WHAT ARE HIGH INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES? - ECONOMÍA - 2024

Children with high intellectual abilities are those who have a superior level of intellectual performance in a wide spectrum of subjects, and learn quickly and easily in a large number of disciplines.

There are three complex variables that would define the subject with high intellectual capacities: above-average intelligence, creativity and commitment or motivation for the task. Intelligence, being a multiple and not unitary factor, would not be enough to explain high capacities.

Young people with high intellectual capacities need special attention for an adequate management of their capacities and potentialities. Knowledge, awareness, resource endowment and training of educational agents is vital to ensure that they grow up healthy and happy.

Next I will present you 13 signs that can indicate that you are facing a child with high capacities. I will also give you guidelines to manage and promote the different characteristics.

Signs of children with high intellectual abilities

1- They learn quickly and easily whenever they are interested

Children with high capacities have faster learning as well as greater ease in it whenever specific conditions are met.

One of the myths is that these children always learn faster in any subject and this is not true. This aspect is directly related to motivation, which, as in any other student, is key to learning.

We can observe a very high level of performance in these students as long as their interests and needs are listened to and taken care of, finding out what they like, what aspects interest them the most, etc.

2- Advanced vocabulary for his age

Perhaps the subject of language is one of the most striking aspects to detect a child with high capacities early. Highly gifted children have much richer vocabulary and language than children their age.

For all these reasons, it is important that we adapt to his level in conversations and that we respond to him based on his level of expression and understanding, avoiding the simplification of language just because he is a child.

3- They understand abstract and complex ideas in an exceptional way

His level of manipulation in terms of symbology and abstraction also includes the handling of relationships between people, events and ideas.

It is important to provide them with sources of information on various topics and give them opportunities to present their reasoning through school papers, dialogues, debates, etc.

4- Their ability to generalize learning is high, being good at formulating common principles in various subjects

In the school environment, it is important that as far as possible the student is allowed to handle the subjects from a global perspective, so that he can elaborate these generalizations freely.

The teacher must be accessible and interested in the face of such discoveries.

5- They present high levels of creativity and flexibility in the production of ideas, objects and solutions

For this reason, it is necessary that the structuring of school activities be as flexible as possible, allowing the student to reach the same solution in different ways, diversifying the means of learning and leaving space for them to explore their creative possibilities at different levels.

6- They have a deep and sometimes passionate interest in a particular area

We have to make room in the curriculum, especially in the case of gifted children, so that they learn different subjects through a center of interest.

If this especially motivating area is, for example, outer space, we can design activities or learning guides with that theme so that the child feels more motivated.

7- They present high levels of working memory

They can keep many items and are good at storing answer sets to solve items.

It is appropriate to propose complex tasks in which the solution depends on a considerable number of elements, inviting them to reason and reflection.

8- Great ability to analyze reality, sensitivity towards social problems

They stand out for their maturity when reasoning about the facts of life and for their proactive attitude to eliminate injustices and social problems.

For this reason, it can be very stimulating for them to pose ethical dilemmas, debates about different social aspects, etc.

9- Children with high capacities exhibit high communication skills

High abilities are not limited to their great verbal ability, but also in the ease with which they express ideas through writing, images, sounds or gestures.

It may be a good idea to propose games and activities in which different means of communication and expression are involved.

10- They show great perfectionism and search for excellence

Children with high capacities usually want to perform tasks brilliantly and stand out, in general, with respect to other peers.

We must promote a healthy competitiveness with himself and at the same time make him understand progressively the value of teamwork and what each person can contribute with their different abilities.

11- They prefer the company of older people

Sometimes, the dyssynchrony with respect to his classmates can make the gifted child seek to interact with people who are better suited to his intellectual level.

We can foster communication between students of different grades through cooperative activities so that the gifted child diversifies their relationships.

12- They are natural leaders

In general, gifted children tend to have leadership skills, and their communication skills help them influence others.

It is convenient to manage this ability well to make it a factor that favors their development, giving them the possibility of directing projects, tutoring other colleagues, etc., as long as it is combined with cooperative activities.

13- They are responsible, self-critical and thoughtful

Children with high abilities have a great ability to question and evaluate their own and other people's actions.

When it comes to resolving conflicts or talking about inappropriate behavior on their part, it is necessary to give space to this reflective capacity, allowing them to give their reasons and to reach conclusions about their way of acting, it is necessary to promote healthy development in these children.

High abilities, talent and genius

It should be noted that on many occasions we meet people who stand out in some way and who in a colloquial way can be defined as having high abilities.

However, in order to correctly identify high capacities, it is necessary to be clear about other related concepts.

Precocity, technically, is not an intellectual phenomenon but an evolutionary one. This term refers to children who present a more advanced development in terms of their appearance and consolidation.

Although some children tend to be precocious in some specific developmental area, this is not always the case, and not all precocious children have all the characteristics that define high intellectual abilities.

Talent, on the other hand, refers to people who excel in a certain area, for example, artistic or mathematics. However, talented people rank average in all other areas.

Finally, the genius is the person who does a “brilliant work”, who carries out something that is innovative for the benefit of humanity. Thus, not all gifted children are geniuses, although geniuses tend to be gifted.

Myths about high capacities and expectations to avoid in their detection

When describing children with high capacities in order to correctly identify them, we must base ourselves on scientific guidelines, avoiding popular beliefs that exist about this group.

Therefore, before addressing the common characteristics that will help us to detect a student with high abilities, we must clarify the following points:

• We should not assume that gifted children will excel in all areas of development, that they will be emotionally mature, exhibit self-control, and attempts to please their teacher.
• In this sense, neither should we expect them to excel in all areas of the school curriculum. Too often these children are expected to do "brilliant" work in all subjects.
• Finally, not all children with high abilities have a great motivation to excel in school, since on many occasions they are children who "get bored" and who do not take academic activities as a challenge, and may pass as lazy or rebellious students.

As we said, the only thing these myths can do is hinder our evaluation, so it is convenient to know them and, as far as possible, avoid them.

References

1. Comes, G., Díaz, E., Luque, A., Moliner, O. (2008) The psychopedagogical evaluation of highly capable students. Journal of Inclusive Education, vol. 1, pp. (103-117).
2. Comes, G., Díaz, E., Luque, A., Ortega-Tudela, JM (2012) Analysis and assessment of the current situation of gifted students in Spain. Inclusive Education Magazine vol. 5 (2), pp. (129-139).
3. Gómez, MT, and Mir, V. (2011) High Capacities in Boys and Girls: detection, identification and integration in school and the family. Madrid: Narcea.
4. Martínez, M. and Guirado, À. (coords.) (2012) High Intellectual Abilities. Guidelines for action, orientation, intervention and evaluation in the school period. Barcelona: Graó.
5. Tórrego, JC (coord.) (2011) Students with High Abilities and Cooperative Learning. Madrid: SM.