Unit–9

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
9.1 OBJECTIVES
When you have gone through this unit, you should be able to:-
1. Elaborate the meaning and nature of individual differences.
2. Bifurcate the areas of individual differences.
3. Identify the causes of individual differences.
4. Provide remedial measures for individual differences through general
educational provisions and special educational provisions.
5. Take care of slow learners and finally be able to measure individual difference
through various evaluation tests and techniques.

9.2 OVERVIEW
As you look within yourself and or the people around you, you realize that you are a
very special and unique being. Nobody else in the world is quite like you. Nobody else in
the world has the same physiological equipment, the same genetic code (unless of
course you are an identical twin) or has experienced the same sequence of life
situations. Nobody else use the identical blend defense mechanisms that you use when
encountering stress and nobody else is guided by the exact mixture of motives,
attitudes, and feelings. Thus one of the basic themes of physiological is that of individual
differences. No one is exactly like anyone else. Except n terms of the needs of the
human species, that you eat, drink, breathe, sleep, exercise and require same
physiological needs. The difference that occurs amongst children of the same age is in
then maturational and learning processes. The task of the school is to provide for the
common needs of the students with taking into account the unique characteristics of
each individual. No easy situation to the task has yet been found, however, knowledge
about the kind of difference is becoming more complete.

In this unit we shall examine the following aspects of individual differences.

(a) Meaning and Nature of Individual Differences.
(b) Cause of Individual Differences.
(c) Educational Provisions.
(d) Measurement of Individual Difference.

9.3 MEANING AND NATURE OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Experimental psychology has thrown adequate light on the nature and extent of
individual difference; the findings of modern psychological tests and measurements
have amply demonstrated that individual cannot fall into distinct categories in respect

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of any physical or mental trait. On the other hands all measures of individual, whether
they be physical, mental, emotional or some other show that they tend to distribute
themselves according to the law of the normal probability curve.

Source: Google image

The normal curve is bell shaped and bilaterally symmetrical on each side of its central
tendency the mean. Just as many persons are above the average as are below it, starting
with the lowest score there is a gradually increasing number of persons making each
next higher score gradually decreases until the highest score is reached. For example,
the following table indicates the distribution of intelligence according to the normal
probability curve.

Table-1: Percentage Distribution of IQs in Term An-Merrill Standardization Group

S. # Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Percentage of Cases Occurring
1. 150+ 0.2
2. 140-149 1.1
3. 130-139 3.1
4. 120-129 8.2
5. 110-119 18.1
6. 100-109 23.5
7. 90-99 23.0
8. 80-99 14.5
9. 70-79 5.6
10. 60-69 2.0
11. 50-59 0.4
12. Below 50 0.2
Source: Adapted from Maud. A. Merril, “significance of IQ on the revised standard binet scales”
Journal of education psychology 29, 1938, 641-51.

Individuals not only differ among themselves with respect to a specific trait but
differences may also be noticed within the same individual when he is studied in respect
of various traits. Difference may also be noticed in the same individual with respect to
this performance of a particular task at different time. Runners differ in running the
same distance say 2km. The same runner may cover the same distance taking different

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times on different occasions. Thus there are inter-individual differences and the intra-
individual differences, and both must be considered in studying individual differences.
9.3.1 Areas of Individual Differences
Individuals differ almost in every respect. They differ in physical as well as psychological
characteristics. Some of the major areas in which they differ and which affect their
personality growth to a large extent are age, height weight, sensory and motor powers,
intelligence aptitudes or specific abilities, interest attitudes, appreciations and
educational attainments. They also differ in their hereditary, family background and
environmental influences.

i. Chronological Age
One of the general factor of difference that influences school grading is chronological
age. A child enters school at a certain age, 6 years, and is supposed to progress regularly
in his schooling in terms of age factor. It is assumed moreover, that all children should
be able to profit similarly from instructions that is the same or nearly the same in
content and method of presentation for all learners on the respective grade levels.
Apparent in ability on the part of a learner to master study material is explained in
terms of factors such as laziness or stubbornness, that fail to take into consideration the
factor that learners differ in their ability to perform in any one or more areas of learning
material and at any one stage of development.

Chronological age as it represents the learners level of maturity and hence his possible
education, is and should be a factor of difference. No matter how superior mentally or
physically a child of three may be, he cannot be expected, because of difference in
degree of maturity to engage in learning activities that are suitable for the nine year old.
Further, readiness to engage in a particular learning situation may differ from individual
to individual on any age level.

ii. Intellectual Abilities

Views about the nature of intellectual abilities continue to change. For many decades
the idea of a general intellectual ability was very popular. Then, the idea of a few
primary mental abilities was added. Next, a structure of some specific abilities was
proposed. At present, a major attempt is being made to identify the basic mental
processes and learning strategies that underlie intellectual performances. The testing of
intelligence began on a widespread basis in 1916 in the United States when Terman
(1916) adopted the earlier version of an intelligence test by ‘Binet” and “Siman”.
Terman thought of intelligence as the ability to carry on abstract thinking Thorndike
(1926) defined intelligence as the ability to make good responses from the point of view
of truth or fact.

Wechsler (1958) developed on intelligence test to measure the aggregate or global

capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively

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with the environment. The Wechsler Scale included performance test as well as typical
verbal and mathematical test. Jone Miller and Moodie (1934) conceived of Intelligence
as in born whereas Hunt (1961) viewed it as almost totally determined by
environmental condition. “Terman” regarded Intelligence is determined almost solely
by heredity. Accordingly, he believed that the rate of intellectual development was fixed
by heredity and therefore did not change from birth onwards. Cattel (1971) proposed
two kind of general intelligence, fluid and crystallized. Fluid Intelligence is genetically
determined and sets the upper limit of the individual’s ability. How well the inherited
ability is used and what forms it takes depend on cultural factors including learning.

iii. Crystallized Intelligence is based on environmental factors, and its observable

expression is based on learning. Accordingly, Fluid ability is necessary, but it is not
sufficient for the development of Crystallized intelligence. Moreover, Fluid intelligence
peaks at about age 25, but Crystallized intelligence continues to rise as long as person
continue to learn.

iv. Primary Mental Abilities

Thurstone (1938) identified seven primary mental abilities, and devised tests to measure
them. The seven primary mental abilities are shown in table 2.

Thurstone’s identification of primary mental abilities refutes the idea underlying general
intellectual ability that persons are equally able in all academic areas. Instead, most
individuals vary markedly in verbal, numerical, spatial and other abilities. For example it
is possible for a student to be in the top one-fourth of the students of the same grade in
one ability, such as spatial, or mathematical, and to be in the bottom one-fourth of the
same students in another ability such as word fluency or perceptual speed. The primary
abilities emerge and reach full functional maturity at different rates. For example,
perceptual seed approaches full functional maturity corresponding to that of adult
status by age 20, Whereas word fluency and verbal comprehension only reach such a
level, respectively, of about 60% and 80% of adult status and by 20% our verbal growth
continues after we have peaked in perception; speed.

