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Mental-age-matched comparison method

Research Method · All research methods
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description

The author argues that comparing feeble-minded children with normal children of the same chronological age reveals only differences attributable to developmental level, not to feeble-mindedness itself. Characteristics such as inability to learn, lack of attention, and incapacity for sustained effort "characterize a six-year-old child compared with a ten-year-old child." Only by matching on mental age and initial ability can genuine differences in learning capacity be detected, which is how the four groups in this study were constructed.

Accounts

  • Compare learners of different ability groups at the same mental age, not the same chronological age, to isolate differences in learning capacity: The author argues that comparing feeble-minded children with normal children of the same chronological age reveals only differences attributable to developmental level, not to feeble-mindedness itself. Characteristics such as inability to learn, lack of attention, and incapacity for sustained effort "characterize a six-year-old child compared with a ten-year-old child." Only by matching on mental age and initial ability can genuine differences in learning capacity be detected, which is how the four groups in this study were constructed. (Woodrow (1915))

Claims

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Key Sources

  • Woodrow, H. (1915). Practice and transference in normal and feeble-minded children. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Practice+and+Transference+in+Normal+and+Feeble-Minded+Children%22
Page metadata
Field Value
type research-method
id mental-age-matched-comparison-method
title Mental-age-matched comparison method
description The author argues that comparing feeble-minded children with normal children of the same chronological age reveals only differences attributable to developmental level, not to feeble-mindedness itself.
status review
generated by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-25
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