In 1921 Lewis Terman began his study of 1,000 gifted children, in one of the longest and most interesting longitudinal studies of our time! He gathered information about these people (overwhelmingly White males and females) through test scores and interviews, throughout their lifetime to gather information about their lives and show that those children identified as “intelligent” were destined for greatness. He also held the belief that this intelligence was innate, or hereditary and proposed identifying these children to foster their success for the betterment of society. But was Terman right?
Original Comment
After reading Open Stax 7.6 – Sources of intelligence, you will also read The Vexing Legacy of Lewis Terman (Stanford Magazine). Then answer these questions to demonstrate your understanding of the origins of intelligence and its relationship with success:
- Summarize Terman’s research methodology in 2-3 sentences.
- In what ways were the “Termites” remarkable and unremarkable compared to the average population?
- What were the 3 big differences between the most and least successful “Termites”?
- Does research on the “Termites” conclusively show that intelligence is a predictor of success?
- How has this research impacted your mindset about intelligence?