Table-2: Primary Mental Abilities

S. # Ability Description
1 Verbal The ability to understand the meaning of words vocabulary
Comprehension test represent this factor.
2 Word Fluency The ability to think of words rapidly, as in staving anagrams
or thing of words that rhyme.
3 Number The ability to work with numbers and perform
computations
4 Spatial The ability to visualize space-from relationships, as in
recognizing the same figure presented in different

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 orientations.
5 Memory The ability to recall verbal stimuli, such as word pairs or
sentences.
6 Perceptual The ability to grasp visual details quickly and to see
Speed similarities and differences between pictured objects.
7 Reasoning The ability to find a general rule on the basis of presented
instance, as in determining how a number series in
constructed after being presented with only a portion of that
series.

Guildford proposes three types of intelligence, each associated with different contents.
Concrete intelligence involves figured content of mechanics, operators of machines,
architects, artists etc.
(i) Abstract Intelligence: Requires the processing of symbolic and semantic content.
Learning to recognize words, to spell, to operate with numbers, and to understand
verbal and mathematical concepts involves abstract intelligence, the present day
tests measure abstract intelligence.

(ii) Social Intelligence: Pertains to behaviour content, that is awareness and feelings
regarding the behaviour of other and oneself teachers, social workers and political
leaders require higher social intelligence than many other professional groups.

(iii) Special Abilities: Since learning on the elementary levels is concerned with the
mastery of learning tools, the discovery of the extent to which a child may posses
a special ability or aptitude is not so important during the early years of his
schooling as it will be later. On the junior and senior high school and college levels
provision needs to be made for the development of whatever aptitudes the
individual learners may possess of music, art, physical education etc.

Differences in Readiness for Learning

Children of the same age are not necessarily at the same stage of readiness to learn.
Differences are caused not only by variation in state of maturing but also by differences
in previous learning background. Six years olds who enter the first grade may differ by
one, two, or even three years in degree of readiness to profit from formal education.
For example it has been found that the mental ages of the members of an entering first
grade class may range between that of a three-years old and that of an eight years old.
This means that although the chronological ages of the children may centre around six
years, their stage of mental maturity (mental age) varies by five years. Also, pre-school
home experiences may be such as to encourage the development of some children
more than that of others.

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Perhaps in no other field of learning, readiness to a learning is more important than it is
in reading. The ability to adequate thought from the printed page is essential to success
on all school levels as well as to proficiency in the higher forms of specialized learning.
One of the most significant aims of fundamental education is to prepare the child to
master the tools of reading during his elementary school training so that he may be
prepared to extend his knowledge in the various areas of higher learning on the result of
his acquired ability to understand and apply content of written material.

Differences in Motor Ability

Persons of any age differ in their ability to perform in activities that are preeminently
motor. In general, motor coordination and ability to perform successfully in the more
complex motor skills increase with age as maturity brings with it the more complex motor
skills increase with age as maturity brings with it the power of sustained attention,
muscular coordination, speed of performance, steadiness of control, and resistance to
fatigue.
Psychological (Sex Differences)
Maccoby (1966) reviewed approximately 1600 studies that provided some information
about psychological differences between males – females. Subsequently, Maccoby and
Jacklin (1974) arrived at three kinds of conclusions regarding sex differences.
i) Widely confirmed differences
ii) Questionable differences
iii) And unfounded differences

Differences Confirmed by MacCoby and Jacklin/Block

Girls are higher than boys in verbal abilities, such as reading, vocabulary comprehension
and spelling. Boys are higher than girls in spatial abilities, quantitative abilities and
aggressiveness. Girls are higher than boys in tactile sensitivity in expressing fear, in
seeking help and assurance, in maintaining closer proximity to friends are more anxious,
have lower task confidence and are more compliant with adults of younger age.

Boys are higher than girls in solving problems, are more dominant, have a stinger self-
concept, are more active and are more impulsive.

All these conclusions are based on the average of test scores / other performances of
different groups of boys and girls used in the various studies. The conclusions give no
indication of the amount of the difference between the boys and girls or of the
percentage of one sex that was higher than the average of the other sex.

Social Class Differences

Social class is indicated by the status given to group of persons in a society by other
persons of the same society. Warner, Havighurst, and Loeb (1944) found that person of
a large community could be classified in to the following six socio class group: upper,
upper-middle, middle-lower, upper-lower, and lower-lower. Social-economic status of
the family, as measured by income, occupation of parents, and amount of education of

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parents, was found to be an important determinants of social class. These criteria are
generally used in determining an individual’s social class today.

Within any group of learners, differences in social background can be found that
facilitate or retard achievement regardless of individual potentiality to master material.
The learning experiences in which the child engages or has engaged in his home affect
his willingness to participate in a present learning situation. Individual interests, attitude
toward school and towards particular school subjects (sometimes developed as a result
of attitudes at home or in the neighborhood environment), habits of cooperation or
non-cooperation, ability or willingness to concentrate on learning material, and acquired
study habits-all constitute factors of difference among learners.

The amount and kind of previous experiences and knowledge that the individual brings
to a specific learning situation have much to do with his capacity for further study or his
attitude towards it. If the learner feels that he already know much of the study contents
of a specific course, he may lose interest in it, and fail to gain from further instruction.
Hence, poor study habits are developed in learners, which may result in his failure to
master the new material of the course.

Home condition, contribute significantly to educational achievement factors in the

family (homes which are found to rear cognitive development are less favourable
parental attitudes towards school and education lower parental expectations for their
children and a less favourable in electoral climate of the home.

Racial and Ethnic Differences

Differences in abilities amongst racial and ethnic groups have not yet been studied
sufficiently for the formulation of a general conclusion that will cover all cases. Factors
other than individual ability to master learning material may very easily affect the
results of studies and measurements, moreover, cross-marriages that have occurred for
many generation between persons of different racial and ethnic groups may hamper
clear delineation.

