelligence by success in one or ht that ability to master arithmetic was a sure criterion Others were influenced almost entirely by the pupil's ability to read One teacher said that the child who can ”read so expressively as to ent, an observation which is rather good, as far as it goes A few judged intelligence by the pupil's knowledge of such subjects as history and geography, which, as Binet points out, is to confound intelligence with the ability to reat sience” It is a wise teacher who is not deceived by it Only a small minority mentioned resourcefulness in play, capacity to adjust to practical situations, or any other out-of-school criteria