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).
Ratings for traits of character and for physique gave this child
a score much above average in both respects. She weighed 11
pounds and 15 ounces at birth, and at the age of 8 years 2 months
corresponded to the standard for 9 years 6 months in weight
and for 10 years 6 months in stature. Her hand grip at this time
was equal to that of the average 10-year-old. She began to walk
at 7 months of age, which is the earliest age of walking recorded
for any of the children so far studied, including those who are
the special subjects of this monograph. At 19 months she talked
clearly and knew the alphabet; and at the age of 4 years 6 months
she was discovered reading _Heidi_, a book of about fourth-grade
degree of difficulty. Her parents did not know that she could
read, and they have no idea when or how she learned. By her eighth
birthday Beatrice had read approximately seven hundred books, many
of them twice. At that age it was one of her favorite pastimes
to write stories or poems and to illustrate them with original
drawings. Her health was said by her parents to be excellent. The
measurements given show her to be large and strong for her age.
Beatrice was not entered at school until she was 11 years old, but
studied at home under her mother's guidance. There was little
formal instruction--as a rule there was arithmetic, from ten
to twenty minutes daily. At 11 years of age Beatrice entered
the ninth grade of a private school for girls, which she attended
for two years. She entered the university when she was 14 years
8 months old, and graduated at 17. In college Beatrice earned
A and B grades in English and languages and C's in science. She
fell barely short of Phi Beta Kappa Election. Throughout her life
she has had few playmates and few intimate friends. Her desire
is for a literary career.
_Root's case, VIII A_. In 1921 Root (18) described a boy who at
the age of 8 years 0 months scored at a Mental Age of 16 years
0 months, with an IQ (S-B) of 200. Other tests agreed in placing
this boy near an average adult level in processes of thought. The
stature of the child at this time was 4 feet, and the weight 59
pounds.
The ancestry in the case is predominantly English. Father and
mother both graduated from high school. The father was a railroad
engineer. Two maternal aunts held prominent places in the public
schools. The family had "all comforts but few luxuries." "The aunt
who has guided the [[boy's]] education seems a rare combination;
her educational ideas are a happy union of radical, common sense,
and practical factors." "Nervous temperament" is judged by Root
to be characteristic of the family on the mother's side.
This boy was an only child. His mother stated that he had never been
ill, but it is to be considered that she was a Christian Scientist.
He was educated at home until he was 7 years 6 months old, learning
reading and arithmetical processes through multiplication. He had
read the _Young Folks' Cyclopaedia of Common Things_ "over and
over." His chief interests were at this time games and reading and,
to a lesser degree, animals and flowers.
The following is a letter from his aunt, describing his home
education:
At the age of three he learned his letters untaught by anyone
apparently, and was spelling words. It was felt that this
would interfere with his learning to read later on, so he was
taught to read by the phonic method. This was done with no
more time and personal attention than any first-grade teacher,
with ordinary numbers of pupils, could give to each one,
provided she were generously supplied with different books, and
not limited to one or two sets--state series or otherwise. A
few months after his fourth birthday he was reading with
independence and an almost perfect power to recognize new
words. His only noticed failures were such foreign words as
"Chevrolet" seen on billboards, and unusual words like "aisle,"
used without context, which he pronounced "alicie." His ease
in reading was, of course, made possible, or at least greatly
facilitated, by the fact that an effort had always been made to
use an extended vocabulary in talking to him. Even at two,
he would surprise acquaintances and strangers with expressions
which meant no greater effort to him than a child's baby-talk;
such as, "Oh, the spider has _attached_ his web to the board."
This ability to read opened a new world, for he read car-signs,
billboards, newspapers, magazines, and books. His books and
magazines were carefully selected. His access to newspapers,
especially the funny sheets, had the most questionable results.
But _The Child's Garden of Verses_ and others proved a veritable
dream world--as real as the everyday one. He once asked his
mother, "Does Robert Louis Stevenson know when I'm naughty?"
At another time he wrote a letter to some of the characters
in another book. At the age of six he read _Swiss Family
Robinson_ and _Champlin's Cyclopedia of Common Things_--the two
books which have been and still are his favorites. Other books
which he read before entering school at seven years were:
_Overall Boys_, _Brownie Book_, Kipling's _Just-So Stories_
(read over and over for two or three years), Swift's _Gulliver's
Travels_, Kingsley's _Heroes_, Aesop's _Fables_, Tolstoy's
_Stories for Children_, Grimm's _Fairy Tales_, _Arabian Nights_,
Barrie's _Peter Pan_ and _Peter and Wendy_.
He entered school at seven and a half years and was put in the
B1 (beginner's) class. In the two days he was kept there, he
developed a distinct aversion to school since nobody discovered
he could do anything and the class confinement and need for
sitting still (coupled with the fact that he did not find the
toilet for over a week) made school most disagreeable to him.
On the third day a member of the family intervened and the
teacher very reluctantly allowed him to enter the second grade.
She insisted that he could not do the work, as he did not know
his sounds. Of course he did "know his sounds," but perhaps he
refused to do such baby-work, although he never expressed his
unwillingness at home, and seemed quite afraid of displeasing
his teacher. In the second grade he was forced to sit for
20 to 25 minutes, studying a reading book, which he could have
read through in that time. At home he was told to take some work
to school, but the teacher refused to let him read in school,
even the _Cyclopedia of Common Things_. At the end of a week
and a half he was in absolute rebellion and was taken out
of school.