9.3.2 Causes of Individual Differences

There are some psychologists who hold the view that the cause of individual differences or
psychological differences is inherited. These psychologists are called the HEREDITARIANS or
TRADITIONALISTS. On other hand there are some environmentalists or progressivists who
are of the opinion that environment is the sole factor in the development of intelligence. As
a teacher, one should not accept any one of these two viewpoints without examining their
relative importance. If a teacher believes that environment is the complete force and that
heredity is little or nothing, then, his efforts will be directed almost equally for all children. In
that way he will misdirect much of his energy. There are teachers who believe that “every
child is a diamond in raw who needs only polishing in order to reflect the light of
intelligence. If a teacher believes that children differ in respect of their potentialities he will
feel that his efforts will bring different results with different pupils and he will have different

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expectations for different pupils. Such teachers believe that a child will develop in the
direction determined by his heredity and that the guidance and learning by parents and
teachers matter very little. A teacher with such beliefs will miss many opportunities to
develop the extent capacities of his pupils. It is therefore, necessary to examine various
causes of individual differences, so as to arrive at a proper understanding of the problem. To
prove that intelligence is due to heredity or an environment is not possible and can only be
estimated indirectly since the two factors are interactive from the moment of conception.
The main indirect lines of evidence have come from the study of family trees. Twin studies
and others reared together and apart.

Galton’s Study
Sir Francis Galton was the first to study the possible relationship between intelligence
and heredity. Galton first demonstrated that there is a great deal of individual variation
in intelligence. That all people are not equally bright or capable. They also tried to show
that these differences in mental ability were largely inherited, mostly by arguing that
eminent men tended to be related to one another. As evidence, he presented the family
trees of prominent men in the fields of law, science, art and the military, indicating that
greatness ran in certain families.

Goddard’s Study
H.H. Godded studied the Kallikak family. A Certain Martin Kallikak (false name) had
children by two women; one was feeble-minded, the other was of normal intelligence.
The feeble minded mother gave rise to a high proportion of feeble-minded descendants,
while the mother with normal intelligence had no feeble-minded children at all.

Since late 1960’s, a large number of studies have been conducted on development of
intelligence. Investigators have tried to find out the correlation of IQ’s of identical twins
reared together, identical twins reared apart, children and their true parents, foster
children and their foster parents, sibling, and unrelated children.

Table-3: IQ Correlation for Different Blood Relationships

S. # Relationship Correlation
1. Unrelated Children Reared Apart 0.01
2. Unrelated Children Reared Together 0.23
3. Foster Parent Child 0.20
4. Parent – Child 0.50
5. Siblings 0.49
6. Fraternal Twins 0.53
7. Identical Twins Reared Apart 0.75
8. Identical Twins Reared Together 0.87

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Kimling and Jarvik’s Study
Erlenmeyer Kimling and Jarvik (1963) studied the IQ correlations for different blood
relationships. The findings of their study are presented in table 4.

Interpretations of the Findings

(i) If heredity is an important influence on intelligence, then arbitrarily picked pairs of
people who are not related biologically and who do not interact socially will not
be similar in IQ at all. The correlation of IQ scores of many such pairs will average
about O. This has been proved by Kimling-Jarvik.

(ii) If environment is an important influence on intelligence then unrelated children

reared in the same environment should be similar in IQ to some extent. The
findings of Erlenmeyer, etc; indicate that the correlation of IQs of unrelated
children reared in the same home is 0.20.

(iii) If heredity is important for the development of intelligence, then children’s IQ will
correlate with those of their true parents. This fact comes true when we examine
the findings of Erlenmeyer.

(iv) If heredity is important, then the correlation of IQs of children and their true
parents should be higher than the correlation of IQs of children and their foster
parents. This is also true. (Parent-child = 0.50’ foster – Parent and child = 0.20)

(v) Since foster father and foster children have different heredity, a positive
correlation of their IQs indicates the role of environment. A positive correlation of
IQs of biological parents and their children (0.50) also indicates the influence of
environment on intelligence. For example both parents of a particular child will
have very high IQs and that their child’s IQ will also be quite high. On the other
hand, another set of parents may both have low IQs and so may have children. In
these two cases, the transmission, though biological, may be also social at the
same time. The child who has bright parents may have been exposed to a large
vocabulary and a highly stimulating environment; he may also have been turned
by his parents in basic intellectual skills. These experiences could readily help him
achieve a high IQ while the children of dull parents could have been reared in an
intellectually impoverished environment, thus leading to a low IQ.

(vi) If heredity is more important, then the IQs of identical twins should be more
similar than those of fraternal twins. Identical twins have identical heredity,
whereas fraternal twins may be as dissimilar as two siblings born to the same
parents at different times. For this purpose the correlations of IQs of identical
twins are higher than the correlations of IQs of fraternal twins. This can be seen
from the findings of Erlenmeyer.

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(vii) If environment is an important influence on intelligence, then identical twins reared
together should be more similar in intelligence than identical twins reared apart.
Identical twins who are reared together have identical heredity and similar
environments. By contrast, identical twins reared apart have identical heredity but
different environments. For this purpose, identical twins reared together have very
high correlation of their IQs (0.87 Erlenmeyer) than identical twins reared apart
0.75.

(viii) In Conclusion, we can say that both heredity and environment are potent factors
which cause individual differences in intelligence. The same is also true for other
affective and cognitive characteristics. Intelligence is not the result of inheritance
only, nor is it due to environmental influence and experiences. However, heredity
does determine the mental ability/abilities of individual to an un-specifiable
extent. Arthur Jensen (1969) says that intelligence is 80 percent inherited. Based
on studies conducted over the past 50 years, Jensen concludes that genetic
elements are for more important than environmental influences in explaining
individual differences in IQ. But Jensen’s conclusions were debated and a search is
being made about the role of early experiences in the intellectual development of
children. We can also not forego environmental conditions that influence
intellectual development. Nutrition, health, stimulation, emotional and
intellectual climate and early education are important determinants of
intelligence. Given two infants with the same genes, the one receiving better
nutrition, health care, intellectual stimulation enriched home environments / pre-
school education will score higher on an IQ test when entering the first grade.
Therefore a person’s intelligence / differences are dependent upon the continual
interaction of heredity and environment.

9.3.3 Educational Provisions

Whatever may be the causes, children differ in their learning abilities. It is the duty and
responsibility of any school system to provide for these differences so that every child is
helped to rise to a height quite commensurating with his own abilities. The following are
a few of the important steps that a school might take up in this direction.

9.3.4 General Provisions

(1) Every Individual’s ability should be assessed as accurately as possible. Since
individual possess cognitive and psychomotor abilities ranging from a very low to
a very high degree and since they do not fall into distinct types, it becomes
difficult to locate the exact standing of a child. Hence it is imperative that the
abilities of children should be accurately assessed. The more reliable is the
assessment; the better will be the provision. We must remember that ability is the
capability to perform tasks, and a style refers to the Learner’s preferred mode /
desired conditions of learning, such as preferring to acquire information visually
rather than orally and requiring quietness when studying, rather than tolerating

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 sound, such as background music or other persons talking. Cognitive styles refer
to how one perceives, or cognizes situations. Dunn and Dunn (1978) identified
student’s needs / preferences, or learning styles when studying. They also
identified ways to adapt the physical environment of the classroom and
instructional approaches to student’s need. There are four major areas of learning
needs/preferences or styles. The four areas involve (i) the student’s environment
for learning. (ii) the student’s motivation (iii) the sociological aspects of the
learning environment (iv) and the student’s physical needs.

