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Selby Merritt
Person

Alfred Binet

Major Contribution:
Important Points
Binet-Simon Scale
variety of tasks that
are representative of
childrens abilities
Director of Sorbonnes
Laboratory of
Experimental
Psychology
His greatest
accomplishment led to
the Intelligence
Quotient (IQ) that now
illustrates the natural
intelligence of a
human.

Lewis
Terman

Studied gifted
learners in depth
The Terman study
observed gifted
learners with IQs of
higher than 135
the most recent
study was

Positive and/or
Negative Aspects
Had to admit he
was wrong in
supporting one of
his early teachers
and hypnosis
Binet and Feres
experiment was
once again
wrong and he
had to publicly
take the
embarrassment
of admitting he
was wrong
Unfortunately,
the last version
of his BinetSimon scale was
still not 100%
accurate before
he died, but it
eventually was
successful and
he is a legend
for it.
He had a great
number of
subjects and
research to back
up his claims
Continued to
refine Binets
theories on the

What I Found
Interesting
I found it
interesting that
even though he
was a loner and
very introverted,
he was still
fascinated by
psychology and
the minds of
others.
He was self-taught
from a young age
Charles Darwin
initially inspired
him

How he wanted to
distinguish
between backward
students and
gifted students
How he didnt just
admire Binet for
his discoveries,

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Kind of a bummer that I
wasnt alive to see my
lifes work be
successfuloh well.

Hopefully my Termans
Termites will show
promise as adults!

Selby Merritt

Leta S.
Hollingworth

Mary Frasier

conducted in 1977
with 1,528 subjects
between ages 3 and
9
Refined the BinetSimon scale to
become the Stanford
Achievement Test

Feminist thinker who

researched
psychology of
women and gifted
children
Wrote the first
comprehensive text
on the gifted
Taught the first
college course on
the gifted
Conducted one of
the first studies with
children of higher
than 180 IQs

African American
female who studied
gifted learners at the
University of Georgia
Designed the Frasier

Binet-Simon
Scale
He broke his
analysis up into
8 categories
that tested
cognitive
functioning.

I think one of her

greatest
strengths in
examining gifted
students is that
she had
experience in
the classroom
She took
Termans study
one step further
with studying
subjects with
180+ IQs
Disproved the
theory that
women were
incapacitated
during
menstruation
Brought
attention to the
lack of resources
for testing low-

but the charm and

open-mindedness
that he did it with
That he included
interpretation of
fables in the eight
categories for
cognitive abilities
it directly applies
to me as an
English teacher.
She was a
principal in a
school as well as a
teacher with real
teaching
experience.
She is listed in the
American Men of
Science!
That she proved
that men had no
inherent
advantage to
women when they
were born

I am a proud woman to
be named to the
American Men of Science
list!

How she was able

to identify how
tests were
overlooking the

It is my hope that one

day, no underprivileged
gifted child will be
overlooked.

Selby Merritt

E. Paul
Torrance

Talent Assessment
profile which was a
comprehensive
assessment system
that has multiple
indicators, making it
more effective in
testing the gifts of
low-income and
minority children
President of the
National Association
for Gifted Children in
1987-1989
Lead research that
sought better ways
to identify gifted and
talented students
under the National
Research Center of
the Gifted and
Talented

Known as The
Creativity Man, he
was a pioneer in
creativity research
and education
He published 1,117
books, articles,
chapters, tests, and
book reviews about

income and
minority
students for gifts
and talents
Played a big part
in changing
state law and
State Board of
Education rules
related to gifted
education so
that all Georgia
schools could
use the
promising
practices that
she found
through research
Taught us that
we cannot have
true excellence
without equality
and doing the
right thing for
ALL gifted
children
Discovered a
way to test
creativity
Studied mostly
elementary
students, but I
would have liked
to see a greater
age range
The great thing

underprivileged
and minorities and
develop a system
to overcome the
problem
I think it is
interesting that
Frasier approached
all of this from a
psychology
standpoint rather
than an education
perspective.
I am also very
impressed that she
was able to get so
much attention for
her advocating
minorities while
she herself was a
minority as well
and was able to
find such objective
research without
bias.
That he first
discovered the
importance of
creativity when he
was using survival
skills in the Air
Force
I find it interesting
that he too comes

The best way to survive

this life is to know how to
use your creativity
effectively.

Selby Merritt

creativity
Created the Torrance
Tests of Creative
Thinking
Created the Future
Problem Solving
Program and the
Incubation Model of
Teaching

is that his
research is still
being built upon
by his students
and successors

from the viewpoint

of a psychologist
rather than a
teacher
That he was such
an inspiration and
therefore many of
his students have
continued to
further the
research he
started and
advance in the
field of creativity
research.

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Other than these individuals, name two other persons or events you feel were significant to the development of gifted learner
services and education. Defend your choices. Use resources provided or your own research.
Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act:
In 1988, this act was passed and funded research and the creation of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented,
giving the concept of gifted learning and its importance, significant recognition. From this act, big doors were opened that
allowed for further research and discussion of gifted learners, bringing the issue into a greater light than it was before.
(information above found here: https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/gifted-education-us/brief-history-giftedand-talented-education.)

A Nation at Risk Report

Released in 1983, the A Nation at Risk report outlined how Americas youth was paling in comparison to the performance of
other countries students. This report included policies and practices of gifted education, calling for greater attention to be given
to providing appropriate gifted curriculum. This was important because it put the importance of gifted and its research in the
spotlight at the national level, rather than just being a statewide issue.

Selby Merritt

(Information above found here: https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/gifted-education-us/brief-history-giftedand-talented-education)