The family then took this child to a teacher of fourth grade,
who was personally acquainted with him, and asked her to examine
him for proper placement. This resulted in a more appropriate
adjustment. By February of his first year in school he had reached
Grade 5A in school placement, and had had thirteen different
teachers, including those for special subjects such as music,
nature study, and the like. His initial aversion to school
lessened, but he found no positive joy in attending. Root describes
the temperament of the boy as "somewhat irascible." This case
illustrates in extreme degree the maladjustment to school which
is characteristic of children testing above 180 IQ (S-B).
_Twins A and B_. In 1922 Gesell (10) reported the case of twin
girls, both of IQ 183 (S-B). Gesell was interested but incidentally
in the IQ ratings of these girls, his main interest centering
in the condition of twinning. Measurements were taken with a view
to comparing twins, and therefore many details that would be
of interest for our present purpose--for instance, those of family
history--are omitted from the report.
A and B were born by Caesarean section, somewhat prematurely,
weighing 4.3 pounds and 5.3 pounds, respectively. Notwithstanding
their premature birth, in six months A was able to rise spontaneously
to a sitting posture in her mother's lap, and very soon thereafter
B did likewise. At 11 months both had begun to walk, and to talk
in sentences. At the age of 3 years they began the study of
French, and in less than a year from that time they were reading
elementary English, French, and Esperanto. At the age of 4 they
could distinguish parts of speech. They entered the third grade
in school at the age of 6 years, and at the time of report they
had achieved the seventh grade and were engaged in junior high
school work at the age of 9 years.
They are not prigs: they are attractive, animated, sociable
children, with a bubbling sense of humor. They are popular
with their playmates. They can take charge of a gymnasium
class in which most of the members are two to four years their
seniors, and preserve excellent attention and discipline. They
speak mature but not pedantic English, and they speak French
with the fluency of a native. They have read the _Book of
Knowledge_ in its entirety in French; and a year ago embarked
on Russian. They play duets on the piano, but not with rare
distinction. They swim; they ride horseback; they write jingles;
and they read by the hour. Their school work does not tax them;
they do not worry about it; and they are far from fastidious
in regard to the form of their written work.
A complete family chart of the twin sisters, A and B, would
show evidence of superior endowment in the immediate ancestry
on both the maternal sides. Scientific and linguistic ability
of high order and physical energy are some of the traits which
are found in the two immediate generations. The trait of
twinning likewise has a hereditary basis in this instance, for
the mother also bore two boys, twins who died in infancy.
Measurements of physique show A and B to be slightly smaller
than children of their age in good private schools, but very
well nourished. The children have no living brothers or sisters.
_Elizabeth, reported by Hirt_. Elizabeth was reported from the
public schools of Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1922, by Hirt (13). She
was born January 16, 1914, and was tested June 14, 1921, aged 7
years 5 months. Her Mental Age was found to be 14 years, 0 months,
yielding an IQ of 189 (S-B).
Elizabeth's mother was a member of a large family of children
brought from Germany to America by their parents. The father
(Elizabeth's maternal grandfather) died soon after their arrival
in America, and the mother (Elizabeth's maternal grandmother)
worked hard to keep her family together and to give them all an
elementary school education. Elizabeth's father is of Pennsylvania
German descent. He has a high school education, and attended a
business college. His occupation in 1922 was that of a postal
mail clerk.
This child weighed 10 pounds at birth, 22 pounds at 6 months,
28 1/2 pounds at 12 months, and at the age of 7 years 5 months
she weighed 61 pounds and was 51 inches tall. Superior size was
thus consistently maintained from birth to the time of first
report, in 1921. Two teeth erupted before she was 5 months old.
She was not quite a year old when she began to repeat words.
He first sentence was, "Open the door, Daddy," uttered at the age
of 17 months. The parents remembered this sentence as a sudden
transition from one-word communications into sentence structure.
The only illness Elizabeth had ever had until she was 7 years
4 months old was mumps, which came on at that age.
Hirt's report continues as follows:
Among Elizabeth's first toys was a set of cubical blocks with
letters and numbers on four sides. One of the baby's favorite
amusements was to hold up a block and point to one side after
the other for her entertainer to tell what was on the side of
the block indicated. Gradually the game changed, and the
baby held up the block and pointed to the picture called for by
the entertainer. At the age of 15 months she made no mistakes
in finding the animals called for, and very soon afterwards
she could find the letters in the same way.
One of her first books was _The Story of the Naughty Piggies_.
The child seemed never to tire of hearing the story read,
and by the time she was two and a half years old, when she
sat in the lap of the reader, she could turn the page at just
the right place in the story. About that time the two leaves
in the center of the book loosened and dropped out. The
German grandma made a mistake in sewing them in, putting
the second first. Elizabeth quickly discovered the mistake and
was very unhappy about it. She followed her grandmother
about, asking her to fix it. The grandmother could not understand
what the child meant, and finally appealed to the child's
mother, who discovered what was wrong. Elizabeth was not yet
three years old, and they could not believe that the child
detected the difference between these two pages of the book.
But after the grandmother ripped out the stitches and replaced
the leaves in their proper sequence, the little girl showed
unmistakable satisfaction and content.
At three and a half years of age, Elizabeth was spelling
everything she saw printed and asking what the letters spelled,
and she could recognize many words. At four years, she read
the advertisements in the streetcars, as well as everything in
all the books she possessed. During all this time there was no
attempt on the part of the parents to make their daughter
precocious. They were pleased with her readiness to learn,
but they did not look upon her as an unusual child.
In September, 1920, Elizabeth was enrolled in the first grade,
in the public schools of Erie, Pennsylvania. She was then
6 years, 8 months old. On her second day in school her teacher
discovered that should could read anything that was placed
before her. The principal put her in the second grade until
she had time to investigate her case. She spent forty-two days
in the second grade, during which time the principal observed
her closely, and decided to place her in the fourth grade.