A Checklist of learning needs based on Dunn and Dunn is reproduced below.

Teacher can mentally check the ones they correspond to the way the student’s
preferred.

Table-4: Checklist of Learning Preferences

Environmental Conditions of Learner
1. Needs Quietness or Tolerates Sound
2. Requires Bright Light or Requires Low Light
3. Needs Cool Environment or Needs Warm Environment
4. Requires formal design of furniture such as a Desk/Chair or Requires Informal
Design that Permits.
Motivational States of The Individual/Learner
5. Self-Motivated or Unmotivated
6. Persistent or Not Persistent
7. Responsible or Not Very Responsible
8. Needs Structured Learning Conditions as Specific Assignments and Rules or
Need little Structure.
Sociological Preference of Learners
9. Prefers Learning Alone or Prefers Learning With One Peer.
Prefers Learning With Two Peers or Several Peers.
Prefers Learning With Adults or Prefers Learning Through Several Ways.
Physical Needs
10. Has Auditory Preference
Has Visual Preference
Has Tactile Preference
Has Kinesthetic Preference

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 11. Require Food Intake Such as Nibbling Food or Sipping Soft Drinks or Does Not
Require Food Intake
12 Functions Best in Morning or Late Morning or After Noon, or Evening
13. Needs Mobility e.g. To More About or Does Not Need Mobility

Next we come to a very important learning preference / mode called as Cognitive Style.
Teacher’s current with it will be able to assess the academic and social behaviour of an
individual. A cognitive style is a identified learning styles, based upon the review of the
literature, into two cognitive styles.
(a) Reflective Versus Impulsive
(b) Field-Dependence Versus Field-Independence

Persons with an impulsive style react quickly to situations. They give answer quickly
without thinking through the situation first and tend to make errors by responding
quickly. Persons with a reflective style react in opposite patterns.

Field-independent and field-dependent styles were identified by Witkin (1949). The

basic difference between the field-independent and field style is in perceiving and
ordering the stimulus world. The field independent person tends to restructure
environmental situations. The field dependent person tends not to restructure
situations but to accept them as experienced. The effects of these basic differences are
reflected in many ways that are of interest to education.
S. # Field Dependent Persons Field Independent Persons
1. They are attentive to social cues, They are less attentive to social cures and
accept other people readily, and prefer to work with ideas and abstract
like to be with people. principle.
2. They get along with other. They have fewer warm, interpersonal
relations.
3. They tend to be interested in They are more interested in mathematics
social studies. and science they learn well.
4. They learn abstract concepts with They learn abstracted concept well.
difficulty
5. They require more externally They set their own goals, find desired
defined goals and extrinsic consequences of achieving their goals and
rewards. do not require extend reinforcement?
6. Art students with informal art style. Art students with formal art style.

A Good environment and proper education are necessary

Though heredity is important in determining eventual adult, performance and
environment also plays a vital role as demonstrated by experiments. Hence a good
environment and proper education are necessary for all. Younger children must have

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rich opportunities to express themselves and they must have proper guidance for their
emerging abilities.

(2) Identification of special talents

We need to spend considerably more efforts than being done at present in identifying
abilities stating early in school years with the help of standardized tests. Such
identification will be more authentic. The identified talents should be properly nurtured.

(3) Educational provisions must be continuous

In order to provide well for children of the entire range of abilities, educational
provisions must be continuous. The continuity must be ensured, especially when
children pass from one stage of education to another or from one school system to
another.

(4) Adequate facilities and materials are needed

Bright children need some instructional materials more advanced than those for the
other children. The slow learners also require reading materials different from the rest
of the group. The sensory handicapped and emotionally disturbed children also require
special material, equipment and space. In order to provide well for individual
differences every school should be properly equipped with such facilities and materials
as will be needed for all kinds of children.

(5) Competent school staff is needed

Even the best facilities of education of children cannot be better than the school
personnel doing the work. Hence society should recognize the importance of well
educated and competent school staff and give necessary financial support to schools.
Every school should have competent teacher’s school psychologist, curriculum
supervisors and administrators.

(6) Individualization is necessary

The principal means of providing for individual differences is individualization of
instruction where every individual is allowed to work independently, Dalton Plan,
Winnekta Plan, assignments, directed or supervised study, proper use of the library
period conduction individuals experiments in the science laboratory and club activities
are some of the methods of encouraging individual work.

(a) The Dalton’s Plan

Initiated by Helen Parkhurst, the Dalton plan stressed the principles of freedom
and group interaction. According to the Dalton Plan, the school is to be regarded as
a “house”, traditional classrooms become laboratories in which the function of the
teacher is that of preserving “an atmosphere of study.” The teacher suggests
activities, answers questions, and holds conferences with the learners as these are

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 desired by them. The learner’s assignments may spread over an entire month. The
learner is free to prepare his assignments in his own way with the help of the
teachers, who guides him in the budgeting of his time and who, as well as the
pupils, keep “graphs of his daily progress”. Opportunity is also provided for group
discussion on literary, historical and similar other socializing influences.

(b) The Winnetka Plan

Credit for this plan of individualization type of instruction goes to Carleton
Washburne, of Winnetka, Illinois. The educational philosophy underlying this plan
is that a learner should be allowed to follow his own rate of learning in each of the
subject fields comprise his full curriculum. Basic to carrying out of the plan is the
need of discovering the individual’s stage of learning for each subject and of
building upon that rather than having him lack step with a group of learners who
differ from him in stage of learning readiness. This plan necessitates the
administration of examinations before a specific learning unit is undertaken in
order to discover what that individual already knows.

The Dalton Plan, which keeps the learner at the same level on all subjects, the
Winnetka plan allows the child to proceed at different rates in different areas. He
might be a year ahead in arithmetic and six months ahead in reading. Learning units
are arranged in the form of tasks/goals. Progress is checked by the learner himself by
means of self administered tests. According to this plan there would be no failure
since the child is measured against his own progress rather than in terms of the
achievement of other learner. There is no skipping for the bright learner, but he does
all the work in less time. The slower learner also completes his work but in longer
time.

