Children Above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and Development

by Leta Stetter Hollingworth

CHAPTER EIGHT CHILD E

Child E when first seen was a boy 8 years 4 months of age. He was born June 17, 1908, and the first psychological measurements were made November 4, 1916. The circumstances that led to acquaintance with him were as follows:

A child of exceptional intelligence was desired for demonstration before a class at Teachers College, Columbia University, engaged in the study of the psychology and treatment of exceptional children. [1] E was suggested because of his remarkable school record. The consent of the parents was secured and the psychological examination was made before a class of about thirty students.

This was not, of course, the ideal circumstance under which to perform a mental test for scientific record. The presumption would be that the audience would tend to reduce the child's performance, so that whatever error there might be from this source would be in the direction of making the child appear less exceptional than he really was. Of course no one knew beforehand that such a phenomenal record was about to be made; for had such an unusual result been expected this child would have been kept for examination under more favorable laboratory conditions. [2] For an account of this testing, see under "Mental measurements," [this chapter.]

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Little or nothing is known of E's paternal relatives. His father was separated from them before age of recollection.

Of E's maternal ancestry fairly complete genealogical records are available. [3] Five persons bearing the surname of the mother settled in New England before 1650. These were probably all related to each other. The individual who was E's direct ancestor first appeared in New England in 1639 and settled at Cambridge, Massachusetts. This family attained great distinction in the six generations recorded in the New England genealogy. A son of the first ancestor in America was a royal councilor and the greatest merchant of his day in New England. A grandson was royal governor of Massachusetts, and later of New Jersey; he was also a patron of learning. A great-grandson was chief justice and lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia. A great-great-grandson was a royal councilor of Nova Scotia; some of his children settled again in England, of whom a son was a distinguished naval officer, attaining the rank of rear admiral in the British navy. These genealogical records, and other records of New England families which intermarried with this family, have not been brought up to date.

The maternal surname appears first about 1176 in the records of England, and was apparently Norman-French in origin. The remote male ancestor [4] from whom the mother of E derives the middle part of her maiden name was born in Providence, Rhode Island, March 11, 1753, a descendant of early colonial settlers in America. He was graduated from Rhode Island College (now Brown University) in 1773 and later took a medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1783 he was appointed Professor of Materia Medica and Botany at Brown. In 1819 he was elected a delegate from the Rhode Island Medical Society, of which he was vice president, to the convention which formulated the National Pharmacopoeia. He took an active part in the organization and proceedings of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. In 1824, with his son, William, he published The Farmer's Guide, "a comprehensive work on husbandry and gardening." He participated in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and delivered many lectures on botany. He died at the age of 81 years, leaving among descendants a large proportion of persons in the learned professions.

Father. E's father, while still a college undergraduate, produced a Latin play which was performed in a Boston theater. Since graduation from college he has maintained a keen interest in educational matters. He organized a special library of insurance in Boston which is now used as a reference library all over the world. He is at present [1939] engaged in business; has written several books; is a university lecturer on insurance; has served on many important city commissions. Unusual mental endowment is clearly indicated by the fact that he rose entirely by his own direction and effort to a post of honor in an intricate field of knowledge. He was 45 years old when E was born.

Mother. E's mother was a qualified physician and a specialist in bacteriology. For some years she held a position as bacteriologist in one of the municipal departments of New York City. After the birth of her son she devoted a great deal of attention to his education and welfare, keeping records of his development, supervising his health, and acting as his teacher. She often accompanied him to school, sometimes registered for courses along with him, or herself took courses calculated to make her more useful in his training. She gave an exceptional amount of attention to his formal educational program and cultivated with him numerous extracurricular intellectual activities. During E's college career the two were often seen together on the campus.

EARLY HISTORY [5]

E was his parents' fourth child, three girls having been born before him, all having died. Birth was difficult. He was bottle fed. His parents were both in middle life at the time of his birth. He cut his first tooth at 8 months—a lateral incisor. He walked at thirteen months.

