By February, 1937, G was finishing his sixth term in Erasmus

Hall High School, Brooklyn. In the first five terms his work had

averaged 90-95. Regents' marks to that date were:

French, two years 95

Plane Geometry 100

Intermediate Algebra 98

European History 91

In June of 1935 he had won first prize in "an algebra contest

for the entire grade of his school." During the first four terms

he had ranked fifth in scholarship and in the fifth term he tied

for second place. A letter from his father records that:

In June, 1934, he scored 174 on the Terman Group Intelligence

test which was given to 27,573 boys and girls, graduates of

the elementary schools, public and parochial, who applied for

admission to the high schools in New York City, this score

being the highest reached, and was referred to, though of course

not by name, in John L. Tildsley's "The Mounting Waste of the

American Secondary School," at page 3 thereof.

A letter from G dated July 5, 1938, records his graduation from

high school at the age of 15 years. He there says:

At present my interest lies along abstract lines; mathematics,

chemistry, and physics are my favorite subjects. The occupation

I would like most to enter when my schooling shall be finished

would be mathematics. However, I see no chance for a job in

this field for research work as there is in, say, chemistry.

Hence I feel uncertain as to whether I shall make mathematics

my life work or whether I should specialize in one field or

another of chemistry, my second love.

There is a copy of the principal's statement "In Re Qualifications

of G, Candidate for Scholarship," at the close of his high school

career. It is worth quoting here as a record of the judged

characteristics of this 15-year-old boy whose thoughtful letter,

just quoted from, shows his serious concern over the theoretical

and practical possibilities of the various fields of his interest.

PRINCIPAL'S STATEMENT IN RE QUALIFICATIONS OF G,

CANDIDATE FOR SCHOLARSHIP

_Native ability_. Intelligence Quotient 174 on Terman Test given

at Erasmus Hall, the highest ever reached here; ranks fourth

in a grade of 712 in scholarship.

_Personality_. Pleasant and helpful; well liked and respected by

students and faculty; always agreeable, willing, eager to

help others.

_Loyalty_. Loyalty is unquestioned; fine home background

contributes to high ideals; his good example has inspired

loyalty in others.

_Coöperation_. Has given much time to clubs, to tutoring

students, and to giving clerical assistance in offices.

_Integrity_. Commended highly by teachers for uprightness.

_Leadership_. An active leader in many school activities; has

strong initiative and unusual resourcefulness.

_Thoroughness_. Class and extracurricular work characterized by

unusual care and thoroughness; carried through many long-term

assignments with a minimum of supervision.

_Originality_. Outstanding characteristic; while working in

his grade adviser's office he devised a new and superior

arrangement for finding the official classes of any one of

800 students in the grade.

_Partial list of activities and honors_. Program Committee, five

terms; Office Service, seven terms; Little Symphony, two

terms; Orchestra, five terms; Arista, four terms; Junior

Arista, three terms; String Ensemble, two terms; "Dutchman"

Staff; "XYZ" Mathematics Tutoring Club, three terms; prize,

Geometry Contest; prize, Safety Essay contest; medal,

Algebra contest.

_Comments by teachers_. "Very efficient and reliable." "Very

good assistant." "Fine work on Arista Membership Committee."

"Fine boy, earnest, and willing worker." "Brilliant mind."

"Diligent worker."

In June, 1938, upon graduation from high school, G was awarded

a scholarship in Harvard University, which he entered in the

ensuing academic year.

G'S BROTHER'S RECORD

A brother younger than G and his only sibling was tested at the

age of 5 years 6 months at the Educational Clinic, College of the

City of New York. His IQ (S-B) was 151. Other scores were:

Goodenough Drawing 6.0 years

Porteus Maze 5-6

Pintner-Patterson Performance 6-6

Stenquist Mechanical Assembly 6-0

Gates Primary Reading Scale 1B Grade

Stanford Achievement: Arithmetic 1B Grade

This child was also measured by Leta S. Hollingworth in February,

1933, when he was at age 6-10, and the Stanford-Binet IQ was 152.

Other measures made at that time were:

Standing height 50.75 inches

Sitting height 27.75 inches

Weight 78.25 pounds

Found "left-handed"

A letter from the father dated June 24, 1938, reports that G's

brother "graduated from public school this week (age 11 years

6 months). He was awarded one of two history medals given in a

class of 134. In the Terman Group Test given to about 1000

applicants he scored 153, which is the fourth in the group.

The first one in the group was 156."

[1] McElwee, Edna Willis. "Seymour, a Boy with 192 IQ." _Journal of

Juvenile Research_, Vol. XVIII (January, 1934), pages 28-35.

[2] "The Reading of a Gifted Child." By his Father. _Journal of

Juvenile Research_, Vol. XVIII, No. 2 (April 1934), pages 107-111.

[3] This chapter was written by H. L. H.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHILD H

Child H, at the time this account is written, [1] is a girl

of 17 years, but the data on record terminate with her tenth

year. She was born March 25, 1924, in New York City. Her parents

have kept a diary of her development, and an aunt with special

educational interests has made various observations and records

of her and has also familiarized herself with the parents' records.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Her grandparents on both sides were Austrian Hebrews. The maternal

grandfather was a rabbi and did some writing. The maternal

grandmother is said to have shown some unusual mental alertness,

a surprising and almost untutored aptness in numerical calculation.

At 65 years of age she learned to play bridge very well, and

in her old age continued to show lively interests.

_Parents_. H's father is a newspaper reporter. He attended college

for three years. He was 29 when H was born. Her mother is a high

school graduate and before marriage was a stenographer. She was 28

when H was born.

PRESCHOOL HISTORY

H is reported as a healthy child, of average stability. She is a

first-born child. She began to walk at 14 months and to talk at 16

months, according to the parents. She cut her first tooth at

9.5 months. H did not learn to read until after she was 4 years

old. At this age she was fond of play and her playmates were

children ranging in age from 3 to 9 years. Her favorite recreations

were sedentary--drawing, painting, mosaic blocks, and the like.

At 2 years of age she was given a box of wooden beads for stringing.

"She very quickly learned the art of holding the string in the

right hand and the bead in the left, and became very much absorbed

in her work. Suddenly she looked up and said, 'Beads, onions.'"

The record continues: "Alternatives seem a preferred mode of

expression at present, so that she wants 'soup, _not_ peas';

her hands are 'clean, _not_ dirty.'"

At 2 years 10 months, upon seeing a picture of a little girl

mailing a letter, she told herself the following story:

Once upon a time there was a little girl and she wanted to

mail a letter. She went out and looked for a letter box and

found one near the drug store. She mailed the letter and it

came to Wawarsing and Sheve received it." (Sheve was an aunt

living at Wawarsing.)

Storytelling and writing plays and verses became a favorite

pastime in later childhood.

At this time H had imaginary companions. "For several days Mr.

Parkey (an invented character) was her very close friend. She

played with him, conversed with him, loved him, killed him,

and brought him to life again." She also invented new names

for her dolls--Flossie became "Woozie" and Alice became "Katch."

At 2 years 11 months she asked the meaning of the words "excitement,"

"guarantee," and "neatness." She constantly asked about the meaning

of words. She sang songs to herself, such as "Go into the next

room, where there's no steam heat." At this age she asked how

babies are made. "Where do they come from? How do they come out?

Why? Will a baby grow in my belly when I'm a big lady?"

At 3 years she wanted to know if people "wear out" like brushes

and combs. She purchased for an imaginary house "an extrola,"

"a gate-legged table," "a gate-legged bookcase," and "gate-legged

chairs."

At 3 years 0 months, waiting for her cereal to cool, a lump

of butter put into it is slowly melting. H remarks, her eyes

on the butter, "Now it's a baby--baby died--no more baby."

And noting the snow, she said, "My muffler is as white as the

snow." She looks again at snow and muffler. "No, it's a _different_

white."

There is on record a vocabulary compiled by the mother when H was

3 years old (May 23, 1927). It was based on a count of "all the

words _used_ by H regardless of whether she could tell exactly

what they mean. Tenses of verbs are given but no plurals of nouns."

The list includes about 1400 words, approximately classifiable

as follows:

Nouns 745 Pronouns 17

Verbs 401 Prepositions 15

Adjectives 161 Conjunctions 5

Adverbs 63 Interjections 9

MENTAL MEASUREMENTS

_March 24, 1927_. Age 3 years. Stanford-Binet examination given

by Dr. Ella Woodyard, with the following results: Mental Age,

5-6; IQ, 183.

_March 8, 1930_. Age 5 years 11 months. Stanford-Binet examination

given by Leta S. Hollingworth, with the following results: Mental

Age, 8-9; IQ, 148. At this time H was in Grade 1A.

_April 21, 1933_. Age 9 years 1 month. Stanford-Binet examination

given by Alice M. Holmes, with the following results: Mental Age,

17-2; IQ, 189.

At this age she was in Grades 5A and 6B, P.S. 206, Manhattan,

and is described as "a quiet and unassuming person, but most

responsive. She would like to be with children her own mental

age, for then she would get a mental stimulus and a social life

that seems to be denied her now."