Elizabeth had no trouble in completing that grade in the
remainder of the school year, the principal giving her some special
help in spelling and arithmetic. . . . Elizabeth is not a skillful
writer, as far as penmanship goes, but she seldom makes a mistake
in either spelling or punctuation, and the content of her
letters and compositions is superior, even for the advanced grade
in which she is now working. . . . Intellectually speaking,
this child takes everything to which she is exposed, and she is
not satisfied unless she understands the subject fully.
Unfamiliar words or terms bring from her the question, "Just
what does that mean?" She has a cheery disposition, and laughs
often and heartily. She is contented in any environment,
because her imagination makes it as she wishes it. . . .
When she is reading or studying, she becomes so engrossed that
it is hard to attract her attention to anything outside her
book. . . . She is slow in her written work, and she is slow and
rather awkward in some of her motor coördinations.
After less than a month in the fifth grade, in September, 1921
(age 7 years 8 months), Elizabeth was promoted to the sixth
grade, where she is doing superior work. In the examinations
at the end of the last semester she ranked about the middle
of the class, due to the fact that she is still slow in her
written work. But in comprehension she easily leads the class.
Thus far nothing has been done for this exceptional child
except to move her along from grade to grade five times as
rapidly as the average child can go. When we see her at times
very evidently bored while a teacher is trying to make a subject
clear to pupils of average ability, we wonder what would have
happened if Elizabeth were now in the second or third grade
where most eight-year-old children are found.
In 1925 Hirt again reported upon the child, Elizabeth, as follows:
By February, 1923, she had completed the work of the six
elementary grades, and she was promoted to the junior high
school. Now, at the end of her fifth year in school, she is
ready for the second semester's work in the ninth grade. . . .
After her promotion to the junior high school, some of her
teachers complained that she was lazy; others said that she was
very inattentive; and all declared that she was "very silly."
The school psychologist had a conference with these teachers,
and it was decided that Elizabeth should be given a heavier
schedule, and Latin was added to her program. She has been
enthusiastic over this subject from the very first. . . . During
the past year there has been a steady improvement in Elizabeth's
attitude toward her school work as well as in her behavior
in general. Though some of her teachers still consider her
"silly," they all recognize her unusual mental ability. While
they give her B and C grades in most of her subjects, they
realize that she could easily do A work in every subject if she
cared to. They say that she wastes much time, though her mind
seems always to be busy. Her mother says that when she is at
home "she writes, and writes, and writes, covering reams
of paper." Elizabeth has told her mother that she is writing
a book and a play.
In the spring of 1925, when a friend asked Elizabeth where
she was going to spend her summer vacation, the child replied,
"Why, I expect to take a trip around the world." Then seeing
the surprise in her friend's face, she explained, "Of course,
it is not probable that I shall go far from our porch swing, but
I find the swing a very satisfactory conveyance; it is perfectly
safe, and it always takes me exactly where I want to go."
When Elizabeth entered the tenth grade, in senior high school,
in 1926, she was 12 years 8 months old. Her social behavior was
at about the level for this age, and her teachers were coldly
critical, unable or unwilling to reconcile her conduct with
her physical size and intellectual maturity. She made very few
friends. She was graduated from high school in June, 1929, with
the reputation of being lazy. She excelled in the languages, but
her work in other subjects was mediocre.
After she was graduated from high school, funds were not available
for Elizabeth to attend college away from home or to pay tuition.
Consequently, because she must live at home she enrolled in a State
Teachers College, though she had no desire to become a teacher.
She was 15 years 8 months old at this time, and her work was very
uneven in excellence. When the time arrived for practice teaching,
she was assigned to teach high school pupils of about her own
age, and failed in this branch of the work, so that she was not
graduated. She received, however, an honorable discharge from the
college. During these years, 1929-1933, her situation was further
complicated by the passing of a state law prohibiting students
below 17 years of age from attending the State Teachers College.
As Elizabeth was then still below the age specified in the new
law, she was forced to withdraw and wait for time to pass, resuming
her studies as soon as she fell within the law.
When Elizabeth was discharged from the Teachers College, interested
friends made attempts to secure for her a subsistence and tuition
scholarship at some good liberal arts college, but no such
opportunities were found. One college otherwise interested in
granting a tuition scholarship now found her "too old," she being
then aged 19 years.
The scholastic history of Elizabeth is too long to be told here
in greater detail. It affords an instructive and tragic example
of the blindness of current educational practice in dealing with
children who test in the highest ranges of intellect. At 22 years
of age Elizabeth lives at home, without suitable occupation,
writing poetry and helping with the tasks of the household. Her
education as conducted has not provided her with any recognized
equipment for enter for entering into the intellectual life of
her world, although she possesses one of the best intellects
of her generation.
_The case of J. M._ The history of J. M., a 10-year-old girl
of IQ 190 (S-B), was presented by Washburne (34) in 1924. This
girl was a pupil in the public schools of Winnetka, Illinois,
where the plan of individualized instruction is followed, with
individual subject promotions.
At the age of 10 years 6 months, J. M. was 54.5 inches tall and
weighed 88.5 pounds. This is decidedly in excess of the standards
for average children, as regards size. She was doing work of good
quality in the eighth grade, and could have been in high school
had not the school authorities checked her progress in the seventh
grade by giving her a large amount of extra work to do. Her school
record shows that she entered the public schools of Chicago in the
first grade, in September, 1919. The teacher of first grade
immediately discovered that she knew too much for that grade and
brought about her placement in the second grade. There she remained
until the following April, when her family moved to Winnetka.