(c) Homogeneous Grouping

In order to effectively deal with children of varying abilities, one of the best
methods is to divide them into groups of homogeneous ability and treat them
separately by means of differentiated curricula and method of instruction. There
are various forms of grouping practiced in American schools. Such as friendship
grouping, interest grouping, achievement level grouping etc. but the most
common and effective method is differential ability grouping. Recently mixed
ability grouping has been introduced in school of UK.

(7) Need of Adult Education

The concept of individual difference has also an implication for adult education. Parents
must receive training in sound preparation in regard to psychological needs and nature
of children.

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9.3.5 Special Provisions
(a) Provisions For the Gifted / Talented Children
Marlance (1971) defined gifted and talented children as those with high demonstrated
achievement and / or high potential ability in any one of the following areas.
a. General intellectual ability
b. Specified academic aptitude
c. Creative, productive thinking
d. Leadership
e. Visual and performing arts
f. Psychomotor skills

This definition has been widely used, but required some elaboration. A gifted student is
one who is high in general intellectual ability and in achievement in several areas such
as mathematics, science, and English. Generally, a child who possesses IQ of 140 or
above and is superior in most areas of the school life or promises to be so is called a
gifted child, strangely enough the gifted are forgotten students in the class. Because
they are able to take care of themselves academically, they get less attention from the
teacher. Many gifted children display signs of apathy, boredom, unhappiness and even
maladjustment.

The first task that teachers face is identifying the area or areas of giftedness of the
students. Identification may be by an individual intelligence test, achievement tests and
parental or teacher observation. Aptitude test designed to predict specialized talents in
art and music, architecture, mechanics may also be used to identify talented students.

When the identification is done annually, new students not identified in prior years are
found to be gifted or talented. Accordingly, it is not uncommon for as many as 25% of the
school population to be identified as having a gift or a talent. It is also unwise to identify
and label the gifted students; least others feel that they are not gifted. The entire exercise
should be done very discreetly. Moreover, nearly every normally developing student has
at least one area of high or potentially high performance that should be identified and
developed as that of exceptional children.

(b) Educating the Gifted Children

Much can be accomplished with existing resources. A gifted student should have time to
purse topics more deeply than their classmates. Cluster of schools should combine their
gifted children regularly for special enrichment programmes. School, should employ
community expertise in such fields as art, photography, journalisms, drama, and
creative writing for their talented youngsters.

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The key to educating the gifted children is to formulate individual programmes for them
so that they encounter daily challenges. Such education requires teachers who have
received special training that enables them to work with gifted students.

Special technique for educating the gifted fall along three lines.
(a) Enrichment
(b) Acceleration
(c) Ability Grouping

(i) Enrichment
Enrichment is defined as experiences that are above and beyond the regular
curriculum. Kirk (1972) states that enrichment techniques usually follow one are
more of these procedures.
(a) Teachers attempt to challenge gifted pupils by assigning extra reading and
assignments and permit them to participate in related extracurricular
activities, for example, if parents can arrange time, they could take a
scientifically advanced student to special classes at an institution.
(b) Grouping the gifted students of different schools so that they are together
occasionally enabling interested teachers to challenge their abilities by
group discussion and independent research.
(c) Providing special offerings, such as extra language or advanced science
course.
(d) Employing for each school system a special teacher who could more from
school to school, identify the gifted, aid regular teacher and actually work
with the gifted in seminars or group discussions busy schedule of work. It
means providing challenging and meaningful work for the gifted.

The “Renzulli” model focuses on individual and small group investigations of aerial
problems as the key enrichment activities for gifted students. Included in it are
projects directly related to the school’s curriculum? For example, students may
engage in creative writing, drama, dance, and similar expressive areas. In general,
any enrichment activity is appropriate that enables students develop an area of
their giftedness.

(ii) Acceleration
Acceleration means some modification in the regular school programme that
permits the gifted student to complete the programme in less time or at an earlier
age than usual (Getzels and Dillon, 1973). Double promotion is also an
acceleration type. Acceleration can be of various types: school admission based on
mental age rather than chronological age, skipping classes, combining two years
work into one eliminating more basic course, early admission to high
school/College.

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 Acceleration is important because curriculum is graded by age and every student
is required to spend one school year to complete each class. Not permitting
student to learn the subject matter assigned to a higher grade unnecessarily
retards the educational development of many students. Stanley (1977) presents
strong arguments supporting two or more years of acceleration pair to high school
graduation by highly talented students. The concludes that enrichment, without
any acceleration, will be injurious to the educational development of the brilliant
student.

(iii) Ability Grouping

Ability Grouping has definite possibilities for dealing with the gifted. There are
certain objections against grouping children according to mental abilities and
segregating the gifted from the rest. It has definite advantages over teaching a
class of heterogeneous group. Gifted children must be identified and grouped
together in a special class so that the curriculum, instructional materials and
teaching techniques can be designed to meet their requirements. But segregation
should be done discreetly and without labeling the children.

(iv) Paul Torrance’s Guidelines to encouraging Giftedness

(a) Encourage manipulation and sensitivity to objects and ideas.
(b) Try to be tolerant of new ideas, no matter how far-fetched they may be.
(c) Be flexible in setting up lessons; permit some brainstorming.
(d) Maintain a relaxed classroom, tutoring or therapeutic atmosphere.
(e) Help the child who is creative learn to get along with other children.
(f) Present controversial problems and challenge accepted origins.
(g) Teach the basics of problem solving / creative processes.
(h) Teach them not to underrate their own creativity, dispel the sense of awe of
masterpieces.

(c) Provisions for the Slow Learners

The term slow learner’ is commonly used with reference to children with IQs between
about 80-90. Those with IQ of 90 or above are considered to be within the normal or
above average range. Ordinarily they have the ability to get along fairly well in a regular
class-room without much special help. Those with IQ below 75-80 on the other hand are
usually classified as retarded or mentally retarded. The child we call slow learner is one
who is not necessarily retarded or in need of special education but is likely to need some
extra help in a regular class-room. He is capable of learning just about anything that the
average child is capable of it just takes him longer. Students who are slow in learning
one subject are frequently slow in learning others. But this is not always the case. A
child may be slow in reading, but is average or above in learning, say mathematics.
Different abilities are required for learning different subjects.

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(1) Identifying the Slow-Learner
In identifying the slow-learner the teacher can make use of intelligence test
scores. But IQ scores are not always true indicators of slowness in learning.
Because, two students having the same IQ score may have two different types of
problems. Competency-based tests, an improvement of traditional achievement
tests in different school subject may also be used to identify specific
backwardness of children. Observation of students’ behaviour, adjustment
language difficulties, emotional problems etc by parent and teachers can provide
useful information in identifying slow learner.
(2) Periodic Medical Examination
Deficiency in ability required for a particular task may cause slow or poor learning
in relation to that task. If the physical defect is recognized and corrected, the slow
learner becomes a normal learner. Our school systems, must, therefore, provide
for periodic medical examination of students, for taking remedial measures.

