Study of Cranial Capacity among Igbo Adolescents in Southeastern Nigeria

Abstract

This work was aimed at comparing cranial capacity and multiple intelligence in Anambra adolescents. Three hundred and eighty three subjects were enlisted in the study, comprising 228 females (59.5%), and 155 males (40.5%), with an age range of 10-19 years. Each subject filled the Russell Rowe Model (2015) of Multiple Intelligence Test for adolescents which examined them on eight different forms of Multiple Intelligence: Verbal/Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical/Rhythmic, Visual/Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Naturalist intelligences. Their craniofacial parameters of head length, head with and cranial olume were measured clinically. The Cranial capacity were calculated and documented. Analysis was by SPSS version 20.0. Statistical significance was considered at p≤0.05. Verbal and intrapersonal intelligence had the highest percentage of study subjects possessing them (82.69%) and this was seen among the older adolescent age group (17-19 years), while the intelligence with the least number of individuals exhibiting them was the music/rhythmic intelligence (53.85%) also seen among the older adolescent age group of the study subjects. Cranial capacity was found to correlate positively with verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence, but not with musical/rhythmic, visual spatial, bodily kinesthetic and naturalistic intelligence. The prediction analysis showed an equal probability of possessing or not possessing any of the multiple intelligences (odd ratio = 1), even as the cranial capacity increased. This means that an adolescent’s multiple intelligence may not be extrapolated by merely measuring his/her cranial capacity.