Intellectual Giftedness assessment
Assessment of intellectual giftedness / high intellectual potential (HPI)
What is intellectual giftedness or high intellectual potential (HPI)?
The terms "intellectual giftedness", "precocity", "gifted child or adult", "high intellectual potential", or "HIP" all refer to the same thing: a person whose intelligence far exceeds that of the average person in his or her age group.
To define intellectual giftedness, we first need to define what we mean by "intelligence". Several theories exist on this subject, proposing various types of cognitive ability. For example:
Some people distinguish between fluid and crystallized intelligence:
- Crystallized intelligence: This is all the knowledge we have acquired. For example: our academic knowledge, our general knowledge, our vocabulary for expressing our thoughts, our knowledge of the codes and behaviors to adopt in a given situation, etc.
- Fluid intelligence: This is our ability to use our knowledge, to make connections between it, in order to deduce something new, or to create. It's the ability to deduce the hidden logic of a new problem we encounter. It's our way of adapting to a new or unexpected situation.
In this respect, the great theorist Jean Piaget defined cognitive capacity as follows: "Intelligence is not what you know, it's what you do when you don't know"!
Others base their understanding of intelligence on the functioning and specific roles of the brain's two large hemispheres:
- Verbal intelligence, mainly underpinned by the left hemisphere of the brain: this is our ability to express ourselves orally, to convey a message clearly and in a well-structured way, and to use logical reasoning when arguing a point of view. It's also our ability to understand complex explanations, understand metaphors or second degrees, and make connections between what's being explained to us by someone and the knowledge we already possess in our memory.
- Visuo-spatial and visual-perceptual intelligence, underpinned mainly by the right hemisphere of the brain: this refers to our ability to understand, for example, how parts fit together to make a mechanism work, our ability to orientate ourselves in space, or our ability to anticipate the movement of players on a hockey rink to direct a perfect pass onto the tape of the stick of a moving teammate.
The various cognitive abilities mentioned above contribute to what is known as the " G factor ", or general intelligence. These are the elements that make up the intelligence quotient measured by IQ tests.
To this day, the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec (OPQ) and the Association Québécoise des Neuropsychologues (AQNP) continue to recognize conventional IQ measurements as necessary for the diagnosis of giftedness/high intellectual potential.
Other forms of intelligence
Several other forms of intelligence have also been proposed. If you're interested in this subject, you can read Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (1983, 1993).
The author talks about eight types of intelligence and how these different intelligences lead to different learning styles in children.
Gardner's multiple intelligences are not currently recognized as part of the diagnosis, because there is no standardized test to formally assess them.
So we won't go into more detail here, but for your curiosity, here are the eight types of intelligence proposed by Gardner:
- Linguistic-verbal
- Logical-mathematical
- Visual-spatial
- Intrapersonal
- Interpersonal
- Body-kinesthetic
- Musical
- Naturalistic
2% of the population
2% is the number to remember. To be considered as having a high intellctual potential, or to be intellectually gifted, you need to be one of the 2 out of 100 people in your age group with the highest scores on conventional IQ tests. In numerical terms, this corresponds to an overall IQ of 130 or more.
Of course, there is a margin of error in our tests and a degree of judgment on the part of the diagnosing professional, which means that there is a certain (but slight) flexibility around this threshold of 130.
The results of the standardized IQ test are not the only data to be taken into account for a diagnosis of giftedness, but they remain central and essential.
An early or atypical developmental profile and social relationship issues may be other signs, for example, that will be noted by the professional during the anamnesis.
How is intellectual giftedness / HIP assessed?
At CERC, intellectual giftedness is assessed by a neuropsychologist or psychologist. This assessment comprises four stages:
- Anamnesis: this is a one-hour meeting during which we take a complete history of the development and current life situation of the child or adult we are assessing. This meeting usually takes place remotely, by videoconference.
- Assessment: The giftedness assessment takes place in the office, over the course of one day (5 hours). The person being assessed will take various tests (adapted to their age) of logic, reasoning, general knowledge and problem-solving.
The assessment of other cognitive functions (such as attention and memory) is also integrated into the process to obtain a complete cognitive profile.
Often, a profile of personality traits and emotional/psychoaffective issues is also drawn up, to help the professional understand the different forces at work in the situations experienced in the daily life of the person being assessed.
