Gross, M. U. M. (2000). Issues in the cognitive development of exceptionally and profoundly gifted individuals. In K. A. Heller, F. J. Monks, R. J. Sternberg and R. F. Subotnik (Eds), International handbook of giftedness and talent (pp179-192). New York: Elsevier.
Objective: To present the key research on the cognitive development of children who score at or above IQ 160 on tests of cognitive ability.
Design: Literature review.
Setting: A book chapter to follow on from the chapter written by the author in the first edition of the International Handbook of Gifted Education. This chapter builds on the findings introduced in the first edition.
Assessment of Variables: Research articles were reviewed for information concerning differences in cognitive functioning; developmental precocity in extremely gifted children; multiplicity of talents in the extremely gifted; and radical acceleration.
Main Results: Intellectually gifted children can be classified as mildly, moderately, highly, exceptionally, and profoundly gifted depending on their level of intellectual ability. All gifted
children require particular adjustments to be made at school in response to their unique cognitive and affective characteristics. Children who are exceptionally and profoundly gifted (IQ 160 or above) require very specific adjustments, however many of these children are forced to work in regular classrooms, at levels several years below their levels of tested achievement. Exceptionally and profoundly gifted students appear very rarely in the school population and this may account, in part, for educators’ lack of awareness of their needs.
Research literature on exceptional children over the last century includes many individual case studies. Unfortunately the majority of these studies do not provide specific information on the intellectual status of participants. Several large scale group studies have compared children of IQ 160+ with moderately or highly gifted age-peers but have focussed on psychosocial development and have paid much less attention to cognitive or academic issues.
The most influential study of profoundly gifted children was undertaken by Hollingworth. She presented information concerning 19 children who had been identified by previous researchers, and described the intellectual, academic and social development of a further 12 New York children of IQ 180 and above. She described significant differences in both the cognitive and affective development of moderately and extremely gifted children, concluding that children of IQ 140 waste half their time in the normal elementary classroom, while children of IQ 170 waste practically all of their time.
Comparative studies of the cognitive functioning of intellectually gifted and non-gifted children have identified significant differences in cognitive style, cognitive development and cognitive strategy selection. The author discusses these studies in depth. There have been very few large-scale, comparative studies investigating differences between the cognitive functioning of moderately and extremely gifted children.
Research shows that gifted children prefer to study independently rather than in mixed-ability groups. They appear to function best when presented with both auditory and kinesthetic
information. They are intrinsically motivated, and dislike being given responsibility for the learning achievements of classmates. A substantial amount of research supports the proposal that gifted learners differ from their age-peers of average ability in the age and pace at which they traverse the Piagetian stages of cognitive development. Specifically, they progress through the stages at significantly accelerated rates, thus reaching the formal operation stage at much earlier ages. The author outlines the research that supports this proposal, including information from individual case studies and data obtained from cohort studies that have measured specific developmental variables.
Research has outlined ways in which gifted individuals differ from non-gifted individuals in their selection of cognitive strategies to complete structured problem-solving tasks as well as tasks of daily living. Gifted individuals tend to use higher-order information processing strategies more frequently and more effectively. They are quick to generate a series of steps to move effectively towards resolution of a problem; they set priorities and monitor progress and solutions; they spend longer in thoughtful pre-analysis; and they represent information through structures usually employed by experts. Gifted children also appear to differ from non-gifted learners in their capacity for analogical thinking, and in the skills of acquisition, retention and transfer of information. Research concerning young gifted children has noted humor as an indicator of giftedness.
The author points out the rarity of research concerned with the development of exceptionally and profoundly gifted children and the retrospective nature of many of these studies. She identifies isolated case studies and a limited number of group studies that support the proposal that exceptionally and profoundly gifted children experience precocious cognitive and affective development.
One study, the Fullerton Study, is discussed in detail, as it represents a developmental study
conducted in real time, with data being collected objectively and systematically. Children, 107 in all, were recruited through birth notifications of hospitals adjacent to California State University, Fullerton. They were full-term babies of normal birth weight who were free of visual and
neurological abnormalities. The children were assessed from the age of 1 year to 8 years. At the age of 8 they completed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Twenty children were found to have IQs in the range 130-145, with a mean of 137.6, and they were designated the gifted group. The remaining 87 children, with IQs in the range 84-128, and a mean of 110.9, formed a comparison group.
Data collected over 8 years revealed that the children in the gifted group developed at significantly faster rates and attained significantly superior results for expressive language, comprehension, gross and fine motor skills, memory, and personal-social development. The only area in which the gifted group did not show superiority was on numeracy. However the researchers noted that this was due to a ceiling effect on the numeracy test. The findings of the Fullerton Study lend credibility to retrospective studies that show unusual cognitive precocity in intellectually gifted children. The author presents case studies of exceptionally and profoundly gifted children to illustrate precocious development in speech and language, reading, and fine and gross motor skills.
Extremely gifted individuals appear to possess a multiplicity of talents, and display superior abilities across a wide range of subject fields and domains. The author quotes case studies of children with documented talents in many academic fields, as well as in music, computing and sport.
Research supports the use of radical educational acceleration for exceptionally and profoundly gifted students. Differences between extremely gifted children and their age-peers can far outweigh similarities and can thus hinder the formation of productive social relationships. Extremely gifted children have been shown to suffer social isolation, peer rejection, loneliness and alienation. The author argues strongly that this is not a consequence of exceptional ability itself but should be seen as
a result of society’s inappropriate response to children who possess exceptional ability. Social problems become particularly marked when schools refuse to create opportunities for gifted children to work with peers who share common abilities, interests and values.
One particularly appropriate way for schools to meet the academic and social needs of extremely gifted children is through a program of radical acceleration, a series of grade advancements which result in the student graduating from high school three or more years earlier than is customary.
Research makes it clear that some form of acceleration is essential for highly gifted children if they are to find like-minded peers with whom they can form healthy and productive social relations. For extremely gifted students, it appears that more conservative accelerative procedures such as a single grade skip are not sufficient to meet their needs. The author quotes research showing that, if these children are not allowed radical acceleration, they tend to suffer from low levels of motivation and social self-esteem, and are more likely to perform in school at levels several years below their tested achievement.
The author presents findings from her own longitudinal research with highly gifted children. She specifically outlines results for children who have been allowed to radically accelerate their education.
These children have experienced high levels of academic success and all lead full social lives. None of the children has any regrets concerning their radical acceleration through school.
Conclusion: Research studies conclusively show that exceptionally and profoundly gifted children develop at faster rates than average ability children. This includes both cognitive and
social/emotional development. They not only progress at faster rates through the Piagetian stages of cognitive development but also develop significantly different cognitive strategies. Research has documented this differential development in children as young as one year of age. Schools need to address the special cognitive and affective needs of highly gifted students and they can do this by allowing these students to radically accelerate their education.
Commentary: This article specifically addresses issues as they relate to exceptionally and profoundly gifted children. It offers a detailed account of the cognitive and affective development of highly gifted children, and makes specific recommendations for radical educational acceleration. As the author points out, many studies in the area of gifted education have not recognised differing levels of giftedness and have not addressed the concerns of highly gifted students. The author points out that
the majority of research has been in the form of case studies and makes suggestions for future research to build on the findings of these case studies.
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