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…

BASED UPON WORK WITH MIDDLE-CLASS ADULTS AND CHILDREN, THREE APPROACHES TO GROUPING HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED--(1) DESCRIPTIVE PART-WHOLE, (2) RELATIONAL-CONTEXTUAL, AND (3) CATEGORICAL-INFERENTIAL. A COMPARISON WAS MADE OF THE FREQUENCY OF THE USE OF THESE APPROACHES AMONG MIDDLE- AND LOWER-CLASS, NEGRO PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN. INITIALLY,…

This research was designed to serve two major purposes: (1) to create a substantial library of theoretically neutral observational data as permanent documentation of actual life experiences in the lives of 3-year-old children from different socioeconomic backgrounds and (2) to analyze specimen records in order (a) to describe and quantify the…

This study sought to determine the self-concept level, expectancy of success in school subjects, and actual achievement in those subjects of disadvantaged youths in high school in comparison to advantaged boys. The subjects (Ss) consisted of 100 disadvantaged and 100 advantaged boys from an urban integrated high school. No Ss were in the college…

Intelligence tests are really only systems of classification of individuals with reference to others. Thus with such classification systems it is impossible to interpret a deficiency reflected by test scores in other than a socio-cultural frame of reference. Some 150 Black and White seventh grade children between the ages of 12 and 14 were…

Discussed are the theoretical explanations of the observation that low intelligence quotient (IQ), low socioeconomic status children appear to be brighter in certain ways than low IQ middle class youngsters. The two different theories on IQ as a function of socioeconomic status--environmental or cultural vs. genetically determined biological…

This study details three methods developed during the course of an investigation for describing adult-child interaction: (1) the "VINEX" category system for coding the actual language of the adult and the child; (2) a coding system for describing nonverbal behavior; and, (3) "Interaction Language," for the use of an observer in…