Hollingworth, Leta Stetter, 1886-1939

Leta Stetter Hollingworth

Leta Stetter was born on May 25, 1886 in Nebraska. She started school at the University of Nebraska and enjoyed a successful academic career there. In 1906 Stetter received her Bachelor of Arts degree and state teaching certificate. After completing her Master's degree, she began work administering Binet intelligence tests in a mental health hospital. Returning to school at Columbia, she earned her Ph.D. in 1916 and was offered a position teaching psychology at Columbia Teachers College. Stetter continued teaching at Columbia until her retirement. Besides teaching, Stetter was very interested in work with exceptional students. She had a notable study regarding a child who tested above 180 on an IQ test. This led her to find 11 other students over the next 23 years who had comparable scores. She conducted a study on these children to find similarities between them. Stetter worked to lay a foundation for studying gifted children. Throughout her life she published many books, including The psychology of subnormal children; Special talents and defects: their significance for education; Gifted Children: Their Nature and Nurture; The Psychology of the Adolescent; and Children Above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and Development.

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