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Those who are highly gifted think differently and see certain things differently. That's why, according to the assumption of a team of Dutch scientists, highly gifted children would paint better than those with normal ability. You can read about what their study actually showed here.
Painting is not only a great pastime for children, no, the colorful pictures often decorate mom and dad's apartment, office, car, you know, just about everything. But instead of hanging the pictures up somewhere, you should take another close look at your child's creations.
WHAT your child draws can not only be a feast for the eyes, no, it can also indicate a talent in your offspring, as a Dutch study has shown.
Scientists from the DutchRadboud University investigated for their studyDrawings by 120 children between the ages of seven and nine, who were divided into two groups. 47 children were certified to be highly gifted (IQ 130 or more), 73 of the children were considered to be 'normal' intelligent.
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The only task given to the children in both groups was to draw a person within ten minutes.
Gifted people think differently
The scientists assumed that the drawings of the 47 gifted children would differ significantly from those of the normally gifted children. Since being highly gifted would offer them different ways of thinking and seeing things compared to people with normal abilities, the scientists hypothesized that their artistic talent must also be greater.
However, when evaluating the drawings using tests and point tables, the researchers initially found no differences between the two groups.
Giftedness lies in the details
Only when the team looked at details of the people drawings did they notice differences between those of the children with and without giftedness. In total, the 120 children painted 135 special things, such as curls or nose piercings, of which the scientists characterized 30 as unusual.
Extraordinary details of gifted children
And these 30 extraordinary details could be an indication of a talent:
- the head from the side
- nipples
- shoelaces
- Eye makeup
- Hair on arms
- Accessories on the shoes
- mucus
- Hands in pockets
- Sporen an Cowboystiefeln
- Freckles
- Hands behind your back
- Foot with toes
- a goatee
- Gloves
- wing
- Suspenders
- fingernails
- a tail
- a fly
- a ring
- several human figures
- a tie
- genitals
- an animal
- a badge
- Urine
- colors used
- a waist
- wallet chain
- a frame around the figure
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The scientists also found four things that were drawn exclusively by children who were considered to be of average intelligence. These four things were:
- a nose piercing
- Knee
- Zippers on shoes
- perfectly straight lines (presumably drawn with a ruler)
Study reaches its limits
The scientists' goal was to show that gifted children, i.e. those with an IQ of 130 or more (determined by a classic intelligence test), also have higher artistic talent because they perceive things in a more complex way. However, the study could not prove this.
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What it shows is that gifted children draw different details on human figures than children of the same age who are not gifted. From this they conclude: In order to connect a child's drawing talent and aptitude, one must pay particular attention to the details during an examination.
The scientists suspect that the artistic abilities of gifted and non-gifted children do not differ greatly because gifted children are less likely to enjoy painting.
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Gifted children don't like to paint
The context: Gifted children often strive for perfectionism. They are aware that their drawing talent is not enough to draw something perfectly or realistically. Therefore, they simply complete tasks that they know they cannot do perfectly as quickly as possible.
However, how quickly the children in the study drew their figure was not measured or taken into account for the study.
Dutch scientists are already continuing their research in this area. Their goal is to make it easier and, above all, better to diagnose children's (highly) giftedness.
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