Up to the age of 2 years E did not say a word. He then began to talk, and before he was 3 years old was able to read such books as Peter Rabbit. Conversation with him was carried on in German, French, Italian, and English equally. When he did begin to talk he could say in these four languages all the words he knew.

Health. E's health has been exceptionally good from infancy. He has had no disorders or diseases except measles, and an occasional attack of indigestion. He is exceptionally free from colds.

Physical measurements. The figures given below as averages are for a boy of 8 years 4 months who is the same height as E. The average height for a boy of this age is 49.7 inches. The measurements here given for E were transcribed from the gymnasium records of the school he was then attending.

CHILD E AVERAGE FOR MEASUREMENTS OCTOBER AGE 8 YEARS 4 MONTHS 30, 1916 AT HEIGHT 54.3 INCHES

Weight 89.3 pounds 70.5 pounds
Height 54.3 inches 54.3 pounds
Girth of chest 31.8 inches 25.6 inches
Girth of chest,
expanded 32.4 inches 26.8 inches
Lung capacity 100 cubic inches 112.0 cubic inches
Strength, right
forearm 30.9 pounds 39.7 pounds
Strength, left
forearm 22.0 pounds 37.5 pounds

It will thus be seen that E is considerably larger than the average boy of his age, though of less lung capacity and forearm strength.

Other characteristics. E has clear, well-molded features. He does not like physical exercise of any kind but has had special attention along this line, such as lessons in swimming, dancing, and horseback riding. He sleeps eleven hours and goes to sleep immediately upon going to bed.

SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT

E went to kindergarten from the age of 3 years to the age of 5 years. From 5 to 6 he was out of school on account of school organization (he could not be accepted in the first grade). From 6 to 7 years he attended an open-air, ungraded school and did the work of the second to the fourth grades. From 7 to 8 years he was in the fourth grade in regular school classes, and at the time of first observation by the writer, when he was 8 years old, he was in the sixth grade.

He was thus three full years accelerated in school grading, according to age-grade norms, but was still three years retarded in school according to his Mental Age. (Terman makes special note of the fact that superior children are almost invariably retarded in school grading according to Mental Age.) His mother stated that under private tutors E had at this time covered the work of the seventh and nearly all the work of the eighth grade. His school standing, on his last report preceding this initial account, was as follows (the highest attainable rating is 1, the lowest, 4):

Courtesy 1 Composition 2 Penmanship 3
Promptness 1 Grammar or Industrial Arts 1 [7]
System 1 Language 2 Fine Arts 4 [8]
Spelling 2 Mathematics 3 [6] Music 2
Reading or Geography 1 Physical Educa-
Literature 1 History 1 tion 4
Science 1

In addition to his regular school work E, by the time he was 8 years old, had covered the following special work in language and mathematics, either with a tutor or with his mother:

Mathematics: Algebra as far as equations; geometry.

Latin: Partial knowledge of the four declensions (he has been
taught by the direct, informal method, and reads easy Latin).

Greek: Worked out the alphabet for himself from an astronomical
chart, between the ages of 5 and 6 years.

French: Equal to about two years in the ordinary school.

German: Ordinary conversation.

Spanish: Attended class with his mother—reads and understands.

Italian: Reading knowledge and simple conversation.

Portugese: Asked his mother to take this course at the Columbia
Summer School because he could not be registered himself.

Hebrew: A beginning.

Anglo-Saxon: A beginning.

Astronomy: He has worked out all the constellations from
MacCready, and displays a very great interest in this subject.

One evening this winter he noticed a new planet near the
Twins. He said it was Saturn but his mother thought it was
Mars. E went home, worked the position out from the chart
and found it to be Saturn.

Miscellaneous: He has a great interest in nature, wherever found,
and is already able to use Apgar intelligently.

His writing is not equal to his other accomplishments. He is very slow at it and for this reason dictates most of his "home work" to a stenographer.

History is his chief and absorbing interest among school subjects.

MENTAL MEASUREMENTS

At the time E was first tested, at Teachers College, Columbia
University, in November, 1916, the Stanford revision of the
Binet-Simon measuring scale was used for the determination of
the child's mental level.

