Regarding lower level monsters with psionic capability, I believe the Gray Ooze was capable of psionic attack? Perfect for a beach encounter!
I think the main point of this topic is not so much whether the encounter difficulty is matched to the player party abilities, but more that certain types of traditional D&D monsters were created and intended specifically for higher level play. Drow parties, mind flayers, and intellect devourers are traditionally in the same class as the mid-to-high level demons and devils, and direct combat with such creatures with a low character party level does seem a bit "over the top".
For level 1-3 adventures, I would expect stuff like wolves, giant frogs, zombies, goblins, violet fungi, etc., to be most of the combatants, with bosses being something like an ogre or a werewolf. Jumping right into Drow and intellect devourers when my mage has only three spells to cast, one of which is identify, ... ooh, I don't know. It makes me think of a scene in Monty Python's Meaning of Life involving the word "stampede".