In this same month (April, 1933) the New Stanford Achievement

Test: Advanced Battery: Form V, given by Alice M. Holmes, showed

scores as follows:

Paragraph Meaning 109 Geography 105

Word Meaning 103 Physiology and Hygiene 90

Dictation 87 Arithmetic Reasoning 94

Language Usage 91 Arithmetic Computation 110

Literature 91 Average score 97.8

History and Civics 98

_September 11, 1934_. Age 10 years 6 months. H was given Army

Alpha, Form 8, by Leta S. Hollingworth. Her score was 135 points,

which is median for college sophomores. H was then in Grade 7B. It

is noted that "This result is just what would have been predicted

from tests made by us when H was 3 years old."

_November 9-17, 1934_. Age 10 years 7 months. During this week

H was given a number of tests by Leta S. Hollingworth, with the

following results:

Stanford-Binet: Mental Age: 18-6; IQ, over 174, "unmeasured

by the test."

Intelligence Scale CAVD

Levels I-M Score 394

Levels M-Q Score 392

Coöperative General Science Test for College Students: Score,

17; Percentile, 11.

PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS

_March 8, 1930_

H NORM

Standing height 47 inches 45.2

Sitting height 24 inches

Weight 48.25 pounds 41.7

_April 21, 1933_

H NORM

Standing height 54.5 inches 51.1

Weight 66.5 pounds 57.5

INTELLECTUAL ABILITY

There is a collection of many records showing H's reactions and

opinions from infancy up to the age of 9 or 10. These contain apt

comments, sage remarks, and discriminating judgments. They reveal

a lively intellectual curiosity and a socialized attitude.

H's parents have preserved copies of poems and short plays that

H has written. A collection of the "best ones," selections written

between 5.5 and 8.5 years of age, covers seventeen typewritten

pages. Among them are the following.

If I had Aladdin's lamp, you see,

I'd give one wish to you and me.

And then we'd wish for every toy,

That every child should have some joy.

_Age 5 years 6 months_

On the clover fields he roams,

In the mountains,

At the homes,

Makes the trees and flowers grow,

And manufactures pure, white snow.

--God--

_Age 8 years 6 months_

There was an old soldier

He was all dressed in brown

This soldier had an honor--

He was known all over town.

This old soldier had a misfortune,

That was known too.

His beard it covered his medal,

And people couldn't see through.

_Age 8 years 6 months_

There are in the collection brief stories, continued tales,

short verses, longer poems, dialogues, and plays divided into

scenes, with appropriate stage instructions.

From after the tenth year there is an undated poem, submitted

to the examiner September 19, 1939, by the aunt of H. This poem,

entitled "The Gospel of Intolerance," won a prize in a poetry

contest. Of it the aunt writes:

It was fished out from the wastebasket by my sister. To the

question why she had thrown away the "Gospel of Intolerance,"

H answered that she did not think it was worth keeping, that

she had no particular idea in mind when writing it, and that

she was just practicing on the typewriter and thought of the

phrase "They said no," and then the rest just came by itself.

Incidentally, H has never read the Bible.

"The Gospel of Intolerance" occupies a full single-spaced

typewritten page. It begins as follows:

The Gospel of Intolerance

They said no

And who shall but hear the whisper of command shall without

question don his uniform and go out upon the field of

death in obedience

And who shall lie asleep in the sun must be roused

And who shall sit in lavender chairs eating of the earth shall

drop his spoon

And who shall lie with the woman shall turn from his passion

And all this shall be done without words as the answer to the

whisper of that which is calling and that which is in

command

And he who shall stuff his ears with cotton must needs be

twice called

[1] By H. L. H.

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHILD I

This child, a girl, was born in Palo Alto, California, June 17,

1929. She is the daughter of one of the male children studied

by Terman and reported in _Genetic Studies [of] Genius_. She was

first observed when, in September, 1937, she entered a special

class for "rapid learners" established by Leta S. Hollingworth

at Speyer School, P.S. 500, Manhattan. [1] This experimental

group was made up of fifty children chosen from the public schools

of the city on the basis of intelligence, and their range in IQ was

from 130 to 200. Of these fifty selected children, Child I was one

of three whose IQ's exceeded 180.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Child I's paternal grandfather was still living in 1939, aged 69.

He had a Normal School education (South Dakota) and was teacher,

farmer, and small-town merchant. His education was superior to that

usually achieved by farm boys. His special interests were church,

travel, and repair work on his own properties. He is described by

his son as stubborn, thrifty, and industrious, with uncompromising

attitudes toward worldliness.

I's paternal grandmother died when I's father was 9 years old.

She had been a teacher of music and kindergarten, and a housewife.

She was educated in a Normal School and a Conservatory of Music.

She was an active leader in her community, established her own

kindergarten, and was socially and musically active in local

ways. Her home was in South Dakota and her father was first Land

Commissioner of Dakota Territory. He had led a group of homesteaders

into that region about 1860. He was politically and educationally

active--Commissioner of Immigration, Commissioner of Education,

in the Territory.

No mentally defective or otherwise generally incompetent relatives

on the father's side are known. The great-grandmother of I, on her

father's side, is said to have been a relative of Phillips Brooks.

I's maternal grandfather was born in Texas of ancestry half

French-Huguenot and the rest German-English. He was a high school

graduate. He was in later life a merchant and real estate operator

and active in community affairs.

I's maternal grandmother was born in Oklahoma, her ancestry being

French-Huguenot, Welsh, and Irish. In education she lacked a half

year of completing the work for her B.A. in the University of

New Mexico. After her marriage she devoted herself to her home

and family. She was talented in dramatics and was active in local

church, club, and lodge affairs.

_Father_. I's father was born March 21, 1909, in South Dakota.

He is mainly of English descent. He has the degree of B.A. and

also of M.A. from Stanford University, and he was a candidate

for the degree of Ph.D. in Public Law in an Eastern university

at the time of this inquiry. He was for eight years a college

instructor, and later was connected with a government department

at Washington, D. C. He has been active in his profession, has

written in the field of government, and is a member of various

academic societies. He was one of the 1000 children described by

Terman in _Genetic Studies [of] Genius_. He has been self-supporting

since the age of 19.

_Mother_. I's mother was graduated from high school in New Mexico

and attended the University of Kansas for one year. She then

transferred to the University of New Mexico, receiving her B.A.

degree in 1930. Two years before (1928), when she was 20 years

old, she married I's father, and continued her college course.

After graduation she managed her home and also took some graduate

courses. In high school she was class poet and in the Honor

Society four years. In her college years she was active in sorority

life and on publications. Her major interests were debating,

dramatics, and student government. At the University of Kansas

she was on the Dean's Honor Roll (1925-1926). At New Mexico she

held various scholastic offices and was awarded several honors.

In more recent years I's mother has taken an active part in

the League of Women Voters and in the Faculty Wives' Club in

the college where her husband has been teaching.

PRESCHOOL HISTORY

The following data have been supplied by Child I's parents, who

kept a baby-book record of her development:

Length of pregnancy, 8.5 months. Weight at birth, 8 pounds.

Breast fed to 2.5 months, then bottle fed to 18 months.

First teeth appeared at 5 months and first permanent teeth at

5 years. Walked alone (several steps) at 10.5 months.

Talked in short sentences at from 18 months to 2 years.

Childhood illnesses--measles, whooping cough, mumps, chicken

pox, colds.

EARLY EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

At the age of about 2 years Child I had been observed in the

Institute of Child Development (Teachers College, Columbia

University) and reported as being hyperactive and of high intelligence.

At the age of 3 or 4 years she was used as a demonstration case

before a class in psychology in the University and the Mental Age

of 7 was assigned to her at that time.

Shortly after, she attended a kindergarten in the neighborhood of

her home where "they gave her extra work--French and dancing." She

liked this school. At the age of 5 years she entered kindergarten

at P.S. 193, Manhattan, for half-day sessions only, although

she wished to go all day.

At the age of 6 years she was entered in the first grade at P.S.

186, Manhattan, and in the second term was "skipped" to Grade 2A.

"She spent her spare time aimlessly drawing, and was allowed

to bring library books to school. Some of the time she sat with

folded hands when her work was finished, and she resented this."

MENTAL MEASUREMENTS

January 14, 1937, was the date of I's first examination, at the age

of 7 years 7 months, and her Stanford-Binet IQ was 184.

In September, 1937, at the age of 8 years 3 months, she was given

Intelligence Examination CAVD, Levels H-M. Her score was 361

points. The comment recorded by the examiner (Leta S. Hollingworth)

is: "Median seventh-grade child is close to this mark." Child I had

at this time just come from a school in which she had been placed

in the third grade.

Records are available of several achievement tests Child I took

at different dates. Representative results are to be found in two

Stanford Achievement tests given in December, 1937, and in June,

1938. In the first of these she averaged an age rating of 12-3

and a grade of 6.3; in the second, her age rating was 13-5 and

her grade 7.6. In six months she had advanced a year and two

months in Educational Age and had made a similar advance in

grade status. The following table gives the detailed results

of these two examinations.

