Giftedness: concept, types and signs

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The social status of a person, his position in society, the recognition of others and well-being largely depend on personal qualities. But at the same time, people striving for success devote a fairly large amount of time to education. In order to achieve the best result in life, they are ready to constantly work on themselves. In other words, they strive for self-development. This will allow them to supplement and expand their own views.

The concept of giftedness is directly related to the topic of personal growth and self-development. After all, people who strive for self-improvement pay great attention to their talents and seek opportunities for their manifestation.

Abilities

Before considering the concepts of giftedness, talent and genius, it is worth familiarizing yourself with a very complex education, which is a combination of a variety of personality traits that provide him with the opportunity to succeed in a certain activity. This is what abilities are. They are not the key to success for a person. Abilities are only potentialities. Reality will bedepend on the diligence, determination and perseverance of a person.

Abilities are formed and continue to develop throughout our lives. This can be confirmed by examples of people who, being in adulthood or even in old age, achieved success in invention, literature, painting, etc.

Abilities are based on natural inclinations, which are innate qualities of a person, but not necessarily hereditary. Among them:

• ear of music;
• impressive lung capacity;
• high color sensitivity;
• increased activity of the left or right hemisphere of the brain, etc.

The concepts of "inclinations", "abilities", "giftedness", "talent" and "genius" are closely related. Without the presence of certain natural qualities, it is quite difficult for a person to succeed. But even with the existing inclinations, it cannot be guaranteed. After all, they can develop in ability only if a person systematically learns and works hard. That is, in the process of obtaining skills in a certain activity.

Associated with the concept of giftedness, the inclinations and abilities have two varieties. Yes, they can be special. Such abilities are associated with a specific activity and are manifested in it. They are also common. These abilities are primarily cognitive. They are necessary in any activity. A person who has a poor memory or has a low level of intelligence will not be able to become, for example, a composer, even with the availablephenomenal ear for music. It is the general abilities that determine the level of efficiency and speed of obtaining, processing and storing information. They also have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the interaction of the individual with the environment and with society.

The totality of a person's inclinations, suggesting that he has a high level of general abilities, as a rule, is considered giftedness. What is it?

Definition of concept

Today, there is no consensus in psychology about what is giftedness. This term is most often used in pedagogy. The concept of giftedness here acts as a complex of those qualities that a person possesses. At the same time, their combination allows a person to successfully acquire knowledge and master the skills of educational activities.

In psychology, there are many points of view regarding the essence of the concept of giftedness. However, most often this quality is associated with a person's attention, his cognitive abilities, thinking, memory, creativity and imagination.

That is why the concept of giftedness includes such individual abilities:

• Observation.
• High attention span.
• Quick and often spontaneous memorization of heterogeneous information.
• Associative thinking that allows you to quickly access the data that is stored in human memory.
• Original thinking that allows you to find non-standard solutions to a wide variety oftasks.
• Developed imagination.
• Flexibility of thinking, allowing you to operate with categories and concepts from various fields of knowledge.
• High degree of logical thinking.

Thus, the concept of giftedness arising from inclinations and abilities provides a person with the opportunity to master various types of activities. But, as stated earlier, it is only a potential resource. To achieve success, a person must also possess special abilities.

In psychology, the concept of giftedness is seen as a person's propensity for creativity, as well as his high overall activity. That is why people with a high level of such a characteristic are able to find a sphere of self-realization for themselves in any situation, as well as a specific area in which they will certainly succeed. In addition, some psychologists distinguish such a thing as "special talent". This quality is directly related to special abilities.

What is meant by the concept of giftedness? A person's ability in a sport, science, art, or other field. They can also be artistic. To achieve success, it is important how the person himself relates to his abilities, whether he believes that these qualities should be developed. Often people do not believe in themselves and in their ability to achieve great heights, they refuse those prospects that they could quite successfully turn into reality.

It is necessary to understand that the beginning of any achievement is the moment the individual accepts his essence. Giftedness is not only a great blessing. It's also a big responsibility.

What is included in the definition of giftedness? Consider the components and characteristics of this quality.

Out of the box thinking

It is known that most people strive to be like everyone else. They are afraid to seem abnormal and strange to others. That is why people, as a rule, refuse to have their own opinion and obey the herd mentality. All this literally destroys wonderful careers in the bud, does not allow talents to develop, belittles existing achievements and ambitions. People do not seek to turn to their "I". They spare time for reading educational books and prefer idle activities in their free time. But if a person has the ability to think outside the box, then this significantly changes his perception of the world around him. It allows the individual to grow and develop. A person gets the opportunity to get closer to himself and realize his own value.

The desire to know

It doesn't matter what area a person will turn their attention to - music, dancing or reading. The main thing is the desire to do something

And be sure to devote most of your time to your occupation. The desire to learn becomes a source of courage and enthusiasm, the desire to take risks and implement the most, at first glance, incredible ideas. All this fills the individual with new energy and brings him happiness.

Active life position

Can a person doing his own thing get bored?business? Hardly. In this case, he is overwhelmed with inspiration and the desire to reach unprecedented heights. Such a person will certainly look at the world positively and dream of further self-realization, which will allow him to overcome obstacles that arise on the way and become a winner.

Tendency to seclusion

Gifted people, like artists and writers, are known to immerse themselves completely. This happens because a creative person needs to have a certain personal space.

It allows you to slowly think about your plans and analyze what is happening. A person deprived of such a perspective ceases to feel safe. He regains his sense of comfort only after receiving the peace and quiet that allows great masterpieces to be born.

Signs of giftedness

Most of all, this quality applies to children. Indeed, in adults, the existing giftedness should already develop into talent. A child who differs from his peers by a high level of abilities is certainly a reason for the pride of parents. He develops faster and in many ways ahead of other children. And if parents have knowledge about what are the signs of a child's giftedness, then they will be the first to see the birth of individuality in their child and give an opportunity for its development. What are the potentialities that a person possesses?

