Children Above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and Development

by Leta Stetter Hollingworth

Child C. This boy's earliest recognition was on the basis of what the teachers called his "phenomenal memory." But from early years his chief passion was for science, and his main interest therein was the possibility of discovering new things. There is, however, little evidence of ingenuity in the record, and C was chiefly distinguished by the mass and facility of his knowledge, learned chiefly from others.

Child D. The very curiosity of this boy might be said to have a creative or original character. "He was always asking unexpected questions." His playground newspaper was an original project in spite of its conventional character. So also was his passion for tabulation and calculation. His imaginary land was a complicated creation, as was the elaborate dictionary of its unique language. Musical composition was one of his pastimes, and he had active native talent for drawing and design. The invention of new words and new games was creative, and he had original classifications for many varieties of natural objects. His interest in science, which became uppermost, led to original experiments such as those on "the path of a tack." His final adoption of scientific work as a career is in keeping with this, and the position held at the end of his brief life was one concerned with chemical research in a relatively new industry. In a very real sense this boy's creative interests are fundamental in the picture of his development.

Child E. Originality appears among E's characteristics even in his definitions of words in the vocabulary tests. His life was, however, so harnessed to the organized pursuit of degrees that conventional fields of learning came to preoccupy him and there was little originality in his choice of an occupation, to which he appears to have been guided by solicitous elders. Such originality as he has had appeared abstractly and verbally. Thus his "constructive ability" was good but his "manual dexterity" poor. He had an imaginary country. After his escape from the hierarchy of organized education he became an active and productive scholar in his field, although it may be that theology is not a field in which creativeness is encouraged.

Child F. There is little evidence in the career of F of anything that could be called creative. He was in many ways ingenious, and he was socially nonconforming. He was a storehouse of information but not sagacious in the use of his knowledge. His ingenuity was not along original lines but in such conventionalized fields as chess, bridge, and dialectic. His capacity for intellectual work was phenomenal, but for the most part such activities were in prescribed fields, and a temporary interest in science was deflected to law—like theology, a field in which creativeness is not always an asset.

Child G. This boy's education was so scrupulously supervised and so sedulously recorded that he had little time for original projects. His questions and remarks evince a lively curiosity, and his abiding interests in chemistry and mathematics, with a research turn, perhaps point to creative trends that are poorly reflected in more elementary years. There is little evidence of unusual proficiency in any of the creative arts.

Child H. The chief interests of H as a child were in "drawing, painting, and mosaic blocks." She developed imaginary companions. She showed at an early age pronounced interests and aptitudes in stories and in versification. She was a composer of creditable childhood songs, poetry, and plays. She was followed only to her eleventh year and up to this point seems to have shown definite signs of constructive imagination.

Child I. This girl was versatile in many creative ways. She developed imaginary companions, wrote music and songs, produced dramatizations, wrote effective verses and longer poems. So far as the brief record shows, her creative interests remained close to the conventionalized arts, except for the native curiosity characteristic of most very bright children.

Child J. The data on J are so scant that little assurance as to her originality can be felt. At 7 she was in many ways an independent thinker. She composed "jingles" at the same time that she was reading Shakespearean plays, and the examiner commented on her "constructive imagery." She wrote acceptable poems before her tenth birthday. But for the most part she had been so occupied by rapid educational promotion that this is the most conspicuous feature in her description.

Child K. This boy has without doubt an enthusiasm for scholarly inquiry. He made no spontaneous collections, had no pets, no imaginary companions or lands. In a sense these traits which are lacking in K's personality are usually counted as originalities in children of such high intelligence. But data are not at hand to enable a judgment to be made of the presence or absence of creativeness in this child.

Child L. This is the case of a boy who showed such independent zeal for acquiring information that this curiosity had itself a creative tone. He is inventive and constructive even in mechanical ways—an exception in this particular group of cases. His teachers find him possessed of knowledge in mathematics which he must have derived from his own reflection. He also has marked initiative in using his knowledge, is full of constructive suggestions, makes many scientific experiments of his own, has many hobbies, and wants to do things to "advance scientific knowledge." Although he shows know unusual proficiency in the conventional arts, there can be no doubt that in affairs intellectual and scientific his mind is not only creative but also fertile.