Abstract
Extract: Eight boys and 27 girls with idiopathic sexual precocity were examined for IQ, with results as follows :
On Wechsler subtests, special quotients were obtained for Verbal Comprehension (Information + Comprehension + Similarities + Vocabulary), Perceptual Organization (Block Design + Object Assembly) and Arithmetic, with results as follows :
The Mean Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancy was most marked in those with high IQs:
The Verbal-Performance IQdiscrepancy appeared to be independent of age and duration of precocity. However, children under five (and therefore tested with the Stanford-Binet which does not yield separate V-P scores) had a lower mean IQ (M = 101 ; SD = 28.5) than the older children—which suggests that high verbal ability was not yet in evidence.
In three cases of serial testing over a twelve year span, the IQremained Superior or Very Superior, except that the final IQ in one patient, at age 20, had fallen from 133 at age 8 ½ and 123 at age 15 ¾ to 115.
The overweighting with six IQs above 130 was accounted for by six local children, three of whom were siblings.
Speculation: One may conjecture that idiopathic sexual precocity confers on a child a possible advantage in social exposure and participation with older agemates, which in turn confers an advantage in intellectual growth, particularly in the growth of verbal intelligence. This advantage shows up in a Verbal IQ superior to Performance IQ which, once established, is maintained into adulthood. I t is not like the temporary advantage of statural superiority that is terminated by premature epiphyseal closure. Whether or not the syndrome of idiopathic precocious puberty tends to induce high IQ, Verbal or Performance, is a question that cannot be properly answered from the present findings. Quite possibly it does. Yet, if such be the case for some children, then it is equally the case that it is not so for others. There are some on whom no intellectual advantage is conferred, for low IQ and mental retardation also concur with precocious puberty.
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Money, J., Meredith, T. Elevated Verbal IQ and Idiopathic Precocious Sexual Maturation. Pediatr Res 1, 59–65 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-196701000-00007
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-196701000-00007
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