General intelligence. The examiner [L. S. H.] began with the "ball-in-the-field" test. E responded at once with the superior solution, thus giving a preliminary cue to the quality of his mind, and the examiner proceeded immediately with the other tests at the 12-year level of intellect. E passed all the 12-year tests with facility and ease, giving responses of excellent quality. From the 12-year level the examiner then worked forward in all the higher levels through Superior Adult. This is, of course, a long examination, and in view of the actual age of the child it was deemed best to give the tests at two separate sittings, when it was seen that he would cover the whole upper range of the scale. The examination was therefore accomplished in two sittings of about fifty minutes each. The final record of E shows that he measures on the scale as follows:

Levels 1 year
to 7 years YEARS MONTHS

8
9
10
12 12
14 16
Adult 15
Superior Adult 12
—- ——
Total 15 7

Since his actual age is 8 years 4 months and his Mental Age is 15 years 7 months, his IQ is 187. On the curve of the distribution of intellect he stands eleven times the probable error (11 PE) removed from the norm, a position occupied by but one child in more than a million. He stands as far removed from the average in the direction of superiority as an idiot stands removed from the average in the direction of inferiority.

An analysis of his performance shows that E had extraordinary appreciation of the exact use of words and of the shades of difference between words. He gave correct meanings for 64 words out of the 100 in the vocabulary test. His vocabulary thus includes 11,520 words. The score of the Average Adult is 65 words. Thus he just missed scoring on this Average Adult test. Samples of his definitions are as follows:

scorch—is what happens to a thing when exposed to great heat.
quake—is a kind of movement, unintended.
ramble—is a walk taken for pleasure.
nerve—is a thing you feel by—for instance, cold.
majesty—is a word used to address a king—your majesty.
Mars—is a planet.
peculiarity—is something you do that nobody else does.
mosaic—is a picture made by many small pieces of marble.
bewail—is to be extremely sorrowful.
tolerate—is to allow others to do what you don't like yourself.
lotus—is a kind of flower.
harpy—is a kind of half-bird, half-woman, referred to in Virgil.
fen—is a kind of marsh.
laity—is not clergy.
ambergris—it comes from a whale.
straw—the stalk of a cereal plant.
lecture—someone giving a very long talk about something to an
audience.

E also has a prodigious ability for comprehending and formulating abstract ideas, and for working with symbols. He gave the differences between the abstract concepts under Average Adult as follows:

a—laziness and idleness. Laziness is that you don't want to work; idleness is that you can't, for a while.

b—evolution and revolution. Evolution is making things from
the beginning; revolution is changing them.

c—poverty and misery. Poverty is when you don't have anything;
misery is how you feel when someone insults you.

d—character and reputation. Character is what he really is; reputation is what they think he is.

E succeeded in reversing the clock hands three times without any error in less than a minute for each trial. He was able to reproduce the thought from the selection beginning "Many opinions have been given about the value of life" as well as a Superior Adult. He solved the three mental arithmetic problems under XIV, 5, in less than a minute each, absolutely without error. These performances serve to illustrate his precocious power over symbols and over abstractions.

His attention, concentration, and capacity for sustained effort are illustrated by the fact that he was able to repeat five digits backwards twice out of three trials absolutely without error, before a class of thirty adults. His memory span for digits repeated forward is at least 8. (He was not tried with more than 8 digits.)

During the examination he showed neither embarrassment nor any tendency to "show off." He was alert, interested, and gave his attention strictly to the business in hand. He always knew when he had failed on a test, and gave up with great reluctance. For example, he was unable to solve the problems under XVIII, 6, in the time allotted; but he carried these data away in his head, and held to them tenaciously till he had solved the problems. In several instances after he had given his reply he recast it in better form. In short, he exemplified in remarkable degree all the characteristics which Binet finally chose as symptomatic of intellectual power; i.e., (1) the ability to make and maintain a given direction; (2) the capacity to make adaptations for the purpose of obtaining a desired end; and (3) the power of auto-criticism.

