The discrepancy between middle-class and lower-class children's performance on IQ tests has been thought of as "cognitive deficit" or as "cognitive differences." This paper proposes another explanation--cognitive lag hypothesis--according to which the low IQ test scores of lower-class children are seen as due to the developmentally delayed…

Teachers should be aware of the basic causes of behavior, that value choices and resultant behaviors to maintain the self are learned through antecedent experiences. Students from differing cultural or social backgrounds can be misunderstood when they react to classroom situations in their learned mode. (Author/SJL)