_Father_. C's father is an accountant. He did not graduate from elementary school but went to work at an early age. He was 40 years old when C was born. _Mother_. C's mother is a high school graduate. She was 35 years old when C was born. She is a housewife, and had no paid occupation before marriage. C is an only child, never having had any siblings. PRESCHOOL HISTORY The following information was gathered from C's mother. The child cut his first tooth at the age of 9 months. He began to walk at the age of 1 year 3 months, and to talk fluently at the age of 1 year 4 months. He learned to read almost as soon as he talked, and at the age of 3 years could read simple matter. When he was 4 years old, C went one day into a store with his father. While the latter was making his purchases the child took a book from the shelf and began to scan it. The shopkeeper noticed the child looking attentively at the book and said, for a joke, "Boy, if you will read me that book, I'll give it to you." Instantly C began to read fluently and carried the book away from the astonished merchant. On another occasion, when he was about 5 years old, a woman noticed C searching about the house and said to him, "Are you hungry?" His reply was, "Yes, I'm hungry for a book." Apparently C has never had an imaginary land. His favorite recreation has always been reading. SCHOOL HISTORY C's school life began at the age of 6 years. He did not attend kindergarten. His teachers recognized him as "out of the ordinary"--but not in any appreciative way. They thought him "queer" and "odd." In spite of perfect work, he was advanced only a little more than the usual rate, being placed in Grade 5B at the age of 9 years 5 months. His obvious misplacement and unhappiness here caused the principal of the school to seek advice regarding C's education. After mental tests had revealed the mental level of a superior adult, C was invited to enter the Special Opportunity Class then just organized at Public School 165, Manhattan. Here he was associated with twenty-five classmates of his own age whose IQ's ranged from 150 to 175, the median of the group being about 164 IQ. In this class C gradually became adjusted to the work in such a way that at the end of the school year (1923), when asked whether he would prefer to stay in the Special Opportunity Class or go on to high school, he unhesitatingly chose to stay with the special class. "It will be more interesting," he said. He therefore finished elementary school at the age of 12 years, although at 10 he was judged by his teachers to be fully prepared in knowledge to enter senior high school. There is no doubt that he could have been made ready to enter college at the age of 12 years. When asked at the age of 9 what he would be when he grew up, the following conversation took place: