Lewis Terman
Encyclopedia
Lewis Madison Terman was an American
psychologist
, noted as a pioneer in educational psychology
in the early 20th century at the Stanford University School of Education
. He is best known as the inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ test
. He was a prominent eugenicist
and was a member of the Human Betterment Foundation
. He also served as president of the American Psychological Association.
, B.Pd. (Bachelor of Pedagogy), and B.A.
from Central Normal College in 1894 and 1898, and a B.A.
and M.A.
from the Indiana University Bloomington
in 1903. He received his Ph.D.
from Clark University
in 1905.
He worked as a school principal in San Bernardino
, California
in 1905, and as a professor
at Los Angeles Normal School in 1907. In 1910 he joined the faculty of Stanford University
as a professor of educational psychology
at the invitation of Ellwood Patterson Cubberley
and remained associated with the university until his death. He served as chairman of the psychology department from 1922 to 1945.
In 1916 Terman published the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale (1916; with Maud A. Merrill, 2d rev., 1937; 3d rev. 1960) http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0848220.html, based on previous work by Alfred Binet
and Theodore Simon
of France
. Terman promoted his test, known colloquially as the "Stanford-Binet" test, as an aid for the classification of developmentally disabled children. Revisions of the Stanford-Binet are still used today as a general intelligence test for adults and children. The fifth revision of the test is currently in use.
The first mass administration of IQ testing was done with 1.7 million soldiers during World War I
, when Terman served in the United States military while conducting psychological tests. Terman was able to work with other applied psychologists to categorize army recruits. The recruits were given group intelligence tests which took about an hour to administer.There were two tests to choose from, Army alpha; a text-based test, and army beta; a picturebased test for nonreaders(25% could not complete the Aplha test). The examiners scored the tests on a scale ranging from "A" through "E".
Recruits who earned scores of "A" would be trained as officers while those who earned scores of "D" and "E" would never receive officer training. The work of psychologists during the war proved to Americans that intelligence tests could have broader utility. After the war Terman and his colleagues pressed for intelligence tests to be used in schools to improve the efficiency of growing American schools.
He also administered English tests to Spanish-speakers and unschooled African-Americans, concluding:
Unlike Binet and Simon, whose goal was to identify less able school children in order to aid them with the needed care required, Terman proposed using IQ tests to classify children and put them on the appropriate job-track. He believed IQ was inherited and was the strongest predictor of one's ultimate success in life.
Terman adopted William Stern's suggestion that mental age/chronological age times 100 (to get rid of the decimal) be made the intelligence quotient
or IQ. (NB: Most modern IQ tests calculate the intelligence quotient differently.)
In 1921, Terman initiated the Genetic Studies of Genius
, a long-term study of gifted children. He found that gifted children did not fit the existing stereotypes often associated with them: they were not weak and sickly social misfits, but in fact were generally taller, in better health, better developed physically, and better adapted socially than other children. The children included in his studies were colloquially referred to as "Termites".
Terman later joined the Human Betterment Foundation, a Pasadena
-based eugenics group founded by E.S. Gosney in 1928 which had as part of its agenda the promotion and enforcement of compulsory sterilization
laws in California
. Terman Middle School in Palo Alto, California
is named after himself and his son. Lewis Terman was the father of Frederick Terman
, who, as provost
of Stanford University
, greatly expanded the science, statistics and engineering departments that helped catapult Stanford into the ranks of the world's first class educational institutions, as well as spurring the growth of Silicon Valley
.
’s research in this area . Terman followed J. McKeen Cattell’s work which combined the ideas of Wilhelm Wundt
and Francis Galton
saying that those who are intellectually superior will have better “sensory acuity, strength of grip, sensitivity to pain, and memory for dictated consonants” . During his time at Clark University working on his Ph.D.
, Terman wrote his dissertation entitled Genius and stupidity: a study of some of the intellectual processes of seven “bright” and seven “stupid” boys where he administered Cattell’s tests on boys who were considered intelligent versus boys who were considered unintelligent.
