Children Above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and DevelopmentHollingworth, Leta Stetter
Science
Children Above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and Development
Hollingworth, Leta Stetter
Gifted children; Stanford-Binet Test
_Rusk's case, from Scotland_. In 1917 Rusk (19) published an
account of a Scottish boy whose IQ, calculated from Rusk's detailed
record, was 166 on first test and about 200 on second test given
two and a half years later, the Binet-Simon tests of 1911 being
used. This child was the son of a widow in Dundee, who lived and
supported her two sons by letting rooms to lodgers. The young
brother of this boy was not judged to be remarkably intelligent,
but no test was given to substantiate this impression. Details
of family history are not recorded.
The boy was brought to attention at the age of 5 years by his
teachers, who noted particularly his aptitude for mathematics.
The mother was unaware of her son's extraordinary intelligence,
but she had noticed that he spent a considerable amount of time
on the floor, counting. He would count such objects as cigarette
coupons begged from lodgers. Also the mother observed that he
"had learned before going to school, or being taught to read, to
recognize certain words."
CHILDREN WHO TEST ABOVE 180 IQ BY STANFORD-BINET TESTS
_Beatrice_. Terman and Fenton (25) first described Beatrice in 1921
under her own name. In 1930 Terman (27) again described this child,
under the name of Beatrice (evidently being then convinced that
pseudonyms are to be preferred in designating children studied),
adding data about development.
The child's four grandparents were respectively of Swedish,
German-French, English, and Scottish descent. "The mother is
a woman of more than average intelligence, and of considerable
musical ability. The father's line of ancestry includes several
notables, among them a Lord Mayor of London. The father is
a physician, and the author of the _Ford Stitch_, favorably
mentioned in standard texts on surgery. Betty [Beatrice] has
no sisters or brothers."
Beatrice was born in San Francisco, January 21, 1912, and was first
tested six weeks before her eighth birthday, by Stanford-Binet,
yielding then a mental age of 14 years 10 months and an IQ of 188.
Her speaking vocabulary was at that time 13,000 words. A variety
of mental tests gave nearly the same composite result as that
achieved by Stanford-Binet. At the time of testing, the child
had never attended school but had been given a little private
instruction at home. Her scores on standard tests of scholastic
knowledge ranged, nevertheless, from fifth-grade norms (in the
four fundamental processes in arithmetic) to second year of college
(in tests of poetic appreciation). Her median score in eight
scholastic tests was about eighth grade (where the median birthday
age of pupils is about 14 years, and where pupils have been in
school on an average of eight years).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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