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_
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.
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."