Galton, Terman, Cox: The Distinctive Volume II in Genetic Studies of Genius

Abstract

With just one exception, all of the volumes in Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius report the results of a longitudinal study of more than a thousand intellectually gifted children. That single exception is Volume II, Cox’s single-authored The Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses, which instead was a retrospective study of 301 eminent creators and leaders, using historiometric methods to estimate their IQs (as well as to assess a subset of 100 on 67 character traits). This article discusses how this volume actually fits with the other four volumes in the set. After giving the historical background, discussion turns to the emergence of Cox’s doctoral dissertation. Then comes a narrative of the aftermath, including subsequent contributions by Cox, Terman, and numerous other researchers extending into the 21st century. The article closes by treating the ways that the intellectually gifted and the historic geniuses are not comparable, thus indicating the need for more recent replications and extensions of her work.

Personal Intelligence Is Evident in the Sophistication of People’s Narratives about Personality

“…People’s narratives about one another help community members to understand and to communicate about the personalities around them. The sophistication of such narratives—from eminent figures’ historical writings to today’s student essays on college admissions exams—have long been associated with the writers’ mental ability ( Miles 1926 ; Simonton 2020 ).…”

“…General intelligence surely is reflected in people’s writings. Catharine Cox ( Miles 1926 ) used eminent figures’ letters, stories, and other compositions as youth to demonstrate the differences in thinking of those high and low in intellectual attainment; in so doing, she greatly incremented our understanding of general intelligence and its expression ( Simonton 2020, p. 281 ). Today, general intelligence often is divided into subsidiary and broad intelligences.…”

Lewis Terman in Context: An Analysis of Citations of Genetic Studies of Genius Inside and Outside the Field of Gifted Education

“…Prior to Terman’s work, not much research had been devoted to giftedness aside from Galton’s work asserting individual differences in intelligence. Galton’s writings and attempts to use physical traits including height and weight to determine varying levels of intelligence and individual differences influenced Terman (Simonton, 2020). His contributions included the development of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Terman, 1916) and longitudinal studies of gifted children that led to the seminal collection of work, Genetic Studies of Genius .…”

Engaging With Gifted Education’s Past to Inform the Present and the Future

“…The GSG informed Julian Stanley as he developed and planned SMPY, and the research of Stanley and his successors has replicated, extended, and updated the findings from Terman's longitudinal research. There is also an in-depth discussion of Catherine Cox's contribution to the Genetic Studies of Genius series (Simonton, 2020). Finally, Carole K. Holahan, the only remaining author of an official volume from the GSG (Holahan & Sears, 1995), reports about the longitudinal study's members' aging process (Holahan, 2020).…”