Intellectual Giftedness

Intellectual Giftedness Psychology Definition

Being "gifted" with intelligence can seem to have many possible definitions. A clear and concise definition of intellectual giftedness in psychology pertains to children.

But where did the label intellectual giftedness originate?

Terman's Termites

In 1921, Lewis Terman conducted several studies on intelligence and established theories on how to measure intelligence. In one particular study, Terman measured the intelligence of 1500 California schoolchildren using intelligence quotient tests (IQ tests). Of those 1500 children, those who scored over 135 were considered to be intellectually gifted according to Terman, and became lovingly referred to as "Terman's Termites".

This group of children, the Termites, later went on to be considered healthy, well-adjusted, and academically successful (later resulting in a high level of education). Other than high IQ test scores, were there any other characteristics that may have signaled intellectual giftedness?

Intellectual Giftedness Characteristics

Through research, several characteristics were discovered that had a strong correlation to being intellectually gifted.

There are different categories for each characteristic -- creativity, effectiveness, behavioral, and cognitive. Here are a few examples:

These are not the only characteristics associated with children who are intellectually gifted. Other studies showed that children who show signs of being gifted intellectually scored in the top 1 percent of their age group in the mathematics portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) -- this age group was only 13 years. In their fifties, these same individuals had obtained 681 patents, some had gone on to have distinguished careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) (Myers, 2013). Even further, of these 13-year-old students, about 40 percent had gone on to receive a doctorate degree (only about 1 percent of Americans earn a doctorate).

Causes of Intellectual Giftedness

Is intellectual giftedness are genetic phenomenon? Can you teach yourself to achieve intellectual giftedness?

The answer to this involves a bit of the nature versus nature issue we often see in psychology. There are genetic considerations as well as environmental impacts on learning and living. This question really influenced the mind of researchers in the 1970s. The results? A balanced blend of appropriate and beneficial environments as well as genetic "quality". Furthermore, no child is born gifted but rather with the potential for giftedness. Everyone has the potential for giftedness but opportunities are at the heart of the ability to develop intellectual giftedness.

Environmental factors that can affect intellectual giftedness include but are not limited to:

• social structures (gender, religion, etc.)

• economic status

• cultural differences and attributes

• educational systems

Fig. 1 Our environment can't have a major influence on intelligence.

Educational systems can help students learn but, at times, can also be a hindrance. Programs for intellectual giftedness often tend to separate high-performing children into special classes that give them academic enrichment that is not otherwise available to their peers. The opposite can be true also in this case. "Remedial" classes for students who may not have tested as well as other students are generalized and can negatively affect the child's social and self-acceptance. Grouping children can create a self-fulfilling prophecy effect by labeling children, indirectly, as "ungifted". This, in turn, denies these children who are labeled this way the enrichment opportunities that could potentially help close the gap between groups.

Types of Intellectual Giftedness

Intelligence can mean different things. A person can excel in math but not in chemistry for example. Our personality types can shape the way that an individual's intellectual giftedness can manifest. There are six types of giftedness according to the National Association for Gifted Children (2022).

Type 1 -- The successful

Type 2 -- The challenging

Type 3 -- The underground

Type 4 -- The dropouts

Type 5 -- The double-labeled

Type 6 -- The autonomous learner

Type 1 -- The successful

This type of gifted intelligence is most easily identified and is said to account for about 90% of the already identified gifted students in schools. These individuals most often are already well adjusted in society and have a high measure of self-concept.

Fig. 2 Intellectual giftedness comes in all types.

These students are most often high achievers, obedient in classes, and display appropriate behaviors. There is a drawback to this scenario at times, however. If the student learns quickly they will often become easily bored at school. Sometimes these students are considered to be less imaginative or creative and lack autonomy. These students follow rules, complete their work, and thrive on achieving.

Type 2 -- The challenging

The challenging type is considered to be more divergently gifted. These individuals are known to have high levels of creativity. Often, they display a dislike of conforming to a system. Because of their creative nature and dislike of being systematic, they often display disruptive characteristics. There is a strong correlation between being involved in drug use or delinquent behaviors and dropping out of school later.

Type 3 -- The underground

Underground types of gifted students often deny their talents or even go as far as hiding their gifted intelligence. This occurs most often so that the student feels a sense of inclusion with their peers. Research shows that this type of student is mostly female. There is also a correlation between underground types and anxiety and insecurity as their need to belong conflicts with the expectations of their parents and teachers.

Type 4 -- The Dropouts

These gifted individuals deal with anger and frustration as their needs are often unrecognized resulting in feelings of rejection in the education system. As a way to express themselves, they often withdraw from peers and elders alike and deal with low self-esteem.

Type 5 -- The double-labeled

Type 5 students are identified as being intellectually gifted as well as being labeled as physically or emotionally handicapped or having a learning disability. Often, this label of being disabled overshadows their gifted intelligence and goes overlooked or they are considered as average performing in class. As a result, there are often feelings of rejection, frustration, stress, isolation, and helplessness. School systems, unfortunately, emphasize the disability rather than nurturing the intelligence of these students.

Type 6 -- The autonomous learner

Lastly, the autonomous learner has learned to work effectively in the school system. Those with this gifted intelligence type do not work to appease the education system (such as teachers) but rather to have the system work for them. What does this mean? Type 6 learners have high self-acceptance, are risk-takers, and often show great capacity for leadership. Teachers, parents, and peers are known to easily like these students.

Everyone is different. Intelligence is hard to measure as there are variables that are not included in standardized intelligence testing such as social structures, cultural differences, economic status, and personality. This list of the different types of intellectually gifted children is not a complete list and should be treated as a guide.

Intellectual Giftedness Examples

The psychology field's most prolific gifted individual was Jean Piaget. At just 15 years old, Piaget was publishing scientific articles on his interest in mollusks. Piaget, of course, went on to be the most famous developmental psychologist of the twentieth century!

Let's look at some possible examples of students who display characteristics of intellectual giftedness. Can you identify the type of intellectual giftedness?

There is a student, their name is Tory. Tory is incredibly creative and often excels in classes such as art, literature, and music often performing well above their peers. While Tory is an amazing high achieving student, they often get into trouble for being disruptive. When directed to do tasks such as writing an example of historical figures in art, Tory writes a story about a fictional character who goes on an adventure. While the story is well written, highly creative, and even has illustrations that far surpass their age, the task was not correctly completed. Does this make Tory a bad student? Not at all!

James has been labeled as having autism spectrum disorder or ASD. James can do many things on his own but finds certain aspects of daily life challenging particularly while in school. Because of this diagnosis of autism, James is placed in specialized classes to help with any of these issues in hopes to make learning easy. James has many talents but one that catches the attention of others is the ability to calculate large mathematical operations in only the mind. James has even competed in mathematical challenges in school and was a champion mathematician! Unfortunately, this giftedness is overshadowed by the label of having a learning disorder. People often underestimate James and he is bullied by his peers. What example of the type of intellectual giftedness is James?