Giftedness: children in the fast lane

Brain researcher Gerald Hüther is a master of exaggeration: «Every child is gifted» is the title of one of his most successful books.
There is a good reason for choosing this assertion as the title of his book. It is balm to the soul of many parents who are under pressure to encourage their children as much as possible. In any case, only those who read Hüther's book will realise that he is getting at something else. Everyone else is content with the good news.
«Highly gifted». We think of number artists, linguistic geniuses or musical prodigies, perhaps also of exaggerated parental ambition or a fashionable diagnosis. But what does giftedness actually mean? Does it always go hand in hand with top performance? Does it fall into our laps or is it a product of upbringing? Does a brilliant intellect make one susceptible to psychological problems, as is often claimed? Do gifted children need special schools? This dossier explores these and other questions.

The Duden dictionary defines giftedness as a natural disposition, «an innate ability to achieve certain things». This manifests itself in very different areas. For example, social giftedness refers to the ability to get on with people and empathise with them, while sensorimotor giftedness plays a role where physical dexterity is important - be it in sport, dancing or woodcarving. The scientific literature emphasises that giftedness can also relate to different abilities and therefore allows for different interpretations.

Intelligence as a decisive characteristic

The traditional understanding of giftedness, to which this article is orientated, refers to the intellect. «Intellectual giftedness», state giftedness researchers Franzis Preckel and Miriam Vock in their standard work on the subject, «characterises an extremely highly developed, performance-related potential for information processing, learning and knowledge acquisition, abstract thinking and problem solving».

Gifted people have a strong potential,
to process information, acquire knowledge and think abstractly.

There are different models of intellectual giftedness in science - but what they all have in common is that they are based on a clearly above-average level of intelligence as a decisive characteristic. Intelligence researcher Elsbeth Stern from ETH Zurich summarises intelligence as the ability to think precisely and deductively: «It enables us to learn through instruction and to learn from experience.»

Dossier: Giftedness

How is intelligence measured? When do you become gifted?

Today, intelligence is measured using various methods. These test cognitive abilities such as word and numerical comprehension or spatial thinking, but also so-called operational skills such as working memory capacity, memorisation or processing speed. The tests are standardised, i.e. they must be carried out, evaluated and interpreted according to a specific scheme. This is to ensure that different results can be attributed solely to the performance of the examinee and not to external circumstances.
From the performance that a child or adult achieves in the various sub-areas, diagnosticians calculate an overall score, the value for general intelligence or the intelligence quotient (IQ). Anyone with an IQ of more than 130 points is considered highly gifted in the classic sense.

Giftedness in the population

What intelligence has in common with other characteristics such as height is its distribution in the population. Science speaks of a so-called normal distribution, which can best be explained on the basis of height: Most people are of average height, only a few are extremely tall or very short.

The clear majority of the
population has an
IQ of 85 to 115
average intelligence.

The same applies to intelligence. The clear majority of the population, namely 68 per cent or two thirds, is of average intelligence with an IQ of 85 to 115. A good 14 per cent are smarter (IQ of 115 to 130) and a further 14 per cent are cognitively weaker (IQ of 70 to 85). Extreme values are rare: Only 2 per cent of the population have an extremely low IQ below 70 - or a very high IQ above 130.
This means that out of 100 children of the same age, one with an IQ above 130 performs better in the intelligence test than 98 others; only one achieves equally good or even better results. Hüther is undoubtedly right when he says that talent lies dormant in every child - but not everyone is gifted.

IQ is a central, but not the only piece of the puzzle that needs to be determined in a giftedness assessment, says psychologist Letizia Gauck: «IQ is one of the best-researched concepts that psychology has to offer. Nevertheless, the tests are not free of measurement errors and represent a snapshot that needs to be compared with behavioural observations. This is why discussions with the child, their parents and the teacher are a central part of the diagnostic process.»

The sense and nonsense of a label

Gauck heads the Centre for Developmental and Personality Psychology (ZEPP) at the University of Basel and is considered an expert in giftedness. Every year, a good 120 children come to the ZEPP for a gifted assessment, many on the recommendation of their school, others at the request of their parents. A good third of these children are actually suspected of being gifted.

Every year, the University of
University of Basel assesses around 120 children for giftedness every year.

How meaningful an IQ test is depends, among other things, on the age of the child, says Gauck. At kindergarten age, for example, cognitive abilities and attention span develop rapidly. «From the age of six, test scores become more meaningful,» says Gauck, «and from around the age of ten, IQ is quite stable.»

How useful is it to put a stamp on children?

There is no natural criterion for giftedness, as Gauck makes clear: «Using an IQ of 130 or more as a definition is an arbitrary decision, because with such values we can safely assume that a person is clearly of above-average intelligence.»
However, a child with an IQ of 128 will hardly differ from a child with an IQ of 131. «It's not as if a new world begins at 130,» says Gauck, «we're talking about gradual differences. In this context, the question arises as to how useful it is to put a label on children.»