Rapid development

What does the concept of giftedness include at an early age? A gifted child manifests itself for the first time in the period from three to five years. This is the time when the formation of his personality takes place. The kid begins to realize his abilities and talents, realizing that he does something very well. The child, comparing himself with his peers, begins to realize that he is different from them.

Progressive development is a clear sign of giftedness. If a baby in his 3-4 years old can already read by syllables, then you should pay special attention to him. After all, this child has his own rhythm of life, and soon he will no longer be interested in communicating with peers. He will reach out to older children or adults. With an ever-increasing rate of development progression, one can speak of genius.

Love to read

Today there are few children who enjoy reading fiction. Their books remain unclaimed. But the concept of gifted children love to read necessarily implies.

A book for such a child is an opportunity to participate in an exciting adventure full of amazing discoveries and mysterious secrets. If there is such a sign of giftedness, parents need to support it in their child in every possible way.

Striving for self-expression

Gifted children are willing to demonstrate their own position in every possible way. From an early age, they defend their point of view and want to be listened to. It is also important for them to be recognizable, since giftedness certainly strives for self-expression. Such children will never hide from people thatthey think in reality, even if they remain misunderstood by others. By the age of 3-5, such a child is a bright personality. And adults cannot impose their opinion or force him to do something. All this speaks of the self-sufficiency of a small person, which finds its expression in stubbornness.

Ability to practice for a long time

The concept of giftedness and talent includes perseverance. It sometimes becomes surprising for adults how a small child sits in one place for hours and does what he loves. Such children do not need to be specially organized. They themselves show passion for the process.

Favorite thing

Very rarely do children, even as teenagers, think about what they want to do in life. But this does not apply to someone who is gifted. Such children already in the elementary grades of school have plans for the future. They do not need advice from adults, because it will only lead them astray.

Having a child own his own business is a sure sign of his giftedness. It is important for adults to pay attention to this and begin to develop the activity of a little person that he likes.

Types of Giftedness

Potential opportunities can be grouped according to different criteria. Their classification is made according to intensity, which includes expressed and unexpressed giftedness, according to the time of occurrence (early and late), etc. However, when considering the concept and types of giftedness, the most popular grouping of such abilities is based on the fieldtheir manifestations. According to this they are:

1. In practice. This category includes natural talent for crafts, sports or organizational skills.
2. In intellectual and theoretical studies (field of science).
3. In the artistic and aesthetic direction. It examines the ability to draw, music and sculpture.
4. In the communication area. Oratory is an example of this.
5. In the spiritual and value direction. This group includes activities related to serving the community and creating new value.

It is worth bearing in mind that giftedness does not only manifest itself at an early age. That is why adults should not give up those sports, spiritual, intellectual and creative activities that they strive for in order to master the relevant skills. In other words, the concepts of inclination, giftedness and talent are not alien to them either. It is quite possible that, doing what they love, adults will be able to find new abilities in themselves and develop them.

It is possible to classify giftedness according to the degree of its severity. To do this, you need to mentally imagine a certain scale along which human abilities will be located.

And here the concept and types of giftedness can be distributed accordingly, starting from zero (in the absence of potential opportunities) to its highest values, which corresponds to genius.

There is also a classification by shape. In this caseallocate explicit giftedness, which is noticeable to everyone, as well as hidden, not yet manifested. In the latter case, an erroneous conclusion is often made that a person has no potential. However, they can always appear quite unexpectedly. This happens when external conditions change or due to any events related to the internal psychological world.

In terms of the breadth of its manifestation, giftedness can be general and special. The first of these two types finds its manifestation in most areas of human activity. Special talents apply only to specific areas.

Talent

What does this concept mean? If we consider the concept of inclination, giftedness and talent, then the last of them means special abilities that are at a very high level. It is believed that this is a gift that a person receives from God. Inclinations, on the other hand, form the basis of talent and create conditions for achieving success in a certain field of activity and developing giftedness. But when will the talent take place? The concepts of ability and giftedness will certainly precede the attainment of this highest level of mastery. A person will have to, despite his natural gifts, work hard, persistently mastering the methods and techniques of a certain activity. That is, to go through the path of development and further improvement of abilities. Only this will allow you to become a master of your craft, and not just an artisan. Otherwise, as the people say, he will bury his talent in the ground.

Specialists note that almost allchildren already at birth can be called potentially gifted. And it will depend only on the process of upbringing and the child’s own perseverance in the future whether his talent will turn from potential to real.

Genius

This phenomenon is also related to the level of human ability. However, it rarely occurs in real life. On the one hand, giftedness and genius are concepts that are closely related to each other. On the other hand, the last of them is a phenomenon that goes beyond the upper values of the mental norm. That is why people with such abilities are very rare in life.

Genius, despite being out of the norm, is not a disease or pathology at all. It's just that a person's abilities in this case significantly exceed the standard norm that is accepted in society. They allow geniuses to achieve success in several areas at once. In addition, such people, as a rule, influence the development of human society. And if a talented person differs from a capable person in the level of his capabilities in quantitative terms, then a brilliant person already has qualitative differences. After all, he has the highest level of human capabilities.

A genius can be called someone who:

• has an unusual perception of the environment;
• thinks outside the box;
• has the highest degree of creativity, which manifests itself spontaneously, which allows new original ideas to be born naturally and simply;
• possesses intuitive thinking, ahead ofrational.

Genius people are characterized by such traits as passion and interest, which often turns into an obsession. They can succeed in any field, thanks not only to talent and talent, but also to determination, perseverance and hard work.