Emotions and High Abilities

The term "High abilities" is the most common current use to call aqello to what we previously referred to when we spoke of gifted.

At first, when the concept of IQ (intelligence quotient) began to be studied, giftedness was associated with very high centiles in tests that measured a very specific intelligence.

With the development of the concept of intelligence and the appearance of Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences, the meaning High Capabilities seems to be more appropriate, since it encompasses not only the concept of intelligence itself but also that of aptitude, competence, dexterity or domain. This means that High Capabilities not only consist of having an IQ greater than 130, but also imply characteristics that are related in a complex way to each other.

• Related article: "Cognition: definition, main processes and operation"

What are High Capabilities?

The National Association for Gifted Children describes High Abilities (hereinafter AACC) as "Those who demonstrate an outstanding level of aptitude (defined as a exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or performance that places them in the top 10%, or above, of the normative group) in one or more domains. The domains include any area of ​​activity structured with its own symbolic system (Mathematics, Music, Language ...) or their own set of sensory-motor skills (Painting, Dance, Sports…)".

But there are differences in the way in which people with High Abilities learn and reason, and if you think about what emotional management has a very important part of learning and reasoningIt would not be strange to wonder if there are differences in how they feel or what they feel.

And it seems that there are some characteristics that appear in people with AACC. Various studies show how highly intelligent people show higher scores on Emotional Intelligence scales. We are going to see some points that can help us understand why.

• You may be interested in: "Theories of human intelligence"

The link between AACC and emotions

One of these characteristics is the high sensitivity that these people present. They seem to perceive it, feel it, and rationalize everything. They tend to perceive with greater intensity in any sensitive pathway that is used, thus appearing aversion to noise or crowds, to very penetrating flavors, to the touch of a label, etc. But they also feel with equal intensity sensations that are pleasant to them, such as the smell of freshly made bun or the contact with a very soft blanket.

Sometimes, these people are labeled as dramatic or exaggerated, thus favoring the appearance of frustration, discomfort or the feeling that no one understands them, but it is not so much a dramatization as an expression of their real experience.

The facility also appears in them to interpret the intentions of others, with great weight of empathy and a sense of justice. And it is that AACC people seem to feel what the other feels and not only understand what is happening to them; they have a high sense of justice feeling moved to act, having serious difficulties to ignore them.

AACC people want to understand everything that happens, analyze everything; from their perspective almost anything they do, see, hear, or practice is tinged with emotion. So that, the integration of emotion in the understanding of the facts is important to be able to give an overview of what is being analyzed.

This need for understanding often leads them to feel emotionally overwhelmed since, Sometimes this situation occurs, the necessary tools are not available to manage such emotions. intense. So they usually take their own emotional management mechanisms.

Many children with High Abilities present this overflow in what Terrasier (1994) called dyssynchronies. This phenomenon appears in them when there is no parallel cognitive and emotional development. They can think of many things but not assimilate them on an emotional level because the development of emotion is not at that point yet. These phenomena are also frequent at the social level when the child sees that her interests, motivations or games are not the same as those of other children her age.

Not feeling, rationalizing the emotion or using exaggerated irony are usually mechanisms that AACC people use to deal with these dyssynchronies that appear to them.

To end, the importance of the early detection of CAAs should be highlighted both in the family and school context to be able to adjust the aids that are presented, and thus favor a full cognitive, emotional and social development.

Bibliographic references:

• Arroyo, Susana. (2018). Emotions. The hidden face of high capacities. Horsori.
• Patti, Jannet; Brackett, Marc; Ferrándiz, Carmen & Ferrando, Mercedes (2011). Why and how to improve the emotional intelligence of gifted students? REIFOP, 14 (3). (Link: http://www.aufop.com - Consulted on date (09-10-2020).
• Sainz, Marta; Soto, Gloria; Almeida, Leandro; Ferrándiz, Carmen; Fernández, Mª Carmen & Ferrando, Mercedes (2011). Socio-emotional skills and creativity according to the level of intelligence. REIFOP, 14 (3). (Link: http://www.aufop.com - Consulted on date (09-10-2020).