In Winnetka, J. M. entered the second grade and was promoted
in June. Her reading, tested by the Monroe and Gray tests, was
up to fifth-grade standard when she reached third grade, and had
reached the sixth-grade standard by December, 1920. Her progress
in other school subjects was such that in September, 1921, she
entered the fifth grade. Her rapid progress was halted somewhat,
as she "was carrying a double language course, finishing the fourth
grade and beginning fifth-grade work simultaneously." When in
May, 1922, she began the sixth-grade work, she completed it
in two weeks. "June, 1922, found her, therefore, doing advanced
sixth-grade reading, through with sixth grade spelling, almost
through with sixth-grade arithmetic, and promoted to the seventh
grade in language. She was then nine years old." In the course
of this progress, the grade standard in penmanship was last to be
achieved. The perplexities which now arose in connection with this
child's education are set forth as follows, by Washburne:
In spite of the fact that she was so clearly ready for
seventh-grade work in the fall of 1922, we hesitated about
having her come from the lower grade school to our junior
high school. She was smaller and younger than any of the
children in the junior high, and we felt that she was already so
far advanced that still more progress was perhaps undesirable.
But she had formed a warm attachment for two girls a year or
so older than herself, both possessed of high IQ's, and she
felt that there would be nothing for her to do in the sixth
grade if we held her back. This was so obviously true that
we admitted her to the junior high school with an agreement
that she would remain there until she was twelve years old.
We felt that while she doubtless could do the work of the
junior high school within a year, or at the most in a year and
a half, since our junior high contains only the seventh and
eighth grades, she ought not to go to the senior high school too
young. We agreed to give her a widely enriched curriculum
of electives and special courses, to keep her active and happy
for three years. But it didn't work!
When she found that no effort on her part would get her through
any sooner, she stopped making effort. The end of the first year
(June, 1923) found her with seventh-grade cooking, seventh-grade
art, and seventh-grade pottery, all incomplete. She had taken up
general science toward the end of the year, and of course had
not finished it either. She had, on the other hand, completed
all of the seventh-grade English and arithmetic, including some
advanced work; had done exceptionally well in French. In
dramatics she first had a know-it-all attitude, owing to her
mother's success in amateur theatricals, but later did very good
work. In social studies she had been inclined to superficiality,
trusting to her quick grasp on a single reading of the material
(Rugg's _Social Science Pamphlets_) and doing little real
thinking. But she was interested, and finished the course
within the year.
The general feeling of the teachers, and of J. M. herself
. . . was that she had "loafed on the job" a good deal, had
been over-confident, and had "let down" generally when the
stimulus of rapid advancement was taken away. This gives
us some inkling as to what would have happened to her in a
regular school system, where the class lockstep is the rule.
This year J. M. is taking a straight eighth-grade course with
one elective, and is tying up the loose ends left undone at the
end of last year.
. . . The child's strong desire to move forward with the
children who are now her friends, and the undesirable effect
on her of our last year's experiment in holding her back
regardless of her effort or ability to go forward, have resulted
in our decision to let her graduate this coming June.
Her parents, however, have requested that we keep her in
our junior high school for a postgraduate year, because they
feel that the influence of this school is needed by J. M. We
shall, therefore, try to provide a special course for her next
fall. If we found out that it does not work out successfully, we
will enter her in the senior high school in February, 1925. If,
on the other hand, we find that we can give her the sort of
education that will be helpful to her in our junior high school
and that she responds rightly, we shall hold her here until
June, letting her enter the senior high school at the age of
twelve and one half years.
Interpreting and summarizing our experience with J. M.: Our
system of individual instruction has permitted her to make
full use of her intellectual ability. When we tried to depart
from it to prevent her progress from becoming too rapid, she
showed a lack of interest and in some parts of her school work
she did not work up to capacity, and even became to a slight
extent a discipline problem. Given, however, an incentive to
first-class work and the training in social behavior which we
are trying to give in our junior high school, J. M. developed
successfully and well. On the whole, our system has enabled
us to deal with her flexibly and as an individual. It has
prevented us from prolonging our mistakes. Probably no system,
or uniform plan, can be made to fit children of such exceptional
mental endowments. The most we can hope for is a flexibility
which will enable us to deal with such children as individuals,
feeling our way as we go along.
As for family background, J. M. originates from ancestors of very
superior intelligence. Her parents were both tested by means of
Army Alpha and both scored far above the generality of adults.
Her father was educated as an electrical engineer but subsequently
went into investment banking. J. M.'s paternal grandfather
was an architect, trained in Manchester School of Science.
He also attended the University of Edinburgh. The paternal
great-grandfather was an architect and shipbuilder, expert in
laying out factories, and he was descended from a line of builders.
The paternal grandmother was an English woman, educated by her
aunt, "who had advanced ideas on what a girl should study."
The father of this grandmother was a dealer in building materials.
On the maternal side, J. M.'s grandfather was first a teacher,
then a merchant, who became very wealthy, and a mayor of a Southern
town for eighteen years. The line of his descent was through
Southern planters. The maternal grandmother was the daughter
of a college professor, who in turn was the son of a physician
and surgeon, coming from a long line of physicians. The mother
of the maternal grandmother was descended from wealthy farmers.
It is of some interest that for three generations at least,
J. M. and her immediate progenitors were born when the parents
were thirty years or older, in some cases being more than sixty
years old.
