High Abilities and Child Giftedness, basic concepts

2960
David Holt
High Abilities and Child Giftedness, basic concepts

High intellectual capacities (AACC) is the name we refer to to encompass people who have different cognitive characteristics from the rest of the population. Their intellectual potential and capacity for learning is much higher, that is why they are people who require a series of differentiated educational measures for their cognitive and emotional development to be satisfactory.

Contents

  • What are High Abilities or giftedness?
  • AACC prevalence
  • Models and theories about intelligence
    • Performance-based model
    • Intellectual capacity above average
    • A high degree of dedication to tasks
    • High levels of creativity
    • The Multiple Intelligences Model
  • Why are High Capabilities not always detected?
  • Not to be confused with other capabilities
    • Talent
    • Creativity
    • Early maturity
    • Genius
    • Brilliance
      • Links of interest

What are High Abilities or giftedness?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a person with high capacities as "one who has an intelligence quotient greater than 130", although this scale is used less and less to measure people's intelligence.

Children with high capacities are those who learn very differently, not especially the learning styles, but the way of learning that is radically different and that differentiates them from others.

All children are special, and they have strengths or virtues in certain areas. However, some children have more advanced skills that require adjustments at home and at school to help them grow and learn. As you watch your child grow and develop, you may have noticed different skills or characteristics of children the same age. For example, your child can:

  • Be very curious and observant.
  • Use more adult words and reasoning.
  • Have different unusual ideas.
  • Recognize complex sequences and relationships.
  • Finding solutions to problems unexpectedly.
  • Show a great memory.
  • Ask unusual questions.
  • Demonstrate advanced talent in certain areas (such as math, science, writing, art, music, or acting).
  • Learn letters or numbers early, and read before formal instruction.

Children can display giftedness in different ways, and parents are usually the first to notice their special abilities. If you observe a large number of these behaviors in your child, it may be a sign that his development is somehow advanced. "

Prevalence of AACC

According to the intelligence or IQ score ranges observed in the population for years, statistically it is considered that there is approximately between 10 and 15% of the population that is above the average, which is known as high intellectual capacities (AACC). And up to 2% of the entire population is at the far right of the Gaussian bell..

It doesn't sound like much, but the amount isn't that low either. It is the first case, for example, if we take into account that in a school it is easy for there to be two classes per school year, which means 25 students per class and 50 per year, we find an average of one gifted per year and school. In a two-line school like the one in this example, we would have a total of 450 students, of which between 9 and 10 would be gifted (let alone those considered highly capable). In a city with about 100,000 inhabitants, which in Spain usually has 15% of the population between 0 and 15 years of age, there are already 300 gifted minors (and we are leaving aside the adult population). At the level of Spain and in all age groups, we would be talking about approximately one million minds with AACC.

Models and theories about intelligence

Performance-based model

In the United States they have extensive experience in educating gifted students. There are currently several recognized models for this type of study, such as the one created by Dr. Joseph Renzulli, of the Research Institute for Gifted Education, University of Connecticut, USA..

This specialist establishes the Model of the Three Rings where the characteristics that the gifted individual must possess to be considered such are analyzed. A gifted person possesses, according to Joseph Renzulli, the combination of elements of a good information processing system (high intelligence), with high originality and divergent thinking (creativity) and sufficient motivation to guarantee the materialization of their potential (involvement in homework).

Intellectual capacity above average

Although they do not have to be extraordinarily intelligent. It is proven that most productive people do not have IQ scores.

Therefore, a gifted child differs from his peers not so much because of his level of intelligence, but because of his ability to learn many things and solve problems through novel answers or because of his ease in concentrating on completing a task..

Educational experts dealing with gifted children propose that the greatest weight on the prognosis of a student's intellectual ability comes with evidence of a high level of achievement in school (performance demonstrated over a period of time together with the results of the corresponding academic tests).

