growth rate which also affects brain not necessarily These children show a retardation of ment simply repment which has to be very minutely studied. ding-time of every faculty, every manifestation al kind. growth, every twist the mind takes in groping for fur and touch with the world of knowledge, every indication to power to do, must be taken cognizance of and must be utilized. These children are like a tender, slow-growing plant which the gardener cherishes with particular care. They will usually repay all this attention by later strong growth. If they fail, they may approach the condition of arrested development, like those of Group B, Subdivision 2, in the author's classification, or they will sink even lower in the scale of intellectual measure. Among them we shall find a great many of the "repeaters mentioned in the beginning of this book. CHAPTER VII EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT CHILDREN We may distinguish four classes, or types, of exceptionally bright children, using this term as meaning children who are in advance of their fellows of the same age, especially in school work. FOUR CLASSES OF EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT CHILDREN The first group consists of children endowed with a good memory. The second group comprises those whose physical and mental growth is generally more rapid than that of an ordinary child, without pathological precocity. The third group consists of children of one-sided development, i. e., having one faculty, or group of related faculties, developed out of proportion to the other faculties. The fourth group is composed of those children in which special or general excellency is associated with neuropathic and psychopathic tension. The first two groups belong to the class of pseudoatypical children; the last two groups represent atypical conditions. First Group: Children Endowed with Good Memory Success in school, as already shown, is not altogether an index of real mental excellence and efficiency. The first group of "bright" children does not necessarily represent brightness or brilliancy at all. It simply represents success, at least of a temporary kind. Their "good memory" is largely of a mechanical kind. In school work, which consists mainly of recitations and the acquirement of book knowledge, they are apt to make rapid progress through the grades. They "learn" because they retain the lessons and can reproduce them, as a sponge returns the water it has absorbed. There are, indeed, good minds lucky enough to be also endowed with a good memory, and weak minds whose weakness is augmented by a short memory span. But it does not infrequently happen that very mediocre or even feeble minds, through having a good although mechanical memory, will outshine their betters in school work of the ordinary kind, before the higher reasoning faculties come very much into play. When that time comes they will be hopelessly left behind, much the worse for their "learning," which does not represent any live value to them; its acquisition has prevented them from preparing themselves for life in their own lowly fashion. In their case it is a matter of early diagnosis to direct them along really educative lines. Their memory endowment will assist them in developing skill in certain lines of activity, but will not make them socially efficient in the sense of higher competency. The other three types involve intellectual faculties of an unusual character. Second Group: Children of Accelerated Physical and Mental Growth The pace of a child belonging to this group is faster, his process of maturing is hastened. He travels in an automobile when the others ride on horseback or travel on foot. He covers distances with lightning speed. There is the case of Robert Wiener (Case 17), whom his father, Professor Wiener, distinctly pronounces to be a perfectly normal boy. Robert Wiener graduated from Tufts College at the age of 13 years; at the age of 17 he took the degree of Ph.D. at Harvard, and then studied for two years at Cambridge University, England. He was appointed, at the age of 19, assistant professor of philosophy at Harvard College. Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr. (Case 18), lately of Pittsburg (now Wilmington, N. C.), seems to belong to this class. She is perhaps an exaggerated type and has had unusual opportunities - the exclusive attention of a bright and well-educated mother, a good and well-caredfor home in which everything was sacrificed to the child, a sturdy heredity. From her chronological development a few data may be quoted: At 6 months: Could talk and knew colors. At 16 months: Could read. At 2 years: Wrote own name on hotel-registers and began keeping a diary. At 3 years: Amazed adults by her spelling. Acquired use of the typewriter as an aid to learning spelling and memorizing. At 4 years: Learned the Latin declensions and conjugations as singing exercises, and received a diploma in Esperanto. At 5 years: Wrote stories and jingles for newspapers, spoke eight languages, translated "Mother Goose" rhymes into Esperanto, learned to waltz, twostep, and three-step. At 7 years: Learned the outlines of Greek, Roman, and Scandinavian mythology. |