_The case of E. B._ This child was described in 1924, by Stedman
(22), as having "the highest IQ yet reported." Exception was
taken some years ago by the present writer to this description,
on the ground that the test by which E. B. registered an IQ of 214
was not first given to the child. She had been tested previously
by Stanford-Binet, at the age of 5 years 9 months, earning an IQ
of 175. When tested in the Psychological Department of the Los
Angeles city schools at the age of 8 years 11 months, E. B. made
the record of a superior adult, earning an IQ of 214 (S-B). The
record is thus ambiguous, and will be included here only because
we cannot say how much allowance should be made for "test wisdom"
on second test. However, subsequent history points to 175 IQ as
the more probably correct status for this child, since when she was
tested at the age of 21 years 1 month, by Lorge and Hollingworth
(16), using CAVD, Levels M, N, O, P, and Q, and other tests of
cultural and specifically scientific knowledge, the result placed
her among individuals who in childhood had tested between 170 and
180 IQ (S-B).
E. B. was born on September 21, 1913. When 4 years 6 months old
she was placed in a convent school on account of her mother's
departure for France. She was not enrolled as a pupil but was
allowed to sit with the high first grade when she wished, because
her chum sat there. In four months, at the close of the school
year, it was discovered that she could read any page in the reader
which had been used as a text, and any page in the public school
first reader, which she had never seen before. Accordingly, though
not yet 5 years old, she was "promoted" to the second grade.
At the close of the next school year she was promoted to the
fourth grade, aged 5 years 9 months. Before E.B. was 6 years
old she had read practically every book listed by the public
library at Des Moines for children of the first six grades. At
the age of 9 years 4 months she was doing eighth-grade and
post-eighth grade work. Her favorite books at the age of 9
years include Barrie's _The Little Minister_, _Sentimental
Tommy_ and _Tommy and Grizel_; Hugo's _Les Misérables_;
Dickens's _Oliver Twist_, _Our Mutual Friend_, and _David
Copperfield_; Eliot's _Silas Marner_ and _Mill on the Floss_;
Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_; Hutchinson's _If Winter Comes_
and _This Freedom_. . . . Until she entered the opportunity
room, E. B. never had a child companion, and was unpopular with
children. She was friendly but shy, and was unable to comply
with the play standards of other children. In the opportunity
room she made better social adjustments. She is cheerful,
affectionate, and considerate to the point of self-denial.
She obeys implicitly, but is forgetful in the commission of
small duties, perhaps because engrossed with more interesting
matters. She thinks along economic and political lines, and
can hold her own even with many adults in conversing on these
subjects. . . . Health is excellent. She has had the usual
children's diseases, but has recuperated very quickly. . . .
E. B. is of French, English, and Scotch descent. The father
finished high school at 13, and was an A and B student at
the University, taking gold medals for original composition.
He is a writer and an editor. . . . The paternal grandfather
is a lawyer, teacher, and author. The paternal grandmother
has mathematical ability. E. B.'s mother entered school at
8 years, and completed high school at 15. She then entered
business college, and completed the course in less than three
months. She then entered college, working her way through with
consistently A records. She was editor of a national magazine
at 25, and at the time of investigation was an editorial writer
on _Screenland_. . . . The maternal grandfather's history is
unknown. It is thought that he was average; but the maternal
great-grandfather was probably superior. At 21 he could neither
read nor write, but just at this time a public school was
established near his home. He entered, and finished the
course for the entire eight grades in sixteen months. . . .
E. B.'s mother states that E. B. first spoke words with meaning
at 7 or 8 months of age, and that she walked at 10 months.
When she was 3 years old her parents discovered that she
knew the alphabet, which she seems to have learned by asking
questions about printed signs. She has had very little formal
instruction at home, for her mother has been active in newspaper
work most of the time, usually working at night.
E. B. entered college in a large city at 12 years 0 months of age.
The girls in this college are very highly selected for intellect,
and E. B. did not do outstanding work among them. She encountered
many difficulties, but graduated at the age of 16 years 9 months
with a creditable rating. At the age of 20 years she married,
holding also at that age a very responsible post in charge of cash
for the metropolitan branch of one of the largest manufacturing
and distributing companies in the United States. It is her aim
to become a writer.
_Verda_. In 1925 Terman (26) reported two children not elsewhere
described, with IQ's above 180 (S-B), Verda and Madeline [below],
both discovered during the census of the gifted taken in California.
The occupational level among Verda's male ancestors has been
largely in the professions and in business. Her father is a
successful life insurance salesman, and shows musical, mechanical,
and literary ability. He is of Scotch-Irish extraction. Her mother
is of French and English ancestry, a descendant in direct line
from Governor Bradford, of colonial New England, and is related
to many notables. Verda has no brothers or sisters.
The child's first words were articulated at 7 months, and she
talked in sentences at 15 months. She hummed a tune at 17 months'
could name all the primary colors at 22 months; could count to 13
at 25 months. Her first poem (said in rhyme and meter) was composed
at the age of 2 years 9 months. This was recorded by her mother.
She did not herself put on paper her literary compositions until
the age of 5 years, when she learned to print. After this the
stories she composed were no longer recorded by her mother. Soon
after she was 4 years old she brought a book to her parents and
read to them. Up to that time she had had no formal instruction
in reading but she had been read to.
Verda did not enter school until she was 8 years 7 months old,
beginning in the high fourth grade.
Her IQ was first determined at the age of 11 years 1 month by
an incomplete test, made as a demonstration before by an incomplete
test, made as a demonstration before a group of teachers in
the limited time of fifty minutes, and was calculated at 175.
When at age 11 years 7 months she was fully tested in a standard
situation, she passed every test provided on Stanford-Binet,
proving at an IQ ("corrected" [2]) of 186. Through four years
of high school she received an "A" grade in every academic subject,
with the exception of one semester of French and one of biology,
in which the grade was "B." She was graduated from high school
at age of 16 years 9 months.
According to her own testimony, Verda's usual amount of study
during her senior year was only six hours a week outside of school
hours. "She is fond of parties and dances, and is very active
in student life, particulary through her literary contributions.
