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What Is So Special About IQ?

The Limited Explanatory Power of Cognitive Abilities in the Real World of Special Education

STEVEN R. FORNESS, EdD, is a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, chief of educational psychology, and principal of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital School at UCLA. His primary research interests are behavioral or emotional disorders of children with learning disabilities and mental retardation. Address: Steven R. Forness, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

Barbara K. Keogh

BARBARA K. KEOGH, PhD, is a professor emerita of education and professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA. Her primary research interests are learning disabilities and early development of young children at risk.

Donald L. MacMillan

DONALD L. MACMILLAN, EdD, is a professor of special education at the University of California-Riverside (UCR). His research interests are mental retardation and special education identification of children at risk for learning or behavioral disorders.

Kenneth A. Kavale

KENNETH A. KAVALE, PhD, is a professor in the Division of Special Education at the University of Iowa. His research interests are learning disabilities and meta-analysis of special education practices.

Frank M. Gresham

FRANK M. GRESHAM, PhD, is professor of school psychology at UCR. His research interests are social skills, self-concept, and assessment of children's eligibility for special education.

In a recent article in the American Psychologist, Detterman and Thompson (1997) not only claimed that there is nothing special about special education, but also contended that a primary emphasis on cognitive abilities is needed in order to improve the effectiveness of instruction of children with disabilities. In this article we analyze their criticisms and respond to their examples of "failed" special education. The effectiveness of current instructional techniques for children with disabilities is contrasted with cognitive approaches. The historical basis of special education is also examined. Assumptions about the actual significance of intelligence testing and cognitive approaches to instruction are questioned in regard to children in special education who present with a wide range of physical, social, emotional, and behavioral characteristics.

Remedial and Special Education, Vol. 19, No. 6, 315-322 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/074193259801900602


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