Intellectual Maturity in Nigerian Primary School Children

Abstract

This study was done with the aim of assessing the intellectual maturity of children attending typical free primary schools in Ibadan. Human figure drawings produced by 416 boys and 766 girls attending two non-fee paying primary schools were scored using the scoring system introduced by Koppitz. Data analysis shows that intellectual maturity, measured by the scores on the human figure drawings, is significantly related to age. In addition there is a significant interaction between age and sex: girls tend to score higher than boys at certain ages. The findings are discussed in relation to the effects of age, sex and social class, and the use of human figure drawings to measure intellectual maturity.S. Afr. J. Psycnot. 1981,11: 87-89 Hierdie studie beoog om die intellektuele rypheid van kinders in 'n open bare laerskool in Ibadan te bepaal. Menslike figuurtekeninge van 416 seuns en 766 dogters van twee open bare laerskole is ontleed deur Koppitz se puntetoekenningsisteem te gebruik. Die resultate toon dat intellektuele rypheid, soos gemeet deur die menslike figuurtekeninge, 'n beduidende verband met ouderdom openbaar. Verder is 'n beduidende interaksie tussen ouderdom en geslag gevind: dogters neig om hoer tellings as seuns te behaal by sekere ouderdomme. Die resultate word bespreek ten opsigte van die invloed van ouderdom, geslag en sosiale klas op intellektuele rypheid soos gemeet deur menslike figuurtekeninge.

Intellectual evaluations of adolescents via human figure drawings: An empirical comparison of two methods

“…Drawings have appealed to examiners because they appear to provide a convenient nonverbal alternative to traditional, individually administered intelligence tests. Human figure drawings can often be obtained in even the most challenging of clinical situations, such as the assessment of autistic or severely hyperactive children, or when a large number of nonreading or non-English speaking clients must be examined (Jegede & Bamgboye, 1981). Given the popularity of human figure drawings as a clinical tool, several scoring systems have been developed to evaluate drawings for cognitive ability, of which the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (Goodenough & Harris, 1963) is perhaps the best known.…”

Maturidade perceptual e inteligência

“…Nguyen (1992) confirma os resultados anteriores, ressaltando que o desenho infantil mais freqüentemente utilizado para medir a inteligência das crianças é o DFH. O DFH também já foi relacionado às dificuldades de aprendizagem (Bachara, Zaba & Raskin, 1975;Gounard & Pray, 1975;Jing, Yuan & Liu, 1999;Pollak, 1986), ao desenvolvimento cognitivo em crianças (Chappell & Steitz, 1993;Jegede & Bamgboye, 1981;Koppitz, 1967), à criatividade (Singer & Whiton, 1971), à auto-estima (Delatte & Hendrickson, 1982) e à depressão (Gordon, Lefkowitz & Tesiny, 1980) teste baseia-se no pressuposto de que, à medida que a criança cresce, desenvolve também o uso do grafismo e de representações mais evoluídas da figura humana (Sisto, 2000).…”