She rates herself as rather disliking study. She would rather read,
play the piano, compose music, stories, or plays, or spend time
with her friends." (In 1926 she won a gold medal in a piano-playing
contest.) She has shown a wide margin of energy and ability
over and above what is necessary for a "straight A" record in
high school.
There is much more in the description of this child that is
interesting, but the case cannot here be quoted in full.
_Madeline_. At the age of 6 years 7 months Madeline yielded an IQ
of 192 (S-B). She was then in the third grade, but her scores on
Stanford Achievement Tests corresponded to fifth- and sixth-grade
norms. At 7 years of age, her parents' chief concern in regard
to her was to prevent her from reading too much.
At 7 months of age Madeline was able to distinguish all the
pictures on the walls of her home when they were named to her. She
could identify the pictures of six American poets when she was a
little over a year old. She knew the common flowers by name before
the age of 3. Her mother reported that "reading seemed to be born
in her." She could count to 100 at 3 years, played parchesi at
4 years, and "carried the powers of 2 mentally to the 20th,
as a Sunday afternoon pastime before the age of 6." At 7 years
of age she was writing poetry with religious thought expressed.
Entering school in the first grade at the age of 4 years 11 months,
Madeline was held in the ordinary course on account of her age
and in order to improve in handwork, in which she seemed deficient.
She was listless and bored at school, and developed habits of
procrastination and time-wasting. In high school, however, she
began to take an interest in the work offered, and at the time
of report she was finishing the ninth grade with "A" ratings in all
except an occasional course which she regarded as uninteresting
or meaningless.
Often when she is sent out to the back yard at night to dispose
of kitchen refuse, she fails to return until her mother goes
in search of her. Her mother always finds her studying the
heavens. Madeline has recently developed a strong interest in
astronomy, has devoured several books on the subject, and is
planning to become an astronomer.
The health of this child has always been good. She has had the
usual children's diseases, and contracts colds, but has never been
seriously ill.
Madeline's ancestry is very superior. On the paternal side, the
grandfather was of English-Irish descent; the grandmother, of
Scottish-French descent. Teaching and preaching have been the
usual occupations. On the maternal side, the grandfather was of
German-Dutch descent; the grandmother, of English descent. The
child's parents are both university graduates, and they have done
graduate work. She has two younger sisters, of 167 and 162 IQ
(S-B), respectively. The family is in very moderate financial
circumstances, having taken responsibility in the care of relatives.
_Rosemarie_. In 1928, Schorn (20) reported upon a girl aged 4 years
6 months, who tested at 8 years Mental Age in the Psychologisches
Institut at Würzberg. This report gives her an IQ of 184. She
was brought to attention because she could read fluently at the age
of 3 years 6 months, without having been schooled.
The case of this child illustrates some of the points of
misunderstanding of such children by those who have not seen
several like them. Because she could not perform motor tasks
in advance of her years, it was concluded that she "was not
generally bright."
_The case of K_. In 1934 Goldberg (11) described the case of K,
a boy who achieved an IQ of 196 (S-B) when tested at the age
of 6 years 7 months.
K was born June 25, 1927, in New York City, of Jewish parents,
and is an only child. The parents state from memory that K started
to walk at 14 months of age, and could talk rather fluently at
the age of 1 year 6 months. Dentition began at 8 months of age.
His health has been very good, and he has had no serious illnesses.
When K was 20 months old, he knew his alphabet and within a
short while after that he was able to recite it backwards.
At about the same time he had a set of blocks, which offered
him additional opportunity for developing a well-nigh astounding
feat. He could by looking at one of the figures on a given
block call off from memory the other five objects on the
remaining sides. This he was able to do for almost the entire
set. At about 2 years of age K knew his own name and address
and what is more significant the addresses and telephone numbers
of the entire family, numbering about a dozen.
By studying a calendar he learned to tell on what particular
day a certain date would fall. For example, if he were asked
on what day of the week July 16 would fall he would indicate
Thursday. . . .
K began to read at about 4 years of age. He was given no
formal training in the beginning mechanics of reading. The
only assistance he received was a suggestion that he "pronounce
words by syllables." At this time he was already reading simple
words easily.
K is of Jewish origin. Mr. K at the time of K's birth was
32 years of age, and Mrs. K was 35. Neither K's mother
nor his father has had the benefit of college training. They
are for the most part self-educated. Mr. K is a proprietor of
a small retail business.
At the age of 6 years 7 months K's height with shoes was 47.3
inches, and his weight was 52 pounds. He is well nourished, and
his physical condition was found negative for all unfavorable
indications. When asked for the year, in the test at year IX (S-B),
K said, "It is 1934, but if you believe in the Jewish calendar,
it is 5694."
_The case of B_. Witty and Jenkins (36) have reported the case
of B, a gifted Negro girl, who was tested at the age of 9 years
4 months, earning an IQ of 200 (S-B), "corrected" score, and of
187, "uncorrected" score. [3] At the time of testing, B was in
the low fifth grade at school, her mental age being 17 years
5 months at least ("uncorrected" score). She had received but one
double promotion though others were offered by the school, because
B's mother is afraid that the child will get too far from her
age group.
B was discovered by asking a teacher to nominate the "most
intelligent" and "best student" among children in her class.
B was nominated as "best student," while a girl four years older,
whose IQ turned out to be below 100, was nominated as "most
intelligent." This circumstance is illustrative of the lack of
insight which necessarily exists in relation to such children where
teachers have no special instruction in regard to them. The report
continues:
The following items were secured from B's baby book, and
from the mother's reports. B, an only child, was born November
18, 1924. The mother was then 27 years of age, and the father
31. B weighed 6 3/4 pounds at birth, 14 pounds at 3 months, and
17 1/2 pounds at 9 months. At 9 years and 5 months, B weighed
60 pounds and was 50 inches in height; this is normal for a
child of her height and age (Baldwin-Wood norms).