No sense of achievement without a challenge

Gauck points out that labelling feeds prejudices, including the particularly stubborn one that gifted people don't need to learn. «This assumption is nonsense,» says the psychologist, «and also disastrous.»
This is also emphasised by a report written by a panel of experts for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. According to the report, the belief that gifted people excel solely because of their disposition is a mistake. «Hardly anyone would think that top performance in music or sport could be achieved without many years of intensive practice and training under professional guidance,» the experts state.

And further: «Intellectual performance is no different. It needs to be fostered just as permanently by imparting knowledge, challenged by tasks and channelled into productive paths by capable teachers. Skills that are not utilised develop only imperfectly and can also atrophy.»

Gifted children do not only excel because of their talent. Their intellect needs to be permanently nurtured through knowledge transfer.

It is therefore important that schools also offer gifted children the opportunity to push themselves to the limit. Gauck knows that if gifted children don't have to work hard for long periods of time, this can have serious consequences: «Firstly, a child who lacks challenges has no sense of achievement. That depresses self-confidence. Secondly, they are unable to develop learning strategies. This often becomes noticeable when they move on to upper school. Then a good memory is no longer enough.»

What is important in the classroom

«Children forget how to learn if everything always runs smoothly,» confirms Ania Chumachenco. The child and adolescent psychologist from the Lichtblick community of practice in Zurich specialises in giftedness assessments. Her assessment often determines whether a child is allowed to attend a gifted school.
However, this is the route taken by the minority of her clients who turn out to be gifted. «Around 70 per cent can continue their education at a mainstream school,» says Chumachenco. «These children skip a class, attend support programmes in their community or additional school-based programmes. At some schools, there are also special programmes for gifted children in inter-class groups.»

School is not normally a problem for gifted children

Chumachenco believes that the 70 per cent figure indicates that primary schools are generally doing a good job, i.e. that they are definitely sensitised to the concerns of gifted children. «However, programmes vary depending on the municipality,» says the expert, «so there is certainly room for improvement.»
Whether a gifted child can fulfil their potential also depends on their teacher, Chumachenco knows: «You need teachers with vision who don't just follow a standardised approach.» For example, it makes little sense to present an overachiever in maths with the same tasks as their classmates just to insist that they do them. Instead, it is advisable to provide the child with trickier material straight away in order to maintain their desire to learn.

Around 70 per cent of all
gifted children do not attend a gifted school even after
gifted school.

Openness is also required when it comes to problem-solving strategies for gifted children. Some teachers reject unusual approaches from the outset because they do not fit in with the lesson plan.

Generally no problem pupils

«As a teacher, I can't rely on a gifted child asking for substitute material on their own,» says Chumachenco. «This requires too much self-reflection, especially with younger children. An eight-year-old with a learning disability is unlikely to ask for support on her own - and we can't expect the same from a gifted child of the same age.» Due to the developmental advantage that a gifted child has in the cognitive area, teachers and parents often overestimate their rationality and maturity.
Even if stumbling blocks are possible, school is generally not a problem for gifted children. This is the conclusion of the Marburg Project for Gifted Children, one of the most highly regarded long-term studies on the subject. Psychology professor Detlef H. Rost from the University of Marburg has been working on this project since 1987. Back then, he and his team tested just over 7,000 nine-year-olds using various methods that primarily measured general intelligence.

The researchers categorised 151 children with an IQ of over 130 as gifted, compared with a comparison group of 136 children of average intelligence. Rost has been following the academic, professional and social development of the test subjects for 30 years now - and has had to dispel many myths in the process. «These include the assumption that gifted children often have difficult school careers,» he says. «The opposite is the case. As a rule, they master school without any problems, are well integrated there and achieve outstanding results.»

When potential and performance diverge

The Marburg project for gifted children identifies shortcomings and a need for action in a smaller group of gifted children: so-called underachievers are children whose intellectual potential and performance diverge. According to Rost, 15 per cent of all gifted children do not achieve at school what they would actually be capable of based on their cognitive abilities. So-called underachievement is by no means a gifted phenomenon, however, but also affects other children to the same extent. There are many reasons for this, Rost knows: "It can be family, language or other problems. Every child is an individual case.

15 per cent of all gifted children do not achieve at school what they would be capable of based on their abilities.
their abilities.

It is clear that the problem is difficult to solve. All-round support would actually be necessary to get these children back on track." Results from the Marburg project for gifted children indicate that gifted underachievers differ «sometimes dramatically» from other test subjects in terms of their personality development. «However, this finding gives no reason to stylise the plight of a minority into the prototype of the highly gifted,» warns Rost.
«The school situation, the appropriate learning environment, has a greater influence on the emotional state of gifted children than is the case with children of average ability,» says giftedness expert Gauck. Accordingly, permanent underchallenge is a possible cause of underperformance. Another risk group for which teachers and psychologists are not sufficiently sensitised are highly gifted children from immigrant families. «They fly under the radar,» says Gauck, «because their potential is not recognised due to language difficulties. That is a great injustice.»

