The essay integrates the psychometric intelligence approach with the cognitive-developmental approach or the stage theory erected by Piaget and his disciples. The latter led to Piagetian Cross-Cultural Psychology and the accumulation of an immense body of data. It shows that different IQ levels are indicative of the peculiar stages of cognitive…

To examine whether or not retarded individuals have the same structure of intelligence as normal IQ individuals, test scores from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), Reitan's Trail Making Test (TMT), and Beery's Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI) for both a mildly retarded and normal IQ population of…

This evaluation of cognitive change in Head Start children focused on changes in performance as opposed to changes in competence; specifically, that Binet test performance improves as a function of experience with Binet examiners. The study involved 93 children assigned to four groups who were tested for IQ gains during a 6-week Head Start program…

Examined major discriminating factors for cognitive development in high-IQ and low-IQ children in child care who had been adopted after age four. Found that birth rank, maternal mental retardation, pregnancy/delivery complications, severe prematurity or low birthweight, and number of hospitalizations differentiated the two groups. Over time, IQs…

The author presents a discussion of certain portions of Arthur Jensen's controversial article. The general conclusion is that Jensen has not provided substantial evidence that there are differences in neural structure among children from different social or ethnic groups which are genetically determined. The reviewer reacts to Jensen's conclusion…

Claims in "The Bell Curve" that Head Start and other early intervention programs are a failure and a waste of funds depend on a notion of cognitive ability reduced to IQ. They ignore other studies that demonstrate the success of such programs and that, consistent with Piagetian views, recognize the interrelationships of cognitive,…

This article emphasizes the importance of providing appropriate services to meet the needs of individual gifted students and the need to first diagnose the level of giftedness to administer the right "therapeutic dose." A chart is provided that defines levels of intellectual giftedness by IQ ranges and by prevalence. (Contains 5…

From the monthly Saturday Review supplement, "Education in America, sponsored by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.

This paper reviews studies in which scores on Piagetian tests of logical thought were correlated with IQ, mental age (MA) and chronological age (CA), and examines the possible effects of the size of the age range and mean age of subjects on these correlations. The data included 44 groups of subjects obtained from 36 studies in which Piagetian and…

In an effort to isolate the emergence and causes of social class differences in intellectual performance, this longitudinal study was undertaken as a follow-up on a cross-sectional study that yielded no social class differences on the Cattell Infant Intelligence Scale for 12-, 18-, and 24-month-old black children. In the present study, 89 children…

Reviews the current theories concerning individual differences in cognitive functioning. While some argue that heredity places a genetic cap on intellectual development, others emphasize the dynamic interrelationship between cultural and environmental factors. Concludes that intelligence is more complex than the heredity advocates allow. (MJP)

This paper critically examines the portions of Arthur Jensen's books, "Genetics and Education" and "Educability and Group Differences," that concern Barbara Burks' 1928 study of adoptive families. Jensen cites the low correlations of children's IQs with measures of home environment from Burks' study as evidence that environment…

THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP IN THIS STUDY WAS 112 KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN FROM 11 HEAD START CENTERS. IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE VALUE OF THE HEAD START PROGRAM, THE MEASUREMENT OF THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP TAKEN DURING THE FALL WAS COMPARED TO A MEASUREMENT OF NON-HEAD START KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN TESTED ABOUT THE SAME TIME. AT LEAST FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE…