Growth periodization in mental test performance.

Abstract

Epstein proposed that the brain and mental ability grow in spurts, specifically at 3-10 months and 2-4, 6-8,10-12 or 13, and 14-16 or 17 years of age, and that new concepts and skills should be taught primarily during the spurts, not during the plateaus. The mental test data cited by Epstein to support his theory are reanalyzed in this article. Only two studies provided any statistically significant relation with the theory. Tn one, the age changes were partly confounded with differences in test forms. In the other study, the pattern of means ran counter to theoretical predictions. A summary of the age distribution of increments and decrements in mental growth rates across studies did not reveal consistent or substantial age changes, and the age period that most consistently contained accelerated growth across studies had been hypothesized to be a period of slow, not rapid, growth.

Stages of brain and cognitive maturation.

“…Consequently, he questioned the validity and usefulness of brain measurements (i.e., inferred from skull circumference) and their application in the design of educational programs. Epstein (1974aEpstein ( , 1986 and McCall (1988;McCall et al, 1983) opened important discussions concerning the applicability of modern neuroscience data in the design of educational programs. It is clear that both identified critical issues that make the relationships between brain and mental growth difficult to interpret.…”

“…Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to William J. Hudspeth, Center for Brain Research, Department of Psychology, Radford University, Radford, Virginia 24124. test measurements do not provide sufficiently detailed information concerning brain or cognitive growth to warrant prospective decisions. Resolution of the issues raised by Epstein (1974Epstein ( , 1986 and McCall (1988;McCall et al, 1983) might well be found in direct measurements of regional brain growth and specific cognitive skills that emphasize the neuropsychological dependencies we assume in brain-cognition correlations.…”

The neuroscience of education: More research is needed before application.

“…Group IQ growth rate patterns do not (McCall, 1988a), and whereas individual IQ and mental age profiles show inflections at 5-6, 10-12, and perhaps at 14-15 years of age {McCall et al, 1973;McCall et al, 1983), not all of these points are at hypothesized peak periods and some children display increases and some display decreases at these ages. Epstein (1990) criticized my (McCall, 1988a) review of this literature on several methodological grounds. For one thing, I reanalyzed data involving a great variety of mental abilities, and Epstein states that it is an error to expect that all measures of mental performance should reveal the same general periodicity function.…”

“…Are these data similarly "flawed"? Misrepresentation A final major concern of Epstein (1990) is that I (McCall, 1988a) incorrectly attributed to him extreme claims for the theory and its potential application to educational contexts. Epstein particularly wishes to disassociate himself from the "extravagant claims" of Toepfer (e.g., Toepfer, 1979) and Hart (1981).…”

“…880-883) showing periodicity in the developmental patterns of quantified electroencephalograms (QEEG) for four areas of the brain validate the phrenoblysis hypothesis of Epstein (Epstein, 1974a(Epstein, , 1974b and thereby render irrelevant the disagreements between Epstein (1990, this issue, pp. 875-879) and me (McCall, 1988a;McCall, Meyers, Hartman, & Roche, 1983). Actually, however, I believe those data make it more, rather than less, necessary to consider some of the issues in this debate before curricula are changed and educational decisions are made for children on the basis of this concept.Briefly, Epstein (1974aEpstein ( , 1974b proposed that the brain grows in spurts (with peaks occurring between 3 and 10 months and between 2 and 4 years, 6 and 8 years, 10 and 12-13 years, and 14 and 16-17 years of age), that mental performance also grows in spurts that peak at the same ages, and that the spurts in brain growth are functionally related to the spurts in mental growth.…”