科研之友
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摘要
This study covers the interesting field of the development in gifted children which 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. Developmental studies have shown the evidence from several fields that children identified as ※high-level potentialities§ or ※intellectually gifted§ develop sensory, locomotor, neuropsychological, and language skills earlier than typically expected. The hypothesis is offered that the earlier development originates from biological processes affecting the physical development of the brain and in turn even intellectual abilities are developed earlier, potentially allowing for advanced development. Further it is discussed how these developmental advances interact with the social environment and in certain circumstances may entail increased risk for developing socioemotional difficulties and learning disabilities that often go unaddressed due to the masking by the advance intellectual abilities. 1. Introduction Since the 19th century, children showing particular potential, often called ※gifted§, have aroused interest among authors such as Lombrosso [1] in the area of the links between genius and madness, or in differential psychology [2]. As early as 1909, Alfred Binet, the originator of the notion of ※mental age,§ noted schoolchildren who were ※too intelligent§ and who derived no benefit from education. Over the 20th century, different psychiatrists and psychologists took a particular interest in these exceptionally gifted children, in particular Terman in 1925 [3] who conducted a longitudinal study over 35 years starting in 1922. He studied 1528 subjects (671 girls and 857 boys) whose mean IQ was 150 (range 135 to 200) and mean age 11 years at the start of the survey. He was able to identify characteristics that were common to the sample overall. The aim was to obtain better information about this particular population so as to implement educational measures. Since this work, the identification of gifted children has led to various lines of research into superior intelligence. However little work has been conducted on relationships with neuropsychomotor development, while more numerous are those studies that have focused on understanding the cognitive functioning of these children at school age. More recently, research in developmental neuropsychology has shown the cerebral activation occurring in the course of intellectual tasks, which has opened up interesting possibilities.