AGE AGE GRADE GRADE

SUBJECT DECEMBER, JUNE DECEMBER, JUNE,

1937 1938 1937 1938

Paragraph Meaning 13-7 15-8 7.8 9.7

Word Meaning 12-11 15-4 7.2 9.3

Dictation 9-11 11-7 4.1 5.7

Language 14-4 15-4 8.4 9.3

Literature 11-11 15-6 6.1 9.5

History and Civics 13-1 13-7 7.4 7.8

Geography 12-4 14-8 6.6 8.7

Physiology and Hygiene 12-11 13-5 7.2 7.6

Arithmetic Reasoning 11-8 11-3 5.8 5.4

Arithmetic Computation 10-5 11-0 4.4 5.1

Average score 12-2 13-5 6.5 7.8

Child I left this experimental school a year after admission,

when her father was appointed to a position in another state,

to which the family moved. In the new school she was placed

in the fifth grade, on the ground that she might make better

social adjustments there, although her achievements were clearly

already better than those of average sixth-grade pupils. It is

unfortunate that no follow-up of this child has been possible.

Her record and the variety of her abilities were striking. She

was one of the most outstanding and best-liked pupils in the group

at Speyer School. In addition to her remarkable intelligence she

possessed desirable supporting traits which led the teachers to

predict that she might "go farther" than any other child in the

selected group of fifty "rapid learners."

The fairly complete account of I's background and early development

has been here provided in the hope that it may be made of use by

investigators at some later time.

PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS AND HEALTH

Measurements, as of January 16, 1939, age 9 years 6 months,

were as follows:

CHILD I NORM

Height 58.5 inches 52

Weight 96 pounds 61.5

Chest circumference 29 inches

Head circumference 21.1 inches

Eye color brown

Hair color dark brown

Tonsils and adenoids caused trouble in 1933 and were removed

in 1934. No visual defects noted. Occasional headaches "usually

from reading or remaining long periods indoors." Hearing excellent.

Nutrition excellent. No symptoms of general weakness.

Parents report I to be "at least very excitable," and that she

shows "impulsive actions and extreme eagerness."

No sleep difficulties; no muscular twitching; no special fears.

Sleeps nine hours, fairly soundly.

MISCELLANEOUS CHARACTERISTICS

Her superior ability was first noticed by people from the

University, at 15 months, because of comprehension beyond that

expected at such an age."

She is interested in music and wrote the school song at Speyer.

She has been very much interested in nature study and science

since her second or third year, and "in her relationship to the

world and the cosmos." Has asked questions frequently concerning

origins and creation.

She has shown no special interests in mechanics, drawing, or

painting, but from her second year she has had active interests

in recitation and in the dramatization of nursery rhymes, etc.

She has played with imaginary companions. She began making up

rhymes at an early age. "She reasons logically and has a strong

sense of justice."

A neatly bound volume of typed pages, prepared by I as a Christmas

present, 1937, for Leta S. Hollingworth, is entitled "First Poems."

There are in the collection a dozen short verses or longer poems,

each dated by I's age at the time of composition. The ages range

from 4.5 to 8 years. A few samples follow.

STARS

The stars are shining bright tonight

I wonder why they shine so bright

I guess to make it light at night.

_Age 5 years_

THE CAVE MAN

The cave man was a hunter,

A hunter brave and bold.

He wore the skins of those he killed

To keep him from the cold.

And many ages later, when he had passed away,

Men found in caves the sharpened stones

That he used every day.

_Age 7 years 5 months_

FLOWERS

Red and yellow tulips blooming on the lawn,

Blooming in the woodland, trampled by the fawn,

Little yellow dandelions hiding in the meadows,

Given to the cow to eat every time she bellows.

Pretty red roses upon a bush

Like a little lady bursting with a blush.

White and purple lilacs on a bush of olive green

As a birthday present were given to the queen.

_Age 7 years 5 months_

SEARCHING

A wandering stranger am I

I believe in nothing but the great powers of the gods,

The whole world have I searched for their wisdom.

But such wisdom found have I not.

Though I have searched the world over

Not a trace of such can be found.

I have searched on the hilltops, in the valleys--

I wonder if such things there are in this wide world of wonder.

The rocks have I broken

To find this great wisdom

But the wonderous marvels are not to be found.

_Age 8 years_

[1] This chapter was written by H. L. H.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHILD J

Early in 1937 the principal of P.S. 107, The Bronx, New York City,

referred one of her pupils to the Bureau of Educational Guidance

of Teachers College, Columbia University. [1] This child was J,

a girl then about 7 years 6 months old, born May 18, 1929. She

was at this time in Grade 5A, and the principal and teachers

had concluded that she was so superior in mental level that the

ordinary school program could offer her no challenge.

Examinations by the psychologists of the Bureau showed clearly

enough the correctness of this judgment. At the age of 7 years

10 months, March 22, 1937, her Mental Age by Stanford-Binet was

15-5. Since she met with success on the Superior Adult level,

no actual upper limit of her ability was established. She was

reported, therefore, as having an IQ of 197 or better, and was

recommended for admission to the experimental class for quick

learners in Speyer School, P.S. 500, Manhattan, which she entered.

In connection with these tests at the Bureau of Child Guidance a

most instructive and detailed report was made by the psychologist

(Edna Mann). Most of the items of the following description

of J at this age are drawn from this report, which fills three

single-spaced typewritten pages.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Both parents graduated from college. The father is an instructor

in English in a large Eastern university. In the interests of

educational research he took, on April 20, 1939, IER Intelligence

Scale CAVD, Levels M-Q. His score was 445 points, which the

examiner, Leta S. Hollingworth, reports "is included in the top

1 per cent of college graduates and indicates an IQ of not less

than 180 in childhood."

The mother of J is a graduate of a large Midwestern university

and a former schoolteacher. She also took the CAVD test at the

same time that her husband did, making a score of 436 points.

This, the examiner reported, "is included in the top 5 per cent

of college graduates and indicates an IQ of not less than 170

in childhood."

J has one sister, four years younger than herself, born May 1,

1933. This sister was given a Stanford-Binet test under distracting

conditions following a trolley-car accident. Of the outcome, the

examiner (Dr. M. C. Pritchard) notes: "This was not a good test

and perhaps should not even be included. . . . Several times she

asked to leave the room to see how her mother was. She was

obviously distracted throughout." Nevertheless, the Mental Age

found was 9-2 at Chronological Age 7-0 (IQ 131). In "the routine

test given to pupils in 1A grades of the public schools" this

sister is reported to have had a score of 143 (presumably IQ, by

some group test).

CHILDHOOD CHARACTERISTICS

At the age of 7 years 10 months J is described as poised, competent,

self-controlled, and with social and intellectual maturity

strikingly advanced. She had clear speech, excellent diction,

fertile and pointedly expressed ideas. She was a rather thin

child, with clear complexion and very bright blue eyes, and was

neatly dressed. Teeth were described as "slightly protruding."

In the test she was interested and coöperative. Her conversation

revealed a rich cultural background. She disliked the necessity

in school of repeated drills in things she already knew, and she

did not need or wish repeated instructions for the tests, even

when standard practice called for them.

She was well-read, and discussed with discrimination plays, books,

and radio programs. At 3 years of age she had been reading books.

At 5 she learned to write her name so that she could take out a

library card. At 7 years 10 months she had read six Shakespearean

plays. She read all kinds of books, and used dictionaries and

encyclopedias independently. She was at that time composing,

with a playmate, a "Jingles Book."

At this age she liked to play with children two or three years

older than herself. She played vigorously and for several hours a

day at many outdoor sports; she did not need to do school homework.

Her manner was natural, free from conceit and from exhibitionism

of her abilities. She had good habits of work and enjoyed the

challenge of the mental tests. Her vocabulary, language responses,

and abstract thinking were clearly on an adult level. She is

credited by the examiner with remarkable degrees of mental control,

concentration, constructive visual imagery, and manipulation

of mathematical and verbal concepts, rote memory, and inductive

reasoning.

On a standardized test of reading ability she exhibited a Reading

Age of 14 years 5 months at this time (7 years 10 months). Her

writing was reported as excellent.

Her earlier educational progress reflects her extraordinary

ability. In her first six months at school she completed four terms

of work. She was one term in Grade 3A, and then in one term passed

through 3B, 4A, and 4B.

J's parents had from the beginning given intelligent attention

to her adjustments in school and to her friendships. She had been

wisely guided, motivated to make friends rather than to be in

constant leadership, and she was well liked and accepted by

her classmates.

At this early age the psychological examiner was able confidently

to predict: "In view of her exceptional intelligence, her apparently

good health, her apparently excellent social adjustment, she can be

expected to attain distinction and to win leadership in higher

educational and professional fields."

LATER MENTAL TESTS

J was given a second Stanford-Binet test by Dr. M. C. Pritchard

within three days of her tenth birthday, on May 15, 1939, using the

1937 Revision, Form L. A Mental Age of 20 years was achieved which,

if her limit had been reached, would have meant an IQ of 200--very

like the 197 plus attaned at the earlier Chronological Age.

