mathematics

M. L. Fick

M. L. Fick is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand M. L. Fick rather than just read about it. In short: Martin Laurence Fick (30 November 1898 – 2 August 1945) was a South African psychologist and psychometrician. He is noted for his work administering intelligence tests to South African children.

Key takeaways

M. L. Fick belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect M. L. Fick to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of M. L. Fick from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Martin Laurence Fick (30 November 1898 – 2 August 1945) was a South African psychologist and psychometrician. He is noted for his work administering intelligence tests to South African children. On the basis of this research, he concluded that native South African children were intellectually inferior to their European counterparts, in support of the South African government's policy at the time of not investing in native children's education. Fick graduated from the University of the Cape of Good Hope with a B. A. degree in 1917 and received his Ed. M. degree from Harvard University in 1922. In 1926, Fick published the Official Mental Hygiene Individual Scale (also known as the "Fick Scale"), which was the first South African intelligence test. Fick worked for the National Bureau of Educational and Social Research, and was noted for his hereditarian interpretation of racial differences in intelligence test scores. This interpretation was criticized by other psychologists such as Simon Biesheuvel. Fick was also a captain in the South African Medical Corps, and he died in 1945 while serving on active duty.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with M. L. Fick

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what M. L. Fick claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to M. L. Fick before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about M. L. Fick ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of M. L. Fick

In research: M. L. Fick appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses M. L. Fick in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: M. L. Fick is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1898 births, 1945 deaths, 20th-century psychologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for M. L. Fick outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study M. L. Fick in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what M. L. Fick means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain M. L. Fick out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is M. L. Fick in simple terms?

Martin Laurence Fick (30 November 1898 – 2 August 1945) was a South African psychologist and psychometrician. He is noted for his work administering intelligence tests to South African children.

Why does M. L. Fick matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study M. L. Fick?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on M. L. Fick.