Highly Gifted

Highly gifted is a term used as one of the ways to convey the degree to which one is gifted. Giftedness is seen as a continuum of capacity ranging from average to exceptionally advanced and highly gifted is a term most often associated with children. Historically, the continuum was defined by scores on standardized intelligence tests. With the early work of Lewis Terman in the 1920s, children were tested using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and were categorized according to score levels on the test as ranging from normal intelligence to those who were exceptionally intelligent. Leta Hollingworth, an early colleague of Terman, also contributed to the understanding of highly gifted in her work that described differences in development as well as social and emotional understanding of highly gifted children. Miraca Gross contributed further to the understanding of highly gifted children with the categorization of giftedness according to intelligence test scores and identified students as highly gifted with IQs measured at 145 to 159, adding two higher categories of exceptionally gifted (160–179) and profoundly gifted (180+) to designated distinguishable differences among the population labeled gifted. Further, Gross identified prevalence levels in the population with highly gifted, exceptionally gifted, and profoundly gifted; with profoundly gifted students occurring in the population at a rate of fewer than 1 in 1 million. This entry reviews the various definitions of highly gifted and provides a description of the characteristics of this population of gifted individuals.

There is some debate about the use of IQ scores as a measure of giftedness including those identified as highly gifted and Gross also indicated that it was a simplistic definition. Linda Silverman described the highly gifted as being “significantly beyond the norm of the gifted” (p.71). She further criticized the simple nature of the classification of gifted as “yes” or “no” versus the notion of a continuum of giftedness that would also help educators to address the services needed based on the identifiable differences among gifted students. The Davidson Institute for Talent Development pinpoints profoundly intelligent individuals as “those individuals who have IQs that are at the 99.999% percentile” (p 1).

In addition to the use of standardized IQ tests to identify highly gifted students, lists of characteristics or behaviors have also been developed. These lists include the general characteristics of gifted individuals but are highlighted either by a much earlier appearance of the trait or the intensity level of the interaction (e.g., speech, mobility, literacy). Silverman further identified significant learning characteristics as the ability to skip more traditional steps in a learning sequence and the ability to make “giant intuitive leaps” (p. 75). Further, Silverman also noted the issue of developmental asynchrony as an attribute in highly gifted students; their ability to deal with abstract issues at an early age is not necessarily complemented by the ability to act in the same manner. Camilla Benbow and her colleagues have produced a great amount of research on the most extreme cases of giftedness emerging from their studies of mathematically and verbally precocious youth, including information about cognitive characteristics, personality, and goals. One of the most important findings of their studies, as well as those of others who have studied [Page 416]perfect scorers on specific achievement tests, is the observation of more uneven abilities than at lower levels of giftedness, with highly gifted students often having perfect or extremely high scores in one area, such as mathematics, and high or moderately high scores in other areas, such as verbal ability. Additional characteristics noted by the Davidson Institute on highly gifted include the following: extreme need for constant mental stimulation, insatiable curiosity, precision in thinking and expression, inability to concentrate on mundane tasks, propensity toward underachievement.

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