Gifted Children?

Do you have gifted children?  Are our children and grandchildren gifted?  This development perspective lists several characteristics that gifted children might possess.  This would be useful in evaluating your children for further development purposes.  Mom and I possess several of these characteristics.  How many?  What percentage?  If we would say, we probably be accused of arrogance or braggadocio!  We will leave that to you to figure out! 

Natural                                                                                                                        (main)                                                                                                                On Stand     

 

Characteristics of Giftedness Scale:
A Review of the Literature

Dr. Linda Silverman

 

From a developmental perspective, the characteristics associated with giftedness become apparent early in life. The following list of descriptors has been used successfully for nearly 19 years at the Gifted Development Center to predict performance in the superior and gifted ranges of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Silverman, Chitwood & Waters, 1986), WISC-III, and other standardized intelligence tests. The Characteristics of Giftedness Scale was designed specifically for parents as part of a phone intake procedure. It was developed as a result of research findings and clinical observations, as well as many years of teaching experience with this population.

The descriptors were selected according to the following criteria:

Several studies were conducted between 1981 and 1986 to determine the validity of this set of characteristics, and the list has been refined to incorporate the research findings. The following 25 characteristics have resulted:

 

Characteristics of Giftedness Scale

  1. Good problem solving/reasoning abilities
  2. Rapid learning ability
  3. Extensive vocabulary
  4. Excellent memory
  5. Long attention span
  6. Personal sensitivity
  7. Compassion for others
  8. Perfectionism
  9. Intensity
  10. Moral sensitivity
  11. Unusual curiosity
  12. Perseverant when interested
  13. High degree of energy
  14. Preference for older companions
  15. Wide range of interests
  16. Great sense of humor
  17. Early or avid reading ability
  18. Concerned with justice, fairness
  19. At times, judgment seems mature for age
  20. Keen powers of observation
  21. Vivid imagination
  22. High degree of creativity
  23. Tends to question authority
  24. Shows ability with numbers
  25. Good at jigsaw puzzles

If a child demonstrates more than three-fourths of these traits, it is likely that he or she is gifted. In a study by Rogers (1986), the following characteristics clearly differentiated the development of 38 gifted and 42 average third and fourth graders (p. < .01): rapid learning ability; extensive vocabulary; good memory; long attention span; perfectionism; preference for older companions; sophisticated sense of humor; early interest in books; ability in puzzles and mazes; maturity; curiosity; perseverance; and keen powers of observation. (See Table 1.)

A pilot study (Silverman, Rogers, & Waters, 1982) was conducted with 16 families (both parents) at a school for the gifted, using similar questions in an open-ended, narrative format. Among the traits that surfaced in the pilot study in a relatively high frequency of cases were compassion, sensitivity, and high levels of activity.

________________________________________________________________________

Table 1

Comparison of Traits Between 38 Gifted and 42 Average
Third and Fourth Graders

Trait

Means for Gifted

Means for Average

p

Rapid learning

1.45

2.90

.001

Extensive vocabulary

1.71

2.72

.001

Good memory

1.45

2.29

.001

Long attention span

2.55

3.37

.004

Sensitivity

1.73

2.02

.190

Compassion for others

2.32

2.09

.399

Perfectionism

2.55

3.37

.001

High degree of energy

2.65

2.61

.847

Preference for older companions

2.57

3.04

.048

Wide range of interests

1.92

2.23

.143

Excellent sense of humor

2.15

2.79

.011

Ability to sight read easy readers

4.37 yrs.

5.06 yrs.

.016

Interest in books

1.92

3.02

.001

Ability in puzzles and mazes

1.83

2.55

.008

Maturity

2.02

2.67

.003

Perseverence

1.175

2.5

.003

Note:  Data are from Rogers (1986)

The characteristics in the scale also have been supported by other experimental and clinical studies, and in the professional literature:

  1. Good problem solving/reasoning abilities (Davidson, 1986; Keating & Bobbitt, 1978; Parkinson, 1990; Sternberg, 1986).
  2. Rapid learning ability (Bloom, 1982; Hollingworth, 1942; Robinson, Roedell, & Jackson, 1979; Terman & Oden, 1947).
  3. Extensive vocabulary (Borkowski & Peck, 1986; Lewis, Feiring, & McGuffog, 1986; Loban, 1963; Terman & Oden, 1947).
  4. Excellent memory (Cohen & Sandburg, 1977; Freeman, 1985; Guilford, Scheuerle, & Schonburn, 1981; Lewis, Feiring, & McGuffog, 1986; Lewis & Michalson, 1985).
  5. Long attention span (Martinson, 1961; Rogers, 1986; Witty, 1958).
  6. Sensitivity (Clark, 1988; Strop, 1983; Piechowski, 1991; Roeper, 1982; Tuttle & Becker, 1980; Webb, Meckstroth, & Tolan, 1982).
  7. Compassion for others (Delp & Martinson, 1974; Lightfoot, 1951; Strang, 1958; Torrance, 1977).
  8. Perfectionism (Adderholdt-Elliott, 1987; Chamrad & Robinson, 1986; Clark, 1988; Freehill, 1961; J. Gallagher, 1990; Karnes & Oehler-Stinnett, 1986; Kerr, 1991; Manaster & Powell, 1983; Robinson & Noble, 1991; Roedell, 1984; Whitmore, 1980).
  9. Intensity (Dabrowski, 1972; S.Gallagher, 1985; Piechowski, 1979,1991; Piechowski & Colangelo, 1984; Schetky, 1981; Schiever, 1985; Silverman & Ellsworth, 1980; Whitmore, 1980).
  10. Moral sensitivity (Boehm, 1962; Drews, 1972; Gross, 1993; Hollingworth, 1942; Martinson, 1961; Munger, 1990; Passow, 1988; Roeper, 1988; Silverman & Ellsworth, 1980; Terman, 1925; Vare, 1979; Ward, 1985).
  11. Strong curiosity (Bloom, 1982; Cox, 1977; Freeman, 1985; Lewis & Michalson, 1985; Louis & Lewis, 1992; Munger, 1990; Parkinson, 1990; Terman & Oden, 1951).
  12. Perseverant when interested (Bloom & Sosniak, 1981; Brandwein, 1955; Feldhusen, 1986; Lewis & Michalson, 1985; Tuttle & Becker, 1980).
  13. High degree of energy (Feldhusen, 1986; Hildreth, 1938; Schetky, 1981; Whitmore, 1980).
  14. Prefers older companions (Gross, 1989; Freeman, 1979; Hildreth, 1966; Hollingworth, 1931; Lewis & Michalson, 1985; Mann, 1957; O�Shea, 1960; Robinson & Noble, 1991; Terman, 1925; White, 1985).
  15. Wide range of interests (Cox, 1977; Hitchfield, 1973; Terman &Oden, 1951; Witty, 1958).
  16. Great sense of humor (Getzels & Jackson, 1962; Hildreth, 1938; Hollingworth, 1926; Shade, 1991; Terman, 1925).
  17. Early or avid reader (Cox, 1977; Durkin, 1959; Gross, 1993; Kasdon, 1958; Martinson, 1961; Robinson, Roedell, & Jackson, 1979; Terman & Oden, 1951).
  18. Concerned with justice and fairness (Roeper, 1988; Rogers, 1986; Silverman & Ellsworth, 1980).
  19. At times judgment seems mature for age (Haier & Denham, 1976; Hollingworth, 1932; Warren & Heist, 1960).
  20. Keen powers of observation (Carroll, 1940; Martinson, 1961; Rogers, 1986; Witty, 1958).
  21. Vivid imagination (J. Gallagher, 1966; S. Gallagher, 1985; Lightfoot, 1951; Piechowski & Colangelo, 1984; Piechowski, Silverman, & Falk, 1985; Schiever, 1985; Terman & Oden, 1959; Wall, 1960).
  22. High degree of creativity (Albert, 1980; Louis & Lewis, 1992; Lovecky, 1993; Rogers, 1986; White, 1985).
  23. Tends to question authority (Hollingworth, 1940; Meckstroth, 1991; Munger, 1990; Schetky, 1981; Sebring, 1983; Whitmore, 1979).
  24. Shows ability with numbers (Gottfried, Gottfried, Bathurst, & Guerin, 1994; Hildreth, 1966; Hollingworth, 1931; Robinson, Roedell, & Jackson, 1979; Rogers, 1986).
  25. Good at jigsaw puzzles (Lewis, Feiring, & McGuffog, 1986; Robinson, Roedell, & Jackson, 1979; Rogers, 1986).

This set of developmental characteristics can be used to identify gifted children at home and at school. In one study, using the following 16 of these characteristics, parents of all the children who scored in the gifted range indicated that their children manifested at least 13 of them (Silverman, Chitwood, & Waters, 1986).

Table 2

The Silverman/Waters Checklist

Good problem-solving abilities
Rapid learning ability
Extensive vocabulary
Good memory
Long attention span
Sensitivity
Compassion for others
Perfectionism
High degree of energy
Preference for older companions
Wide range of interests
Excellent sense of humor
Early or avid reading ability
Ability in puzzles, mazes, or numbers
At times, seem mature for age
Perseverance in areas of interest

Those considered gifted in one specific area, such as the performing arts, usually exhibit the majority of these traits in addition to advanced skills in their main area of competence. Therefore, the characteristics are also usable for identifying children who are talented in different domains.

The characteristics appear to be able to discriminate children who score in the superior and gifted ranges from those whose abilities are in the average range. As of this time, they have not been shown to distinguish children at different levels of giftedness. And there are some children who fit the descriptors, according to parental judgment, yet fail to achieve scores in the superior range of the tests. Many times these children have weaknesses in multiple modalities, such as vision and audition, which severely depress their IQ scores. Analysis of subtest scores or profiles of strengths and weaknesses usually reveals peaks in the gifted range in some of the measures of abstract reasoning, even if the composite scores are not in the higher ranges. In such cases, evidence of superior abilities may come from other sources than IQ tests, such as classroom performance or remarkable achievements outside of school.