Recognizing Potential

A Mensa International Information Overview

Defining Giftedness

"One useful definition has been provided by the US government:

"Students, children or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not normally provided by the school in order to develop those capabilities."

Spotting Possible Signs

"Many parents or teachers may see signs in a child that make them think he or she is gifted. These signs, such as the ability to learn things very quickly, an unusually large vocabulary, or an uncommon ability to solve problems could mean that the child is gifted. However, there are also several less obvious characteristics, some of which may surprise you: idealism and a strong sense of justice, for example, or the child being preoccupied with their own thoughts (daydreaming). Intense curiosity in how things work is a common trait, as is a tendency to experiment with doing things differently, or linking ideas or thoughts together that are not usually linked.

Each child is different and it is difficult to generalize, but most bright children have some of the characteristics listed below:

perceptive, inquiring minds
unusual insight and intellectual curiosity
superior judgment and reasoning ability
abstract and critical thinking
originality
ability to see connections between ideas
long concentration spans in areas of interest advanced reading ability
extensive vocabulary
keen powers of observation
strong sense of ethics and values
a sense of humor
a rapid mastery of basic skills
special ability in one or more areas, such as music, art, science, language, computers, or mathematics

This is far from being an all-inclusive list, and not every bright child has all of these characteristics. However, in general, compared to children of the same age, gender, temperament and cultural background, the gifted, school-age child will exhibit some of the following behaviors more frequently, more intensely, and for a longer period of time:

Humor: Exceptionally keen sense of the comical, the bizarre, or the absurd

Imagination & Creativity: Extraordinary capacity for ingenious, flexible use of ideas, processes, materials or anything else

Inquiry: Probing exploration, deep questions; experiments with events, ideas, feeling, sounds, symbols, movements, etc

Memory & Processing: Tremendous "brain power" for dealing with large amounts of information and skills.

Sensitivity: Unusually aware of or responsive to experiences and feelings, both their own and/or those of other people

Expressiveness: Extraordinary ability to communicate meaning or emotion through words, actions, symbols, or media

Reasoning: Outstanding ability to think things through and consider implications or alternatives; rich, flexible, highly conscious, logical thought

A photo of a human head with equations, beakers, and other scientific items floating above the head

Problem Solving: Outstanding ability to find systematic solutions to problems; is able to invent and monitor many paths to a goal; seeks challenges

Intuition: Suddenly discovers connections or deeper meaning without conscious awareness of reasoning or thought

Learning: Able to grasp and use sophisticated new understandings quickly and easily

Interests: Advanced, ardent; perhaps for unusual topics; passionate, sometimes fleeting

Moral & Ethical Concerns: Intense need for fairness and justice; deep desire to take action to resolve injustices; concern for consequences of their actions

Motivation: Persistent, intense need to know, do, feel, create, or understand.

A solved Rubik's cube with pieces floating around the cube.

Jumping to Conclusions: the Need for Caution

Of course, it might be the case that only one aspect of a child's development could be interpreted as being more advanced than that being exhibited by his or her classmates. Also, children rarely develop according to a strict timetable: some children learn to walk or talk earlier than the norm. Therefore, one should be cautious about assuming that a child is gifted unless a certain trait is particularly obvious, or unless a combination of several unusual characteristics is evident."

Reference:

Mensa International. (2022). Recognizing Potential. Retrieved October 03, 2022, from Mensa International

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