Spastic and Athetoid Performance in Relation to Jensen's Two-level Theory of Mental

Statement of the Problem The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether spastic and athetoid cerebral palsied children differ in performance on tasks which employ Jensen's Two-Level Theory of Mental Abilities. Previous research established that spastic and athetoid children perform differently on tests which measure psycholinguistic abilities. Since language and intelligence are closely related^ differences in psycholinguistic abilities may relate to different mental abilities. This study was designed to describe the Level I and Level II abilities of spastic and athetoid children. Procedures A list of cerebral palsied subjects was compiled from private and public schools and organizations in several southwestern communities. Twenty-six spastic and sixteen athetoid cerebral palsied subjects between the ages of 8-0 and 16-0 years were selected for this study on the basis of consistent medical diagnoses. Other eligibility criteria included a minimum IQ, of 70 or equivalent learning ability, no severe accompanying handicaps3 and understandable speech.