Name:___________________________________________________ Date: __________________ Class Period: _______
Article of the Week
Directions: Read the article carefully and make notes in the margin. Your margin notes are part of your
score for this assessment. Next, answer the questions carefully in complete sentences unless otherwise
instructed.
Notes should include:
o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main idea
of important sections may serve this purpose.)
o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.
o Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.
o Observations about how the writer’s strategies (organization, word choice, perspective,
support) and choices affect the article.
YOUR NOTES:
BBC News
Child's
drawing
Questions
After 'predicts
Reading:later intelligence'
By Hannah Richardson
BBC News education reporter
19 August 2014 Last updated at 07:20 ET
The pictures with more physical features scored more
highly.
The way children draw at the age of four can be a predictor of later
intelligence, a study has suggested.
Researchers asked 7,752 pairs of twins to draw a picture of a child which was
then scored by the number of features such as head, legs, hands and feet.
The children were also asked by the King's College, London team to complete
intelligence tests at age four and 14.
They found a moderately strong link between higher drawing scores and the later
intelligence test results.
The team, led by Dr Rosalind Arden, of King's College's Institute of Psychiatry,
used a Draw-a-Child test devised in the 1920s to assess children's intelligence at
the age of four.
Dr Arden said: "Drawing is an ancient behaviour, dating back beyond 15,000
years ago. Through drawing, we are attempting to show someone else what's in
our mind.
"This capacity to reproduce figures is a uniquely human ability and a sign of
cognitive ability, in a similar way to writing, which transformed the human
species' ability to store information, and build a civilisation."
She said it was no surprise the test results correlated with the verbal and non-verbal
intelligence tests taken at age four.
But added: "What surprised us was that it correlated with intelligence a decade
later.
The Draw-a-Child test has been used to assess early intelligence since the 1920s.
"The correlation is moderate, so our findings are interesting, but it does not mean
that parents should worry if their child draws badly.
"Drawing ability does not determine intelligence, there are countless factors, both
genetic and environmental, which affect intelligence in later life."
The researchers also looked at whether a child's drawing ability was inherited. They
did this by separating out the drawings of identical twins and non-identical twins,
and comparing them with each other.
Identical twins share all their genes with each other, while non-identical twins share
only 50% of their genes.
However, both usually share the same family background and upbringing.
As the drawings from identical twins were more similar to one another than those
from non-identical twin pairs, the researchers concluded that drawing ability had a
genetic link.
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-28852471
“Child's Drawing Predicts Later Intelligence” Questions:
1. Why do you think the study used twins?
2. What is the major genetic difference in identical and non identical twins?
3. How could the ability to draw show intelligence?
4. What does correlate mean?
YOUR NOTES:
5. The results were said to be “moderately strong” How strong do you think a result needs to be
before the public takes it seriously? Why?
6. Why shouldn't parents worry if their child draws badly according to Dr. Arden?
7. How long has this type of intelligence test been used?
8. What does the longevity of the test indicate about the test?
9. Create a citation for this article. Follow the example of MLA Format:
Author’s name. “Title of Article.” Title of Website. Published Date. Publisher.
Date of Access. Web.
10. What is your opinion about this test? Follow PEEC paragraph format.
Point: What is your main point? What do you want the reader to know?
Explanation: What supporting explanation can you give for your point?
Evidence: Find facts, quotes, statistics & other expert opinions to support your main point.
Conclusion: Provide a closing to your paragraph. Remember to link it to your point.