Children above 180 IQ, Stanford-Binet; origin and development

317 Pages·1942·10.68 MB·English

by  by Leta S. Hollingsworth.

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M E A S U R E M E NT AND A D J U S T M E NT
SERIES
(Oaiied by oLewis ^f/l. v^g
erman
C H I L D R EN A B O VE
1 80 I Q
STANFORD - BINET
Origin and Development
by
o L , e ia G/ z s l o l l i n g w o rm
Teachers College
Columbia University
c^onkers=on=zyludson, \ileu) ocjork
W O R LD ' B O OK C O M P A NY
W O R LD BOOK C O M P A NY
THE HOUSE OF APPLIED KNOWLEDGE
Established MCMV by Caspar W. Hodgson
YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK
2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago
Boston : Atlanta : Dallas : San Francisco : Portland
Copyright 1942 by World Book Company
Copyright in Great Britain All rights reserved
printed in U.S.A. h : ca 180IQ-1
Cyoreword
OHORTLY after the year 1924 Leta S. Hollingworth
prepared a manuscript on "Children above 180 IQ (Stanford
Binet)" in which she surveyed the material on the topic
available up to that date and added accounts of five cases
which she had studied individually.1 As the years went by
she held back the manuscript from publication and one by
one found seven more cases to be included in her list. At
the time of her death in 1939 she had begun to revise this
manuscript, bringing the survey up to date and adding the
new cases. The present book gives as much of this revision
from her own hand as is available. The Preface and Chap
ters 1, 2, and 3 are as she wrote them. The accounts of the
first five cases are given just as she originally wrote them
up, but to them "editorial supplements" have been added in
which an endeavor has been made to present for each case
such data as have been found in her files, with little in the
way of discussion or interpretation.
The seven new cases which the original author had in
tended to include in the manuscript she had not yet written
up. For these, therefore, it has been necessary to study the
data she had accumulated for each child, to secure additional
data when and where possible, and to present such an ac-
1 Chapter 9 of Gifted Children, published in 1926, bears the title "Children
Who Test above 180 IQ (Stanford-Binet)." Some of the cases described
more fully in the monograph manuscript are also sketched in that chapter.
FOREWORD
count of each as she might herself have written, patterned
after her reports of the earlier cases.
Much is lost that would have been contributed had the
author lived to complete her project. She knew these cases
intimately and at first hand. Some of them she had fol
lowed for as long as twenty years, taking a personal interest
in the individual children and their problems, advising them,
assisting them, continuously observing them, and frequently
testing and measuring them.
Particularly inadequate must be the accounts of the later
development of the individuals herein described, for many
of the details well known to the author she had not committed
to paper, since she fully expected to complete the manuscript
herself. It is to be regretted that a follow-up study of these
recent developments could not have been undertaken, and a
hope is expressed that this may yet be done.
The chapters summarizing the group of twelve new cases
are wholly without Leta S. Hollingworth's touch. It seemed
desirable, however, to give such a summary as could be
made under the circumstances. Had the original author
been able to complete her book, we know that penetrating
light would have been thrown on many of the more personal
difficulties of these children of rare intelligence. This ex
perience and insight can no longer be recovered. It must
suffice to put on record chiefly the factual data now available,
leaving it for future workers to follow up, if it should seem
desirable, the subsequent career and destiny of the indi
viduals whose early development and background are herein
reported. Identification of these children is not made in this
book, but the necessary facts for this purpose are on file and
identification can be made at any time in the interests of
educational research.
FOREWORD
The third section of this book as originally outlined by
Leta S. Hollingworth was to have dealt with general prin
ciples and with the social and educational implications of the
study of children of very high intelligence. Up to the time
of her death nothing of this character had been written by
her explicitly, but throughout the years in which her pro
jected book was developing she wrote a number of papers
and reports bearing on the subject, and these were published
from time to time in technical journals. It is well known
that the content of these papers was dictated by her study of
such cases as are herein reported, by her familiarity with the
reports of other students in this field, and by her own very
concrete and long experience in the organization and conduct
of two experimental projects in the education of "rapid
learners" among children in the schools of New York City.
It is, in fact, likely that the final chapters she had in mind
for this book would have been a reorganization of the con
clusions set forth in these articles.
Consequently, the last five chapters of this book, instead
of being an attempt to guess at what the author might have
said in them, are all from her own hand. They are either
selections from or complete reproductions of papers she had
published on what she considered to be the implications of
her observations of children of rare intelligence.
The publication of this book has been made possible by
funds granted by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
That Corporation is not, however, the author, owner, pub
lisher, or proprietor of this publication, and it is not to be
understood as approving by virtue of its grants any of the
statements made or views expressed herein.
Harry L. Hollingworth
Barnard College
Columbia University, New York

