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Average Intelligence Among Jewish Children Higher Than Among Non-jewish.

April 8, 1931
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The average of intelligence among Jewish children is higher than among non-Jewish is the conclusion reached by Dr. J. B. Maller, research associate at Teachers’ College, Columbia University, in an article, “Studies in the Intelligence of Young Jews”, which appears in the current issue of “Jewish Education”, embodying an enquiry he made under the auspices of the Department of Research of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. The article includes the findings of a large number of psychological studies, comparing the intelligence of Jewish and non-Jewish children, presenting a summary of reports of some fifteen investigations appearing in various technical journals, such as the British Journal of Psychology, the Journal of Educational Psychology and various dissertations. In practically every one of these researches Jewish children were found to attain a higher average of intelligence than their non-Jewish classmates, Dr. Maller declares. Their superiority was especially marked in tests of abstract intelligence and those involving the use of language, he says. “Jewish children excelled in intelligence age for age. The most striking aspect of the studies presented in this abstract is the consistency of the findings of the various investigators. Such repeated corroboration of results is indeed rare in the studies of race differences, “Dr. Maller writes.

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