But it is not my purpose to discuss the question of the efficacy of
removing adenoids and tonsils. The aim of this study is, rather, to
determine experimentally whether or not there exists any causal relation
between defect in this respect and lowering of intelligence level. One
hears statements made both pro and con by physicians and laymen but
there has been little experimental proof. It would seem to be rather
useful for a physician to know in advance with how much probability of
correctness he is speaking, when he advises a mother that the removal of
adenoids and tonsils from the throat of her backward child will make him
"bright." The question in the present case, however, is broader than
that of relation between these afflictions and mental defect. We are
inquiring not merely whether adenoids and tonsils are causes of sub
normality or dullness, but also whether they tend to lower the
intelligence quotient in general however high it may be. Would the
mentally normal child with adenoids and tonsils have been superior
without them, and would the superior child have been still more
superior? What is the relation between adenoids and tonsils, and
intelligence?
The method employed in the present experiment would seem to give it
value from the point of view of the clinical psychologist. With the
present emphasis upon exactitude in mental testing, investigators have
become interested in problem of the constancy of the I.Q. Adenoids and
abnormal tonsils have been suggested as possible factors affecting this
constancy. The results of the experiment should throw some light on the
question.
It should be understood that this study is concerned with general
intelligence, and not with the child's efficiency as a member of
society. The latter question is much broader than the one we are
investigating. It includes not only intelligence, but physical state,
emotional make-up, volition: in short, the personality as a whole.
Success in school work for example, depends upon all of these factors.
For that reason, the results to be reported here, cannot be interpreted
as applying to this broader conception. We cannot say at the end whether
or not the physical defects under consideration affect the child's
success as a member of society. We hope to be able, however, to
determine their effect upon one element of that success, namely
intelligence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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