Termites Experiment - Essay Example

Other than being taller, healthier, physically developed, and socially adept, they showed greater success in life compared to others. As a matter of fact, the “Termites” showed excellent accomplishments array; 70 had earned listings amongst the American Men of Science, 3 had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 10 had entries in Directory of American Scholars, while 31 featured in Who's Who in America (Terman, 1959).

The accomplishment was no doubt amazing and e summarized them as follows,
"Nearly 2000 scientific and technical papers and articles and some 60 books and monographs in the sciences, literature, arts, and humanities have been published. Patents granted amount to at least 230. Other writings include 33 novels, about 375 short stories, novelettes, and plays; 60 or more essays, critiques, and sketches; and 265 miscellaneous articles on a variety of subjects. The figures on publications do not include the hundreds of publications by journalists that classify as news stories, editorials, or newspaper columns, nor do they include the hundreds, if not thousands, of radio, television, or motion picture scripts (Terman, 1959, p. 425)."

Certainly, this was impressive. However, his findings have been disputed on several occasions with some arguing that the Termite's accomplishments would have been more applicable with respect to socioeconomic status alone (Kern & Friedman, 2008). This could have been more reasonable as the group’s average income was slightly above $10,000 at a time when the American average was around $10,500. Read More