In 1915, he wrote a paper called The mental hygiene of exceptional children. He pointed out that though he believed the capacity for intelligence is inherited, those with exceptional intelligence also need exceptional schooling. Terman wrote that, “[Bright children] are rarely given tasks which call forth their best ability, and as a result they run the risk of falling into lifelong habits of submaximum efficiency” . In other words, nature (heredity) plays a large role in determining intelligence, but nurture (the environment) is also important in fostering the innate intellectual ability.
With Binet’s development of IQ tests, it became possible to identify early on the children who were gifted or geniuses given their age and study them from their early childhood into adulthood . Terman noted in his 1922 paper called A New Approach to the Study of Genius that this advancement in testing marked a change in research on geniuses and giftedness . Previously, the research had looked at genius adults and tried to look in retrospect into their early years of childhood. Through these studies on gifted children, Terman hoped to find how to properly educate a gifted child as well as dispel the negative stereotypes that that gifted children were “conceited, freakish, socially eccentric, and [insane]” .
Terman found his answers in his longitudinal study
on gifted children called Genetic Studies of Genius
which had five volumes . The children in this study were called “Termites” . The volumes reviewed the follow-ups Terman did throughout their lives. The fifth volume was a 35 year follow-up, and looked at the gifted group during mid-life . The results from this study showed that gifted and genius children were actually in good health and had normal personalities. Few of them demonstrated the previously-held negative stereotype of gifted children. Most of those in the study did well socially and academically in school and had lower divorce rates later in life . Additionally, those in the gifted group were generally successful in their careers and had received awards recognizing their achievements. Though many of the “Termites” reached their potential in adulthood, some of the children did not, perhaps because of personal obstacles, insufficient education, or lack of opportunity (Bernreuter, Miles, Tinker, & Young, 1942). Terman was an advocate for early identification of gifted children so that proper encouragement could be provided (Minton, 1988). Because of this support, the children would be more likely to reach their full potential. He also promoted early identification because it made it possible to accelerate the education of gifted children through skipping grade levels in school.
Terman died before he completed the fifth volume of Genetic Studies of Genius, but Melita Oden, a colleague, completed the volume and published it (Terman, 1959). Terman wished for the study to continue on after his death, so he selected Robert Richardson Sears
, one of the many successful participants in the study as well as a colleague of his, to continue with the work (Seagoe, 1975). The study is still supported by Stanford University
and will persist until the last of the “termites” withdraws from the study or dies.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
psychologist
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, noted as a pioneer in educational psychology
Educational psychology
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Educational psychology is concerned with how students learn and develop, often focusing...
in the early 20th century at the Stanford University School of Education
Stanford University School of Education
The Stanford University School of Education , is one of the seven schools of Stanford University. It is the second-oldest school of education in the United States, after NYU...
. He is best known as the inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ test
Stanford-Binet IQ test
The development of the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales initiated the modern field of intelligence testing and was one of the first examples of an adaptive test. The test originated in France, then was revised in the United States...
. He was a prominent eugenicist
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
and was a member of the Human Betterment Foundation
Human Betterment Foundation
The Human Betterment Foundation was an American eugenics organization established in Pasadena, California in 1928 by E.S. Gosney with the aim "to foster and aid constructive and educational forces for the protection and betterment of the human family in body, mind, character, and citizenship"...
. He also served as president of the American Psychological Association.
Biography
Terman received a B.S.Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
, B.Pd. (Bachelor of Pedagogy), and B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Central Normal College in 1894 and 1898, and a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from the Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
in 1903. He received his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Clark University
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
in 1905.
He worked as a school principal in San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1905, and as a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at Los Angeles Normal School in 1907. In 1910 he joined the faculty of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
as a professor of educational psychology
Educational psychology
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Educational psychology is concerned with how students learn and develop, often focusing...
at the invitation of Ellwood Patterson Cubberley
Ellwood Patterson Cubberley
Ellwood Patterson Cubberley was an American educator and author, a pioneer in the field of educational administration. He spent most of his career as a professor and later dean in the Stanford University School of Education in California....
and remained associated with the university until his death. He served as chairman of the psychology department from 1922 to 1945.
In 1916 Terman published the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale (1916; with Maud A. Merrill, 2d rev., 1937; 3d rev. 1960) http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0848220.html, based on previous work by Alfred Binet
Alfred Binet
Alfred Binet was a French psychologist who was the inventor of the first usable intelligence test, known at that time as the Binet test and today referred to as the IQ test. His principal goal was to identify students who needed special help in coping with the school curriculum...
and Theodore Simon
Theodore Simon
Théodore Simon was a French psychologist and psychometrician. He co-created the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale tests with Alfred Binet.- Biography :...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Terman promoted his test, known colloquially as the "Stanford-Binet" test, as an aid for the classification of developmentally disabled children. Revisions of the Stanford-Binet are still used today as a general intelligence test for adults and children. The fifth revision of the test is currently in use.
The first mass administration of IQ testing was done with 1.7 million soldiers during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when Terman served in the United States military while conducting psychological tests. Terman was able to work with other applied psychologists to categorize army recruits. The recruits were given group intelligence tests which took about an hour to administer.There were two tests to choose from, Army alpha; a text-based test, and army beta; a picturebased test for nonreaders(25% could not complete the Aplha test). The examiners scored the tests on a scale ranging from "A" through "E".
Recruits who earned scores of "A" would be trained as officers while those who earned scores of "D" and "E" would never receive officer training. The work of psychologists during the war proved to Americans that intelligence tests could have broader utility. After the war Terman and his colleagues pressed for intelligence tests to be used in schools to improve the efficiency of growing American schools.
He also administered English tests to Spanish-speakers and unschooled African-Americans, concluding:
“High-grade or border-line deficiency… is very, very common among Spanish-Indian and Mexican families of the Southwest and also among negroes. Their dullness seems to be racial, or at least inherent in the family stocks from which they come… Children of this group should be segregated into separate classes… They cannot master abstractions but they can often be made into efficient workers… from a eugenic point of view they constitute a grave problem because of their unusually prolific breeding” (The Measurement of Intelligence, 1916, p. 91-92).
Unlike Binet and Simon, whose goal was to identify less able school children in order to aid them with the needed care required, Terman proposed using IQ tests to classify children and put them on the appropriate job-track. He believed IQ was inherited and was the strongest predictor of one's ultimate success in life.
Terman adopted William Stern's suggestion that mental age/chronological age times 100 (to get rid of the decimal) be made the intelligence quotient
Intelligence quotient
An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. When modern IQ tests are constructed, the mean score within an age group is set to 100 and the standard deviation to 15...
or IQ. (NB: Most modern IQ tests calculate the intelligence quotient differently.)
In 1921, Terman initiated the Genetic Studies of Genius
Genetic Studies of Genius
The Genetic Studies of Genius, today known as the Terman Study of the Gifted, is a still-running longitudinal study begun in 1921 to examine the development and characteristics of gifted children into adulthood...
, a long-term study of gifted children. He found that gifted children did not fit the existing stereotypes often associated with them: they were not weak and sickly social misfits, but in fact were generally taller, in better health, better developed physically, and better adapted socially than other children. The children included in his studies were colloquially referred to as "Termites".
Terman later joined the Human Betterment Foundation, a Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
-based eugenics group founded by E.S. Gosney in 1928 which had as part of its agenda the promotion and enforcement of compulsory sterilization
Compulsory sterilization
Compulsory sterilization also known as forced sterilization programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization...
laws in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Terman Middle School in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
is named after himself and his son. Lewis Terman was the father of Frederick Terman
Frederick Terman
Frederick Emmons Terman was an American academic. He is widely credited with being the father of Silicon Valley.-Education:...
, who, as provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, greatly expanded the science, statistics and engineering departments that helped catapult Stanford into the ranks of the world's first class educational institutions, as well as spurring the growth of Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
.
Thoughts and Research on Gifted Children
Terman’s study of genius and gifted children was a lifelong interest . His fascination with the intelligence of children began early in his career since he was familiar with Alfred BinetAlfred Binet
Alfred Binet was a French psychologist who was the inventor of the first usable intelligence test, known at that time as the Binet test and today referred to as the IQ test. His principal goal was to identify students who needed special help in coping with the school curriculum...
