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A growing body of empirical data suggests that there may be a true psychological distinction between academic and practical intelligence. If there is, then conventional ability tests used alone may reveal substantially less than we want to know about people's competence in everyday practical situations. Evidence to this effect is reviewed from mainstream U.S. culture and from Brazil, Morocco, Kenya, and Russia. A study of 261 Yup'ik Eskimo children in grades 9-12 assessed the importance of academic and practical intelligence in rural and urban Alaskan communities. Academic intelligence was measured with conventional measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Practical intelligence was measured with a homemade test of tacit knowledge relevant to the environment in which most Yup'ik people live. The test measured tacit knowledge in five content areas: herbs, fishing and fish preparation, survival, folklore, and hunting. Adults and peers rated the children in terms of being a good thinker who could survive and in terms of being a great hunter. Urban children generally outperformed rural children on a measure of crystallized intelligence, but the rural children performed better on the measure of Yup'ik tacit knowledge. The test of tacit knowledge was superior to the tests of academic intelligence in predicting practical skills of rural children. (Contains 54 references.) (Author/SV)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert