Table Of ContentCOPYRIGHT BY
LEONA M. KERSTETTER
1953
ii
Sponsoring Committee: Professor Harvey V* Zorbaugh, Chairman,
Professor Charles E. Skinner, and Professor Leonard A. Larson.
A SOCIOMETRIC STUDY OF THE CLASSROOM ROLES
OF A GROUP OF HIGHLY GIFTED CHILDREN
LEONA M. KERSTETTER
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of o\0
Philosophy in the School of Education of
ihsaie accepted
Mew York University n ... SEP 19 1S52
1952
Sept.12,1952
Tho- ofeudcmt hereby guarantees that no part of
the dissertation or document which$he has submitted for
publication has been heretofore published and(or) copyrighted
in the United States of Ame. ica, except in the case of
passages quoted from other published sources; thatjhe is
the sole author and proprietor of said dissertation or
document; that the dissertation or document contains no
matter which, if published, will be libelous or otherwise
injurious, or infringe in any way the copyright of any
other party; and that he will defend, indemnify and hold
harmless New York University against all suits and pro
ceedings which may be brought and against all claims which
may be made against New York University by reason of the
publication of said dissertation or document.
Sponsoring Committee: Professor Harvey Zorbaugh,
Professor Charles A. Skinner and
Professor Leonard A. Larson
AN ABSTRACT OF
A SOCIOMETRIC STUDY OF THE CLASSROOM ROLES
OF A GROUP OF HIGHLY GIFTED CHILDREN
LEONA M. RERSTETTER
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the School of Education of
New York University
1952
/ &
AN ABSTRACT OF
A SOCIOMETRIC STUDY OF THE CLASSROOM ROLES
OF A GROUP OF HIGHLY GIFTED CHILDREN
This report of an exploratory study of the manner in
which, highly gifted children function in their school living has
two major aspects. The investigation of the roles of highly
gifted children in their class groups is one aspect; the other
deals with the application of new techniques for the analysis
of sociometric data.
The findings of this study should aid educators in
evolving procedures which would extend the opportunities for
the realization of the full potentialities of the gifted in
dividual for acquiring values, skills and understanding in
group living.
The gifted individual has often been neglected. Hol
lingsworth and others have maintained that individuals above the
"optimum level" of intelligence (125-155 IQ) tend to become
Isolated. The procedures in this investigation were designed
to gather more evidence on this particular problem of the highly
gifted.
The soclometrlc method with new techniques for the
structural and quantitative analysis of data were used. In
addition* an emotional needs test was administered to selected
cases. The following types of data were collected from 25
selected cases (160 IQ and above) located in fifteen different
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class groups ranging from 95 to 202 IQ: (l) Responses on
three different sociometric tests, (2) Responses on Self-Portrait-
N Test.
The sociometric data were analyzed both structurally
and quantitatively. Correlations of five sociometric measures
with intelligence test scores were obtained for the fifteen
different groups. Standard scores of IQ and five sociometric
measures were obtained for the twenty-five selected cases. The
intelligence test scores of these cases were correlated with
their response on the Self-Portrait-N Test. The integration
tendency of each group and the role played by each of the
selected cases were analyzed. Reasons given by the selected
cases for their selection or non-selection of others for partici
pation in specific activities, as well as the reasons of children
appearing in their social atoms, were culled from the written
statements at the time of testing and from follow-up interviews.
The findings of this investigation may be summarized
by stating that, within the conditions of this experiment, there
is no tenable evidence for saying there is a relationship be
tween IQ and attractions and rejections of highly gifted children
in their class groups. The four major conclusions which were
drawn from the findings are:
1. Highly gifted children (l6o IQ and above) tend to
play positive rather than negative roles in their
class groups.
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2. The roles played by highly gifted children (160
IQ and above) do not differ significantly from
the roles played by children who are not so
highly gifted.