A high degree of dedication to tasks

They devote more energy to solving a specific problem or specific activity than anyone else. Perseverance is a significant characteristic common to most gifted people..

Normally, this characteristic is not detected in school, because the tasks that are carried out do not require a long time to concentrate on something specific. Parents, however, have many opportunities to observe this type of behavior and provide numerous examples..

High levels of creativity

They are usually original, witty, and unusual people. While we normally agree about the things that connote creativity, the difficulty has always been how to measure it. The specific tests that were dedicated to quantifying it have not been very satisfactory or subjective.

However, the type and nature of the work of these gifted students (maps, poetry, science experiments, games, dances, costumes, etc.) are much more reliable indicators of the existence of creativity..

The Multiple Intelligences Model

Beyond this theory of the rings, goes the Theory of Multiple Intelligences of H. Gardner (1983), in which there are three fundamental ideas:

  • Intelligence is not a unitary dimension, but rather a set of cognitive abilities, talents or abilities that he calls intelligences. According to this author, intelligence is the ability to see problems and create products that can be valued within one or more cultural settings..
  • Each of these intelligences constitute its own system and independent from the rest..
  • These intelligences interact with each other, in such a way that a subject can exhibit them at a certain moment, but this situation is fluid and changing.
  • This author does not agree with a model that considers intelligence in a hierarchical and unitary way, nor with the implications of this model in the field of intelligence measurement, especially with IQ tests. The MI theory was proposed in 1983 and in recent years it has been gaining relevance, especially in the educational and school environment. In this article we want to describe this theory, its strengths and weaknesses in the framework of modern intelligence psychology..

Howard Gardner, has proposed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) according to which human cognitive abilities are:

  • linguistic intelligence
  • the logical-mathematical
  • the corporal-kinesthetic
  • the musical
  • the space
  • the naturalist
  • and the social, which is divided into two: the interpersonal and the intrapersonal

Why are High Capabilities not always detected?

We must know that in traditional studies, by limiting the concept of giftedness to obtaining high scores on intelligence tests, gifted children are sometimes confused with those who are environmentally enriched, that is, those who are called "awake children" , highly stimulated by their parents, since traditional tests define only the current level of performance, which can be determined by conditioning factors such as training and not so much by the child's real abilities.

At other times we are not always able to detect a gifted child, since we tend to think that they are diligent students with a brilliant academic record, while, often, accustomed to surpassing the first courses effortlessly and dominated by the boredom of learning. At a faster rate than the rest of their classmates, these children do not develop study habits and it is not uncommon for them to show poor school performance due to the lack of intellectual stimulation.

At school they feel disconnected from their peers and misunderstood by teachers, they get bored in class and they find the content uninteresting or challenging. The best known case of this is that of the Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Albert Einstein, who at age 12 was considered unfit for study by his professors.

To all this is added the fact that they can also be problematic children in school, if they reject the authority of the teachers or are too restless and active.

Nor should we forget that gifted children are characterized by a high intellectual level, but that each one as an individual has their own personality, they are not all the same. This means that while one can be highly rewarded by being congratulated and admired by their teachers thanks to their academic milestones and always showing a willingness to learn, another may have other not-so-academic motivations, may have a more “passive” character. ”So to speak and focus their qualities on other aspects of life and they only see their true skills when we realize how quickly they acquire knowledge in general or how savvy they are.

Not to be confused with other capabilities

Giftedness can be easily confused with other intellectual phenomena that, because they are also rare and extraordinary, lead to the idea that an individual is gifted when he really is not..

Some of these exceptional confusing traits may be:

Talent

Talent is understood to be the focus of a capacity on a cognitive aspect or on a skill for the performance or exercise of an occupation. A talented person performs outstandingly in a certain area of ​​knowledge regardless of the work they can do in other areas. While the gifted has a cognitive structure and information processing capabilities that adjust to any content, the talented has a combination of cognitive elements that make them especially suitable for a certain topic. His intellectual structure would therefore be incomplete in relation to that of the gifted, who has a more universal intellect..