On February 17, 1938, at the age of 9 years 9 months, J had also

taken IER Intelligence Scale CAVD, Levels I to M, making a score

of 384 points.

Several records are available on the New Stanford Achievement

Tests given, a different form each time, to the pupils in the

experimental class at Speyer School at intervals of six months.

Annual tests at the close of each school year, for a period of

three years, may be used here to show J's ability and progress

in these respects. Such scores are as follows:

EDUCATIONAL AGE

FUNCTION FORM W FORM Y FORM X FORM W

June 16, June 1, May 31, May 18,

1937 1938 1939 1940

Paragraph Meaning 17-0 18-5 Unmeasured Unmeasured

Word Meaning 15-9 16-10 17-2 17-8

Dictation 16-6 17-8 18-2 Unmeasured

Language Usage 16-5 19-2 18-11 Unmeasured

Literature 16-0 16-2 18-8 Unmeasured

History and Civics 12-6 12-10 15-11 17-4

Geography 11-11 16-2 17-4 18-5

Physiology and Hygiene 12-6 14-6 16-10 18-5

Arithmetic Reasoning 13-1 16-6 17-4 17-6

Arithmetic Computation 11-10 14-6 17-6 17-6

Average score 14-4 16-3 17-8 18-5

Grade status 8.4 Unmeasured Unmeasured Unmeasured

The first of these achievement tests was given shortly after

J entered the experimental class, from the fifth grade in a

public school, at the age of about 7 years 6 months. At that

time her school achievement scores show her to have been between

eighth- and ninth-grade status, with an Educational Age just

about twice her Chronological Age. So far as Educational Age

is concerned, although the experimental program was half concerned

with enrichment activities rather than with the conventional

fundamentals, J advanced one year and eleven months during the

first school year there, one year and five months during the

second year, and nine months during the last year. By this time

progress was practically impossible because after the first

year most of her scores were unmeasured in grade status, being

above the standards for tenth grade.

As a matter of mere achievement scores, J was ready for high school

work at the age of being received from the fifth grade into the

experimental classes at Speyer School.

There are in the files several poems written by J while she was

in Speyer School, before May, 1939; that is, before her tenth

birthday. The following may be given as a representative sample

of these compositions.

A MARCH SNOWFALL

It's March, yet snow is falling fast,

And one may hear the wintry blast.

A budding tree, a sign of spring,

Will to me great gladness bring.

When crocuses have put their heads,

Above the softened garden beds,

And when in all the fields around

Lively little lambkins bound,

And green creeps up across the lawn

I'll be glad the snow has gone.

[1] This chapter was written by H. L. H.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHILD K

Child K is a boy, born December 19, 1922. He first came to the

attention of this series of researches in 1929 when his grandmother

sought advice concerning his education from Leta S. Hollingworth. [1]

FAMILY BACKGROUND

K's paternal grandparents are English and Scotch-Irish. The

grandfather is said to write poetry and the grandmother to

compose music for the verses.

K's maternal grandparents are of Jewish origin, both born in

America. The grandfather was a teacher, the grandmother was "in

business." This grandmother was the seventh of twelve children.

The youngest of these is said to be "a brilliant woman of executive

ability." The eldest, at the age of 79, "reads all the papers,

compares notes, etc." One of the brothers in this group was a

physician, another a lawyer. A cousin of K teaches in Massachusetts

Institute of Technology and was called during the First World

War for special work in mathematics. This man's sister is an

arch[a]eologist married to an archaeologist. Three of K's

grandmother's sisters are teachers; another is an artist.

No mentally deficient or totally incompetent persons are known

among the ancestors.

K has two siblings, brothers younger than himself. Both are

reported to be "bright."

_Father_. K's father is an electrician, a graduate of high school

and of Cooper Union. He was born in Antigua and was 32 or 34 years

old when K was born. One of his sisters is a high school teacher

in Brooklyn; another is a nurse; another, a stenographer.

_Mother_. K's mother is recorded as of American-Jewish origin. She

was 30 or 31 years old when K was born. She is a graduate of high

school and of Hunter College (A.B.), New York City, and holds

a license to teach music in the New York City schools. At the date

of records she was actively in service, teaching general subjects.

She had taken three maternity leaves of absence.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT

K's parents rate him as a child with excellent health, sturdy

but nervous. He may have had measles, but there were no other

childhood illnesses except occasional colds. When tiny, he would

wake up with "great imaginings." At a little older age he would

cry "with high tension"; "he no longer does this."

According to parents, K cut his first tooth at 6 months. He began

to walk at about 20 months and to talk at about 2 years. He learned

to read at about 3 years. "While still a baby in his carriage he

could read 'ice' and he would read the billboards. Before 3 he

would sit down with a book and read."

At 5 years of age K wanted to discriminate in meaning between

"bluff," "joke," and "fake." He is "untiring in his attention to

books. He will sit with an American history, an English history,

and Godey's _History of American Beginnings in Europe_ (which goes

into Greece and Rome) and the dictionary around him, and will

work at these for hours."

At the age here reported K had no playmates. His younger brothers

played by themselves. K did not like to play. His favorite

recreations were reading and transferring pictures, and consulting

almanacs and dictionaries.

He has a passion for accuracy. He has as yet made no collections,

and has no pets. He has no imaginary companions and no imaginary

lands.

MENTAL MEASUREMENTS

On April 10, 1929, K was brought to Teachers College, Columbia

University, for mental testing. The Stanford-Binet and other

methods were employed. He was then 6 years 4 months old and had

not yet entered school. On the Stanford-Binet his Mental Age at

that date was 9-1, giving an IQ of 143. But the examiner added

a note to the record to the effect that: "It is predicted that

this child will test much higher later, when examined under

standard conditions, alone with the examiner." The conditions

under which this test was taken are not recorded, but it was

probably a class demonstration.

On March 26, 1931, at the age of 8 years 3 months, K was again

given a Standard-Binet test by the same examiner. He was then

in Grade 5A, although only two years before he had not yet entered

school. This time his Mental Age was 14-8, giving him an IQ of

close to 180. The earlier prediction of an increase in IQ at a

later age was fulfilled, under standardized conditions.

Although K was in Grade 5A at this time, it is noted that "Writing

is only about third-grade ability." In this manual coördination

K's score was nearer to his Chronological Age than was his mental

level. He was also given Trabue Language Completion Scale A on

this date, with a score of Grade 6.5, a full year ahead of his

actual, though advanced, school placement.

Of such cases the examiner commented as follows:

The little boy scored a Mental Age of 14 years 8 months.

Only one or two eight-year-olds in a hundred thousand reach

such a score. These children are so far beyond the average

that schools are not equipped to handle them adequately.

Experts in education do not know what the best procedure is in

regard to their placement in school, but we hope to find out as

time goes on. . . . I asked you to bring the little boy again

for purely professional reasons--to learn how he is developing,

how he conducts himself, and what his interests are. We

want to find out how to educate these children. . . . Tell

him I am sure he is going to have a good future if he learns to

get self-control. (I mention this last because you spoke of his

having emotional upsets.)

PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS

At the age of 6 years 4 months, K's standing height was 48.2

inches and his weight was 50.5 pounds. (Norms 46.0 inches, and

44 pounds.)

At the age of 8 years 3 months, K's standing height was 53 inches;

sitting height, 28.2 inches; weight, 62 pounds. In the two-year

interval K had gained 5 inches in height and 12 pounds in weight.

(Age norms 49.8 inches, and 54.6 pounds.)

LATER EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS

There is little record in the files of the subsequent career

of this boy and no follow-up has been made possible. A letter

from his mother, dated December 30, 1933, reports that K "is now

just eleven (birthday this month) and will graduate from public

school next month."

This would mean completion of the eighth grade at the age of

11 years.

There is also a letter from his mother dated December 10, 1937,

at which time K was [nearly] 15 years old. In the following month

he was to be graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School, New

York City. Plans were being made and advice sought concerning

college. K had "gone through high school an honor student. . . .

His high school record is outstanding. Regents marks, etc.,

exceptionally high."

[1] This chapter was written by H. L. H.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHILD L

This exceptionally gifted boy, born May 5, 1927, was a member

from the beginning of the experimental group for "rapid learners"

established February, 1936, in Speyer School by Leta S. Hollingworth.

[1] In achievement as measured by standard tests from time to

time he led that group of highly selected children, his IQ being

200. At the request of his parents he had been recommended for

admission to the project by the principal of the public school

he was then attending in Brooklyn (P.S. 35).

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Child L's ancestry is Austrian-Hebrew. Of his paternal relatives,

an uncle and a cousin are rabbis, and at the time this record

was made a cousin was professor of mathematics in the University

of Krakow.

L's maternal grandfather was an Austrian merchant and also a

learned man, who is said to have written several books. The

maternal grandmother of L was active in local circles to which she

belonged. At her death she left money for L's college education. A

maternal uncle is an architect. L's mother's cousin is a physician.

No mentally defective or totally incompetent persons among L's

ancestors are known.