B walked a few steps at 8 months (under the excitement of
running after a dog), but walked no more till she was 12
months old. She employed short sentences when she was about 16
months of age. Her mother reports that B expressed her thought
in sentences, rather than in isolated words, almost from the
beginning of language development; she excited considerable
comment among friends by displaying an extensive vocabulary
and by using nursery rhymes at age 2.
B was taught to read by her mother at age 4, by the "picture-story"
method. (She knew the alphabet long before.) A few lessons only
were given her and thereafter B read and has continued to read
independently.
B has had no serious illnesses or accidents; her health history
appears normal and her physical condition at the present time
is excellent. Furthermore, she seems unusually well balanced
from the standpoint of mental hygiene. B exhibits regularity
in habits, sleeps soundly, seldom reports dreams, displays no
unusual fears, and adapts herself quickly and successfully to
the demands of her child-group.
B's parents appear distinctly above the average both in
intelligence and in academic training. The mother finished a
two-year normal course and taught for a number of years in
a metropolitan school system. The father is an electrical
engineer, a graduate of Case College of Applied Science; he has
pursued graduate studies at Cornell University, and has done
some college teaching. At present he is a practicing electrical
engineer. . . . Her maternal great-grandfather (who is still
active and robust at age 82) was private secretary to each of
four executives of a large railroad system. . . . Her paternal
grandfather was an inventor and manufacturer of polishes and
waxes. . . .
The mother reports B to be of pure Negro stock. There is
no record of any white ancestors on either the maternal or
paternal side.
B has not much ability or interest in music. Her favorite subject
is science, and chemistry attracts her to the extent that she
wishes to become a chemist.
_Child R_. In 1936, Zorbaugh and Boardman (38) described a boy,
R, of IQ 204 (S-B). They mention also three other children of IQ
above 180, tested at New York University's Clinic for the Social
Adjustment of the Gifted, but R is the only one described.
R was brought to the Clinic when he was 8 years old, and
at that time he had on the Stanford-Binet an IQ of 204. His
father, an engineer, is a well-known writer in the scientific
field. His mother holds a doctor's degree in physical chemistry
from a foreign university. Neither the father nor the mother
has been tested, but they are both persons of very unusual
mental ability. R's two younger brothers are also of very
superior mentality. The family is of Jewish origin and both
the father and the mother were born in a foreign country.
R, their first child, was born when the mother was thirty
and the father was thirty-five. His early development was
exceedingly precocious. His first tooth erupted at five months
of age; he began to walk at nine months and was running at
eleven months; he was talking in sentences at eleven months;
he learned to read at four years of age, and was reading
omnivorously before he entered school. When he entered school
he had an unusual vocabulary, using such words as "casuistry"
and "disproportionate." At the age of 2 he was modeling in
clay, and at the age of 3 he began to design and make machines.
He applied through his father to the United States Patent Office
for two patents before he was 8 years old. At 8 years of age
he had a large library in his home composed mostly of books
of science, history, and biography, which he had catalogued
himself, on the Dewey decimal system. At this age he was writing
a book on electricity. Also at the age of 8 he had a small
machine shop in which he was working on his machines. At the age
of 6 he enjoyed discussing philosophy. At the age of 7 he would
debate on the significance of religion in world development.
The day he first came to the Clinic, Claudel's experiments
on developing power by raising the colder water from the lower
levels of the sea had just been reported in the scientific
section of the _New York Times_. R explained the theory involved
much more clearly than had the scientific writer of the _Times_.
R is well developed physically, above average in height, and
considerably above average in weight, likes the outdoors,
especially hiking and riding horseback. At the age of 9 he showed
the first symptoms of the approach of puberty. R is well adjusted
to his school and his playmates, plays on their soccer and
baseball teams, is well liked, and is a leader in many of their
activities.
_Other cases_. In addition to these children who have been somewhat
fully described, a few others testing above 180 IQ (S-B) have
been mentioned in the literature of gifted children or their
records have appeared in tabulations. In 1923 Dvorak told of a boy
of IQ 183 (S-B) who was examined at the University of Minnesota.
This boy was conspicuously maladjusted at school. He "hated
school," and did poor work there. He was 8 years 7 months old
at the time of examination, and passed the tests at a mental
level of 15 years 9 months. The educational authorities were
unsympathetic and resistant to advice, but finally placed the
child in the fifth grade, where both work and conduct improved
greatly. This observer also mentions a boy of 189 IQ (S-B) who was
tested at the same University.
Cyril Burt, writing of mental tests in the schools of London,
cites an English boy of 190 IQ, but does not give a description
of him. The value of these mere mentions is slight because there
is no elaboration and no subsequent history of the cases which
would be useful for purposes of generalizations.
GENERALIZATIONS
The preceding [cases] describe in some detail 19 cases rating
180 IQ or better, if those be included (3 cases) that were reported
before the Stanford Revision came into use. Although the reports
are lacking in uniformity and vary in emphasis, it is possible
to glean from them a few generalizations concerning origin and
development among the gifted.
Origin is extremely varied as regards racial stock. In describing
the 14 American children, German descent is mentioned 3 times,
French 3, Scottish 5, English 5, Swedish 1, Scotch-Irish 1,
Dutch 1, Jewish 1, Negro 1. There is one German child.
The occupational status of the fathers all fall in Class 1 or
Class 2 of Taussig's rating--professional, clerical, or business
proprietors. Social-economic status wherever mentioned is said
to be moderate. None is stated to be very wealthy or very poor.
