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Gifted children or students may exhibit many, but not all, of these characteristics in any one list. Those who consistently exhibit the behaviors have a strong possibility that they are "gifted".
There are many lists of characteristics that help to identify "giftedness". Some of those are:
General Characteristics
- Advanced vocabulary for chronological age
- Outstanding memory; possesses lots of information
- Curious; asks endless questions ("why?" "and then what?")
- Has many interests, hobbies, and collections
- May have a "passionate interest" that has lasted for many years
- Intense; gets totally absorbed in activities and thoughts
- Strongly motivated to do things that interest her; may be unwilling to work on other activities
- May be reluctant to move from one subject area to another
- Operates on higher levels of thinking than his age peers; is comfortable with abstract thinking
- Perceives subtle cause-and-effect relationships
- Prefers complex and challenging tasks to "basic" work
- May be able to "track" two or more things simultaneously (example: her daydreams and words)
- Catches on quickly, then resists doing work, or works in a sloppy, careless manner
- Comes up with "better ways" for doing things; suggests them to peers, teachers, and other adults
- Sensitive to beauty and other people's feelings and emotions
- Advanced sense of justice and fairness
- Aware of global issues many age peers are uninterested in
- Sophisticated sense of humor; may be "class clown"
- Transfers concepts and learning to new situations
- Sees connections between apparently unconnected ideas and activities
- May prefer the company of older children or adults
- May prefer to work alone; resists cooperative learning
- Bossy in group situations
- Needs to constantly share all he knows; impatient when not called on to recite or respond
- May be "street smart" while not doing well on school tasks
Creative Thinking
- Displays original ideas
- Sees endless possibilities for various situations or uses for objects
- Says what she thinks without regard for consequences
- Brilliant thinker, but absentminded about details or where his work might be found
- Outstanding sense of humor; loves to play with words and ideas
- Passionately interested in some topic or field of endeavor
- May be talented in the fine arts
- Fluent in idea generation and development
- Able to elaborate on ideas
- Experiments with ideas and hunches
- Great imagination; frequent daydreamer
- Values nonconformity in appearance, thought, etc.
- Standardized test scores may be significantly better than class performance
Preschool Age
- Is aware of physical surroundings
- Asks questions about abstract ideas like love, feelings, relationships, or justice
- Needs less sleep than other children of the same age
- Moves around a lot. Is active-sometimes seems hyperactive
- Talked early
- Has long attention span for activities that interest her/him
- Is extremely concerned, curious about the meaning of life and death
- Reacts intensely to noise, light, taste, smell, or touch
- Craves stimulation and activity; is rarely content to sit idle
- Is very emotional-cries, angers, excites easily
- Has an excellent memory
- Insists that people be "fair"; complains when things are "unfair"
- Is extremely curious-asks "Why?" "How?" "What if?"
- Becomes so involved that he/she is not aware of anything else-"lost in own world"
- Explains ideas in complex, unusual ways
- Is very interested in cause-effect relationships
- Reasons well; thinks of creative ways to solve problems
- Is very interested in calendars, clocks, maps, structures
- Has vivid imagination and may have trouble separating real from unreal
- Is extremely creative-uses materials in unusual ways; makes up elaborate stories, excuses; sees many possible answers/solutions;
- Spends free time drawing, painting, writing, sculpting, or singing
- Has spontaneous and/or advanced sense of humor
- Likes to play with words; uses advanced sentence structure and vocabulary
- Is often singing, moving rhythmically; may tell stories or communicate by singing
- Memorizes songs
- Often prefers playing with older children or being with adults
- Creates complicated play and games
- Gives complex answers to questions
- Becomes extremely frustrated when body can't do what mind wants it to
- Is eager to try new things
- Can concentrate on two or three activities at one time
Thinking Traits
- Advanced vocabulary
- Ability to generate many solutions
- Can memorize easily
- Learns rapidly
- Questions critically
- Keen observer
- Possesses and retains a large storehouse of information
- Wide range of interests
- Limitless supply of questions
- Loves experimenting and doing things differently
- High energy levels
- Shows curiosity and originality
- Tendency to put together in ways that are unusual and not obvious
Feeling Traits
- Sensitivity to expectations and the feelings of others
- Keen sense of humor
- High level of self-awareness
- Sense of justice
- High expectations of self and others
- Risk-taking
- Enjoys fantasizing and daydreaming
- Prefers complexity
- Totally immerses self in an area of interest
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