Special tests. Following the procedure described by Seashore, and using the set of forks recommended by him, E was tested for pitch discrimination, being given seven trials with the whole series of forks. His record was as follows, ## meaning a correct answer and — meaning a false one.

VIBRATION DIFFERENCES
30 23 17 12 8 5 3 2 1 .5
Series
1 ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##
2 ## ## — ## ## ## ## ## — —
3 ## ## ## ## ## — ## — — ##
4 ## ## ## ## ## — ## — ## —
5 ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## — —
6 ## ## ## ## ## — ## ## ## —
7 ## ## ## ## ## — ## — ## ##

His threshold for pitch discrimination would thus seem to be not greater than five vibrations, and would probably be found to be as low as three if a more complete test were possible. This is a very good record, according to Seashore's standards.

E gave free associations to the first 50 words of the Kent-Rosanoff list of words, both stimulus and response words being oral. The stimulus words and responses follow:

STIMULUS RESPONSE STIMULUS RESPONSE STIMULUS RESPONSE table dinner smooth surface needle slim dark night command army red color music soft chair cushion sleep fast sickness fatal sweet sugar anger sick man tall whistle blew carpet bagger deep ocean woman lady girl pretty soft couch cold coal high mountain eating dinner slow train working people mountain snowcapped wish I sour lemon house brick river Hudson earth big black dog white color trouble great mutton beef beautiful dress soldier brave comfort your window glass cabbage green hand dirty rough surface hard surface short man citizen U. S. eagle swift fruit orange foot bare stomach ache butterfly moth spider black

At once after giving some of these responses E explained why he had given them. Thus he explained that "carpet bagger" had to do "with Civil War history." After giving "beef" in response to "mutton" he smiled and said, "That's a joke, isn't it?" When asked why he thought it a joke he replied that he thought very few people would give that answer. After the test he was told that 97 people in a thousand gave "beef" in response to "mutton," and he at once said, "Ten per cent, that's not so very many."

It was impossible, for lack of time, to give E the complete list of 100 words usually given in this test. Using the 50 as a basis for calculation, 78 per cent of the responses are "common responses" in the Kent-Rosanoff sense of the word, a number of common responses which children do not usually show until after the age of 10 years. His "median of community" (a measure not yet standardized for age levels) is 1.4 per cent.

E was given the Pintner form of the Knox Cube Test, and achieved 11 of the 12 lines arranged by Pintner. The average record for the 16-year-old is only 8 lines, and this is the highest level for which this test is yet standardized.

The usual "tapping" test was given, tapping continuously with the right hand, with the stylus, for one minute. The record was 239 taps only, which is lower than the average 8-year-old record.

Given three minutes in which to make up words out of the letters
A-E-I-R-L-P, E made the following: a, rip, pie, lie, ale.

He was given thirty minutes in which to put together the pieces in the Stenquist Construction Box II, and was not able to put any of the pieces together. He began at one end of the box, examined each set of materials in turn, tried to put them together in an indiscriminate way, put them back, and went on to the next set of materials. He remarked, "I don't seem to be able to put any of them together. It seems that all I can do is found out what each of the things is for." He recognized that various sets of pieces were "a mousetrap," "a lock," "a bell," etc., but made a zero score from the point of view of construction. At the end of twenty minutes he gave up and turned away from the materials.

It is interesting to compare the child's record in construction tests and his comments regarding these tests, with his school record in industrial arts and fine arts. E receives the best possible rating in industrial arts because he has keen insight into processes and can explain how to construct a mechanism or perform an operation clearly and minutely, though he is unable to carry out his own instructions. For instance, he can tell exactly how to make a boat, but he cannot make the boat himself. There is thus an interesting distinction here between "constructive ability" and "manual dexterity." Similarly, in fine arts E has many ideas for decorative schemes, but he is unable to execute these ideas with his hands.

SOCIAL HABITS, TASTES, ETC.