Age of parents at birth of the exceptional child covers a wide range.
Development is decidedly ahead of schedule for the group in all
respects. Reported age of walking (7 cases stated) ranges from
7 months to 14 months. Talking in sentences, in the 10 cases in
which it is given, ranges from 8 months to 19 months. In 13 cases
the age of reading is assigned, this being always 3.5 or 4 years.
General health is, whenever mentioned, always reported as good,
and except for the twins, born prematurely, physique is superior.
In the array of 19 cases there are 12 girls and 7 boys, whereas
of the 12 cases to be [later] reported [in] this study only 4 are
girls. In the grand total there are 16 girls and 15 boys.
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[1] It is not absolutely clear from Terman's text whether the 15
children above 180 IQ (S-B) are to be thought of as representing
the 643 children statistically treated in _Genetic Studies of
Genius:_ Vol. I, or whether they rest upon the "nearly one thousand"
as a base, who were located. [[In a personal communication Professor
Terman writes that it was 15 out of 643.]]
[2] Correction is attempted according to a formula for records
exceeding the top of S-B, but this formula has never been actually
validated.
[3] See previous footnote.
[a] "On December 3rd, 1721, someone first noticed that the child
watched these figures here and there for a long time without
stopping, and his little eyes at the same time stuck [upon them].
Someone said to him the names of these figures: that would be
a cat, that a tower, a little sheep, a mountain. The following
[lit. "other"] day, the 4th of December, someone asked him again,
where the cat, the mountain, the little sheep were and [to] look
there; the child indicated with his little tiny fingers there,
and always hit upon the right picture, that they had named to him.
Even more, now he gave effort himself to repeat the previously
said words: cat, mountain, tower: hence, he saw with unrelated
glances [likely, unrelated to the figures he was previously
transfixed on] the speaking from the mouth [likely, of whoever
named the objects], got the movement of the lips and the tongue
[with] the same steady attending, slurred the word afterward and
repeated this so often, until he finally pressed out one syllable
after another.
[b] He [pronoun is literally "it," derived from neut. case noun
"das Kind" i.e., "the child"] could read printed things in Latin
and German.
He could not also write them; his little fingers were too weak
to do so.
He could recite times tables both in and out of order. He could
also count, subtract, add, and multiply.
In French, he got so far, that he could recount entire histories
in this language.
In Latin, he learned over 1,500 good sayings from Latin-language
authors.
He learned Low German from his nurse, of whom he didn't want to
let go.
In geography, he continued to grasp the most curious things on each
of the maps of existing places.
[c] Otto Pöhler, born the 20th of August, 1892 to Braunschweig,
first and only child of a master butcher, got teeth at the correct
time and learned to walk and speak at the right time. When he
was five fourths of a year old, his grandmother led him outside
the door and into the next streets and in the course of this
named to him the names which were on the house and street signs,
and also relatives wrote down him first name, Otto, multiple times.
When the child then got a newspaper in his hands, he showed
the same printed name, Otto. From then on, the grandmother
explained to him the letters and read aloud to him single words;
in the process, it resulted that the child had a prodigious
memory for letters, words, and numbers.
When the little Otto was brought to me, he was, as I previously
cited, 1_3/4 years old. He was very conversant, climbed immediately
multiple times onto my knees, showed himself, overall, very mobile
and restless. When he caught sight of one of the hanging wall
calendars next to the writing table, he read loudly, unprompted,
the large-print, Latin display on the same (April 27): "April
two-seven..."
In October, 1894, I brought the young Otto, at the age of 2 years
and 2 months, before the physician's country club. When the end of
my delivered lecture about him came, which was led in the boardroom,
one of the doctors showed the Börner's Medicinal-Calendar, with
the request to read the Latin inscription. He read fluently:
"Imperial Medicinal-Calender. Founded by Pa-ul Börner. One, eight,
nine, four."
[d] He is not physically strong, but also not badly developed. At
first glance the long skull and the strong back of the head stand
out. In the delicate face clever, expressive eyes are captivating,
which, with pondering, take on at first a curiously serious,
concentrated expression. In the whole, he does not at all make an
impression of an unhealthy, jaded child, but rather of a boy with
a completely fresh and merry view of the world.
His biggest passion is still always reading, and the most important
thing in the world to him are historic, biographic, and geographic
dates. He knows the birth and death years of many German Kaisers,
also many generals, poets, philosophers, mostly also birthdays and
places of birth; furthermore the capitals of most states, rivers
on which they lie and the like. He knows decisions of the beginning
and end of the Thirty Year's and Seven Year's Wars, of the main
battles of these and other wars. From statements of the mother,
everything he picked up on without outside help, through the
diligent study of a "patriotic calendar" and similarly discoverable
literature in the house, also through the deciphering of monument
inscriptions in the cities (for which he especially has passion).
When two different pages with two 12-digit numbers were shown to
him in succession, [the numbers of] which differed by one of the
middle digits, he read them as far as the billons and could then,
without looking at the pages again, with certainty, specify
wherein the difference lay.
[e] Dr. Placzek et al. who earlier observed the boy, the definitive
impression prevailed of a specially aroused, rapid, and sharp-thinking
and, at the same time, a benign, quite loveable child. With the
parents and particularly with the mother he's involved with the
greatest affection.
[f] An _Obersekundaner_ is a pupil in seventh year of a German
secondary school. "Gymnasium" here means secondary school.
[g] "Now, almost 17 years old, he is an intelligent, young man,
equipped with an admirable memory, full of knowledge; a young man
easily getting noticed, orienting, who, although in his way
preferred before his contemporaries, has proven [to have] a humble,
lovable nature."