Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23

majority Of these children did not know they
were exceptionally gifted: their parents had
not the slightest idea that they were unusual:
and their teachers with surprising and dis
couraging unanimity. actually sat down upon
them and squelched them.
II Is a ghastly truth that the majority Of
school teachers dislike the brilliant child they
regard him as q smart aleck." DESTROYS OF
showing on; as consequences he becomes dis-
couraged or overtimid and comes to regard
himself as failure. instead Of being, - he
truly is the hope Of the Nation.
In reality this study began away back IN 1897
when Prof. Terman. then an Indiana school
teacher studying at Clark University. began to
study children oS exceptional abilities. As ne
said to me recently, MY, myi What progress
we have made since theml Any one Of my
abilities noW~in one hour than whole group
OF psychologists could tell at that time BIZ
studying child for six months"
when the enterprise began, the first thing.
Of course, was to discover the most able chill
dren in the public SCHOOL, This was done By
mental tests Schooi grades and other devices.
Most of this selection was done in 192l-22, ale
though Prof. Terman had already been follow
ing one group. known as the high school group.
for several years. More than 100 pages OF
typewriter data were gathered about each
child,
The prime point heresis that they were Be.
lectad solely for them intelligenceTthei sheer
intellectual capacities. The. after they had
been selected as being tive most gifted mentally,
the STAN began these extensive studies on each
child in order to f1no what the average child
Of brilliant mental gifts Is really Ike in his gems
eral bodily, emotional and temperainentsl ehar-
acteristics.
Ehey frst sought to answer those very ques-
tions suggested . moment ago. Are children
Of great intellectual capacity usually unstable,
puny, 0VerSpecia4zed in their abilities and iuter@
ests, socially UNACCEPTABLE, psychotic and morally
Indispensable? And second. by the follow-up
studies just finished, they sought to answer the
further question: Do brilliant children usually
deteriorate to the level Of mediocrity Is they be-
come adults. or do they tend, on the average,
at least, where they have any reasonable Op-
pcrtunity, to maintain q higher level of.intel-
iectual achievement, moral balance and physical
health as they go on through college and uni
versity and out into professional and public
life?
The first Of these questions was answered
triumphantiy in the affirmative. First brilliant
children are healthier and generally superior
physically to average unsolicited children. On
the physical side nearly 900 of these children
were examined, when they were first discovered.
with the most delicate instruments and given 81
different physical measurements. size Of chest,
neck, legs, arms, head height, weight and all
such bodily proportions.
While, Of course, they were not all athletes.
they did show an appreciablc physical superior
ity to ordinary children. Their life records
showed only about half rs much indigestion
and physical ailments as ordinary children.
They had only half as many decayed teeth as is
usual. According to the report of their mothers,
they had even slept an average OF SO minutes
more per day, when they were babies. than or
binary babies do. And, most astonishing OF
all, and also the most smashing proof that
geniuses are not frsiI, they weighed en- aver
age OF three-fourths Of pound more a baby
when they were born than average babies
weight
OF course. good deal CT their physical health
was due to the fact that they had highly in
telligent parents who had given them better
food and care. This In itself puts another p0p-
ular superstition on the Shelf. namely, thae
gehiuses are mostly born Ct commonplace par
@ents. The parents of these gifted youngsters