_Father_. Child L's father is a high school graduate. He was 33

years of age when L was born. His trade is that of jeweler, but

being unable to find work in this line he has taken employment

in a factory making airplane precision instruments.

_Mother_. L's mother is a high school graduate. She was 29 years

of age when L, her only child, was born. She was a dressmaker

before her marriage.

EARLY HISTORY

L is rated by his parents as having "good health" and as being

"well-balanced." He cut his first tooth at 9 months, began to talk

at 9 months, according to his parents, and to walk at 15 months. He

learned to read at 4 years. His playmates are several years older

than he (10-12 years). L likes to play. His favorite recreations

are reading, chess, and checkers.

In January, 1935, at the age of 8 years 5 months, he was in

Grade 5A1. His school ratings had been A for every term and

he had accomplished four years' work in two years. The Otis

Self-Administering Tests had been used in the school and L had

been credited with an IQ of 153--much lower than that subsequently

found to characterize him. It was at this time that he was

recommended for the group of "rapid learners" at Speyer School.

On September 28, 1936, at age 9 years 5 months, a Stanford-Binet

test given L by Donald MacMurray, a graduate student, showed him

to have a Mental Age of between 17-10 and 18-4, and an IQ of from

189 to 195.

On January 18, 1939, a Revised Stanford-Binet (1937 form) given L

by another graduate student showed him to have a Mental Age

of 19-6, his Chronological Age then being 10-8. The IQ thus

determined was 183.

More dependable is a similar measure made May 5, 1937, by an expert

in the Guidance Laboratory at Teachers College (Rosalind Blum). At

Chronological Age 10-0, with the Revised Stanford-Binet (1937

Form 1) L's score was Mental Age 19-11, IQ 199. Certain details

in the report of this test are worth reproduction here.

GUIDANCE LABORATORY REPORT OF L

Date of birth: May 6, 1927 CA 10-0

Date of test: May 5, 1937 MA 19-11

Test: Revised Binet, Form L IQ 199

L earned a basal age at Superior Adult I Level. At Superior

Adult II Level he successfully completed all the items except

interpretation of one of the proverbs. At Superior Adult III

Level one more test was passed--Orientation.

L was friendly and coöperative throughout the test. Although

he had never seen the examiner before, he made an excellent

adjustment to the testing situation. Throughout the test he

indicated a genuine desire to be as accurate as possible. All

his responses were given in great detail and he always told much

more than was necessary in order to earn credit.

Psychometrically L ranks in the top tenth of one per cent of

the population. His intellectual development is very superior.

His level of comprehension, vocabulary, memory, and verbal

ability are outstanding. He displayed excellent insight into

his work and spontaneously criticized his own performance.

When difficult items were presented, he frankly admitted that

he could not respond accurately. He was persistent in his

efforts and devoted excellent attention at all times. He has a

good understanding of the limits of his ability. . . .

It is impossible to recommend appropriate school placement for

this boy, since such ability as he possesses appears in about

one out of every million individuals. . . . His emotional,

educational, and social adjustments will always be difficult

because of his advanced intellectual development. . . .

L has acquired a wealth of information. We can be sure of one

thing--no matter where this boy attends school, no matter what

the teaching devices are, he will always learn new facts and

instruct himself. Such intellectual curiosity as this boy

possesses will always be satisfied because of his own drive to

acquire both information and skills.

A further picture of L's ability at an early age is given by his

scores in two CAVD Intelligence Scale records, made under the

supervision of Leta S. Hollingworth. The first of these was made by

L in November-December, 1936, at the age of 9 years 6 months. His

score (Levels M-Q) was 392 points, which is noted as "equivalent to

a good score for tenth-grade pupils who plan and are encouraged to

go to a first-rate college."

The second CAVD score (Levels M-Q) was made in the spring of 1939,

at the age of 11 years 10 months. His score was 416 points--a score

which is median for Teachers College M.A. candidates and also for

Yale Law school freshmen. Such a score is at the 3d decile of

scores made by Ph.D. candidates at Teachers College, Columbia

University. It was made by L while he was still in the elementary

grades.

ACHIEVEMENT AT SPEYER SCHOOL

A few records of scores on the New Stanford Achievement Test

will show the remarkable academic work of this boy from the age

of 9 years 6 months to 12 years 6 months.

SUBJECT December 4, December 6, December 12, December 4,

1936 1937 1938 1939

Age Grade Age Grade Age Grade Age Grade

Paragraph Meaning 17-8 11.7 18-5 UM UM UM UM UM

Word Meaning 15-8 9.7 17-11 UM 17-8 UM 18-8 UM

Dictation 15-6 9.5 17-6 UM 17-8 UM 18-2 UM

Language Usage 15-9 9.8 16-10 UM 18-8 UM 19-2 UM

Literature 13-9 7.9 16-2 UM 16-6 UM 16-8 UM

History and Civics 14-4 8.4 15-0 9.0 16-5 UM UM UM

Geography 17-6 11.6 19-2 UM 17-8 UM UM UM

Physiology and Hygiene 15-4 9.3 19-2 UM UM UM UM UM

Arithmetic Reasoning 14-1 8.2 19-2 UM 17-8 UM UM UM

Arithmetic Computation 14-10 8.9 17-4 UM 17-11 UM UM UM

Average 15-6 9.5 17-6 UM 18-2 UM UM UM

At the time of the first of these achievement examinations, age

9 years 6 months, L's achievement already exceeded the status of

high school freshmen. After this his work could not be measured

(UM) by grade standards. Progress was still possible, however, in

the subject in which his initial scores were relatively lower. All

but one of these were brought up to an "unmeasurable" point during

the second year. For such a child the time spent on drill in the

fundamentals would be sheer waste--and yet he is too young to go

to high school with children half again as old as he. In Speyer

School he entered actively into the enrichment program and was

intellectually easily the leader of the group.

The following chart shows, through scores in Modern School

Achievement Tests as of February 13, 1936, L's comparative status

with respect to normal expectations for his age and also with

respect to the average status of the class of gifted children

which he had just joined in the experimental school at Speyer.

FIG. 13. COMPARATIVE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT.

[[The Y axis is labeled "Grade," while the X axis shows subjects.

Line 1 is L's scores, Line 2 is the Class Median, and Line 3

shows the Average Scores at "L's" Age. L's scores are always

higher than the Class Median, which are always higher than

the average scores. The scores for these 3 are as follows

(respectively): Comprehension, 9+, 6.5, 3.2; Reading Speed,

6, 5.5, 3.2; Spelling, 6.8, 5.6, 3.2; Language Usage, 9+, 5.8,

3.2; Arithmetic Computation, 6.5, 4, 3.2; Arithmetic Reasoning,

7.5, 4.5, 3.2; Health Knowledge, 8, 5.2, 3.2; Elementary

Science, 9+, 4.7, 3.2; History, Civics, 7, 3.7, 3.2; Geography,

8.6, 3.5, 3.2.]]

Young L's erudition was astonishing. His passion for scholarly

accuracy and thoroughness set a high standard for accomplishment.

He was relatively large, robust, and impressive, and was fondly

dubbed "Professor." His attitudes and abilities were appreciated

by both pupils and teachers. He was often allowed to lecture

(for as long as an hour) on some special topic, such as the

history of timepieces, ancient theories of engine construction,

mathematics, and history. He constructed out of odds and ends

(typewriter ribbon spools, for example) a homemade clock of the

pendular type to illustrate some of the principles of chronometry,

and this clock was set up before the class during the enrichment

unit on "Time and Time Keeping," to demonstrate some of the

principles of chronometry. His notebooks were marvels of masterly

exposition.

Being discontented with what he considered the inadequate treatment

of land travel in a class unit on "Transportation," he agreed that

time was too limited to do justice to everything. But he insisted

that "at least they should have covered ancient theory." As an

extra and voluntary project "he brought in elaborate drawings

and accounts of the ancient theories of engines, locomotives, etc."

Subsequent to a visit to the school by an assistant superintendent

associated with its work, L addressed to this dignitary the

following communication. He was at that time 10 years of age.

November 30, 1939

Dr. ------ ------

Assistant Superintendent

500 Park Avenue

New York, N. Y.

Dear Dr. ------:

Several of my classmates have informed me that you questioned them

as to the relationship of Archimides to our unit on "Music, Art,

and Literature." We are not confining ourselves to Music, Art, and

Literature, but are also studying the background that helped to

produce this culture. We feel that the only way that we can

acquire a full view of this is to study contemporary contributors

to the advance of civilization. I, being greatly interested in

mathematics, volunteered to deliver a report on Archimides who

was famous for his mathematical research.

But this is not the only way Archimides is related to our unit

on "Music, Art, and Literature." In the act of writing any great

piece of music a knowledge of mathematics is essential. Also

in any good work of art it enters into the form of perspective

without which a drawing is apt to be void and lifeless. Therefore

Archimides has been included in our unit.

I hope that you will soon visit our classroom again for all the

children enjoy the talks you often give them.

Respectfully yours

(Signed)

HIGH SCHOOL RECORD TO DATE OF WRITING

L entered Bronx Science High School in February, 1940. This

high school selects its students on the basis of a competitive

examination. No classification on the basis of ability is made

after entrance to the school.

