State of Research on Giftedness and Gifted Education: An in- depth analysis

Abstract

Abstract

The early part of the 20th century witnessed psychologist Lewis Terman set out to dispel the "early ripe-early rot myth". Terman posited that a person’s IQ was all that was necessary to predict his/ her life’s success and it could be figured out early in life.  So he found out an elite group of high-IQ individuals whom he tagged as the “Termites", averaged a whopping IQ of 151. He followed them up and at their mid- life 35 years later, they definitely seemed to conform to his expectations, being- taller, healthier, physically better developed, and socially adept (dispelling the myth at the time of high-IQ awkward nerds). The intriguing field of development in gifted children is often neglected in pediatrics because psychomotor development data are still rare, since “gifted” children are generally noticed towards the end of their primary schooling by IQ measurement. Moreover, the cognitive ability research also needs to be brought together and studied. Developmental studies have shown the evidence from several fields that children identified as “high-level potentialities” or “intellectually gifted” develop sensory, loco motor, neuropsychological, and language skills earlier than typically expected. It further needs to be delved into as to how these developmental advances go on to interact with the social environment and in certain situations, may necessitate an increased risk for giving rise to socio- emotional difficulties; and various kinds of learning disabilities, and adjustment problems that often go unnoticed and unattended due to the masking caused by the advanced intellectual capabilities and capacities.

Key words: superstimulabilities, intellectually superior, cognitive abilities, developmental psychology