E does not care to play, and would never do so unless forced. He is very impersonal and agreeable in his attitude toward other children. His chief diversion is reading and his favorite book at the age of 8 is Ivanhoe. He has no hobbies at this age. In the spring of 1916, after careful and thoughtful preparation, he was confirmed in the Episcopal church. His desire is to be a clergyman and to become a missionary. When asked what he would consider the most fun in life, he replied "To have statistics of my imaginary country." This country is on Venus. It is inhabited by people and has a navy like ours. E does not volunteer much information about his interests. All these items had to be elicited by questioning.

LATER MENTAL MEASUREMENTS

In the spring of 1920 E took the Thorndike Mental Tests for Freshmen, for entrance to Columbia College. An official letter from the Director of Admissions at Columbia College states that, "In the Freshmen Tests he was number two, out of 483 entering Columbia College." He was at this time 12 years 0 months old; the median age of his competitors was about 18 years.

ON September 29, 1921, E was examined by means of the Army Alpha (Forms 5 and 6, Examiner L. S. H.) for the purpose of recording his mental development. On Alpha, Form 5, he made a score of 194 points, finishing several of the tests, without error, before the time limit. On Form 6, which was taken subsequently, on the same afternoon, his score was 201 points; and with these, too, some of the tests were finished in about two thirds of the time allowed, without error. As the method of scoring Alpha does not provide for a time bonus, this cannot be taken into account in the formal score.

In April, 1927, at the request of the writer [L. S. H.] E took the tests of the IER Intelligence Scale CAVD, Levels M-Q. This series of tests is described in a recent publication. [9] Briefly it may be said here that this instrument was chosen for the purpose in hand because it is the most thorough method available for approximating in quantitative terms the intelligence of the best among college graduates.

E's score on this test, at Levels M-Q, was 441 points. The score of the average adult is not yet known, but the median score of college graduates in professional schools of first-rate standards is 415 points, with an upper quartile at 421 points. The best scores yet made by college graduates hover about 440 points. [10]

Thus E rates plus 4 PE in relation to college graduates in first-rate professional schools, ranking with the best minds revealed in any group so far tested. These groups may each be expected to include some of the best intellects existing. The comparative groups are, of course, older than E. Some of them are composed of persons over 30 years of age on the average, while all are past 20 years. E was 18 years 9 months of age on the date when he took the test, in comparison with these groups. The number of years lived in an intellectual environment, other things being equal, probably affects results to some extent in favor of those who have lived longer.

A score of 441 points on the IER Scale corresponds to a score of about 116 points on the more widely known Thorndike Tests for College Freshmen. The top one per cent of college graduates make a score of 108 or better on the latter test. E, therefore, surely rates at least in the top one quarter of one per cent of college graduates. [E, it will be noted, was at this time at the average age of college freshmen.]

At the age of 8 years E rated plus 11 PE in general intelligence (by Stanford-Binet) as compared with the generality of 8-year-olds. It seems likely that in these later measurements he rated at about the same status, in relation to the generality of 18-year-olds, since his status is plus 4.3 PE in relation to highly selected groups of college graduates.

E, at the age of 18, was probably mature—or nearly mature— intellectually. However, in view of recent findings in regard to the growth of intelligence among pupils in high schools, we cannot be sure that at this age he has quite reached the maximum of possible accretions of power from inner growth. [11]

LATER PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS

On September 29, 1921, E's physical measurements were as follows:

Standing height 64.2 inches
Sitting height 31.7 inches
Weight (summer clothing) 166 pounds

At this time his health continued to be excellent; in fact, he has never had a serious illness of any kind.

E was measured again in October, 1926. By this time he had probably achieved his maximum stature. His age was then 18 years 4 months. He was still in excellent health, the only illness in the intervening five years being a "light case" of scarlet fever. At this time the measurements were:

Standing height 6 feet 1 inch
Weight (stripped) 194.75 pounds

LATER SCHOLASTIC RECORDS

In the spring of 1917 E finished the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth grade work at the Horace Mann School, New York City. He was then just 9 years old. Thereafter he attended the Friends Seminary, New York City, and was graduated from the high school there in the spring of 1920, with an excellent record and excess credits, at the age of 11 years 10 months.

