ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss the general methods for their study of intelligence in 4-year-olds. Extensive pretesting determined that order to minimize fatigue and maintain the child’s interest: verbal and performance psychometric intelligence, counting game, storytelling, problem solving, free drawing, draw-a-person, and friendship interview. All activities were videorecorded except for the first, psychometric intelligence. To assess children’s psychometric intelligence, the authors used the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised, a standardized measure of intelligence-related abilities in children from 3 years to 6.5 years. Recruiting an ethnically homogenous sample constitutes a first step in understanding the structure of child intelligence and the matrix of associations surrounding child intelligence that logically antecedes embarking on more complex studies and analyses with ethnically diverse samples. The authors review the multiple child measures we administered, including psychometric intelligence, counting game, storytelling, problem solving, free drawing, draw-a-person, friendship interview, and adaptive behaviors.
