Children whose low first IQs reflected linguistic or environmental deficiency showed substantial IQ gains after gaining command of English or schooling¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q1
Currency · newest study 1922 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? A child who spent a whole kindergarten year without speaking, from a recently arrived immigrant family, scored IQ 69 and 15 months later IQ 86, with most first-test failures in linguistic tests. → Lincoln 1922

Evidence¶

Lincoln 1922¶

Lincoln, Edward A. (1922). The Constancy of Intelligence Quotients (A Case Study). The Journal of Educational Psychology, 14, 484-495. https://archive.org/details/journalofeducat14

q1 · i? · qualitative · r2

Case Number 49, first tested at 5 years 9 months in Grade I with IQ 69, retested 15 months later with IQ 86. The author concludes "It seems reasonable to suppose that the difficulties which he experienced on the first examination were largely linguistic."

"It seems reasonable to suppose that the difficulties which he experienced on the first examination were largely linguistic. As he gained a greater command of English he was able to pass more of the tests"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• English-Learner Status — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• General Cognitive Ability — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Clinic cases retested within less than a month to 15 months show a median IQ difference of 3.5 points, with only four cases above 5 points — a broader claim this one bears on
• High L2 achievers in immersion programs show IQ gains, consistent with a higher threshold of bilingual competence — related
• Dual language learners especially benefit from high-quality early care and dual language immersion programs, and multilingualism is associated with cognitive, linguistic, social, and cultural strengths — related
• The question of the constancy of IQ is not settled; further studies with regular intervals and repeated tests of the same cases over a number of years are needed — related
• A large percentage of retested cases show IQ variations large enough to change their classification, demonstrating the injustice of disposing of persons on the basis of a single test — a broader claim this one bears on