Medford mail tribune., November 17, 1963, Image 34

You
Can
Raise
.4 Your
'y. SfflLj .p Child's
A study shows that there are "risers" and "downers"
in intellectual abilities and parents determine which is which
Would you like to raise your
child's intelligence quotient? It's
quite possible to do just that. Your
child's ability to think, like his ability
to use his muscles, can change quite
drastically. Whether his IQ goes up or
down depends to a large extent on the
way you treat him.
During the past 30 years scientists at the
FeU Research Institute for the Study of Human
Development have been carefully watching and
measuring the physical and psychological growth
of more than 400 normal children. The purpose
of the study was to find scientific answers to
some questions every parent asks about his own
child: How is his personality molded by early
experience? What kind of upbringing can give
the child the best chance of becoming an intelli
gent man or woman?
One of the important findings emerging from
our study is the fact that a child's intelligence
is not the fixed quality so many parents assume
it is. On the contrary, IQ can increase as much
as 50 points from a normal score to one typi
cally associated with genius. Or it can fall from
near-genius levels to mediocrity.
We have found that the children who have
large IQ increases the risers were all treated
in a certain way by their parents and have a
By LESTER W. SONTAG, M.D.
Director. FeU Retearch Institute,
Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio
similar kind of personality. The children who
show loss of IQ the downers typically had a
different kind of upbringing and a different kind
of personality.
The life histories of two subjects, John and
Paul, show what a profound effect home life has
on mental development and offer some object
lessons which you may find useful in raising
your child's IQ.
One subject, Johnny, was conditioned to strive
for self-reliance and mastery of his surround
ings while the other subject, Paul, was condi
tioned to remain passive and dependent.
For Paul's mother, feeding was a job of get
ting a certain amount of food into her baby's
mouth and making sure he swallowed it. Any at
tempt to feed himself was firmly discouraged.
Johnny's mother encouraged her baby to han
dle his cup and spoon and didn't mind when
his fingers made a mess. She noticed the
gleam of triumph in Johnny's eyes when the
dripping spoon of cereal he had been waving
before his face finally reached his mouth.
Once when Paul wag in his playpen he tried
to reach some beads at the top of the railing.
His mother jumped up and handed him the
beads: "You know you can't stand yet," she
said. "Do you want to hurt yourself?"
When Johnny was the same age, his mother
noticed that he started trying to crawl up the
stairs. Instead of rescuing him she told a guest,
"Let's see if he makes it this time." When the
guest regarded her questioningly, she said; "Go
on, Johnny. I'm right here behind you." The child
scrambled confidently up the rest of the stairs.
In growing up, Paul seldom played with other
children. He was reluctant to play alone unless
he knew his parents or other adults were nearby.
He had few childish enthusiasms, and his feel
ings were easily hurt. He was given to sulking
and temper tantrums.
ON their first iq tests given when they were
three, Paul scored 145 to Johnny's 123. At
four, Paul started a gradual decline in IQ while
Johnny began to rise. At six, when they entered
the first grade, Paul scored 134 to Johnny's 131.
By 12 years of age, Paul had fallen to 113 while
Johnny had soared to 152.
What did Johnny have that Paul lacked? The
Fels researchers found at least a dozen person
ality traits which are typical of risers like John
ny. They all boil down to the need to solve one's
own problems. The drive to independence is
found in every normal baby. It starts almost
from the moment of birth. It is the infant's way
of coping with the primitive, undefined anxiety
that comes from complete helplessness.
(Continued on page 111
COVER:
Kids love to ham it up, whether
they're being funny, frantic, or
just wistful like this charmer
caught by Phoebe Dunn.Children's
IQs are discussed in story above.
Family Weekly
Notmbr 17, 196J
LEONARD S. DAVIDOW Vmittnt and Publieher
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