- Test correction and report writing : This part of the work carried out by the neuropsychologist or psychologist takes place in the weeks following the assessment, without the client being present. The scores obtained are compared with expected averages and used to give a percentile rank (rank among 100 people in a reference group) and an IQ score to the person assessed. A detailed, graphically illustrated report is produced to explain the results.
- Debriefing session : Three to four weeks after the assessment, the neuropsychologist (or psychologist) meets with the parents or the adult being assessed, to explain the results and hand over a copy of the assessment report.
Is it a disorder?
No! And it's important not to confuse things! Intellectualgiftedness is not a disorder, it's an asset, a factor that facilitates success.
Contrary to popular belief, in the majority of cases, intellectual giftedness is conducive to learning and academic success, and even to success in social relations, since it enables the individual to quickly understand his or her interlocutor, to decode what is not said, and to understand the social codes linked to specific contexts.
On the other hand, high intellectual potential can also cause difficulties for some children and adults:
- Heterogeneous development : It's often surprising to find that intellectually gifted children are not necessarily gifted in other ways. "He's so smart, but my God, he's clumsy!" parents might say.
Motor development then doesn't seem to follow intellectual development. Sometimes it's emotional maturity that seems to lag behind, or even social maturity.
These slight delays appear even more significant in these children, because they are compared to their intelligence, rich vocabulary and logic, all of which are at exceptional levels.
- Social difficulties: In some cases, social difficulties may be present, because the gifted child has more advanced interests than his peers in subjects such as science, for example.
This makes it difficult for them to relate to others, because their peers find them "weird" and different when they talk about their passions.
Similarly, the gifted adult will sometimes find himself in social interactions that don't suit him, and in which he feels uncomfortable, or makes others feel uncomfortable.
- Oppositional behavior : Children with high intellectual potential constantly analyze the logic behind the rules and demands imposed on them.
They often react strongly to injustice, because injustice is illogical for them. They can therefore argue rules and demands, and even confront the adult with his own contradictions by making connections between something said a month ago, and something else said today.
Not to mention the fact that the gifted child is equipped with a rich vocabulary for making connections, expressing ideas and therefore arguing!
Heterogeneous giftedness
In recent years, the concept of heterogeneous giftedness has emerged, and some professionals have used it to multiply giftedness diagnoses.
Basically, according to this idea, a person who is gifted in only one area of functioning - for example, someone with a very rich vocabulary but an otherwise average cognitive profile - could still receive a gifted diagnosis.
This conception of giftedness has led to a proliferation of diagnoses, since it's quite common to be very strong in at least one sphere of cognitive functioning. We all have strengths! We finally understand that, in the end, if everyone is gifted, then no one really is!
Instead, best practice suggests that, since high intellectual potential is an exceptional diagnosis, if it is to retain its meaning, it must be reserved for exceptional cases.
We therefore restrict this diagnosis to children and adults who show exceptional functioning in their entire cognitive profile, and not just in one sphere.
The Zebras
The term zebra in popular psychology was proposed by Jeanne Siaud-Facchin to describe this group of children and adults who display the characteristics of high intellectual potential (HIP), and/or high emotional potential (HEP).
The analogy with the zebra comes from the fact that, because of it's stripes, this animal is different from the horse and therefore, stands as different from the others in a group.
However, each zebra is also unique because of its unique set of stripes. Finally, unlike horses and donkeys, zebras have never been domesticated by humans.
It doesn't blindly obey commands or fit into a mold imposed on it. Interesting image, isn't it?
A zebra is said to think in many directions, to have a global vision, to be capable of creative solutions and out-of-the-box thinking.
Zebras are often described as too intense in their personalities. Too demanding, too emotional, too sensitive, too reflective and analytical, and sometimes too arrogant.
Although the term zebra has been used extensively in popular psychology, it is not used scientifically.
It encompasses a set of characteristics that do not necessarily correspond to a scientifically identifiable group.
The term and its characteristics may be interesting for discussion and exchange purposes, but do not correspond to a scientifically valid diagnosis.
The term Zebra should therefore not be used in any assessment or diagnosis of intellectual giftedness/ high intellectual potential.
To make an appointment or for any questions concerning the assessment of giftedness
Our neuropsychologists
Our team of neuropsychologists, based in Montreal, Laval and Brossard, offers assessments of intellectual giftedness managed by accredited professionals. We provide specialized support not only for neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, but also for gifted individuals. Our personalized intervention plans aim to promote individual well-being and cognitive success, while supporting families in these endeavors.
