Clinic Report.
Abel has very superior intelligence according to the Terman Revision of the Binet Scale, his I. Q. being 12G, but his record upon certain of the so-called performance tests was rather poor.
The boy, who is about two months over five years of age, was brought to the Clinic by his mother, accompanying an older half-brother, who was to be examined. Certain tests were given him, and the performance soon became so interesting that Dr Twitmyer declared he would be a very good case for the summer school. Hence his record was put into case form.
Almost no history is available about Abel, except what was obtained in the case of his half-brother. The mother’s first husband was syphilitic, and the older boy who was brought to the Clinic is now on anti-syphilitic treatment. At the Clinic he was diagnosed as feebleminded and institutional care was advised.
The second husband, the father of Abel, lived with the mother but a short time and then deserted.
Nothing in Abel’s conduct has suggested any variation from the normal. From the remarks of social workers it was concluded that the mother is having some trouble in controlling him, and they expect him to get beyond her power before very many years have passed. The mother did not give the impression of being of strong mentality. Abel has not attended kindergarten, but expects to start school next fall.
His formboard record was satisfactory, in so far as the shortest trial was concerned, but the first trial was not well done. The cylinder test gave poor results, except that it showed his ability to learn from experience, for it was necessary to give him very minute instructions and much urging before he was finally successful. His work on the design blocks was perhaps his poorest performance, none of the trials being completed without some suggestions from the examiner. The Healy Completion Test was likewise a failure. But in the Binet tests he passed all of the five year tests, four of the six year, three of the seven year, and two of the eight year tests. Some of the results were rather surprising in view of the fact that he has had no formal training, and it is doubtful whether the home training has been up to the normal amount. He may be said to be of the intellectual type, but memory and training seemed to be depended upon but little. His remarks while working on the Witmer Cylinders indicate this somewhat,?”This fatty goes in a big hole,” and “That one sticks up; it don’t go there.” In naming the days of the week he seemed to be thinking out which one came next. At no time did he depend upon trial and error, except during periods when his attention wandered. This was his one main trouble. He did not have the persistence that is normal for his age, and it was difficult to hold his attention. Time after time the examiner thought the test would be a failure because the boy paid so little attention to instructions, yet after much rolling of the eyes and gazing about, he would do what was asked of him. He seemed to be giving no attention to the three commissions, yet he performed them quickly.
The diagnosis was superior mentality, with the recommendation that he be admitted to the summer school. V. Amos was thirteen years of age when he was brought to the Clinic by a social worker, who desired to know the mental status in order to determine his treatment. Dishonesty, truancy and running away from home had brought him under the care of an organization. On numerous occasions Amos had run away from home, staying away for a day and at least once for longer, and on one of these occasions he committed acts which he believes would get him into trouble were they known. His stealing from the school has been stopped by the principal.
He is a pale, expressionless boy, just above the minimum height for his age; a mouth breather. His head was injured at birth, which was instrumental. He was very delicate and had almost all the diseases that could fall to a child. Finally he was sent to a tuberculosis sanitarium, from which he was discharged fifteen months ago. His tonsils and adenoids were removed six years ago. Up to last spring he wore glasses.
There were ten children in the family, born within fourteen years. Five are living and all are said to be abnormal, the oldest, a girl, being particularly dishonest and retarded. The mother is thought to be of low intelligence and is said to be untruthful.
The home life has been unsatisfactory, due to poverty and to a lack of knowledge on the part of the parents as to the best methods of raising children. As a result, the boy has no real love for his parents. His physical condition and lack of home assistance have made him a misfit among children of his age. Except for the two years he was under treatment for tuberculosis, he has kept up with his school work, being fair in everything but arithmetic. He does not like school.
The Binet tests (Stanford Revision) showed him to be about a year retarded, and other tests gave normal results. He fatigued quickly and frequently needed encouragement.