Another significant factor is that for an individual to be considered talented, they must perform an activity that is socially and culturally accepted and recognized as of great value..

Talent is subdivided into areas:

  • Logical-mathematical and verbal intelligence (which are included in general intelligence or convergent thinking)
  • Creativity (divergent thinking)
  • Leadership
  • Specific academic skills
  • Motor skills
  • Skills in the visual and performing arts
  • Artistic capabilities

The talented person stands out in any of these areas in a prominent way, while the gifted person without standing out in a striking way maintains a constant level.

You can distinguish different types of talented people depending on the field in which you excel:

  • Talented subjects in the variable "general intelligence" (convergent thinking). They are characterized by a good general academic adaptation (ability to concentrate, work method, solid structuring of knowledge, etc.). The level of socialization is medium and they usually show a normal emotional evolution for their age and social class.
  • Talented subjects in the variable "creativity" (divergent thinking). They have an irregular school profile and tend to be well regarded by their peers, although they can often present abrupt behavior. They usually have good ideas but lack methodology to develop them.
  • Subjects with talent for leadership. They are people with a marked character of leader, social intelligence that allows them to establish relationships with great ease.
  • Subjects with specific academic aptitudes. They show high performance in one or more specific areas. They also do not have problems to relate socially and emotionally they mature in a similar way to their peers.
  • Subjects with psychomotor skills. They are usually people with great sports skills or with a special capacity for dancing. They stand out in traits such as flexibility, strength, endurance, rhythm, coordination ... Regarding performance in intellectual and academic tasks in a way that cannot be generalized. In most cases they show a very acceptable level of socialization and are highly valued by their peers.
  • Subjects with artistic aptitudes. Despite having a normal academic performance, his socialization is irregular, always depending on the type of artistic talent he develops.

Creativity

Creativity is defined as the human ability to identify, pose or solve a problem in a relevant and divergent way.

One of the pioneers who did a study on creativity was J.P Guildford. In the decade of the 50-60s of the 20th century, he carried out, from a scientific point of view, a true theorization on the subject and differentiated four variables that are the most frequently used to measure creativity:

  • Fluency refers to the ability to generate a considerable amount of ideas or responses to established approaches.
  • Flexibility refers to the ability to formulate responses that belong to different categories, causing a search and a broader vision or simply different from the one always had..
  • The elaboration consists of adding elements or details to ideas that already exist, modifying some of their attributes. It requires handling skills and a large amount of information.
  • Originality is the most prominent aspect of creativity as it involves thinking about ideas that no one had come up with before or visualizing problems differently.

The concept of creativity is one more characteristic of the gifted. You can be creative without being gifted, but not vice versa. To be qualified as a person with high intellectual capacity, creativity must be possessed.

Art is not only the only vehicle for the expression of this capacity, as there are other equally valid forms through which to channel this potentiality..

Early maturity

Gifted children mature faster than their peers who are the same age and display behaviors that are typical of older children.

In many cases, early development does not have to be identified as giftedness, since in most cases children end up equaling themselves with their age, or else their difference is specified in some area, identifying themselves as talent..

Genius

Identify individuals with great intellectual superiority who make very relevant contributions to society. The gifted possess this faculty and rise above the average intellectual level..

They perceive the intimate relationships between things, wisely gather and combine materials, invent or discover creating and anticipating their time promoting a new point of view that goes beyond those already established.

Brilliance

The term is understood as a quality possessed by an individual who possesses a high degree of intelligence, compared to other subjects in the environment..

A brilliant person shows higher academic performance and is able to memorize a greater number of data, etc ...

Informative video about High Abilities for Children:

Links of interest

Gifted children screening questionnaire. (34 years)
Gifted children screening questionnaire. (5 - 8 years)
Gifted children screening questionnaire. (9 - 14 years)


Yet No Comments