Neuropsychological Profile of Intellectually Gifted Children: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: The term intellectually gifted (IG) refers to children of high intelligence, which is classically measured by the intelligence quotient (IQ). Some researchers assume that the cognitive profiles of these children are characterized by both strengths and weaknesses, compared with those of their typically developing (TD) peers of average IQ. The aim of the present systematic review was to verify this assumption, by compiling data from empirical studies of cognitive functions (language, motor skills, visuospatial processing, memory, attention and executive functions, social and emotional cognition) and academic performances. Method: The literature search yielded 658 articles, 15 of which met the selection criteria taken from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses model. We undertook a qualitative summary, to highlight any discrepancies between cognitive functions. Results: IG children exhibited better skills than TD children in a number of domains, including attention, language, mathematics, verbal working memory, shifting, and social problem solving. However, the two groups had comparable skills in visuospatial processing, memory, planning, inhibition, and visual working memory, or facial recognition. Conclusion: Although IG children may have some strengths, many studies have failed to find differences between this population and their TD peers on many other cognitive measures. Just like any other children, they can display learning disabilities, which can be responsible for academic underachievement. Further studies are needed to better understand this heterogeneity. The present review provides pointers for overcoming methodological problems and opens up new avenues for giftedness research.

Behavioral and Socio-Emotional Disorders in Intellectual Giftedness: A Systematic Review

“…This heterogeneity encourages the use of a wider concept of intelligence, such as the multiple intelligence perspective [ 3 , 4 ]. More importantly, it suggests that a more appropriate approach should be capitalizing on inter-individual variability in cognitive functioning instead of delineating a unique profile of functioning that encompasses all gifted individuals, as outlined by a recent review on neuropsychological functioning in high IQ individuals [ 76 ].…”

Mental processes underlying STEM problem solving in exceptional and typically developing children

“…In physics problem solving, Coleman and Shore (1991) reported that experts and high-achieving students had advantages over averageachieving students in that they made the best of prior knowledge and accurately monitored and evaluated their mental processes. Yet it should be noted that not all gifted individuals have advantages in specific domains (for a review, Bucaille et al, 2022). Their performance may vary depending on the match between task requirements and their strengths.…”

Graph Empirical Mode Decomposition-Based Data Augmentation Applied to Gifted Children MRI Analysis

“…Intelligence can be seen as the ability to recognize and understand reality and use knowledge and experience to solve problems such as memory, observation, imagination, thinking, and judgment. Gifted children are regarded to have higher intelligence and perform better in attention, language, mathematics, verbal working memory, shifting, and social problem-solving (Bucaille et al, 2022 ). At the same time, gifted children demonstrate high working memory capacity and more effective executive attention (Aubry et al, 2021 ).…”