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1. Your Child - Perhaps never in our country's history have we been so aware of our schools, so well informed about the problems our schools face, and so deeply concerned with raising the quality of public-school education.

Yet in spite of our general information and concern, one of the key factors in the education of our own children continues to be a blind spot, a shibboleth, an old wives' tale.

2. Why an IQ? - Hardly a day goes by in any school that the question "What's his IQ?" is not asked, orally or mentally, by some teacher or supervisor.

When a teacher attempts to diagnose a pupil's slow progress, she begins by asking:

"What's his I Q?"

When a principal receives a recommendation that a pupil be given remedial work, or that another be promoted to a brighter group, he begins by asking:

3. The Chicken - Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which comes first, intelligence or achievement? (By achievement we mean the ability to perform basic skills in reading, arithmetic, writing, and the like.)

Consider Joey, for example, who is in the sixth grade and reads on a fourth-grade level. Is he a slower reader because his I Q is 88? Or is his I Q recorded as 88 because he is a slow reader and this curtails his performance on his I Q test? Which comes first, the chicken of achievement or the egg of intelligence?

4. What Is the IQ? - It is generally known that the I Q is a number, that the number measures level of intelligence, and that the level of intelligence is determined by the individual's performance on an intelligence test. Beyond that the average person knows little about the I Q.

The letters I Q stand, of course, for Intelligence Quotient. This quotient is obtained by dividing mental age by chronological age and multiplying the result by 100. It is Mental Age that is supposedly measured by the test.

5. Intelligence? - Would you like to try an interesting experiment that will provide you with some understanding of why so many people regard the I Q with such awe and respect?

Ask as many individuals as you can to define intelligence. The chances are that you will get a different definition from everyone you ask. And yet, though it is very difficult to define, most people seem to feel that they know what intelligence is.

6. Nature vs. Nurture - Among the psychologist's controversies over intelligence, the so-called Nature-Nurture problem is probably the most significant. That is, to what extent is intelligence the product of heredity (nature) and/or of environment (nurture) ? Is a child born with a fixed amount of intelligence which determines what he will or will not be able to accomplish? Or does his intelligence develop as a result of his total experiences and learning?

7. Effect of Environment - The nature-nurture controversy has been raging among psychologists for years, and it is not surprising that both extremes, as well as those in the middle, have often tried to confirm their viewpoints by means of experiment (and all end up by placing the burden of proof on the opposition). Among these experiments are many which indicate that environmental influences can and do cause significant changes in the I Q; and while they do not "prove" the environmentalist point of view, their results are impressive enough to warrant much more consideration and evaluation than they have received from parents.

8. Intelligence Test? - The content of the I Q tests comes out of the experiences children normally have. It is based upon our culture, in the broadest sense of the word. More and more, psychologists are recognizing that children whose experiences and backgrounds differ do not have equal chances for success on I Q tests.

In recent years a number of psychologists have concentrated on developing what were first called "culture-free tests" and are now called "culture-fair tests." The aim of these tests is to minimize the influence of culture.

9. Can IQ Be Raised? - Not all i q scores can be raised. Or the many that can be raised, and they are unquestionably the great majority, not all can be raised the same amount. And there is no accurate way of telling whose scores are subject to increase or how much any child's score might be raised.

Let's look at those whose scores cannot be raised. Actually, the word "cannot" should not be used no matter how serious an I Q problem may be involved. But there are types of cases where the cost in time and effort would be great and the practical value of any increase almost nonexistent.

10. Better Environment? - If the key to changes in a child's I Q is in his environment, then the basic test involved in raising a child's I Q is to provide the child with a better environment. What, then, constitutes a good environment?

Perhaps the easiest way to define a good environment would be to break it down into component parts: emotional environment, intellectual and verbal environment, and physical environment.

11. Play + Intelligence - Play is serious business to children. It is the principal means by which young children learn and develop, and thus has a direct relationship with intelligence. Many of the skills and a good deal of the knowledge that are measured by I Q tests are developed and acquired through play.

Many obvious examples of this can be culled from the test samples listed in Chapter VIII:,

12. Verbal Environment - Without doubt the greatest single external influence on the average child's intelligence is the verbal environment in which he is raised. Since intelligence tests in general, and group tests in particular, concentrate so much on measuring verbal ability, the child whose experience and background has provided him with a good verbal development will have a tremendous advantage. The foundation for such development is created by the child's parents and the verbal environment they provide in the home.

13. Use the Exercises - The exercises which follow are similar to those found in the most widely used group tests of intelligence. Again, most schools use the I Q scores made on group tests as a primary factor in grouping pupils in classes on the basis of ability; often the group test is the only factor.

These exercises are designed for two purposes. First they can increase the child's speed in doing the various types of examples. Each type is solved by utilizing a certain technique. For some, such as the vocabulary examples, the technique is very simple; for the other types it is more complex.

Exercises -Directions. In each of the following examples you are given a proverb and four possible answers. Select the answer that means the same or most nearly the same as the proverb.

Sample. Do not hang all on one nail.

a. Don't count your chickens until they are hatched.
b. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
c. Don't use a nail, use a hanger.
d. The wise man looks ahead.

Answers -

THE END

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