(d) Learning Handicaps in exceptional Children

Exceptional children are those who are considerably above or below the average of their
age-group in characteristic or behaviour. Those above the average of their age-group
are termed as gifted or creative, and have been discussed earlier. Here we shall talk
about these exceptional children who are below the average of their age-group.

An exceptional child with a learning handicap/disability is one who differs from other
children so much in one or more characters, for example, in vision or in behaviour that the
child cannot profit maximally from the typical pattern of instructions provided to normally
developing children. Change must be made in what is taught or how it is taught in order is
provide for handicapped exceptional children. A child is classified exceptional on the basis
of careful assessment/identification of various types of learning handicaps, so that they
may participate in programmes for handicapped children as defined by the state.

There are children who have a good vocabulary, who know what words mean, and who
can use words in conversation, but who are unable to learn to read. Such children are
said to have “dyslexia” which in itself merely means inability to read”. There are also
children who have what is called “hyperlixia” which means who can read at an early
age, but who cannot understand what is spoken to them. The word dyslexia has come to
be associated with learning disabilities generally, since so many of them related to the
problem of reading. Actually, dyslexia is but one type of learning disability, and there are
two basic kinds: visual and auditory.

A child who is “visual dyslexic” has difficulty in translating written letter into round such
a child may also have difficulty is discriminating between two letters which are similar as
“b” and “d” or “n” and “u” when written in text form. This often extends to difficulty in
recognizing the difference between such words as “cat” and “cap” or “top” and “tip”

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when they are in print. Such children may have other nonbearing difficulties as well, as
in the case of a child who insists to play with a ball but who does not enjoy watching
others play a ball game because he or she cannot understand what is going on even
though can she “see” it.

A child who is an “auditory dyslexic” has difficulty in translating sound in to meaning.

Sometimes this shows up as difficulty in discriminating between sounds that are
somewhat similar: a child with such a difficulty will not discriminate between “bat” and
“cat” when they are given orally. He may also fail to recognize the similarity between
“milk” and “silk”. A child with auditory dyslexia may also have difficulty remembering
things told to him orally.

Another type of difficulty that learner may have is “sequencing”, for example, they are
unable to put blocks in the same order as a model or to get the steps right in a long
division problem, or to get the letters in the right order in spelling (writing “mlik” for
milk”.

A complete programme of diagnosis will include medical reports and other information.
A fairly complete list of things that can be done to identify various types of difficulties is
given below:
a. Evaluation of intelligence.
b. Visual-motor Perceptual Tests.
c. Personality Tests
d. Linguistic Evaluation
e. Reading Tests
f. Pinpointing of Behavioural Difficulties
g. Medical History Evaluation
h. Evaluation of Physical Development, Family Situation and Emotional Stresses in
the Home.
i. Physical Examination, both General and Neurological Including Visions and
Hearing Tests.
j. Assessment of Cognitive Development.

(e) Placement with a Teacher

Emotional crises, difficulty in interaction with the teachers and lack of proper
environmental setting may also cause slow learning. In order to find measures to
prevent failures in learning, each learner should be placed with the teacher with whom
he can interact most effectively. The positive effects of such interaction can bring about
remarkable changes in a student. In helping the slow learner the teacher should (i) look
at the total child (development, maturation, motivation etc) and (ii) examine the
educational setting (curriculum content, mode of instruction and the learning
environment).

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(f) Avoid Competition
Competition is especially harmful for slow-learners. This does not do so much good for
their self-concept. Competition causes the slow Learner stop trying and to feel even less
adequate than he did originally. It is supposed to contribute to frustration,
discouragement and feeling of worthlessness in them.

(g) Remedial Teaching

Teachers must provide remedial teaching/instructions for the slow learner. They have to
repeat their instruction/directions several times and in simple words, they should give
practice drill and review exercise lessons. They should introduce new material in small
easy steps, relating it to what he already knows. Short range incentives are more
productive than intrinsic motivation towards long range goals.

(h) Non-Promotion
Some teachers argue in favour of detention or non-promotion of slow learners. But
when a youngster is not promoted he perceives himself and is perceived by other as a
failure. He thinks that he has been punished. As dissatisfaction increases, he becomes a
truant and drop-out. The slow learner is not to be branded as a failure/non-learner, not
to be compared with others who are not really his peers. He is to be helped and listened
to, and should be encouraged and understood rather than beaten down, at home as
well in school. If possible Special Classes, especially by trained teachers may be started
for slow learners who have a strong need for accomplishments, which might be difficult
for them in a regular class. Each small success or accomplishment must be rewarded.

(i) A Disadvantaged Child

Is one who is (a) handicapped or disabled because of certain conditions, (b) denied the
opportunity to grow normally at his own natural rate (c) has been denied the basic /
universal rights of children i.e. a stable home, loving mother, a supportive father, (d)
who suffers from a continuing inadequacy of basic necessities of life. Thus the term
continuing inadequacy of basic necessities of life. Thus the term disadvantaged refers to
an inner condition of a child resulting from an outer deprivation; there are several
categories of disadvantaged children, such as:
Economically disadvantages, socially, culturally, intellectually, educationally or
linguistically disadvantaged.

(j) Causes of Disadvantaged Conditions

(a) Economic-poverty, poor occupational status, unemployment, poor
housing/diet/health clothing etc. or inadequate medical care, cleanliness, pre-
natal and post natal complications.
(b) Home and neighborhood-school inadequacy, crowded home, lack of play space,
slum type, homes.

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(c) Defective child-rearing and parenting behaviour, lack of cultural stimulation,
parental rejection or over-indulgence.
(d) Intellectual, educational, retarded cognitive growth, delayed speech, over
stimulation, failure, stagnation, dropout.
(e) Psychiatric problems, behaviour problems and disorders.

(k) Programme for the Disadvantaged

(a) Preventing programme for health, nutrition and care.
(b) Preparatory and pre-school education programmes
(c) Educational reform for adapting curricular, school, teachers teaching methods and
textbooks.
(d) Parent education and functional literacy programmes.
(e) Social and welfare programmes for adolescents/Youth/Families and communities.

