Oliver, age 10, with an IQ in the 140’s, was excellent at identifying geographical facts he also invented his own countries and drew elaborate maps of them. However, there are some limits on how they applied the information and far they progressed in their interest. Many of the moderately gifted children in this study also immersed themselves in subject matter and accumulated large amounts of information. Other exceptionally gifted children describe a similar process of projective identification in writing poetry and composing music. James also described his understanding of nuclear physics as a process of becoming one of the subatomic particles, and feeling his relationships with space, energy, and other particles. As he solved the hero’s dilemmas, he felt he solved his own. This led to thinking how to solve the hero’s conflict. He thought the process was a reciprocal one in which he felt how the hero would act and feel and used that to create the scene. James, age 9, with an IQ over 200, described the process of putting himself on paper as he drew a continuing comic strip in which he was the central superhero. She understood how to make the form because she was the form. When asked how she thought of the designs, she explained that first she had a feeling inside herself which translated into a visual/kinesthetic form which was a part of herself. Rachel, age 10, with an IQ in the 170’s, was proficient with origami she was able to follow directions to make any form, and also originated forms. ![]() Some of the exceptionally gifted children in this study were also able to project themselves into the process of problem solving. The ability to imagine oneself as part of one’s creative product is described in the literature of adult creativity (Root-Bernstein, 1987). For example, Barbara McClintock (Keller, 1983) described her ability to be so close to her plants as she studied corn genetics, that she became one with them by knowing each plant she was able to understand the relationship between what she saw in the field and what she would eventually see under the microscope. Scientists describe the identification they feel with their subject matter (Lovecky, 1993). Visual artists project themselves onto canvas when they paint. Empathy may also mean any ability to project oneself into something. How does one unsee insights after all?Įmpathy, the capacity for projective identification with another, is usually used to mean that one projects oneself into another’s persona and determines what the other is feeling. To go back and write on what the teacher thought was significant about the book the class was still studying was impossible. She had studied how other authors used the same types of metaphors, and she had read other books by the author studied in class, exploring how he used particular metaphoric themes in his works. Her interests were now on different topics. When the written analysis was due, Lydia could not write it. However, Lydia finished her analyses in her mind long, before the rest of the class. Her participation in class discussions showed a high level of capability in literary analysis, use of symbolism and interpretation of metaphoric meaning. Lydia (Lovecky 1992b), for example, age 11, with an IQ over 200, had difficulty completing school tasks. This allows some to quickly perceive underlying innuendoes, metaphors and symbols. ![]() Silverman (1993b) suggested that this type of cognitive complexity enables highly and exceptionally gifted children (3 SD+) to perceive many layers of meaning in each situation. Morelock (1993) suggested that giftedness in children implies advanced ability to construct meaning, to think abstractly, and to respond emotionally to abstract concepts used to interpret experiential phenomena. These authors make the case that gifted children’s precocity is different from adult achievement due to developmental considerations absent for adults For example, young exceptionally gifted children may have developed exceptional ability to think abstractly and to formulate hypotheses, but might still lack ability to organize material, present an argument and coordinate a written thesis. The higher the intellectual capacity, the greater is the degree of asynchrony requiring special consideration of exceptional needs in parenting, schooling and counseling (Columbus Group, 1991). Other authors stressed giftedness as developmental potential and focused on problems that arise for gifted children when cognitive development outstrips other aspects of development such as chronological, social, moral and emotional.
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