By this time E had also passed the comprehensive examinations of the College Entrance Board for Harvard College. The official communication from Harvard authorities, making statement to this effect, has been seen by the writer. E's maternal ancestors had attended Harvard (one of them having graduated from there at the age of 18 years, according to records), but E expressed a desire to attend Columbia and received permission to take the mental tests with the applicants of 1920. He was admitted to Columbia College with the freshmen of 1920, with 14 points of advance credit toward a B.A. degree.

There is at hand an official statement of E's academic status on June 1, 1921, at the age of not quite 13 years. He had then 46 points of academic credit toward a B.A. degree in Columbia College. During his freshman year he made 32 points, maintaining consistently a grade of B, except in two subjects. In physical education his rating was C, and in contemporary civilization he made A the first semester. [12]

E attended the summer session of 1921 at Columbia, making five credit points, all A grade, and in September, 1921, was a sophomore with many points of credit in advance of minimum sophomore status. In addition to having passed the comprehensive examinations for college entrance, he had passed the examinations in trigonometry, solid geometry, chemistry, and physics, and was at this time 13 years 3 months of age.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITES

E was of course a conspicuous freshman because of his extreme youth, and he was hazed by the sophomores for refusing to wear a prescribed necktie. One of the New York newspapers commented on his conduct under hazing as follows:

He has demonstrated that he is nevertheless a regular fellow. He did it first by bringing about a conflict in which he himself was the much buffeted prize of battle, and then by glorying in his bruises instead of making them the basis of a grievance. He is a good sport as well as a good scholar, and being both he ought to go far.

E also participated in the class play, given in 1921, humorously consenting to impersonate himself.

Manual work had no more charm for him at this date than it had when he was 8 years old. That he can work with his hands and with materials when motivated is suggested by an incident connected with the Liberty Bond drive. His teacher relates that E wanted to pay for his own bond; so he made jelly, working at it until very good jelly was made, and sold it for the purpose specified.

In recent years E has developed a keen interest in detective stories.

TEACHERS' COMMENTS

Comments from E's teachers during the last five years up to this date [1921] are indicative of their estimates:

The regular course of study has been so easy that he has, in several subjects, notably English and history, accomplished a great amount of voluntary work outside the course.

An excellent mixer with other students.

His weekly visits have been a pleasure and anticipation, and his ability to understand without English the spoken Latin and the authors as I have read them aloud to him has been extraordinary.

Has done very remarkable work in science, particularly in theory.

I predict for him a great scholastic record in college.

I consider it a privilege to have had something to do with
teaching him.

Possesses a power in Latin that few persons ten years his
senior can boast.

Has shown devotion to the best interests of the school.

SUMMARY UP TO 1921

In the five years which have elapsed since E was first tested mentally he has shown no tendency to become mediocre. His gifts have not grown less; he maintains his superior status in mental tests. As for achievement, he has passed during this interval from the sixth grade of the elementary school, half through the second year of college. Average children, the country over, born when this child was born, and measuring 100 IQ when he measured 187 IQ, are now in the seventh grade of the elementary schools.

E still wishes to be a clergyman and to go abroad as a missionary. To this end he interests himself especially in history, the languages, and anthropology.

It is an interesting theoretical question as to how far human intelligence may vary from the norm in the direction of superiority. The case of this child has been placed on record largely because it seems probable that such cases represent very nearly the extreme possible limit of variation in the human species as it now exists.

At 8 years of age his IQ stood at plus 11 PE (1 PE being, according to Terman, equal to 8 IQ [13] ). The probabilities are usually regarded as slight that cases beyond 5 PE will occur. Perhaps the range in human intellect is much greater than probabilities would lead us to guess.

Since the initial report of this child's qualities, readers have occasionally asked with what meaning the word "prodigious" was used in reference to him. It was used in the dictionary sense of "wonderful," "extraordinary."

In these reports there is no intention to approve or to disapprove the educational regimen pursued. Who knows what should be the educational treatment of a child standing at 11 PE in intellect? The sole intention is to record the identification and development of a deviation so extreme that the chances are theoretically almost nil that it would occur at all.