Amos is therefore of normal mentality, his physical condition entitling him to be a little behind his age. His thieving has been of the sort commonly found among boys of his age, and he has a complete recognition of the wrongness of his acts. His lack of love for his parents may quite easily be accounted for by their failure to bring it out. The running away has been accounted for as a result of fear of punishment. The lack of a normal outlet for his energies has further contributed to the direction of his conduct.
In view of the fact that his acts are not without reason, and there is no other evidence of deficient responsibility, the diagnosis was normal mentality with bad conduct, due to environmental factors. Eye, nose and throat examinations’were recommended. It was considered advisable that he be placed upon a farm for six months to a year, the social worker having in mind such a farm where he can be under the guidance of a man who understands these problems. Franklyn C. Paschal, A.M., Harrison Fellow in Psychology.
VI. Last October Ezra was brought to the Psychological Clinic by his mother and a friend. Their physician had referred the boy for mental examination because of backwardness in school.
Ezra was fourteen years and four months old. His height, weight and head girth were normal. Physically he was a well developed boy, but his mother reported that he had never been well. Owing to her own ill health she had given him very little care during his first four years, and pleaded ignorance of many facts in his early life. Most mothers, whether or not they personally care for a child, know the state of his health, and his progress. Such a situation as this points to a lack of interest rather unusual in mothers. The information which she gave was that Ezra was not a healthy baby; he always had a blue look and was very slow in developing. He did not walk until four years, and did not even sit up alone until three and one-half years old. He began to talk at two years.. When eeven or eight months old he suffered from marasmus. Shortly after this he had enlarged glands in the neck, and between the ages of two and five had running ears.
At the time of his examination Ezra complained of both his eyes and ears, but his mother thought the matter of no importance. The boy tried to describe a “roaring sensation” which annoyed him, but could not make himself clear. Three years before this examination he had had several convulsions. His mother could throw no light on their character.
There was nothing significant about Ezra’s birth. From the mother’s report it was entirely normal, although she had been extremely nervous during her pregnancy. The boy had always been nervous, and had not commenced school until nearly nine years of age. Necessarily this gave him a severe pedagogical retardation, and he did not progress at the normal rate. He had never been graded in school. For a while he attended a parochial school, but at the time of his examination was not attending any school.
Socially Ezra was incompetent. Boys of his own age would not tolerate him. They poked fun at him and said he had a queer look. This was because he looked from the corners of his eyes; instead of fixating an object squarely in front of him, he would turn his head until he looked sidewise at the object. He allowed even younger boys to impose on him, and they tormented him because it was necessary for him to urinate frequently. Another factor against him was his inability to dress himself properly. Certainly no difficulty should be experienced in this direction by a fourteen year old boy. Ezra did not come of healthy ancestry. His maternal grandmother died at seventy-six from an affection of the lungs following grippe. Two of her daughters died early in life from tuberculosis. Ezra’s paternal grandfather died at the age of forty-two, and had been paralyzed for three years before that time. Ezra was an only child.
The qualitative and quantitative results of the examination showed clearly that in many respects Ezra was mentally inferior to boys of his age. His performance with the Witmer formboard was very poor. Four year old children have accomplished this test in less time than his shortest record of three trials. He made a complete failure with the Witmer cylinders. Another striking feature was his memory span of only four digits. A boy of fourteen should repeat at least six digits. In school subjects he could not do first grade work. During the entire examination Ezra displayed very little initiative and alertness, although he was always willing to work. His persistence was good. His rate of movement was slow, but his control of movement, complexity and coordination were normal. His cardinal defect was in imagination, and his imageability was far below normal. His analytic and distributive attention were exceedingly poor. It was difficult to make him understand what was required of him. His observation, planfulness and understanding were very poor. He displayed practically no intelligence?that is, no ability to solve a new problem.
The showing which Ezra made at the examination, combined with his poor school record and his inability to get along with boys of his own age, indicated a diagnosis of feeblemindedness. The grade was given as low grade imbecile (Barr classification). Natalie A. Bassett, A.M. Graduate Student.
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