The double exception

According to Gauck, it is often forgotten that dyscalculia or dyslexia can also occur in gifted children. At least at the beginning of their school career, many of these children are «lucky» to be able to compensate for a so-called partial weakness thanks to their cognitive talent, i.e. they can make up for a lack of reading skills with excellent memory skills, for example.
Highly gifted children with dyscalculia also often go unnoticed. «They often lack the number line in front of their inner eye, the ability to categorise an element in a given series,» says Gauck. «They compensate for this deficiency by counting, which doesn't tire them out as quickly as averagely gifted children due to their quick thinking.» Thanks to sophisticated counting strategies, gifted children with dyscalculia usually achieve average grades in maths.

The minimum IQ for
grammar school is 112. 45 per cent of all students
do not reach this value.

According to Gauck, such compensatory efforts cause two problems: «Firstly, the partial performance weakness is not recognised in time and secondly, the giftedness of the children may also be misjudged because they use their resources to compensate for their deficit.» Highly gifted children with partial performance weaknesses are the double exception, so to speak, and place high demands on diagnostics.

Primary or specialised school?

The number of private gifted schools that aim to foster the potential of bright minds has steadily increased in recent years.
While some parents believe their children are better off there than at primary school, giftedness researcher Rost is sceptical about these institutions. «The environment there doesn't correspond to social reality,» he says, «which is characterised by differences. It is important that children, whether normally gifted or highly gifted, learn to deal with this reality at an early age.»
Gauck argues in the same way. «I think it's problematic to segregate children from other children of the same age based solely on their intelligence,» says the psychologist. «This deprives them of important learning experiences in dealing with social diversity - and deprives children of average intelligence of the realisation that gifted children are completely normal people.»
In addition, it is often unclear who gifted schools want to address, says Gauck: «High-flyers who have been thwarted at mainstream school? Underachievers who first need to be brought back on track? Both have completely different needs. It can be difficult to turn such special classes into a functioning learning community.» Nevertheless, special schools are an important addition to primary schools, which sometimes lack the resources to cater for the most gifted pupils, for example.
In principle, however, if Gauck and Rost have their way, going to a gifted school should be the exception rather than the rule. «For children whose cognitive abilities reach extreme levels, it can be the right path,» says Rost. «For all other gifted children, differentiated, exciting lessons are the best form of support. Our experience shows that special schools are almost always unnecessary if teachers organise lessons flexibly and make the learning environment attractive for gifted children with additional material.»

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Important addresses, definitions & other articles

Smart minds at a glance

Highly gifted: A person is considered highly gifted in the classic sense if they achieve a total score or intelligence quotient (IQ) of more than 130 points in intelligence tests. Around two per cent of all children and young people fulfil this requirement. Gifted children learn significantly faster than their peers, need less repetition and guidance and have a pronounced ability to think logically and combine knowledge.
Highly gifted: From an IQ of over 145, a person is considered to be highly gifted, depending on the scientific interpretation. Giftedness is an extremely rare phenomenon and is estimated to affect one in 100,000 people.
Partially g ifted: Children and young people who excel in a particular cognitive area while performing averagely or rather poorly elsewhere are often said to be partially gifted.
Cognitively fit : Elsbeth Stern, intelligence researcher at ETH Zurich, demands that
Elsbeth Stern, intelligence researcher at ETH Zurich, calls for the promotion of gifted children at primary school to focus not only on the two per cent of gifted children, but also on the much larger group of children and young people with above-average intelligence. According to Stern, these cognitively gifted children make up 15 to 20 per cent of pupils.

Any questions?

Information and counselling is available at the following addresses:
The Gifted and Talented Education Network connects institutions and individuals who are committed to promoting gifted and talented children. It is supported by the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland and offers a wide range of opportunities for exchange through its internet platform, newsletter and conferences.
www.begabungsfoerderung.ch
The Foundation for Gifted Children, based in Zurich, aims to support gifted children intellectually and personally. It also runs the «Anlaufstelle
giftedness», a counselling centre for parents.
www.hochbegabt.ch
The Bern-based organisation for the promotion of gifted children is aimed at gifted children from the cantons of Bern, Solothurn and German-speaking Fribourg. It organises support courses for pupils and information events for parents.
www.fbk- bern.ch
The Parents' Association for Gifted Children (EHK) advises mothers and fathers on the subject of giftedness.
giftedness. It offers the opportunity to exchange experiences in regional groups and, with its children's university, a supplementary support programme to school lessons.
www.ehk.ch

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• Als hochbegabt gilt ein Kind, wenn es einen IQ von mehr als 130 Punkten hat. Was bedeutet dies für seine schulische Laufbahn? Und wie muss es gefördert werden? Antworten und ­Hintergründe zum Thema Hochbegabung in unserem grossen Dossier.