ABSTRACT
Intelligence and interests. W e saw in earlier chapters th a t innate general intelligence is practically m ature in some individuals by the age of abou t fifteen, and tha t some very clever boys of seventeen can do reasoning tests which are too hard for m any University graduates. Thus, m any youths of th a t age, in dealing w ith topics which do not require for understanding more experience th an they have had, m ay prove m ore com petent than their parents, which does not conduce to domestic h a rmony. T he increased intelligence also makes the young people capable of m ore intellectual interests. O n the other hand, some special interests have not previously had m uch tim e or opportunity to m ature, and these m ay now undergo a m arked developm ent, especially in later adolescence. A t first, however, they are very ap t to be unstable, resembling in this the variability of emotional moods. T he adolescent will often take up some study or hobby for a tim e w ith trem endous enthusiasm, whether it be carpentry or the playing of a musical instrum ent, the keeping of rabbits, or the writings of stories, the study of Esperanto or of Socialism. H e m ay devote most of his spare time for weeks to a particu lar hobby and then drop it suddenly.
