Deficiency and Delinquency: An Interpretation of Mental Testing

by James Burt Miner

JAMES BURT MINER, LL.B., PH.D.

Associate Professor of Applied Psychology, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh; sometime lecturer at the school for teachers of special classes, Minnesota State School for the Feeble-Minded

BALTIMORE

WARWICK & YORK, Inc.

1918

Copyright, 1918

Warwick & York, Inc.

DEFICIENCY AND DELINQUENCY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface			[1]
Chapter I. INTRODUCTION			[3]
PART I. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Chapter II. THE FUNCTIONS OF A SCALE IN DIAGNOSIS			[10]
	A. The Meaning of Intellectual Deficiency		[10]
	B. Forms of Mental Deficiency Not Yet Discoverable by Tests		[14]
	C. Doubtful Intellects Accompanied by Delinquency Presumed Deficient		[18]
Chapter III. THE PERCENTAGE DEFINITION OF INTELLECTUAL DEFICIENCY			[20]
	A. The Definition		[20]
	B. The Assumptions of a Quantitative Definition		[21]
		(a) Deficiency is a Difference in Degree not in Kind	[21]
		(b) As to the Variation in the Frequency of Deficiency at Different Ages	[23]
		(c) As to the Number of Deficients not Detected by Tests	[34]
		(d) Allowance May be Made for Variability	[40]
Chapter IV. WHAT PERCENTAGE IS FEEBLE-MINDED			[47]
	A. Kinds of Social Care Contemplated		[47]
	B. Estimates of the School Population Versus the General Population		[48]
	C. Desirable Versus Immediately Advisable Social Care		[51]
	D. Percentages Suggested to Harmonize the Estimates		[52]
	E. Comparison With Important Estimates		[56]
	F. The Ability of the Mentally Retarded Especially Those Receiving Special Training		[74]
Chapter V. ADAPTING THE PERCENTAGE DEFINITION TO THE BINET SCALE			[82]
	A. The Border Region for the Mature		[82]
		(a) Indication from a Random Group	[82]
		(b) The Present Tendency Among Examiners	[95]
	B. The Border Region for the Immature		[104]
		(a) For the Binet 1908 Scale	[104]
		(b) Data for Other Developmental Scales	[110]
		(c) The Change in Interpreting the Borderline for the Immature	[116]
Chapter VI. DELINQUENTS TESTING DEFICIENT			[122]
	A. At the Glen Farm School for Boys, Hennepin County, Minnesota		[122]
	B. Comparison of Tested Deficiency Among Typical Groups of Delinquents		[127]
		(a) Women and Girl Delinquents in State Institutions	[128]
		(b) Women and Girl Delinquents in Country and City Institutions	[134]
		(c) Men and Boy Delinquents in State Institutions	[141]
		(d) Men and Boy Delinquents in County and City Institutions	[148]
	C. Summary of Tested Deficiency Among Delinquents		[158]
Chapter VII. CHECKING THE BINET DIAGNOSIS BY OTHER METHODS			[170]
Chapter VIII. SCHOOL RETARDATION AMONG DELINQUENTS			[177]
	A. In Minneapolis		[177]
	B. School Retardation Among Other Groups of Delinquents		[185]
Chapter IX. COMPARISON OF THE SCHOOL TEST AND THE BINET TEST			[189]
	A. Practical Uses of the School Test		[190]
		(a) Estimating the Frequency of Deficiency by School Retardation	[190]
		(b) School Retardation as a Warning of the Need for Examination	[194]
		(c) School Success as a Check on the Binet Diagnosis	[197]
	B. Checking Deficiency Among Delinquents by the School Test		[199]
Chapter X. BAD SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT AS A CAUSE OF DELINQUENCY			[203]
Chapter XI. DEFICIENCY AS A CAUSE OF DELINQUENCY			[210]
	A. The Chances of the Mentally Deficient Becoming Delinquent		[211]
	B. The Correlation of Deficiency and Delinquency		[218]
	C. The Causes of Delinquency		[224]
		(a) Constitutional Factors	[224]
		(b) External Factors	[225]
		(c) Weighing Heredity Against Environment	[229]
		(d) The Criminal Diathesis	[234]
Chapter XII. SUMMARY AND SUGGESTIONS			[239]
PART II. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Chapter XIII. THE THEORY OF THE MEASUREMENT OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT			[252]
	A. Comparison of Units and Scales for Measuring Individual Differences		[254]
		(a) Equivalent Units of Ability When the Distributions are Normal	[254]
		(b) The Year Unit of the Binet Scale	[260]
		(c) Is Tested Capacity Distributed Normally?	[267]
		(d) Equivalent Units of Development When the Form of Distribution is Uncertain	[275]
	B. The Curves of Mental Development		[279]
		(a) The Significance of Average Curves of Development	[280]
		(b) Changes in the Rate of Development	[290]
		(c) The Question of Earlier Arrest of Deficient Children	[294]
Chapter XIV. QUANTITATIVE DEFINITIONS OF THE BORDERLINE			[304]
	A. Different Forms of Quantitative Definitions		[304]
	B. Common Characteristics of Quantitative Definitions		[308]
	C. Practical Advantages of the Percentage Method		[311]
	D. Theoretical Advantage of the Percentage Method with Changes in the Form of the Distributions		[317]
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TESTED DELINQUENTS			[324]
Other References Cited			[329]
APPENDICES			[344]
INDEX			[353]