VI. ILLUSTRATIVE CASES
The facts which have been set forth in regard to ability in drawing will be further illuminated by concrete cases. In Figure 19 we have reproduced the psychograph of a child in the elementary school, E 1, showing talent in representative drawing combined with very inferior intelligence.
E 1 was a pupil in the sixth grade, at the time when this psychograph was made. She was nearly 14 years old, and therefore distinctly retarded in school status. In spite of her general incompetence, her drawing teacher placed her near the top of her grade in native ability to draw. The child is described as not original. “She can follow better than she can originate.” “Apparently her talent for drawing is inherited. Her father is a tailor. He enjoys drawing and lettering. Her mother takes great interest in the children’s drawings, and an aunt has made paintings of some interest. An older brother of E 1 is reported as very good (original and true) in drawing. She has also two younger sisters and a younger brother who are good in drawing.”
Figure 20 shows a copy of a man’s portrait, done by a 14-year-old boy, of IQ near 70. This boy was incapable of normal progress through the school curriculum. Being “left back” repeatedly, he became a truant and otherwise delinquent. His ability for and interest in drawing are highly specialized. Figure 21 shows drawings of movement (not copied) by the same boy.
Fig. 19.—Showing the psychograph of a stupid child, who has a special ability in representative drawing. (From Manuel’s A Study of Talent in Drawing. Reproduced by courtesy of The Public School Publishing Company.)
The special ability in paper-cutting of a feeble-minded man, “Dick,” is illustrated in Figure 22. At the time these silhouettes were cut, this man was 28 years old, strong and healthy, with a mental level of 6 years 4 months, and IQ 39 (Stanford-Binet). He has been an inmate of an institution for mental defectives for seventeen years, as his general intelligence is insufficient for any kind of unsupervised career. He has never been able to learn to read or write.
Fig. 20.—Showing special ability in drawing, of a 14-year-old boy, of IQ near 70. The portrait is a copy.
Fig. 21.—Showing special ability in drawing of a 14-year-old boy, of IQ near 70.
This man is greatly interested in animals, and after being taken to the circus sometime ago, became a nuisance in his preoccupation with what he had seen there. In cutting the silhouettes, he merely takes a sheet of paper in one hand, a pair of scissors in the other, and cuts absolutely “free-hand,” without reference to any preliminary patterning or draughting, either from memory or from a model. The performance is accompanied by many naïvely vain remarks, calling attention to his skill and the quality of the product. He can also draw, as is shown in Figure 23. He has never had any special training so far as known.
For the sake of contrast, we have presented, in Figure 24, the attempts of two university professors to cut an elephant from paper, as did “Dick” in Figure 22. These two professors are both doctors of philosophy, distinguished in their respective fields for research. Yet they are greatly surpassed by “Dick” in ability to cut silhouettes.