(p ten is
ontents
PAGE
Preface xi
PART I: ORIENTATION
CHAPTER
1. The Concept of Intellectual Genius 1
Concepts of the Ancients (1), Dictionary Definitions (2),
Concepts of Genius (3), Miscellaneous Observations
Tending to Define Characteristics of Genius (8), Specu
lation and Comment concerning Genius (12)
2. Early Scientific Study of Eminent Adults 15
Origin of Eminent Adults (15), Yoder's Study (16),
Terman's Inferences from Biography (18)
3. Published Reports on Tested Children 21
Modern Approach to the Study of Ability (21), Binet's
Method (22), The Range of Intellect above 180 IQ
(22), Children Observed before the Era of Binet (25),
Children Who Test above 180 IQ by Binet-Simon Tests
(32), Children Who Test above 180 IQ by Stanford-
Binet Tests (35), Generalizations (61)
PART II: TWELVE CASES NEW TO LITERA
TURE CONCERNING TESTED CHILDREN
4. Child A 69
Family Background (69), Preschool History (72), School
History (74), Judgments of Teachers (77), Mental Meas
urements (81), Traits of Character (83), Physical Meas
urements and Health (85), Miscellaneous Characteristics
(87)
viii CONTENTS
5. Child B 95
Family Background (95), Preschool History (97), School
History (97), Traits of Character (99), Judgments of
Teachers (100), Mental Measurements (101), Physical
Measurements (101), Miscellaneous Characteristics (102)
6. Child C 104
Family Background (104), Preschool History (105),
School History (105), Traits of Character (108), Mental
Measurements (109), Physical Measurements (109), Later
School History (116)
7. Child D 118
Family Background (118), Preschool History (120),
Traits of Character (121), Mental Measurements (121),
Physical Measurements and Health (122), Miscellaneous
Characteristics (122), School History (130)
8. Child E 134
Family Background (135), Early History (137), School
Achievement (139), Mental Measurements (1+0), Social
Habits, Tastes, etc. (1+7), Later Mental Measurements
(1+7), Later Physical Measurements (1+9), Later Scho
lastic Records (150), Extracurricular Activities (151),
Teachers' Comments (152), Summary up to 1921 (153),
Eventual Scholastic Records (15+), Researches of E
(155), Summary of Development (156)
9. Child F 159
Family Background (159), Preschool History (161),
Early School History (162), Early Test Scores (16+),
Home Rating (166), Miscellaneous Characteristics (167),
Later Educational Career (167)
10. Child G 174
Family Background (17+), Educational History (175),
Early Mental Tests (177), Later Test Records (178),
Traits of Character (180), Physical Measurements (181),
High School Record (182), G's Brother's Record (18+)
CONTENTS ix
11. Child H 186
Family Background (186), Preschool History (187),
Mental Measurements (188), Physical Measurements
(190), Intellectual Ability (190)
12. Child I 193
Family Background (193), Preschool History (195),
Early Educational History (196), Mental Measurements
(196), Physical Measurements and Health (198), Mis
cellaneous Characteristics (199)
13. Child J 201
Family Background (202), Childhood Characteristics
(202), Later Mental Tests (204)
14. Child K 207
Family Background (207), Early Development (208),
Mental Measurements (209), Physical Measurements
(210), Later Educational Progress (211)
15. Child L 212
Family Background (212), Early History (213), Achieve
ment at Speyer School (215), High School Record to
Date of Writing (219), Later Tests and Inventories (221)
16. Summaries of Heredity and Early Behavior 224
Family History and Background (224), Physical and
Behavioral Development (227)
17. Scholastic Achievement and Creative
Activity 229
Scholastic Achievement and Educational Adjustment
(229), Creative Work (235), General Statement (240)
PART III: GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND IMPLICATIONS
18. Adult Status and Personality Ratings 245
Adult Status of Highly Intelligent Children (246),
Critique of the Concept of "Genius" as Applied in Terms