Gifted and talented children: Heterogeneity and individual differences

Abstract

Título: Niños superdotados y Talentos: Heterogeneidad y diferencias individuales. Resumen: Superdotación es un tema amplio, que cubre muchos ámbitos de actividad y diversas manifestaciones. En este artículo examinamos dos temas específicos: (a) lo perfiles cognitivos de los niños superdotados, (b) el desarrollo del talento musical. El punto común de estos estudios es la observación de la heterogeneidad de los perfiles individuales. Los resultados del primer estudio realizado sobre 99 niños con un CI igual o superior de 130, muestra una amplia heterogeneidad en el potencial intelectual, el cual está enmascarado si observamos sólo el CI global. Un análisis de cluster jerárquico identifica seis clases de niños con perfiles medios contrastados. El segundo estudio es una investigación exploratoria, enla que intentamos describir el entorno de los estudiantes de música y evaluar la importancia que los padres y profesores dan a los principales factores de éxito en el entrenamiento musical. Nuestros resultados resaltan diversos perfiles diferenciales relacionados con los contextos de entrenamiento, centrados en la representación que los niños tiene sobre la música. Palabras clave: Superdotados, talento musical, perfiles individuales, heterogeneidad.Abstract: Giftedness is a large topic, covering many domains of activity and diverse manifestations. In this paper, we examine two specific topics: (a) cognitive profiles of gifted children and, (b) musical talent development. The common point of these studies is the observation of the heterogeneity of individual profiles. The results of the first study performed on 99 children with an IQ equal to or higher than 130, shows a large heterogeneity in intellectual potential, which is masked if we look only on the overall IQ. A hierarchical clustering analysis identifies six classes of children with contrasting means profiles. The second study is an exploratory research, in which we try to describe the environment of music pupils and to evaluate the importance that parents and teachers give to the main success factors for musical training. Our results highlight several differentiated profiles relating to the contexts of training, centred on the representation that the child has of music.

Triagem de Indicadores de Altas Habilidades/Superdotação: Estrutura Fatorial

“…A relevância dos resultados aqui relatados se ampara na importância de se apresentar uma ferramenta que consegue apontar para comportamentos e indicadores de AH/S em diferentes áreas, considerando-se, principalmente, o fato de que os superdotados não podem ser considerados um grupo homogêneo. Nesse sentido, a literatura tem apontado que, se quiser conhecer e entender as AH/S, é necessário focar nas diferenças intra individuais e interindividuais para poder caracterizar, de forma adequada, o indivíduo nessa condição (Costa & Lubart, 2016).…”

“…Estudos atuais, realizados em diferentes países, têm reconhecido as AH/S como um fenômeno multidimensional, que envolve diversos elementos psicológicos, tais como inteligência, criatividade, liderança, motivação, psicomotricidade, habilidades artísticas e socioemocionais (Feldman, 2000;Gagné, 2005). Consequentemente, a performance superior pode ser identificada em uma série de áreas: acadêmica, artística, social, dentre outras (Costa & Lubart, 2016), podendo ocorrer em uma única área ou em mais de uma (Brasil, 2010).…”

Gifted and Average-Ability Children’s Potential for Solving Analogy Items

“…The results of the current study further underline, more importantly, that individual differences were also apparent within the group of gifted children. This group of children demonstrated large inter-individual differences in performance before and after training as well as in levels of improvement, suggesting that gifted children are not, as was previously often assumed, a homogeneous group when it comes to their cognitive abilities [44]. Rather, they seem to have individual differences in their potential for learning, differences which can be unveiled by a dynamic test.…”

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“…They demonstrate high interest in investigating scientific phenomena and show ability to make connections between scientific concepts and observed phenomena. The concepts of gifted and talented are commonly used together, but some definitions show that there is a subtle difference between giftedness and talent, as giftedness talks about potential abilities whereas talent talks about present abilities that can be demonstrated or performed (Da Costa and Lubart, 2016). The main methods that foster the development of gifted pupils in general include differentiation, extra-curricular amplification -i.e., curriculum enrichment, acceleration, and grouping of gifted pupils.…”