Intelligence of Retinoblastoma Patients and Their Siblings

LEVITT, EUGENE A.; ROSENBAUM, ARTHUR L.; WILLERMAN, LEE; and LEVITT, MARC. Intelligence of Retinoblastoma Patients and Their Siblings. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1972, 43, 939-948. Sighted and blind retinoblastoma patients were compared with their normal siblings on standardized tests of intelligence. Those blinded from the disease averaged 10 IQ points above their siblings, while sighted individuals both of whose eyes were affected by the disease were inferior to their controls. Unilaterally affected patients did not differ from their controls. It was concluded that while retinoblastoma per se is not associated with intellectual superiority or inferiority, retinoblastoma associated with blindness may result in selective cognitive superiority.