Thursday, May 13, 2010

Smartest Babies Ever...Maybe

You would not believe how forward-thinking Des Moines was on the topic of children's intelligence. In 1943, the Iowa Children's Home Society administered I. Q. tests to the children they took in. According to Director Miss Esther M. Jaquith, scientists 'in the child welfare field' produced a test that could be administered to babies as young as 3 months. Three months.  How much can you learn about IQ based on what, eye movement? Smile response?  Burp activity?  Those must have been some tests, back there in 1943. I'm thinking there may be something more sophisticated today, involving wires and such. To read more about the Iowa Children's Home Society, you can find the article I quoted in:  The Des Moines Register, 10/21/1943, p.17.  Unfortunately it doesn't tell you where the heck they got the tests.

Source:  Fun Facts
Graphic Source: Karen's Whimsy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love those Fun Facts

Anonymous said...

Bizarre. I wonder what they did with the results and how it affected the children.