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Intelligence
Intelligence and the childMythsGeneticsStudy of intelligenceNature of giftednessCreativityFAQIdentificationPsychology testsIQ scoreIdentifying talentscharacteristicsExceptional qualitiesObservationsLists and limitationNurture
Protegy and childhoodSecret of successGenius factoryObjectionsAssembly lineGrowthCultivating talentsProblemsPlay and explorationSelf conceptFamily relationshipKindergartenUnderachieversPre-schoolPrenatal developmentInfanthoodStimulation|
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| London News Chronicle reported triumphantly 'Little Sally Trounces the IQ Expert'. Nine-year-old Sally had taken an intelligence test before an Education Department child guidance expert in Sydney. He had pronounced her 'mentally backward'. Her parents were worried and distressed. Then they found a report Sally had written on the man who tested her. She headed the report 'Description of Testing Person'. 'Tired appearance, rubbing of eyes, taking glasses on and off... not placing hand over the mouth while yawning ... Flopped into chair, which should not be done (sign of bad manners)... Book thrown from chair to desk (lazy)... While reading from card, he had his head in the drawer looking for a rubber. Not paying attention ... not an interested or talk able type ...' Sally's damning personality test on her examiner continued. The New South Wales Education Department hastily destroyed their official's report. This happened in the 50’s. Yet even today, how many parents would have had the nerve to storm back to the Education Department as Sally's did? Identifying areas of potential talent will help in planning for a child's development and education. It may also affect one's expectations of the child, since he/she is born with certain talents and it helps if one responds to what is given. In other words, you may find yourself nurturing an artist rather than the mathematical genius you always wanted to be yourself. It is very important to put aside one's own ambitions and focus on the child's needs. On the other hand, do not overemphasize on the lack of apparent abilities. A great poet might not have started as a good speller/calligraphist; and who knows if the childhood Bach had a nice singing voice, or Dr. Sun Yat Sin a sharp shooter. Method commonly used for assessing abilities, and limitations (tests commonly used in Hong Kong are in brackets) 1, Teacher's observation Essential and most valuable component but may miss those who do not conform to accepted standards of work or behavior, those who present motivational or emotional problems, with belligerent or apathetic attitudes towards school and academic work, or those from homes who do not share the schools' ethos. 2, Checklists for teachers and parents Useful as a guide on what to watch out for. There are many versions available. Can be misleading and may not be relevant for individual cases. 3, Group intelligence tests (such as Raven's Progressive Matrices) Generally useful as an initial screen to supplement and counterbalance subjective observations. May not identify those with reading difficulties, emotional or motivational problems, those from different cultural backgrounds. 4, Achievement test batteries (such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)) Provides more detailed information on wider range of skills and abilities, but subject to same limitations of group tests. Will not necessarily identify the true abilities of children. 5, Creativity tests (such as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)) May offer chance to reveal divergent thinking and quality of imagination in those overlooked by conventional tests, but of uncertain validity. The scores however are not reliable predictors of late accomplishments. (Later accomplishments in a particular area such as art and science are much more closely correlated with early accomplishments in that field than creativity tests.) 6, Individual intelligence tests (such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised (WISC-R)) Provides the most accurate and reliable information on ability to 'reason' in conventional terms. Most useful as a counter-balance to other assessments. May not indicate how a child will perform in class, nor predict achievement in individual cases. Subject to cultural bias and costly in use of professional time. (Recently, multi-factorial testing have been introduced from both the Education Department as well as private institutions. Regardless of how well they are claimed to be non-culture biased and constructed, and normed to the local population, it must be noted that as the local student population’s composition is in constant flux, the present population must thus consist of a fluctuating genetic composition, varied cultural background and upbringing that the testing population might not have covered.) The designation of giftedness is only a statistically significant category (indicating a relatively uncommon level of abilities or potentials). In reality, we all know that, for example, IQ 131 and IQ 129 children, despite their undoubted existence, do not fall into naturally DISTINCTIVE but SEPARATE categories of skill/intellect/potentials. By favoring the gifted child and not make efforts to appropriately acknowledge and develop others at school, social prejudice favoring giftedness (such as the elitist top 2% view) will be reinforced. In a sense, it is meaningless to talk about giftedness' prevalence because it is actually what one would care to define giftedness to be, (in terms of IQ score of a particular scale, or in terms of rarity expressed as a percentage of the general population) whether it is 2% or 10% (refer to Footnotes). IQ scores are not constants either. There is evidence that the average value of IQ scores may vary between racial groups , between generations, and over time even for the same individual. The norm value of psychometric tests (such as IQ tests for children) of a population may need to be updated more regularly if the population's characteristics or composition experience a cumulatively gradual but significant shift. |
| IQ gifted talent | IQ intelligence |
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