EVENTUAL SCHOLASTIC RECORDS

In June, 1923, E was graduated from Columbia College, with the degree of B.A. He took general honors, Phi Beta Kappa honors, and the English Seminary Prize, awarded by the Society for Promoting Religion and Learning "for the best essay in sermon form on an assigned topic." He was within eleven days of his fifteenth birthday when he was graduated. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at the age of 14 years, probably the youngest person ever elected to that organization.

E was graduated with excess credit (8 points) toward the M.A. degree. This degree was awarded him in June, 1924, when he was not quite 16 years of age, more than enough work for it having been accomplished. He was matriculated for the Ph.D. degree before he was 16 years old, and by the age of 18 years 9 months had practically finished all the requirements for that degree except completing the dissertation. The dissertation topic had been then approved, in the field of history, and E was at work on the material.

In October, 1926 (aged 18 years 4 months), E entered upon his professional studies for the ministry in the theological seminary of his choice. Since the age of 15 he had done special work at the seminary. He had read prayers in one of the city churches as a lay reader since the age of 16 and was at this time a candidate for ordination as deacon, but this ordination could not take place before the twenty-first birthday.

In the initial report of E it will be found that he had decided before he was 5 years old to be clergyman. It now appeared that his professional course toward that end would be completed in 1929.

FIG. 12. A MEMORANDUM FROM E.

Professional course will be finished in 1929.

The subject of the thesis on which I am now working, is definitely approved and published (decided June, 1925); the other requirements are practically finished.

__Apollonius, [Diocetes?] of Egypt__ (3rd century B.C. Egyptian history, 1923)

Worked on order of Pliny's letters (1924-25)

At present reading Greek papyri.

Making my [illegible] in Modern European History, worked on Irish constitutional history (1924-1925)

RESEARCHES OF E

When E was 10 years old he made an original contribution in connection with the Pentateuch, and was made a member of The Oriental Society of Research in Jerusalem.

At 13 years of age E was first admitted to the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, for purposes of research.

In 1923 E presented his M.A. essay—"Appolonius, Diocetes of
Egypt"—which pertains to Egyptian history of the third century
B.C. and is on file in the Library of Columbia University.

E has also done research (1924-1925) on the order of Pliny's letters; on Irish constitutional history (1924-1925); and was in 1926 and 1927 reading Greek papyri.

The subject of his dissertation to be submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Ph.D. was reported as "Feudal Estates in Byzantine Egypt." [14]

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT

A summary of E's development over the period from 1916 to 1927, given in the table [below], shows clearly that the superior magnitudes, both of mental caliber and of physical size, so markedly present at the age of 8 years, are maintained as growth terminates.

CHILD E NORMS FOR PRIVATE
SCHOOLS [15]
Born June 17, 1908, as
shown by birth certificate
and hospital records.

November 4, 1916
Height 54.3 inches 49.5 inches
Weight 89.3 pounds 54.2 pounds
Intellect IQ 187 (S-B) IQ 100 (S-B)
Scholastic status 6th grade, 3d grade,
elementary elementary

September 29, 1921
Height 64.2 inches 58.2 inches
Weight 166.0 pounds 89.5 pounds
Intellect 194 points, Army 47 points,
Alpha, Form 5 Alpha Army

Scholastic 4th semester, 8th grade,
status college elementary
school

October 26, 1926
Height 73 inches 67 inches
Weight 194.7 pounds 150 pounds

April 1, 1927
Intellect 441 points, IER Not yet known
Tests
Scholastic status B.A. 1923 Has left
M.A. 1924 school to
Ph.D. candidate go to work
Also finishing
first year in
Theological
Seminary

EDITOR'S SUPPLEMENT

Although no follow-up inquiry has been made since the year 1927, a few items gleaned from clippings found in the author's files are relevant. These are newspaper accounts, chiefly in connection with E's being ordained as deacon, and later elevated to the Protestant Episcopal priesthood. These articles recite that E—

Received his B.A. at the age of 15 years.

