VI. ILLUSTRATIVE CASES
Two cases are herewith given, to illustrate the marked discrepancies which may rarely be found between general intelligence and ability to spell. The first is that of a schoolboy of average intelligence, whose spelling is illegible. The second is that of a feeble-minded schoolgirl, whose spelling is very much above what would be predicted from mental age and IQ.
Fig. 12.—Showing efforts to spell, of a 14-year-old schoolboy, of IQ 93, after eight years of school instruction. Illustrating extreme dissociation of spelling ability from general intelligence. Compare with Fig. 13.
This boy was 14 years 2 months of age, and had been in school since the age of 6 years. His IQ was 93 (Stanford-Binet). He was referred for mental examination, because of failure to learn to read and spell. Figure 12 shows his attempts to spell the following words: cannot, September, burned, houses, center, thousand, fifty, families, defends, bravely.
Fig. 13.—Showing spelling of a 12-year-old girl, of IQ 59, after six years of instruction. Illustrating extreme dissociation of spelling ability from general intelligence. Compare with Fig. 12.
The girl, who shows the opposite discrepancy, was in a school for the feeble-minded, at the time of examination. Her age was 12 years 6 months, her mental age 7 years 4 months, with an IQ of 59 (Stanford-Binet). She had attended school for 6 years. Figure 13 shows her ability to spell the same words attempted by the boy referred to above.
On Ayres’ scale, this feeble-minded girl scored at fifth grade ability, at least three years beyond expectation from general intelligence. The boy, of average intelligence, scored on the Ayres scale below first grade ability—at least seven years below expectation from general intelligence.
The girl could not learn subject matter, or manage her affairs any better than a 7-year-old child. The boy could work for money, was reliable and efficient in ordinary affairs, could master subject matter read to him, was expert in bird lore, and showed the general competence of a typical 14-year-old, except in reading and spelling.
One judging these individuals for practical purposes, on the basis of a test in spelling, would be profoundly deceived.
Figure 14 also exemplifies the spelling of a child whose general intelligence cannot be correctly inferred from performance in spelling. This child was 9 years 10 months old at the time this letter was written, her mental age being 14 years 1 month. The child had been three years in school. She learned reading very easily, reading at this time with fluency and grace of inflection. Her case, therefore, illustrates discrepancy between reading and spelling, as well as between spelling and general intelligence.
The inadequacies noted here were probably due to distaste for the drill which is required for mastery of spelling and punctuation. For bright children, reading is motivated by the fact that from it they gain ideas. In presenting ideas, it is not necessary to spell exactly, but only approximately. Hence very young, bright children may read accurately, but spell poorly.
Fig. 14.—Showing spelling of a child 9 years 10 months old, with IQ 143, after three years of instruction. Illustrating dissociation of spelling ability from general intelligence.