Abstract
THE difficulties of applying intelligence tests to primitive peoples with a view to comparative study are notorious, and much ingenuity has been employed in devising tests which are immune from the vitiating factor of differences in the cultural background of the individuals or groups which it is sought to compare. The pioneer work of Dr. S. D. Porteous among Australian aborigines may be recalled in this connexion. Even more remarkable results, however, have been obtained by a recent expedition to the north-western regions of the Continent, sent out by the University of Western Australia, and consisting of three members of the Psychology Department, Mr. N. G. Trayten, Dr. D. W. McElwain and Dr. H. L. Fowler. Under the advice and with the cooperation of Dr. D. S. Davidson, assistant professor of anthropology in the University of Chicago, experiments were made in the application of intelligence tests which had not previously been tried with the Australian aborigines.
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Intelligence among Australian Aborigines. Nature 146, 195 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146195b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146195b0