3. There is a relationship between certain unmet
emotional needs and the Intelligence test scores
of highly gifted children (l6o IQ and above).
4. The new sociometric techniques, both structural and
quantitative, which were used In this study, proved
to be useful and convenient analytical tools for
studying and defining the role of an Individual In
relation to specific group functions.
The major recommendation growing out of this Investi
gation Is the recognized need for conducting scientifically
controlled experiments designed to study the social functioning
of highly gifted children using available tools for the analysis
of their Interpersonal relations.
PREFACE
This is a report of* an exploratory study of
gifted children. There are two aspects to this report.
One deals with the role of highly gifted children in their
class groups. The other aspect deals with the application
of new techniques for the analysis of sociometric data.
The report begins with a discussion of the
setting of the problem. The procedure followed in the in
vestigation is then set forth. The significance of new
graphic and quantitative techniques for the analysis of
sociometric data is illustrated by the use of a hypotheti
cal group. The major set of findings is the descriptions
of the roles of the 25 selected cases with accompanying
graphic material. The statistical findings appear in
seventeen tables. The List of Tables following the Table
of Contents gives the location of each one. The graphic
material appears in the List of Figures. The conclusions
and recommendations deal with both aspects of the problem.
There are many persons to whom I should like to
express my appreciation for their cooperation, but the
list would be too long to enumerate everyone. I shall,
therefore, mention only those persons without whom this
investigation could not have been carried out. Professor
Harvey W. Zorbaugh, Chairman of the Department of Educational
iii
Sociology and. Director of the Clinic for Gifted Children
in the School of Education at New York University when I
was a member of the University Faculty, invited me to
undertake this study for my doctoral dissertation as a
part of a cooperative plan of research in regard to gifted
children. The subjects in this investigation were selected
by the Clinic staff. I also wish to express my appreciation
to Professor Zorbaugh for the financial aid granted by the
Clinic which made possible the services of Raymond Franzen
for the final analysis of statistical data and covered the
cost of some of the other technical assistance.
The time and thought contributed by my students
to this research can never be adequately rewarded. Their
enthusiastic cooperation in attacking problems was very
stimulating. I should be most ungrateful if I did not
mention a few persons who stood by through long hours of
detailed work and contributed their skills to finding
solutions to what seemed insurmountable problems. Theresa
Fink, Arthur Dalington, John Phillip Linn, Frank Sisler
and his three students in mechanical drawing in the Yonkers
High School (John Cremona, James McCleneghen and Roy
Chorey), and Ethel Hoffman, a student at Hunter College,
merit special recognition.
This investigation could not have been conducted
without the excellent cooperation of the administrators
iv
and teachers of cooperating schools, Hunter College Elementary
School, Public School 99 Brooklyn, Junior High School 118
Manhattan, Junior High School 113 Bronx, and Great Neck High.
School. I am particularly Indebted to Professor Florence N.
Brumbaugh, Principle of the Hunter College Elementary School,
for her enthusiastic and helpful suggestions, to Dr. Imogene
N. Cowles and Professor Samuel W. Patterson of Hunter College
for their Invaluable assistance in the editing of this manuscript
and to Professor Frank Wilson of Hunter College, for his co
operation.
The system of soclometrlc analysis applied in this
study would not have been developed if it had not been for the
encouragement which I received during the initial stages of its
creation from my adviser at New York University, Professor
Frederic M. Thrasher and Julius B. Mailer of the New York
Academy of Medicine and Yeshiva University.
Professor Frederick B. Davis, Director of the Hunter
College Educational Clinic, was most generous in the time he
gave me for consultations on basic statistical concepts. His
course in Educational Measurements was extremely valuable to me.
To the members of my doctoral committee, Professor
Harvey W. Zorbaugh, Chairman, Professor Charles A. Skinner and
Leonard A. Larsen, I also express my appreciation.
I wish to acknowledge with gratitude, the award which
I received from the American Woman*s Association in recognition
