What are the
General Characteristics of Gifted Individuals?
Wide variations
exist among the gifted. The following list of characteristics is a very general
description of the group as a whole.
·
Is intellectually curious, innovative, and playful with ideas.
·
Enjoys the challenge and involvement of intellectual and
creative tasks.
·
Has a keen and sometimes unique sense of humor.
·
Is an independent thinker and seeks to act independently.
·
Develops at an early age an inner control and satisfaction which
may lead to divergent and nonconformist behavior.
·
Formulates abstractions while very young and shows facility in
moving from concrete to abstract levels of thinking and of communicating.
·
Prefers complex tasks and processes information in complex ways.
·
Reads at an early age and comprehends with advanced
understanding.
·
Reads widely and reads intensively in areas of special interest.
·
Acquires basic skills rapidly and with a minimum of practice.
·
Comprehends advanced ideas, concepts, and implications.
·
Has an unusual ability to memorize.
·
Is impatient with detail and drill, which may result in gaps in
basic skills for some.
·
Resists requirement of unnecessary detail in the completion of
tasks.
·
Explores wide-ranging and special interests not usually
associated with children of his age and relates well to peers and adults who
have similar interests.
·
Expends much energy and time in pursuing special interests and
may be involved in numerous projects and activities.
·
Employs high intellectual and creative skills in assessing his
physical and social environment, in solving problems, and in creating products.
·
Generates many ideas and multiple solutions to problems.
·
Copes with environment situations in resourceful and creative
ways.
·
Expresses himself fluently, clearly, and forcefully with words,
numbers and creative products.
·
Demonstrates richness of imagery in informal language and
brainstorming.
·
Has capability for extraordinary leadership and tends to assume
leadership responsibility.
·
Rebels against irrelevant learning requirements.
·
Points out conflicting societal values and challenges authority.
·
Becomes excited about new ideas but may not carry them through.
·
Creates and invents beyond the parameters of knowledge in the
field.
·
Can improvise with commonplace materials.
·
Has high expectations of self and others which may lead to high
levels of frustration with self, others, and situations.
·
May tend to be a loner at least part of the time.
·
May have a sense of his own uniqueness
which leads to feelings of loneliness.
*
Characteristics derived from the