9.4 MEASUREMENT OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Measurement is the assignment of a number to an object or event according to rule.
This may represent something physical, as when you step on the scales and note, with
dismay or pleasure the number that indicates your weight. Or it may be more subtle, as
when you take a vocational aptitude test and receive your score in medical or
engineering aptitude test. In order to draw meaningful comparison, measurement, must
be meaningful. In order to have meaning, all measurements must satisfy two basic
criteria: they must be reliable and they must be valid.
(a) Reliability is the indication of the consistency of measurement, e.g: If your weight
reads 140Ibs, one days, 240 pound the next day, and 40 pound the days after,
your faith in the precision of the scale would be secretly shaken. The same is true
of psychological test. Our measurements must be consistent over repeated tests
of measurement. A good test should yields roughly the same scores over repeated
measurements, as long as that which is being measured does not change
dramatically.
(b) Validity Measurements must also be valid, validity is an indication of the extent to
which a test measure what it is supposed to measure.
(c) Correlation In order to give precise statements about reliability and validity, a
statistical technique called correlation may be utilized. It allows scientists to make
predictions; correlation is a statement about the strength of the association
between two (or possibly more) variables. If the correlation between two
variables is high, the variables will tend to be very together, that is, wherever one
of the traits is found, chances are good that the other trait will also be found. If
we observe that people with bland hair usually have blue eye then we would say
that there is correlation between the variables hair colour and eye colour. This is
not to say that having bland hair causes one to have blue eyes, but it does allow
us to predict, whenever we know that certain individuals have bland hair, that

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 they are also likely to have blue eyes. As discussed earlier, individuals differ in
sensitive, affective and psychomotor abilities. They differ almost in every respect-
personality, attitude, interest, intelligence and achievement. Individual differences
can be identified and measured through finer measurement instruments know as
psychological test. A psychological is a pattern of stimuli, selected and organized
to elicit responses which reveal certain psychological characteristics in the person
who makes them. The following psychological tests can be used by the teacher or
psychologists to measure difference among individuals.

9.4.1 Test of General Intelligence

Sometimes these tests are also referred to as tests of mental ability, tests of general
ability or test of scholastic aptitude, these tests measure the psychological traits termed
to “intelligence” which provide the best possible single clue to the understanding of
children’s academic performances. There are various tests of intelligence like standard-
binet intelligence test (revised), Wechsler intelligence scale for children and various
culture free and culture fair tests.

9.4.2 Tests of Aptitude

These tests measure the possibilities of success in future performance. One of the most
famous batteries, which measure children’s different aptitudes, is “differential aptitude
test battery” which measures the following abilities.
(i) Verbal Reasoning
(ii) Numerical Ability
(iii) Abstract Reasoning
(iv) Space Relations
(v) Mechanical Reasoning
(vi) Clerical Speed and Accuracy
(vii) Language Usage

9.4.3 Interest Inventories

Strong Vocational Interest Blank, and Kuder’s Preference Record (Vocational) are some
of the interest inventories that can be used to measure differences among individuals in
their interest.

9.4.4 Test of Personality

The MMPI, Bells Adjustment Inventory, Projective tests like “Rorschach Ink Blot test.”
Thematic Apperception test, and other questionnaires can be used to measure
personality structure and adjustment, and difficulties of individuals.

9.4.5 Competence-Based Tests

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Tests of achievement, mostly teacher-made type, can be used to measure individual
differences in academic achievement. Practically, these tests as are prepared by
teachers do not measure the competence in learning various subjects. The competence-
based tests are an improvement over the traditional tests, and are not difficult to
prepare such tests. Once the teacher knows the learning competencies in various school
subjects it becomes easy for the teacher to prepare such tests.

It must be noted that scores obtained by a student in any one of the tests may not be a
sure measure of his standing in the group. Scores on tests are influenced by a number of
factors, internal and external operating at the time of taking the test. For this purpose
scores obtained by one test can be supplemented by scores obtained from other similar
tests.

9.4.6 Multiple-Choice Tests or Essays

What about multiple-choice tests or, as many poorly prepared students like to call them,
“multiple-guess tests?” One of the criticisms of the multiple-choice tests is that it
rewards rote memorization rather than true understanding. This can certainly happen if
the test is poorly designed, but when thoroughly researched and carefully prepared, the
multiple choice test can assess a person’s ability to apply concepts to problem solving
situations. Rather than break up the units of knowledge and isolating the pieces, as the
critics typically charge, a well-designed multiple choice test, such as SAT, demands that
the students be able to understand concepts and bring facts together. Research
evidence clearly shows that the SAT verbal score shares much in common with IQ, the
correlation between them being an extremely high + 0.80.

What about essay questions? There is the fear that standardized tests based only on
essay questions and writing samples may have an adverse effect on learning. Verbally
adept but uninformed students may bluff their way through an essay exam. Similarly,
the tactics used by some students or memorizing or rotting the topics of subjects also
affects learning process. Essay type exams however, illuminate the student’s thought
process in more detail, as compared to multiple-choice tests. But for a teacher, with a
large class of widely varying abilities, interests and needs may have to rely on the
multiple choice tests. It not only ensures reliability of testing but also more importantly
it permits free time to work with individual students.

9.4.7 Computer Assisted Testing (CAT)

The computer age has led to a high tech form of testing called CAT. (Computer Assisted
Testing) Here, the individual sits at a computer keyboard, and the questions are
presented on the screen. The testing becomes personalized since the testing is
interactive with the computer, in effect custom designing the test to each student’s skill
level. For example, the question may get progressively more difficult until a level is

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reached. When a student begins to get the questions wrong, an easier set of questions
suddenly appears. This branching of easier and harder questions called going “up the
ladder” or “down the chute” continues until the students true level of competence to
reach. The educational testing services of USA are currently putting both the SAT and
GRE (Graduate Record Exam) on a computer format. Many people believe that CAT is
viable, cost-effective and a big improvement over paper and pencil testing.

9.4.8 The Portfolio Approach

Another testing technique, currently gaining in popularity is called the portfolio
approach. Just as an aspiring artist or model carries a portfolio of past work to a
prospective employer, so too does the student who selects examples of his or her best
work over a term or even an entire year of study. It is said that the portfolio approach
places more emphasis on a student’s overall accomplishment than on the ability merely
to score well on a single battery of tests. Typical portfolios include original poetry, plan,
short stories, essay and art projects. Even in math, a student might produce a series of
fractions, showing their relationships to decimals, or an arrangement of dice to illustrate
probabilities, or even present an essay on the life of the Prophet “Muhammad”
(P.B.U.H). At the end of the year, the student hands over the portfolios to the teacher
for evaluation. Teachers of the new Millennium should be made aware of this approach
and should be given workshop preparation in learning this technique.

The portfolio method can also be used to evaluate teachers, students and the
curriculum itself. A portfolio that includes, for example, “samples of student’s teacher
developed plans and materials, videotaped teaching episodes, and other teacher’s
reflections on his or her own teaching can provide direct evidence of what a teacher
knows and can do.
Whether, the portfolio approach proves to be as valuable as it promises is still in question,
but there is no doubt that new testing methods will be employed as educational
psychology operates in the 21st century. New testing procedures are on the horizon,
procedures intended to bridge the gap between cognitive psychology and psychometric
methods.

