Einstein, race, and the myth of the cultural icon

The most remarkable aspect of Einstein's 1946 address at Lincoln University is that it has vanished from Einstein's recorded history. Its disappearance into a historical black hole symbolizes what seems to happen in the creation of a cultural icon. It is but one of many political statements by Einstein to have met such a fate, though his civil rights activism is most glaringly missing. One explanation for this historical amnesia is that those who shape our official memories felt that Einstein's "controversial" friends like Paul Robeson and activities like co-chairing the anti-lynching crusade might tarnish Einstein as an icon. That icon, sanctified by Time magazine when it dubbed Einstein "Person of the Century" at the end of 1999, is a myth, albeit a marvelous one. Yet it is not so much the motive for the omission but the consequence of it that should concern us. Americans and the millions of Einstein fans around the world are left unaware that he was an outspoken, passionate, committed antiracist.     

Predicting individual success in programing self-instructional materials

Conclusions In essence, this study has completed a triad of efforts to identify and weigh factors critical to the proper selection of individuals for training as self-instructional programers. It would now appear that we have reliable measures that can be used as guidelines. The most powerful of these selection criteria is the combined Otis IQ and Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking scores. It was found in the 1963 study that these two scores, working in concert, were more powerful and sensitive than either working alone. This result was confirmed in the present study with the finding of significance beyond the 001 level, indicating that the difference could be attributed to chance in only one case out of one thousand. In Figure 1, we find a representation of the utility of this predictor in assessing the success of programers in the upper and lower quartiles. Using figures to be explained below, we sought to determine whether a combined score of 187 or less would indicate failure while a combined score of 207 or more would indicate success. The research reported herein was supported by the Cooperative Research Program of the Office of Education, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Cooperative Research Project No. OEC-1-7-068407-0286.     

Identifying Prepared and Competent Teachers with Professional Knowledge Tests

Paper–pencil teacher tests of professional knowledge typically are organized around the conventional dimensions that define state teaching standards, such as classroom management and assessment. We examined if such tests could be partitioned into three other dimensions (general knowledge, academic or textbook knowledge, and functional teaching knowledge), and if these dimensions (1) identified between those who did and did not receive teacher preparation, and (2) predicted teaching competence. A teacher test was given to advanced and beginning education majors, and non-majors. We found that advanced education majors and non-majors differed mostly on academic knowledge, but that functional knowledge predicted competence to the greatest extent. A variety of useful information can be gleaned from teacher tests if subscores of these dimensions are generated.     

Using multiple methods to investigate eleven-year-olds’ experiences of preparing for a high-stakes public examination in Trinidad and Tobago

This study was designed to uncover and evaluate unintended and indirect consequences of using the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) in Trinidad and Tobago for high-stakes selection and placement. A major argument is that the test-taker is central to consequences, both intended and unintended. Data were obtained from eleven-year-olds preparing and taking the examination using multiple qualitative methods, which privilege agency and personal and social consciousness. Methods capturing the test-takers’ experience included diaries, focus groups, drawings, photovoice, and photo-elicitation. The findings were summarised by a theory of action and reported in integrated themes. Test preparation was mostly drill and practice. Both test preparation and test-taking were emotion-eliciting events requiring significant investment in positive social relationships to buffer negative impact. The costs and impact of early high-stakes examinations in Trinidad and Tobago might be higher than anticipated.     

Temperament and the Reactions to Unfamiliarity

The begavioral reaction to unfamiliar events are basic pheomena in all vertebrates, Four month-old injants who show a low threshold to become distressed and motorically aroused to unfamiliar stimuli are likely than others to become fearful and subdued during early childhood, whereas infants who show a high arousal threshold are more likely to become bold and sociable. After presenting some developmental correlates and thrajectories of these 2 temperamental biases, I consider their implication for psychopathology and the relation between propositions containing psychological and biological concepts.     

Temperament, Emotion, and Cognition at Fourteen Months: The MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study

200 pairs of twins were assessed at 14 months of age in the laboratory and home. Measures were obtained of temperament, emotion, and cognition/language. Comparisons between identical and fraternal twin correlations suggest that individual differences are due in part to heritable influences. For temperament, genetic influence was significant for behavioral observations of inhibition to the unfamiliar, tester ratings of activity, and parental ratings of temperament. For emotion, significant genetic influence was found for empathy and parental ratings of negative emotion. The estimate of heritability for parental report of expression of negative emotions was relatively high, whereas that for expression of positive emotions was low, a finding consistent with previous research. For cognition and language, genetic influence was significant for behavioral indices of spatial memory, categorization, and word comprehension. Shared rearing environment appears influential for parental reports of language and for positive emotions, but not for other measures of emotion or for temperament.     

Preschool enrichment and learning

This paper discusses some of the basic cognitive units and processes involved in intellective functioning. It suggests that the basic units, consist of schemata, images, symbols, concepts, and rules and that motor action does not have to be an accompaniment to the acquisition of some of these cognitive structures. Comprehension, memory, generation of solution hypotheses, evaluation, and implementation are offered as the basic cognitive processes and some suggestions are made that may be helpful to the teacher. It is argued that the concept of intelligence has no explanatory meaning and that the components that are selected to characterize the intelligent child will change over culture and history. It is urged that communities and educators adopt a relativistic attitude toward the familial or educational experiences that promote optimal growth, for it is not possible to specify the correct set of experiences unless one simultaneously notes the cultural demands the child will encounter.

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Résumé L'auteur traite de certains procédés cognitifs de base qui font partie de la fonction intellectuelle. Il suggère que les structures de base consistent en schémas, images, symboles, concepts, et règles et que l'action motrice n'est pas nécessaire à l'acquisition de certains de ces structures cognitives. L'auteur considère la compréhension, la mémoire, les hypothèses de solution, l'évaluation, et l'exécution comme les procédés cognitifs de base; il offre quelques suggestions qui peuvent aider l'instituteur. L'auteur affirme que le concept de l'intelligence n'a pas de sens explicatif et que les traits qu'on choisit pour caractériser l'enfant intelligent changeront selon la culture et l'histoire. L'auteur propose que les communautés et les éducateurs adoptent une attitude relativiste envers les expériences familiales ou éducatives qui promeuvent le développement optimal, car il est impossible de préciser les expériences correctes à moins qu'on ne note en même temps les exigences culturelles que l'enfant rencontrera.

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Preparation of this paper was supported by grants from NICHD (HD04299), U.S. Public Health Service, and from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.     

Being Black, Male, and Gifted in Miami: Prevalence and Predictors of Placement in Elementary School Gifted Education Programs

Although it is well established that Black male students are underrepresented in gifted educational programs in the United States, due to a scarcity of longitudinal prospective research, little is known about the protective factors at the child, family, and school level that increase the probability of Black male students being identified as gifted during early elementary school. Using data from the Miami School Readiness Project, we followed 6,926 low-income Black males from preschool through 5th grade to describe trajectories for the 453 Black males (6.5 %) who were identified as gifted, and examined child, family, and preschool variables associated with gifted classification. Boys were most commonly identified as gifted in first and second grade, and 15 % of the identified boys did not appear to be receiving gifted courses. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that being classified as gifted in early elementary school was more likely for Black males who (a) attended public school pre-K programs at age four, (b) had higher cognitive, language, fine motor, behavioral, and emergent literacy school readiness skills before entering kindergarten, (c) spoke a language other than English at home, (d) were older upon entering kindergarten, (e) received higher grades in school, and (f) scored higher on standardized tests of math and reading. Predictors of gifted identification in the kindergarten year were different and weaker compared to identification in later years. Implications for early identification and intervention for talented Black males are discussed.