Received his M.A. degree the following year.

Was ordained deacon on December 21, 1929, at the age of 21.

Received his Ph.D. the following year at the age of 22.

Also received the degree Bachelor of Sacred Theology, in June, 1929.

Was elevated to the priesthood in the Protestant Episcopal Church at the age of 24 (June 19, 1932) at a special ordination service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City.

As a graduate student too young for the priesthood, he had held a fellowship in the General Theological Seminary, teaching Greek and history.

There is also an announcement of his marriage in September, 1939.

See also Editor's Note on publications, foot[note 14].

[1] See Preface, [paragraphs 2-5.]

[2] EDITOR'S NOTE. This child was observed by Leta S. Hollingworth over a period of nearly a quarter century. She published three accounts of his development, and the present chapter is in the main a composite of these three reports, to which are added such supplementary items as are available. The articles referred to are as follows:

Garrison, Burke, and Hollingworth. "The Psychology of a Prodigious
Child." Journal of Applied Psychology (June, 1917).

Hollingworth, Garrison, and Burke. "Subsequent History of E———
Five Years after the Initial Report." Journal of Applied
Psychology (June, 1922).

Hollingworth, Leta S. "Subsequent History of E——— Ten Years after the Initial Report." Journal of Applied Psychology (October, 1927).

[3] Bartlett, J. G. "The Belcher Families in New England." New England History and General Register, Vol. 60, pages 125-136, 243-256, 358-364.

Belcher, Jonathan. "The Belcher Papers." Collection of the
Massachusetts Historical Society, Vols. 6 and 7.

Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 1 (1887).
(Jonathan Belcher.)

[4] Drowne, Henry R. "Family Record of Solomon Drowne." New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 5, No. 35, pages 171-172. New York; 1904.

Drowne, Henry T. Genealogy of the Family of Solomon Drowne, M. D., of Providence, Rhode Island, with Notice of His Ancestors; 1646-1879. Providence Press Company, Providence, Rhode Island; 1879.

[5] Developmental history and history of personal health were elicited from the mother, who, being a physician, is especially competent to speak on these points. The family history and the facts concerning his extra-school linguistic achievements were also given by the mother.

[6] Private tutors grade E as 1 in mathematics.

[7] In industrial arts credit is given for knowing industrial processes, as well as for ability to carry out the processes.

[8] In fine arts credit is given for manual dexterity only.

[9] Thorndike, E. L. The Measurement of Intelligence. Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York; 1927.

[10] I am indebted to Dr. Ella Woodyard and to Professor Ralph B. Spence of Teachers College, Columbia University, for this information.

[11] Thorndike, E. L. "On the Improvement of Intelligence Scores from Fourteen to Eighteen." Journal of Educational Psychology (1923).

[12] It is worth saying that in contemporary civilization the final examination had been objectively standardized by Dr. B. D. Wood, expert in educational measurement, and did not depend on the estimate of instructors. "E's score on the objective examinations of both terms was in the highest tenth of the highest percentile" (B. D. W.). The instructor's estimate, as well as the result of the objective examination, enters into the term grade and, indicated above, in this course; so that the final grade in the second semester is but B.

[13] See note [1, preface].

[14] EDITOR'S NOTE. This dissertation was published in 1931 by the Columbia University Press under the title Large Estates of Byzantine Egypt.

Among later publications, of which there is record in the files, are:

"National Elements in the Career of St. Athanasius," Church
History, pages 3-11 (December, 1933).

"Dura—An Ancient City of the East," Natural History (The
Journal of the American Museum of Natural History), Vol. XXXIV,
No. 8, pages 685-701 (December, 1934).

Militant in Earth. Pages 255. Oxford University Press, New York; 1940. A book which "shows how Christianity has presented a spiritual and social front against opposing phases of civilization, whatever they may have been during 2000 years."

[15] Norms for height, weight, and scholastic status are taken from B. T. Baldwin, as established at Horace Mann School, Francis Parker School, and the elementary and high schools of the University of Chicago.