Question

What are the unique benefits of Lewis Terman’s study of giftedness

Answer 1

Answer.

Lewis Terman began tracking gifted children into adolescence and adulthood in 1925 in a longitudinal research design in order to find the age related differences in the different cohorts of gifted individuals. One of the unique aspects of the Terman study which have been a plus point for a long term study of this proportion has been the evidence that intelligence testing could be used as a positive tool to shape society. Based on data collected in 1921–22, Terman concluded that gifted children did not suffer from any exceptional health problems than normal children and they were usually social, were well-adjusted, did better in school.

Moreover, because of its use of multiple sources other than IQ tests such as news reports, school records, interviews, etc, the Terman study was able to show that birth cohorts age in different ways because they encounter historical change at different life stages. For instance the two cohorts that were studied— those born before 1911 and the men who were born from 1911 up to the 1920s differed in terms of their educational achievements, employment status and success in life since the older cohort of men were exposed in their late Thirties to the ill-timed events of the First World War and their adversities from young adulthood to late life which delayed their economic and social progress whereas the life course of the younger men was defined more by cumulative advantages as they were mobilized into the Second World War during their college education and their exposure to managerial roles in the war as officer, etc. improved their postwar mobility in society.