Herman Heinrich Spitz (born March 2, 1925) is an American psychologist known for his work measuring

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

among those with

developmental disability Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

. He was director of research at the E.R. Johnstone Training and Research Center, which was a state institution for adolescents and young adults with upper-level intellectual disability in Bordentown, New Jersey, until he retired in 1989. He worked under the direction of the Superintendent John M. Wall, who retired in 1990 having served from August 1969. Spitz studied concepts such as

mental age Mental age is a concept related to intelligence. It looks at how a specific individual, at a specific age, performs intellectually, compared to average intellectual performance for that individual's actual chronological age (i.e. time elapsed sin ...

,Spitz HH (1982). Intellectual Extremes, Mental Age, and the Nature of Human Intelligence. ''Merrill-Palmer Quarterly'' v28 n2 p167-92 Apr 1982 and the abilities of

autistic savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

s.Spitz HH (1995). Calendar calculating idiots savants and the smart unconscious. ''New Ideas in Psychology'' He co-authored a survey of attempts to raise intelligence among people with

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...

.Spitz HH (1986). The Raising of Intelligence: A Selected History of Attempts to Raise Retarded Intelligence. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. He reported on programs like the Carolina Abecedarian Early Intervention Project which advocated the early education of poor children.Spitz HH (1992). Does the Carolina Abecedarian Early Intervention Project Prevent Sociocultural Mental Retardation? ''Intelligence'' v16 n2 p225-37 Apr-Jun 1992 Through use of the

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is an IQ test designed to measure intelligence and cognitive ability in adults and older adolescents. The original WAIS (Form I) was published in February 1955 by David Wechsler, as a revision of the ...

, he reported that the

Flynn effect The Flynn effect is the substantial and long-sustained increase in both fluid and crystallized intelligence test scores that were measured in many parts of the world over the 20th century. When intelligence quotient (IQ) tests are initially standa ...

of massive

intelligence quotient An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzqu ...

gains in a single generation in many nations only applied to people in the average intelligence range.Spitz HH (1989). Variations in Wechsler Interscale IQ Disparities at Different Levels of IQ. ''Intelligence'' v13 n2 p157-67 Apr-Jun 1989 He also looked at the hereditarian hypothesis for

general intelligence factor The ''g'' factor (also known as general intelligence, general mental ability or general intelligence factor) is a construct developed in psychometric investigations of cognitive abilities and human intelligence. It is a variable that summarizes ...

by examining Wechsler subtest patterns among test-takers with intellectual disability.Spitz HH (1988). Wechsler Subtest Patterns of Mentally Retarded Groups: Relationship to "g" and to Estimates of Heritability. ''Intelligence'' v12 n3 p279-97 Jul-Sep 1988 In 1994 he was one of 52 signatories on "

Mainstream Science on Intelligence "Mainstream Science on Intelligence" was a public statement issued by a group of researchers of topics associated with intelligence testing. It was published originally in ''The Wall Street Journal'' on December 13, 1994, as a response to criticis ...

,Gottfredson, Linda (December 13, 1994).

. ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', p A18." an editorial written by

Linda Gottfredson Linda Susanne Gottfredson (née Howarth; born 1947) is an American psychologist and writer. She is professor emeritus of educational psychology at the University of Delaware and co-director of the Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of I ...

and published in the ''

'', which declared the consensus of the signing scholars on the measurement and significance of intelligence following the publication of the book ''

The Bell Curve ''The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life'' is a 1994 book by psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray, in which the authors argue that human intelligence is substantially influenced by b ...

''.

Books

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References

1925 births Living people 21st-century American psychologists American psychology writers American male non-fiction writers Intelligence researchers New York University alumni 20th-century American psychologists {{US-psychologist-stub