Special talents and defects : $b Their significance for educationHollingworth, Leta Stetter
Science
Special talents and defects : $b Their significance for education
Hollingworth, Leta Stetter
Educational psychology; Educational tests and measurements; Exceptional children
The question of the relationship between general intelligence and
ability to draw has also been investigated by Manuel, who took the IQ of
each of his talented subjects by means of Stanford-Binet. These were
pupils in elementary school, high school, and college. This means of
measuring general intelligence was ill adapted to its purpose in the
case of the college students and, also, probably in the case of many of
the high school students among his subjects, as the scale will not
measure the intelligence of very superior adolescents and adults.
Because of its limitations, the most intelligent adult in the world
cannot show an IQ of more than about 120 on it. Therefore some of
Manuel’s older subjects may have been much more intelligent than appears
on the record. The range of intelligence among those talented in drawing
may be even greater than the record shows. The tests as they stand show
that superior ability in drawing may accompany any degree of general
intelligence from very superior to very inferior. “We conclude therefore
that a certain elementary ability in graphic representation, such as is
required for success in elementary school drawing, is independent, or
partially independent, of general intelligence.”
It should be stated that presence of talent in drawing in the case of
these individuals was determined in part by testimony of teachers of
art, and in part by two tests, (1) the drawing of a house from memory,
and (2) the drawing of a wooden cart from the object. Both of these
would be classified as _representative drawings_.
Where representative drawing has been isolated for study in relation to
general intelligence, no results contradictory to the conclusions stated
above have been reported. Earlier investigators had declared that great
talent for graphic expression is closely connected with good
intellectual endowment in children, but that “the reverse of this does
not hold true.” This conclusion will probably be shown to be well
founded in future researches carried out by modern test methods. “Great
talent” includes much more than mere ability to “see and make” an
object. As Manuel says, “Before one gets very far in art expression, a
great number of supplementary factors must be brought to the support of
the ability to represent graphically simple objects. Even the technique
itself becomes progressively more difficult.... General intelligence
conditions the ability of drawers (_a_) to acquire the advanced
technique into which conceptual factors enter, and (_b_) to create
original drawings of merit.”
Manuel also gave tests of linguistic ability in the course of his study
and found no essential relationship between ability to draw and ability
to manage words. “Linguistic ability is no index of ability or lack of
ability in graphic representation,” but linguistic ability correlates
well with general intelligence (as has been previously emphasized in
this volume).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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