L's final grades for the first term, closing June, 1940, are:

English, 95; Social Studies, 99; Mathematics, 100; Science, 99;

Average, 98.25.

The judgment of his supervisors and teachers is shown by the

following quotations from comments about him, as of June, 1940. [2]

He is an excellent student. My only criticism of the boy is

that he is too mature. He should be more of a nuisance. As

I see it, our problem of adjustment here for L is to make him

more of a real boy. _Dr. M, Administrative Assistant_.

He is a wonderful boy, and that covers everything. _Mr. C.,

Social Studies_.

L is the best boy I have had in all of my teaching experience,

and I have taught in the New York City schools since 1913. He

is the only boy I ever gave 100 as a final mark.

He knows rules of trigonometry that he never has had in school.

_Mr. W, Mathematics_.

I first became acquainted with L when he walked into my office

last term and introduced himself. He said he was trying to make

up his mind between Science High School and Townsend Harris. He

had decided the most sensible way was for him to visit both

schools and then make his decision.

He is a most unusual youngster. We found he surpassed any

child in the class. I am going to discuss with his next term's

teacher what modifications can be made of the required work.

It won't be a matter of skipping anything. L needs to cover

all the subject matter taught. He can profit from experience

in manipulative situations in the laboratory. We may be able

to arrange additional laboratory periods which will give him

an opportunity to work out his own problems. His classmates

look upon L as something of a genius. _Mr. Z., Head of Science

Department_.

L feels that the school he chose is a good one and is well suited

to his purposes, because the teachers are very good, the school

teaches the subjects he wants to learn, and he is not hampered

by the excessive size of the school. By way of improvement he

suggests "More mathematics equipment and class formed according

to students' ratings, smartest ten, say, in first class, etc."

In addition to his work in this school, and to his earlier school

work, L has gone to Hebrew school about nine hours a week for

four years, and has just been graduated therefrom with first

honors. He reports many hobbies and outside interests--such as

making model airplanes, doing science experiments at home, reading,

using the microscope, collecting early American Money and stamps.

He does not do much outdoor playing--"Not because I do not want

to play outdoors but because I lack the time and the companions.

My favorite sport is swimming because it is both enjoyable and

good exercise. . . . I very seldom take part in any organized

athletic games except baseball for two reasons: first, I don't

like to be disciplined and, second, I do not like games where a

person's brawn is more important than a person's wit."

L and a friend have started a supply service in the high school,

buying at wholesale and selling to students at retail prices. For

this privilege, 20 per cent of the profits they turn into the

General Organization carfare fund for needy students.

L's chief criterion in choosing his outside activities is their

educational value. "By making model airplanes I can find out

more about scientific principles of flying. . . . Any experiments

in science I make may help me to advance my scientific knowledge.

. . . I am doing some experimenting in soilless gardening as a

scientific hobby. . . . I believe that stamps should have real

interest behind them and not money value alone. . . . I do not

play any musical instruments although I was drafted into the high

school glee club by the music teacher. I would rather work on

amateur radio if I had the money. I like music but I can't make

it." L wants to take stenography and typing in night school. "It

will come in handy in high school and when I get to college I may

be able to get a job with some professor."

LATER TESTS AND INVENTORIES

In connection with the inquiry into L's adjustments upon entering

high school, Dr. Pritchard has also given him several further

tests and inventories, the results of which are as follows.

On CAVD (Levels (M-Q) his score is now 427 points, which is in

the 7th decile of the Ph.D. Matriculants at Teachers College.

On the Strong Vocational Interest Blank L's A (high) interests

coincided with those of physicians, mathematics, chemists,

psychologists, and teachers of mathematics and physical science.

His C (low) interests were on "most occupations dealing with large

groups of people: personnel manager, social science high school

teacher, purchasing agent, accountant, sales manager, real estate

salesman, life insurance salesman, office worker, Y.M.C.A.

secretary." His first choice for an occupation is mathematics

teacher on the college level. He dislikes any occupation where

there is "little opportunity to discover new facts."

On the Bernreuter "Personality Inventory" the following

characteristics were indicated: Emotional adjustment better

than average, tends to be alone, rarely asks for sympathy or

encouragement, tends to ignore advice of others, seldom worries,

rarely substitutes daydreaming for action, tends to dominate in

face-to-face situations, to be wholesomely self-confident, well

adjusted to environment, solitary, independent, and non-social.

The following records were made on the Sones-Harry High School

Achievement Test:

Language and Literature, 83

The 99th-percentile score for students completing the

first-term high school English is 75. A score of 83 falls

at the 88th percentile on norms based on 943 graduates from

a large cosmopolitan city high school.

Mathematics, 64

The score at the 99th percentile for first-term mathematics

students is given as 36. A score of 64 exceeds the scores of

98 per cent of the 943 high school graduates cited above,

and 99 per cent of 1156 college entrants.

Natural Science, 61

The 99th-percentile score for students who have had one term

of high school science is 42. A score of 61 exceeds the

scores of 96 per cent of the high school graduates.

Social Studies, 64

The 99th-percentile score for students completing one term's

work in social science is 65. A score of 64 exceeds 90 per

cent of the scores of the high school graduates.

Total Score, 272 points

A total score of 272 points exceeds the score of 95 per cent

of the group of high school graduates from a cosmopolitan

city high school.

On his own initiative, L is investigating the possibilities of

scholarships with college work in mind. He says: "I spend between

two or three hours a night on homework. I don't need to do this,

but I am aiming for a scholarship and taking it very seriously."

[1] This chapter was written by H. L. H.

[2] This section is an abbreviation of an account courteously

provided by Dr. Miriam C. Pritchard, who made a follow-up study

of L's first-term adjustments in high school.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

SUMMARIES OF HEREDITY AND EARLY BEHAVIOR

It is of course obvious that no very general conclusions can be

drawn from data relating to a dozen instances of exceptional mental

endowment such as those reported in this monograph. Such data may,

however, be added to information in process of accumulation from

similar studies, the whole providing a respectable basis for

judgment. The facts concerning the group of individuals presented

in this book are, therefore, summarized in the form of the

following brief review. [1]

FAMILY HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

The racial and national ancestry of the twelve children whose

records have been presented in preceding pages may be chiefly a

condition arising from the population in which they were found.

Comparison with results from other population areas may serve

to check certain implications suggested herein. All these cases

were found and studied in New York City and about half of them in

the public schools.

Among the ancestors whose origins are mentioned, in the endeavor

to go behind the simple statement of "American parents," the

nationalities are given as Jewish, 13; British, 9; German, 2;

French, 2. In most cases the ancestors are individually compound--

as Austrian-Jew, German-American, etc.

The activities of the more remote ancestors cover a wide range,

from farming and small-town storekeeping to the learned professions,

large business, and political activity. On the whole, the remote

ancestors appear to have been fairly successful people, with the

majority of them in the professions. No cases of mental deficiency

or total incompetence are recorded among them.

A few of these children were from families in economic distress.

These cases were largely instances in which the father was dead

or incapacitated and the mother was struggling to carry on with

slender resources. But on the whole, as in earlier cases cited

from the literature of gifted children, the socio-economic status

was moderate.

The father's occupations are in 10 of the 12 cases in the

professions. They may be classified as:

Engineer 1 Lawyer 1

Army officer 1 College teacher 2

Accountant 2 Electrician 1

Journalist 2 Jeweler 1

Insurance 1

The occupations of the mothers, either before or after marriage,

when stated, were:

Advertising 1 Teacher 2

Housewife 3 Secretary 2

Statistician 1 Dressmaker 1

Scientist (M.D.) 1

All but 2 of the fathers are known to be high school graduates;

5 went beyond this point in business or trade school; 4 are

college graduates.

As for the mothers, all but 2 are high school graduates, and 5 hold

college degrees.

Ages of parent at time of birth of child, when given, are as

follows:

_Father_ _Mother_

Below 25 2 1

From 25-30 3 4

30-35 2 2

35-40[+] 3 1

Median age of fathers, 31; of mothers, 28.5.

Of the 11 cases where the facts are known, 5 are only children;

4 have one sibling; 1 has 2 siblings and 1 has more than this.

In 5 cases where the child in question is not an only child, he

or she is the eldest sibling. That is, in 10 of the 12 cases the

child is a first-born, so far as the records show.

In a few cases the IQ of the sibling (or siblings) is known. Such

IQ's are invariably above 130, in most cases much higher but in

no case so high as the 180 that would have been required to admit

them to the group here considered. Otherwise, of course, they

would have been included in the study.

Of the 12 cases here described, 4 are girls. It has already

been noted that among the 19 cases cited from the literature

of gifted children there were 12 girls and 7 boys. The total

of 31 cases which this study now makes available comprises 16

girls and 15 boys--as equitable a division of the honors as an

odd number makes possible.

PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT

No single item indicative of early developmental pace in physique

and movement is given for all the 12 cases. For most of them

records are given on walking, talking, reading, first tooth,

height, and weight. Grip is recorded in 5 cases, weight at birth

in 3 only. These data are summarized in the following table. Since

height, weight, and grip were taken at varying ages on the different

children, all that is indicated in these columns is "above normal"

(##) or "below normal" (--).

AGE OF AGE OF AGE OF FIRST

CHILD WALKING TALKING READING TOOTH HEIGHT WEIGHT GRIP

(MONTHS) (MONTHS) (YEARS) (MONTHS)

A 11 3 ## ## ##

B 15 9 3 7 ## ## ##

C 15 16 3 9 -- --

D 12 11 1.5 4 ## --

E 13 24 8 ## Normal --

F 14 12 4.5 10

G ## ## --

H 14 16 4 9.5 ## --

I 10.5 21 3 5 ## ##

J

K 20 24 3 6 ## ##

L 15 9 4 9 ## ##

Median age of walking, for the cases recorded, is 14 months--a

wholly normal age for children in general. Median age of talking

is 14 months--considerably earlier than the norm usually recognized.

The range, too, is wide--from 9 to 24 months. First teeth normally

begin to appear in the sixth to seventh month, and the median here

is close to that. Median age of reading here reported--3 years--is

earlier even than that found in the 19 cases cited from previous

literature (3.5 to 4 years). All but one of the 10 cases for which

stature is reported exceed the norms in this respect. Six are

heavier than the age norm, 1 just at it, and 3 are lighter in

weight. The records of grip tests show nothing unusual. In 3 cases

where weight at birth was recorded, this was from 7 to 10 pounds.

Health is generally reported good.

Talking and reading are the two developmental indices that

most clearly differentiate these records from the norms. These

activities, both involving the use and understanding of symbols,

are the earliest clear expressions of mental liveliness. After they

have appeared, the gifted child's characteristics appear in those

traits called understanding, judgment, learning, discrimination,

and in the interest in and capacity for such linguistic and abstract

activities as are provided by schoolwork. It is, therefore, in the

earlier scholastic activities and in social relations that these

children most notably declare their quality under our prevailing

system of child management.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY

The following brief summaries of the achievement and adjustment

of these twelve children may serve to suggest a few general

principles that are applicable to other cases as well. [1]

SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND EDUCATIONAL ADJUSTMENT

_Child A_. This boy showed signs of precocity before his second

year, reciting, classifying, and playing with words and letters;

and before the age of 3 years showing interest in rhymes and

stories. From first school entrance suitable placement was a

recognized problem, and by the time A was 6 years old he was

brought to a college clinic for educational guidance.

Throughout elementary school A was a trying problem, lacking

interest in the routine program. He was behind his mental level

in handwork and was not motivated to do his best work; he fitted

poorly into social activities. Character traits were highly

approved, except perhaps for independence and obstinacy. He

resorted to imaginary lands, reading, and science and mathematics

as forms of play.

The case was not followed far enough to show his final educational

achievement, although it is known that he went through high school

and entered college.

_Child B_. This girl was occupied with words by the time of her

second year. Her ability was not early recognized by the schools

she attended, although she passed seventh-grade standards while

still in the fourth grade and her marks were always high. As she

had marked social interests and aptitudes, this educational

misplacement caused no serious trouble. When eventually "skipped,"

her size and poise kept her from being conspicuous, although the

youngest in the class. She was apparently a natural leader, and in

addition to the usual preoccupation with reading she had as an

outlet the groups and clubs she organized.

Since she was followed only to high school, her final educational

adjustment is not known.

_Child C_. This boy learned to read "almost as soon as he talked,"

and read fluently before beginning school. He was at once recognized

as "odd," but in spite of perfect work he was not advanced and his

ability was unappreciated by his teachers. At 9 years 6 months,

with a mental age of 18, he was still in the fifth grade. He was

very unhappy until the principal sought educational advice on his

case and he was admitted to a segregated experimental class for

rapid learners, where he quickly became adjusted and was an

enthusiastic scholar.

Personal traits made social adjustment faulty, but he persisted in

his educational career against heavy economic handicaps, finished

high school and college with honors, and completed the medical

training that admitted him to the profession that had been his

ambition since childhood.

_Child D_. This boy was reading before he was 2 years of age, and

was also interested in numbers and relationships. He made social

contacts even before entering school by publishing a playground

newspaper. As an exception to the prevailing rule, this boy's

ability was early appreciated by his parents and it was recognized

by his teachers as early as kindergarten.

His educationally interested parents supervised his instruction

and sought expert advice. Various side talents in which he was

versatile were also cultivated. Mathematical and scientific

interests appeared early and were encouraged. Progress through

school was facilitated and he entered college at 12 years 6 months

of age, graduating with honors at just over 16.

In the following twelve years he became a proficient and well-trained

industrial chemist, holding an important position in this field at

the time of his death at the age of 28.

_Child E_. This child's ability also was recognized by teachers

and parents at an early age, and this appreciation led to diligent

supervision of his subsequent education. When he began to talk

he was equally conversant with four languages. He was always

accelerated in school and his superior size made this procedure

feasible, at least in childhood. His whole bent was toward scholarly

pursuits, and much of his study was privately conducted.

E entered college at 12 years and his precocity was widely

exploited on the campus and in the press. His devotion to his

work and his good sense and humor preserved him from social

difficulties. He even impersonated himself in a class play.

His subsequent intellectual progress was phenomenal and he speedily

became a scholarly contributor and an influential and active leader

in the field of his boyhood choice.

_Child F_. This boy was an educational problem even in his first

years in an ungraded school. Afterward teachers refused to place

him in grades high enough to keep him occupied. A benign form

of truancy that led him to the public library and to chess

tournaments was his way out of his predicament. But in the

process he developed an aversion to educational processes and

to authorities of all kinds.

He was appreciated neither by his parents nor by his teachers

until he was discovered in a survey that sought for just such

minds for an experimental project in the education of the gifted.

Traits other than intellectual made his subsequent educational

history take the form of spurts, with intervening debacles. He

died before the outcome of this group of circumstances could

materialize.

_Child G_. This is a third case of early recognition by teachers

and of guidance by parents, which led in childhood to an educational

clinic for advice. Early interests in reading were fostered and

directed, and more extrovert and social activities were devised

by his parents.

G was rapidly promoted, and after entering an individual progress

class he was a contented scholar. In spite of the facilitation of

his progress through the grades he was not through high school

until 15, and there is every evidence of satisfactory personal

and social adjustment. The case record ends with his admission

to college, on a scholarship, with definite and clearly defined

aims and interests.

_Child H_. This girl's interest in words, stories, and relationships

was noticed before her third year, and early recognition of her

gifts appears to have come through an aunt who had special

educational insight. Although H resorted to imaginary companions,

she was socially minded enough to enjoy playmates.

Since the record terminates with her tenth year, there are no

data on her later educational career. But her story thus far

appears placid and marked by good adjustment and intelligent

guidance.

_Child I_. This case had the advantage of a parent who also had

been studied by educational experts interested in the gifted. Also

her parents were themselves teachers. As early as 2 years she had

been identified as exceptional and her subsequent career appears

to have been guided throughout with wisdom.

I's discontent with aimless activity in the first two school grades

was solved by placing her in the special experimental class

for rapid learners. Her excellent progress and adaptation here

constitute a clear demonstration of the advantages of early

identification and intelligent educational placement.

_Child J_. This child's ability was recognized by her teachers

from the beginning. She was accorded very rapid advancement, which

was probably the only solution available under the circumstances.

The parents, themselves educators, also contributed intelligent

care and guidance in her development.

This favorable conjunction led to her prompt admission to an

experimental group for children of her quality as soon as the

regular teachers realized their inability to provide further

stimulation for her. The definite service provided in this case

by the Bureau of Educational Guidance is also an instructive part

of the picture.

_Child K_. This boy's history is meagerly recorded. His picture

is the usual one of early reading and native interest in learning.

By his seventh year he had been appreciated by relatives who

sought expert advice and guidance in his education. Such advice

was then sought from time to time by his parents, and the brief

record shows no untoward developments in his subsequent education

up to the end of high school.

_Child L_. Achievement was so conspicuous in this case that

as soon as L entered school he was given rapid promotion. His

recommendation to the special class for rapid learners was due

to the joint action of his parents and the school principal.

Once in this group, L's educational problems vanished. Expert

guidance also attended his entrance to high school. As a result of

these circumstances his further career appears to be propitiously

launched.

The observations that seem most obviously to emerge from these

brief summaries of educational history are as follows:

1. Such children as are here presented constitute difficult

educational problems from their entrance in school. The problems

are not only those of the teachers and educational authorities, but

they are chiefly, perhaps, the problems of the children themselves.

2. Depending on the solution of these problems, such children may

either be well articulated to the work of school and society and

thus their remarkable talents be socially capitalized, or they may,

on the other hand, develop distaste for such activities, negativism

toward social projects, and personal obstinacy and recalcitrance,

perhaps accompanied by bitterness.