’s research in this area . Terman followed J. McKeen Cattell’s work which combined the ideas of Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German physician, psychologist, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the founding figures of modern psychology. He is widely regarded as the "father of experimental psychology"...
and Francis Galton
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton /ˈfrɑːnsɪs ˈgɔːltn̩/ FRS , cousin of Douglas Strutt Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an English Victorian polymath: anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician...
saying that those who are intellectually superior will have better “sensory acuity, strength of grip, sensitivity to pain, and memory for dictated consonants” . During his time at Clark University working on his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, Terman wrote his dissertation entitled Genius and stupidity: a study of some of the intellectual processes of seven “bright” and seven “stupid” boys where he administered Cattell’s tests on boys who were considered intelligent versus boys who were considered unintelligent.
In 1915, he wrote a paper called The mental hygiene of exceptional children. He pointed out that though he believed the capacity for intelligence is inherited, those with exceptional intelligence also need exceptional schooling. Terman wrote that, “[Bright children] are rarely given tasks which call forth their best ability, and as a result they run the risk of falling into lifelong habits of submaximum efficiency” . In other words, nature (heredity) plays a large role in determining intelligence, but nurture (the environment) is also important in fostering the innate intellectual ability.
With Binet’s development of IQ tests, it became possible to identify early on the children who were gifted or geniuses given their age and study them from their early childhood into adulthood . Terman noted in his 1922 paper called A New Approach to the Study of Genius that this advancement in testing marked a change in research on geniuses and giftedness . Previously, the research had looked at genius adults and tried to look in retrospect into their early years of childhood. Through these studies on gifted children, Terman hoped to find how to properly educate a gifted child as well as dispel the negative stereotypes that that gifted children were “conceited, freakish, socially eccentric, and [insane]” .
Terman found his answers in his longitudinal study
Longitudinal study
A longitudinal study is a correlational research study that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods of time — often many decades. It is a type of observational study. Longitudinal studies are often used in psychology to study developmental trends across the...
on gifted children called Genetic Studies of Genius
Genetic Studies of Genius
The Genetic Studies of Genius, today known as the Terman Study of the Gifted, is a still-running longitudinal study begun in 1921 to examine the development and characteristics of gifted children into adulthood...
which had five volumes . The children in this study were called “Termites” . The volumes reviewed the follow-ups Terman did throughout their lives. The fifth volume was a 35 year follow-up, and looked at the gifted group during mid-life . The results from this study showed that gifted and genius children were actually in good health and had normal personalities. Few of them demonstrated the previously-held negative stereotype of gifted children. Most of those in the study did well socially and academically in school and had lower divorce rates later in life . Additionally, those in the gifted group were generally successful in their careers and had received awards recognizing their achievements. Though many of the “Termites” reached their potential in adulthood, some of the children did not, perhaps because of personal obstacles, insufficient education, or lack of opportunity (Bernreuter, Miles, Tinker, & Young, 1942). Terman was an advocate for early identification of gifted children so that proper encouragement could be provided (Minton, 1988). Because of this support, the children would be more likely to reach their full potential. He also promoted early identification because it made it possible to accelerate the education of gifted children through skipping grade levels in school.
Terman died before he completed the fifth volume of Genetic Studies of Genius, but Melita Oden, a colleague, completed the volume and published it (Terman, 1959). Terman wished for the study to continue on after his death, so he selected Robert Richardson Sears
Robert Richardson Sears
Dr. Robert Richardson Sears was an eminent American psychologist who specialized in child psychology. He was born in Palo Alto, California to Jesse Brundage Sears, a professor at Stanford University, and Stella Louise Sears...
, one of the many successful participants in the study as well as a colleague of his, to continue with the work (Seagoe, 1975). The study is still supported by Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and will persist until the last of the “termites” withdraws from the study or dies.
Publications
- The Measurement of Intelligence (1916)
- The Use of Intelligence Tests (1916)
- The Stanford Achievement Test (1923)
- Genetic Studies of Genius (1925, 1947, 1959)
- Autobiography of Lewis Terman (1930)
Recognition
Stanford University has an endowed professorship in his honor. Holders have included- Ronald N. BracewellRonald N. BracewellRonald Newbold Bracewell AO was the Lewis M. Terman Professor of Electrical Engineering, Emeritus of the at Stanford University.- Education :...
, Electrical Engineering - Ellen MarkmanEllen MarkmanEllen Markman is Lewis M. Terman Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. She specializes in word learning and language development in children, focusing specifically on how children come to associate words with their meanings...
, PsychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...