Graham and Ernhart on "What Price Intelligence?".

Comments on a reply to Graham and Ernhart's recent criticism of an article published by Tucker and the commentator (see record 1961-02545-001). In this article, the data from the studies of birth conditions suggested that children undergoing precipitate birth or severely anoxic at birth will later show a greater preponderance of defective individuals. In addition, the same two groups will have a greater number of individuals of superior ability as measured by the Stanford-Binet than found in the controls recruited from the same population. It is not the former but the latter conclusion which Graham and Ernhart particularly dislike. The commentator explains the criticisms made by Graham and Ernhart about his article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What price intelligence?

One study "investigated the effects of prolonged labor with instrumentation, precipitate labor, and normal spontaneous delivery upon the later development of the child… . There were 120 children examined with 40 in each of the three groups. Each group consisted of 20 males and 20 females and each of these subgroups had 10 colored and 10 white children." It was "found that precipitate labor can produce the most deleterious effects on later development as far as the intelligence is considered as measured by the Stanford-Binet… . In another study… the effects of severe and prolonged anoxia at or immediately following birth was investigated… . The results appear to indicate that the superior children come from those groups studied who also showed the greater incidence of feeblemindedness." The meaning of the results "is difficult to rationalize." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)