Adenoids and Diseased Tonsils: Their Effect on General Intelligence

During the last decade or two there has been a growing interest among physicians in defects of the nose and throat. This interest has centered in part upon those two afflictions of childhoodadenoids and diseased tonsils,or even tonsils that are merely enlarged. There is no doubt of the physical handicap borne by a child who is possessed of them. As a seat of inflammation, a source of infection, a hindrance to proper breathing,in a multitude of ways they have seemed to deserve the verdict,"Have them out." Many physicians, to be sure, have cautioned against the wholesale removal of tonsils, saying that tonsils which are large in early childhood very commonly are absorbed at an early age. But it is not my purpose to discuss the question of the efficacy of removing adenoids and tonsils. The aim of this study is, rather, to determine experimentally whether or not there exists any causal relation between defect in this respect and lowering of intelligence level. One hears statements made both pro and con by physicians and laymen but there has been little experimental proof. It would seem to be rather useful for a physician to know in advance with how much probability of correctness he is speaking, when he advises a mother that the removal of adenoids and tonsils from the throat of her backward child will make him "bright." The question in the present case, however, is broader than that of relation between these afflictions and mental defect. We are inquiring not merely whether adenoids and tonsils are causes of sub normality or dullness, but also whether they tend to lower the intelligence quotient in general however high it may be. Would the mentally normal child with adenoids and tonsils have been superior without them, and would the superior child have been still more superior? What is the relation between adenoids and tonsils, and intelligence? The method employed in the present experiment would seem to give it value from the point of view of the clinical psychologist. With the present emphasis upon exactitude in mental testing, investigators have become interested in problem[Pg 6] of the constancy of the I.Q. Adenoids and abnormal tonsils have been suggested as possible factors affecting this constancy. The results of the experiment should throw some light on the question. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 38676
Author: Rogers, Margaret Cobb
Release Date: Jan 26, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English