Calling it “medical palmistry”, doctors in India have questioned the effectiveness of Dermatoglyphics Multiple Intelligence Test (DMIT), a popular test used on school children as a “scientific” study of fingerprints patterns and human brain lobes to determine the “intrinsic potential in a child”.
The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has now urged schools and parents to stay away from “such ill-found practices”.
Stating its stand on these tests, which cost several hundred rupees, the Society said: “There is no scientific evidence of this test being useful for measuring or accessing intelligence and brain lobe functioning or predicting future behaviour.”
Several claims
In the test, the unique fingerprints and dermal ridge patterns of individuals are studied. The companies that offer DMIT services note that the test enables parents to develop an effective way to interact with their child, based on his or her inborn communication style. The test claims to allow users to help “pick a proper way towards selecting a career for your child”.
As for adults, DMIT claims to reveal to them the strength they possess, and guide them to perform better at work.
“It is recommended that parents allow their children to take the test in pre-school for better learning outcome. The test comes with up to 95% accuracy to reveal a child’s inborn potential (strength and weakness),” according to the promoters.
‘Seems unscientific’
Paediatrician, and adolescent and child psychiatry expert Dr. Amol Annadate, speaking about the test, noted: “The test does nothing to tell you about the current developmental IQ of the child. Any child’s IQ and his abilities are governed by a number of factors, including genetic, dietary and environmental factors. The child is a developing individual and to take a finger pattern and predict his/her ability seems unscientific. We would want the Indian Academy of Pediatrics to also explain to the general public the psychological strain that people would expose themselves, and subsequently their children to, with these kinds of tests.”