9.4.9 Grade Equivalent Scores

Grade equivalent scores are based on relating a given student’s score on a test to the
average scores found for other students in a particular grade, at the same time of years,
and of roughly the same age. For example, assume that in September, a large,
representative sample of their graders (III class, students) of the morning group,
producer an average score of 30 on a certain arithmetic test. If a given student is then
tested, and receives a score of 30, that child would be assigned a grade-equivalent score
of 3.0 of the child did somewhat better than that and had a score of say 3.4, it would
indicate a performance equal to a third grade student in the fourth month (December)
of the school year. Grade equivalent scores are typically reported in tenths of a year, so

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that a score of 5.9 refers to the ninth month (June) of the fifth grade, and a score of 0.0
to the first day of Kindergarten. Thus, the scores range from 0.0 (or sometimes ko)
through 12.9, representing the thirteen years of school from Kindergarten through
grade 12. the first of September is given on the score as 0, whereas the end of
September as 0.1, the end of October as 0.2 and on until the end of June as 0.9. a note
of caution in this system is.
(a) Children do not all grow and develop at the same yearly rate, never mind the
same monthly rate, so don’t be overly concerned when a seemingly bright child
suddenly under performs the norms of a few months, that same child may quickly
catch up and even outperform the norms several months later.
(b) Don’t be too quick to use a precocious child’s high score in same area as a reason
to have that child skip a grade or two. A third class (grader) might even get a grade
equivalent of 7.0 on a given test. This doesn’t mean that the child is now ready for
a fast promotion to class-7th. What it does mean is that the third grader has
certainly enquired third-grade material and infect has done as well as a seventh
grader when measured on a third-grade test. However, there are many things the
7th grader has learned and is expected to know which are simply not even part of a
third-grader’s consciousness and which don’t appear on a third grade test.

9.4.10 Curriculum Testing

Virtually any curriculum that is more than five years old requires a thorough evaluation,
this is most obvious in field such as science, but should be done in all areas. This type of
testing shown answers the following:
(a) To what degree have the curriculum’s goals been reached?
(b) Is the curriculum content appropriate in view of the mission’s objectives.
(c) Has the instruction been truly based on the curriculum.
(d) Has the assessment measured the taught curriculum or planned.

9.5 SUMMARY
Human beings have many common needs and characteristics, but they are also different
in many ways. Students of the same chronological age vary widely in general intellectual
abilities, primary mental abilities, motor abilities, and specific intellectual abilities.
Differences among students in their learning abilities, interests and motives result in
very great differences in their educational achievements. Some normally developing,
rapid-learning class 3 children achieve as high as normally developing slow-learning class
12 students. Moreover a student typically does not achieve at the same level in different
subjects such as mathematics, science, reading, foreign language and typing. It is also
not un-common to find students who are in the upper one-fourth of their grade in one
primary mental ability, such as mathematical reasoning, and in the lower one-fourth in
another ability, such as word fluency or perceptual speed.

The relative effects of heredity and environment on each individual’s development and
on differences between groups have not been established with precision and accuracy.

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Some scholars indicate a greater impact of heredity, while others indicate a greater
impact of environment. A generally accepted scientific view is that heredity and
environment are in continual interaction, and the precise contribution of each cannot
be determined.

Children who are considerably above or below the average of their age-group in a
characteristic or behaviour are designated exceptional children. However, most special
education programmes today are for those who are below average, there is a recent
shift from labeling exceptional children as handicapped, disabled, mentally retarded,
hyperactive, gifted or in other terms. Instead, the behaviours are being classified, for
example, deficits in specified abilities or skills, excessive behaviours in particular areas
and acceleration in learning or creativity.

Many teachers of children and youth with high learning and creative capabilities follow
provisions for gifted talented students including enrichment, acceleration or a
combination of enrichment and acceleration. Sometimes ability grouping is also
followed. Brining handicapped/children with learning handicaps into the mainstream
should be the preferred way rather than placing them in special classes and special
schools.

Certain forms of learning are fundamental to the adjustment of the individual to the
society. The tool skills, common knowledge and attitudes of understanding and
cooperation constitute what may be termed the basis of a general education. All
individual, whose intelligence level is normal/sub-normal, should be helped to achieve
these educational goals.
Measurement is the assigning of a number to an observation according to certain rules.
To give meaning to these numbers, all measurements must satisfy two basic criteria.
They must be reliable and valid. Reliability indicates the consistency of a measurement,
while validity is the extent to which a test measures what is intended to measure.

For measurement of individual differences certain tests of general intelligence, aptitude,

interests, personality, etc have been formulated. Nowadays, computer Assisted Tests
(CAT) ore also being employed. Multiple choice tests are also being followed, while a
new method of portfolio approach is also proving very innovative and useful.

In conclusion, teachers must indicate as per the principles of child psychology,

developmental psychology and educational psychology. Besides the theoretical
instruction in the class, extracurricular activities for development of social/Islamic values
must be emphasized to attain the goals of education.

9.6 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

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1. What do you understand by individual differences? How can their knowledge help
the teacher in his work?

2. Explain the concept of individual differences and the importance in education.

3. Select one of the classes in which you were a teacher on the elementary school
level. Recall two members of the group who were discipline problems. How can
you now explain their behaviour?

4. List persons of your acquaintance who seem to show marked differences in their
motor skills and capacity for abstract learning.

5. Compare the Dalton and Winnetka plans, which one do you prefer and why.

6. Explain with examples what is meant by readiness for learning.

7. What provisions can be made in the schools to meet the situation of individual
differences.

8. Explain the relative importance of heredity and environment on the development

of intelligence in children. What are their implications for the teacher?

9. State the role of competence based tests to measure individual differences?

10. Explain the importance of Computerized Assisted Tests.

11. How can you identify gifted children in the class?

12. Explain the role of heredity and environment as causes of individual differences.

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9.7 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Educational Psychology By: Herbert J. Klausmeir Harper and Row Publishers, New York
56th Edition, 1985

Educational Psychology and its Classroom Applications. By: M. Daniel Smith Allyn and
Bacon INC; 470, Altantic AV Boston, Massachusets, 02210, USA 1975

Educational Psychology-A Developmental Approach By: Norman A. Sprinthal Richar C.

Sprinthal Sharon N. OJA Pub: Mc Graw Hill INC, USA Sixth Edition.

Educational Psychology By: Cronbach, Hartcourt Brace Joranvich New York 1954.

Educational Psychology By: Anita E Woolfolk Allyn and Bacon, Boston, USA, 1980,
6th Edition.

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