Intellectual Status at Maturity as a Criterion for Selecting Items in Preschool Tests

Intellectual Status at Maturity as a Criterion for Selecting Items in Preschool Tests was first published in 1946.There is a widespread and practical need for intelligence tests that are suitable for use with very young children. To further the development of such predictive measures, Katharine M. Maurer in this study examines adult status as a criterion of item selection for preschool tests.Files in the Institute of Child Welfare at the University of Minnesota contain data on children tested with the Minnesota Preschool Scales beginning in 1926. Mrs. Maurer sought out a large group of these same subjects, now young adults, secured their cooperation, and retested them with an adult measure of intelligence. This report contains her evaluation of the test items in the preschool scales in terms of this group's performance as adults.Mrs. Maurer says: "With the possible exception of records referred to by Wellman on children who attended the University of Iowa nursery school and who are now of college age, I know of no longitudinal records that compare in length with those made available by retesting individuals studied as early as 1926 at Minnesota."The need for instruments that predict development over a span of years has long been felt by agencies which place children for adoption and seek homes that will give them opportunity for maximal growth and happiness. Not only would adoptive parents be protected if given children who could make full use of the opportunities offered, but all parents would be able to plan more intelligently for the care and education of their children if good predictive measures were available.