At 5 years of age K wanted to discriminate in meaning between "bluff," "joke," and "fake." He is "untiring in his attention to books. He will sit with an American history, an English history, and Godey's History of American Beginnings in Europe (which goes into Greece and Rome) and the dictionary around him, and will work at these for hours."
At the age here reported K had no playmates. His younger brothers played by themselves. K did not like to play. His favorite recreations were reading and transferring pictures, and consulting almanacs and dictionaries.
He has a passion for accuracy. He has as yet made no collections, and has no pets. He has no imaginary companions and no imaginary lands.
MENTAL MEASUREMENTS
On April 10, 1929, K was brought to Teachers College, Columbia University, for mental testing. The Stanford-Binet and other methods were employed. He was then 6 years 4 months old and had not yet entered school. On the Stanford-Binet his Mental Age at that date was 9-1, giving an IQ of 143. But the examiner added a note to the record to the effect that: "It is predicted that this child will test much higher later, when examined under standard conditions, alone with the examiner." The conditions under which this test was taken are not recorded, but it was probably a class demonstration.
On March 26, 1931, at the age of 8 years 3 months, K was again given a Standard-Binet test by the same examiner. He was then in Grade 5A, although only two years before he had not yet entered school. This time his Mental Age was 14-8, giving him an IQ of close to 180. The earlier prediction of an increase in IQ at a later age was fulfilled, under standardized conditions.
Although K was in Grade 5A at this time, it is noted that "Writing is only about third-grade ability." In this manual coördination K's score was nearer to his Chronological Age than was his mental level. He was also given Trabue Language Completion Scale A on this date, with a score of Grade 6.5, a full year ahead of his actual, though advanced, school placement.
Of such cases the examiner commented as follows:
The little boy scored a Mental Age of 14 years 8 months. Only one or two eight-year-olds in a hundred thousand reach such a score. These children are so far beyond the average that schools are not equipped to handle them adequately. Experts in education do not know what the best procedure is in regard to their placement in school, but we hope to find out as time goes on. . . . I asked you to bring the little boy again for purely professional reasons—to learn how he is developing, how he conducts himself, and what his interests are. We want to find out how to educate these children. . . . Tell him I am sure he is going to have a good future if he learns to get self-control. (I mention this last because you spoke of his having emotional upsets.)