3. The advantages of early recognition, appreciation and, if

possible, measurement are apparent in the study of this small group

of exceptionally intelligent children. Although all were identified

fairly early in their lives, there are very different degrees

of adaptation to school and society, ranging from opposition

and truancy, through indifference, to rapt and enthusiastic

preoccupation. To a considerable extent these variations appear

to have depended on the earliness of identification of the child's

intellectual quality. The valuable services of surveys, guidance

clinics, and school psychologists are clearly manifested in this

group of cases.

4. The cases that have achieved most contented and socially useful

adaptation are those in which parents, teachers, and principals

have made prompt use of special gift identification, have sought

educational guidance, have personally fostered and supervised the

child's development and the solution of his adjustment problems, or

have taken advantage of such experimental classes for exceptional

children as the schools have offered at the time.

5. Among the cases herein reported the clearest ones of easy

and useful adjustment occurred when the exceptional child became

a member of an experimental group comprised of others of his

approximate kind. In the dozen cases cited, four different projects

of this kind in the New York City schools have been referred to.

CREATIVE WORK

Is it true that children such as those herein described differ from

those of less intelligence merely in having a readier and more

tenacious memory? Are their distinctive achievements only the

phenomenal reproduction of things they have learned--the recitation

of answers they have been taught? Or do they also exhibit signs

of originality and creativeness? Of their superior capacity

for learning there is of course ample evidence. Is it this

feature of their endowment that accounts for their high scores in

conventionally standardized measures such as tests and examinations?

Ordinary records and histories are perhaps not well suited to

disclose originality in childhood unless it is obtrusive. The child

who devises a new way of tying his shoes, of arranging his books,

of managing his pets, of sharpening his skates, may very easily

get no clinical credit for these inventions. No one, indeed, except

the child himself may ever know of them, and it may never occur to

him that they are "creative." A boy who writes a poem, draws a

steamboat, or devises a new game of checkers may immediately get

credit for originality, while one who invents a technique of his

own for shaving the back of his own neck may remain unheralded as

a creator.

Our concept of "creativeness" has become standardized so as to

suggest chiefly contributions to the conventional arts. It may

nevertheless be instructive to review these case histories, looking

in each for signs of activity that might in one way or another

be construed as creative.

_Child A_. At 12 months he was classifying his blocks according

to letter shapes. Before 16 months of age A tired of saying the

letters of the alphabet forward and "guessed he would say them

backward." He "made rhymes" of his own by the third year. He

developed arithmetical principles unsuspected by either parents

or teachers. He had an elaborate "imaginary land." He did not

play well with other children because he always wanted to introduce

new methods of playing the games. He devised elaborate schemes

of his own for classifying events and objects. There is very

little of the conventional interest in drawing, painting, poetry,

mechanics, or music in this account, but it is clear enough that

in his own way A had originality.

_Child B_. This child's early acquisition of the art of reading

appears to have been untutored, and her passion for organizing

clubs showed at least a certain type of initiative. But the record

gives little evidence of other creative activity. Her chief

distinction so far as noted was in the fields of excellent

schoolwork and social adaptability.

_Child C_. This boy's earliest recognition was on the basis

of what the teachers called his "phenomenal memory." But from

early years his chief passion was for science, and his main

interest therein was the possibility of discovering new things.

There is, however, little evidence of ingenuity in the record,

and C was chiefly distinguished by the mass and facility of his

knowledge, learned chiefly from others.

_Child D_. The very curiosity of this boy might be said to have a

creative or original character. "He was always asking unexpected

questions." His playground newspaper was an original project in

spite of its conventional character. So also was his passion for

tabulation and calculation. His imaginary land was a complicated

creation, as was the elaborate dictionary of its unique language.

Musical composition was one of his pastimes, and he had active

native talent for drawing and design. The invention of new words

and new games was creative, and he had original classifications

for many varieties of natural objects. His interest in science,

which became uppermost, led to original experiments such as those

on "the path of a tack." His final adoption of scientific work as

a career is in keeping with this, and the position held at the end

of his brief life was one concerned with chemical research in a

relatively new industry. In a very real sense this boy's creative

interests are fundamental in the picture of his development.

_Child E_. Originality appears among E's characteristics even

in his definitions of words in the vocabulary tests. His life

was, however, so harnessed to the organized pursuit of degrees

that conventional fields of learning came to preoccupy him and

there was little originality in his choice of an occupation,

to which he appears to have been guided by solicitous elders.

Such originality as he has had appeared abstractly and verbally.

Thus his "constructive ability" was good but his "manual dexterity"

poor. He had an imaginary country. After his escape from the

hierarchy of organized education he became an active and productive

scholar in his field, although it may be that theology is not

a field in which creativeness is encouraged.

_Child F_. There is little evidence in the career of F of anything

that could be called creative. He was in many ways ingenious, and

he was socially nonconforming. He was a storehouse of information

but not sagacious in the use of his knowledge. His ingenuity was

not along original lines but in such conventionalized fields

as chess, bridge, and dialectic. His capacity for intellectual

work was phenomenal, but for the most part such activities were

in prescribed fields, and a temporary interest in science was

deflected to law--like theology, a field in which creativeness

is not always an asset.

_Child G_. This boy's education was so scrupulously supervised

and so sedulously recorded that he had little time for original

projects. His questions and remarks evince a lively curiosity,

and his abiding interests in chemistry and mathematics, with a

research turn, perhaps point to creative trends that are poorly

reflected in more elementary years. There is little evidence of

unusual proficiency in any of the creative arts.

_Child H_. The chief interests of H as a child were in "drawing,

painting, and mosaic blocks." She developed imaginary companions.

She showed at an early age pronounced interests and aptitudes

in stories and in versification. She was a composer of creditable

childhood songs, poetry, and plays. She was followed only to her

eleventh year and up to this point seems to have shown definite

signs of constructive imagination.

_Child I_. This girl was versatile in many creative ways. She

developed imaginary companions, wrote music and songs, produced

dramatizations, wrote effective verses and longer poems. So far

as the brief record shows, her creative interests remained close

to the conventionalized arts, except for the native curiosity

characteristic of most very bright children.

_Child J_. The data on J are so scant that little assurance as

to her originality can be felt. At 7 she was in many ways an

independent thinker. She composed "jingles" at the same time that

she was reading Shakespearean plays, and the examiner commented

on her "constructive imagery." She wrote acceptable poems before

her tenth birthday. But for the most part she had been so occupied

by rapid educational promotion that this is the most conspicuous

feature in her description.

_Child K_. This boy has without doubt an enthusiasm for scholarly

inquiry. He made no spontaneous collections, had no pets, no

imaginary companions or lands. In a sense these traits which are

lacking in K's personality are usually counted as originalities

in children of such high intelligence. But data are not at hand

to enable a judgment to be made of the presence or absence of

creativeness in this child.

_Child L_. This is the case of a boy who showed such independent

zeal for acquiring information that this curiosity had itself a

creative tone. He is inventive and constructive even in mechanical

ways--an exception in this particular group of cases. His teachers

find him possessed of knowledge in mathematics which he must have

derived from his own reflection. He also has marked initiative in

using his knowledge, is full of constructive suggestions, makes

many scientific experiments of his own, has many hobbies, and wants

to do things to "advance scientific knowledge." Although he shows

know unusual proficiency in the conventional arts, there can be

no doubt that in affairs intellectual and scientific his mind

is not only creative but also fertile.

GENERAL STATEMENT

If a general statement be attempted on the basis of such data as

the descriptions and these summaries afford, it might be to the

effect that one third of these highly intelligent children

(A, D, H, L) show notable signs of creativeness. Another third

(C, E, I, J) show such indications to a moderate degree. In the

remaining third (B, F, G, K) there is at least no indication of

marked constructive originality provided by these descriptions.

Certainly these creative dispositions are more conspicuous in these

cases than in the general population of children. How these very

rare intelligences compare in this respect with those ranging from,

say, 130 to 175 IQ we cannot know. Creativeness even at best is

infrequent enough. In experiences of daily life of course such

creativeness might be more often found in children in the middle

range of high intelligences because there are so many more of these

in the population.

On the other hand, it may be that creativeness in marked degree

appears in these higher ranges only. Under any circumstances it is

not an all-or-none phenomenon, and the problem of the correlation

of originality with intelligence scores perhaps deserves more

careful study than it has received. It seems suggested at least by

these few cases that very high intelligence may in some instances

become directed along wholly conventional channels, showing

itself in the amount of work or the rate of progress, with little

or no manifestation of creative originality. If this is the

case, it should be important to discover what extent this is a

reflection of the regimentation of the occupation of such children

by organized educational projects and close parental supervision,

and to what extent it is a characteristic that is native in the

individual. If it should be true that creativeness is closely

dependent on such a high range of intelligence as that shown

by this group of twelve children, a social order that esteems

creativeness should give serious thought to the conditions of

its cultivation and its development.

In this connection it is of some significance that so far as

these cases are concerned, the best adjustments appear to have

been made in educational arrangements that required the devotion

of only one part of the child's time to established curricula,

thus leaving time and providing encouragement for individual

initiative and enrichment.

[1] This chapter was written by H. L. H.