Follow-up to a literature review on the profoundly gifted. Creates composite sketches of adolescents with different ability levels and areas of strength.

1. Profiles of the Gifted
BY COLLEEN M. FARRELLY

2. Overview of Top 1% of Intelligence
Many studies have elucidated the phenotype of highly (IQ of
137+) and profoundly gifted individuals (IQ of 160+).
Case studies from Silverman, Hollingworth, Terman, Gross, and Ruf.
Longitudinal studies of population from talent search data,
including Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, and Duke (Benbow, Makel,
Lubinski…).
Articles/essays from the Davidson Young Scholars repository.
These children learn differently and require substantial
modifications to their education.
The highly gifted can assimilate 1 year of a high school course in 3
weeks of full-day courses, or half the average amount of time to
learn that material.
The profoundly gifted can assimilate 1 year of a high school course
in 1-2 weeks, or 16-33% of the time required by a typical student.
Verbal ability tied to moral development level (Kohlberg).

3. Talent Searches: SAT to IQ
Talent searches administer out-of-level tests to identify ability level in talented adolescents.
SAT in adolescents can be used to derive IQ scores.
 Top 1% cut-off corresponds to 2.32 standard deviations.
 800 total SAT score (s.d.=140)
 137 IQ
 Mean verbal and math scores with spread
 Verbal: 370 (s.d.=75)
 Math: 430 (s.d.=85)
 Correlation~0.55 between verbal and math
 Many adolescents have a strong tilt towards verbal or mathematics as a strength.
Example:
 Profoundly gifted
 660 math, 620 verbal (1280 total); IQ=180 nonverbal, 193 verbal, 190 total
 Highly gifted
 500 math, 450 verbal (950 total); IQ=150 math, 154 verbal, 154 total
Does not measure spatial ability, but this can be derived from Raven’s Progressive Matrices.

4. Composite Sketches
Composites created for different ability
levels/ability tilts for 12-year-olds using
available research and case studies.
Highly gifted level (top 1 in 100+)
Profoundly gifted level (top 1 in 10000+)
Ability groups within each level:
1. Verbal
2. Math
3. Spatial
4. Verbal and math
5. Verbal and spatial
6. Math and spatial
7. Verbal, math, and spatial

5. Profoundly Gifted

6. Verbal: Molly
710 verbal, 450 math
Kohlberg college level
Enjoys reading Kant’s work, Crime and Punishment,
Common Sense, and East of Eden
Speaks German (lessons outside school) and English,
comparing their grammar for fun
Enjoys social studies subjects best, as she can write
nuanced essays on the topics
Chooses a new list of spelling words each week, now
focused on learning to spell world capitals
Hates school and is teased for being “weird”

7. Math: Matt
400 verbal, 700 math
Sneaks in calculus book during school and learns
linear algebra with his older brother
Does sudokus for fun, as well as math team and
mock trial
Likes classifying rocks, reading volcanology
books, and doing internships in volcanology
Has been accelerated 2 years in math but is still
bored in class

8. Spatial: Jordan
300 verbal, 620 math
Enjoys multilevel and 3-dimensional mazes,
as well as Tetris and Pipe Dream
Spends time learning sculpture (pieces on
display) and participating in various sports
Has spent summers at architecture camp
Is always the one who puts away groceries
at home
Enjoys learning about Impressionists and did
a recent room diorama as the interior of a
volcano

9. Verbal and Math: Mickey
630 verbal, 680 math
Kohlberg high school level
Writes sports novels and adventure stories for
friends, imaging how they would react to
situations
Loves biology and medicine
Learning Spanish and German at school (only
enrichment he can find)
Still having some issues fitting in after 2 grade
skips

10. Verbal and Spatial: Chip
650 verbal, 550 math
Is an avid gamer and programs his own games
Writes fantasy novels/short stories set in
other galaxies
Includes landscape illustrations and new alien
languages
Imagine chemical composition of planet and
physics of galaxy
Is very unhappy at school

11. Math and Spatial: Claire
380 verbal, 780 math
Loves math again after taking a geometry
course through a talent search program
Enjoys chemistry and physics sets
Reads books on quantum mechanics and
string theory at night
Draws 4-dimensional objects and math comics
during class
Enjoys ballet and classical composition

12. Verbal, Math, and Spatial: Sadako
700 verbal, 750 math
Writes poetry exploring themes in psychology
and sociology
Enjoys discussions with college students and is at
a post-conventional Kohlberg level
Reads classical literature and philosophy
Writes music, sculpts, and paints (pointillism)
Enjoys learning sociology and social epigenetics
Does marine biology research during summer
Learns calculus at home, as well as genomics and
string theory
Prefers friends from the local college
Learns Japanese with her grandparents

13. Highly Gifted

14. Verbal: Markus
540 verbal, 320 math
Enjoys spoken word poetry
Writes lyrics for his garage band and rap
contests
Is drawn to history and comic books
(particularly X-Men and its relation to
Malcolm X and MLK, Jr.)
Has won multiple short story contests in his
area

15. Math: Austin
390 verbal, 590 math
Loves sudoku and number pattern brain
teasers
Is an avid math team member
Enjoys reading about astrophysics/NASA
Builds model rockets and enters soap box
derbies
Loves sports statistics and probability
theory

16. Spatial: Alejandro
320 verbal, 500 math
Enjoys art and painting (every elective)
Is a very good athlete
Builds model airplanes and ships
Enjoys scuba diving and free diving
Reads about geometry in free time

17. Verbal and Math: Calliey
500 verbal, 520 math
Enjoys philosophy and psychology (Kohlberg
high school level)
Writes a lot of stories to explore morality
Loves biology (especially trilobites)
Enjoys learning algebra in school
Reads Josh Grisham novels during some of
her boring classes

18. Verbal and Spatial: Aubrey
580 verbal, 440 math
Loves military history and battle re-
enactments
Is an avid athlete
Sketches in his free time (particularly battle
diagrams)
Enjoys Stratego and Risk
Reads war literature and The Art of War

19. Math and Spatial: Bethanne
410 verbal, 630 math
Enjoys studying biomedical engineering and
virology
Attends science camp and local science
competitions
Has a keen interest in epidemic models after
the 2014 Ebola outbreak
Has immunology diagrams and drawings on the
walls of her bedroom

20. Verbal, Math, and Spatial: Joe
510 verbal, 640 math
Enjoys puzzles and logic games
Has memorized every Simpsons
episode
Loves baseball history and statistics
(since seeing Moneyball)
Reads sci-fi novels (particularly Jules
Verne)
Enjoys creating electronic music
Is popular with older friends and
teammates

21. Conclusion

22. A Unique Population with Unique Needs
Highly and profoundly gifted
children have incredible talent and
break many molds with respect to
what students can learn.
Their developmental trajectory is
different from the bottom 99% of
the intelligence distribution.
They are as different from each
other as they are different from
other children.