Experienced teachers have long asserted that children blind from retinoblastoma (Rb), a rare cancer of the eye, are of above average intelligence. To test this hypothesis, standardized verbal intelligence tests were administered to a sample of 85 children and adults, all diagnosed with the early infancy form of this condition. For 42 of the Rb…

The pilot study investigates a method by which blind individuals might administer an abbreviated form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. (Author/SBH)

HYPOTHESIZING THAT CONGENITALLY BLIND ADULTS WOULD SCORE LOWER ON TESTS OF ABSTRACTION THAN ADVENTITIOUSLY BLIND OR SIGHTED ADULTS, THIS STUDY TESTED 25 CONGENITALLY BLIND, 25 ADVENTITIOUSLY BLIND, AND 25 SIGHTED SUBJECTS. THE WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE (WAIS) VOCABULARY TEST WAS ADMINISTERED TO EACH GROUP AND RESULTS SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT…

Children and adolescents who had positive Dye Tests for toxoplasmosis had lower performances on all verbal subtests than those with negative Dye Tests. The impairment was comparable to subjects with brain damage. Subjects with congenital sight deficiency and positive Dye Tests showed progressive intellectual impairments. (Author/CM)

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and the Cognitive Test for the Blind were used to compare verbal and nonverbal abstraction ability of adults who became blind before age 2 or after age 5 (when expressive language would have been developed). No significant differences were found, but variability of scores on the WAIS-R…