[Review of the book Characteristic differences in bright and dull children

Abstract

Reviews the book, Characteristic differences in bright and dull children by Harry J. Baker (1927). Before intelligence quotients and mental ages can have much bearing upon our school practices they must be translated from figures into facts. These facts must be stated in terms of aptitude for school work, attitude toward study, methods of learning, rate of progress, etc. This has been done for the subnormal child in several recent books, and to some extent has been attempted for the gifted. The dull and the bright, however, have not received their due share of attention. The author has written this little volume in an attempt to interpret the IQ's which lie between 70 and 90 and those between 110 and 130 in terms of school work and procedure. The former group he calls "dull" and the latter "bright," and the book is concerned with contrasting these two groups with respect to their natures and behavior in various school situations. The material which is the basis for the book was obtained by asking five hundred Detroit teachers to report upon these two groups of children with respect to "differences as they expressed them in psychological terminology, upon differences as expressed in their methods of teaching procedures and in any other way they wished." The opinions of five hundred teachers ought to furnish an excellent beginning on the problem set for this volume, by providing indications of topics on which research might prove fruitful. Opinions, however, ought not to be considered sufficient basis for a treatise on a subject concerning which facts are obtainable. As a consequence of using opinions instead of facts, the author has often been guilty of dogmatism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)