Characteristics and Problems of the Gifted: neural propagation depth and flow motivation as a model of intelligence and creativity

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Characteristics and Problems of the Gifted
neural propagation depth and flow motivation
as a model of intelligence and creativity

• Francis HEYLIGHEN

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Who are the Gifted?

• High Intelligence and Creativity
• Genius da Vinci, Einstein, Simon, von
  Neumann...
• IQ gt 130 gifted, gt 145 highly gifted, gt160
  exceptionally gifted
• Potential for exceptional achievement
• difficult to measure
• Specific personality profile...

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Personality Traits

• Cognition good problem-solving, unusual
  connections, original, imaginative, fast learner,
  good memory
• Feelings sensitive, intense, passionate,
  overexcitable, sense of humor
• Motivation ambitious, risk-taking, very curious,
  broad interests, persistent, perfectionist
• Social relations non-conformist, autonomous,
  feels different, empathic, sense of justice

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Gifted Children 99.4 learn rapidly 99.4 have
extensive vocabulary 99.3 have excellent
memory 99.3 reason well 97.9 are curious 96.1
are mature for their age 95.9 have excellent
sense of humor 93.8 have keen sense of
observation 93.5 have compassion for
others 93.4 have vivid imagination 93.4 have
long attention span 92.9 have ability with
numbers 90.3 are concerned with fairness 89.4
are good with puzzles and legos 88.4 have high
energy level 88.3 are perfectionistic 85.9 are
perseverant 84.1 question authority
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Gifted Adult

• Perfectionistic and sets high standards for self
  and others.
• Has strong moral convictions.
• Is highly sensitive, perceptive or insightful.
• Fascinated by words or an avid reader.
• Feels out-of-sync with others.
• Is very curious.
• Has an unusual sense of humor.
• A good problem solver.
• Has a vivid and rich imagination.
• Questions rules or authority.
• Has unusual ideas or connects seemingly unrelated
  ideas.
• Thrives on challenge.
• Learns new things rapidly.

• Has a good long-term memory.
• Feels overwhelmed by many interests and
  abilities.
• Is very compassionate.
• Feels outrage at moral breaches that the rest of
  the world seems to take for granted.
• Has passionate, intense feelings.
• Has a great deal of energy.
• Can't switch off thinking.
• Feels driven by creativity.
• Loves ideas and ardent discussion.
• Needs periods of contemplation.
• Searches for ???? in their life.
• Feels a sense of alienation and loneliness.
• Is very perceptive.

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The g-factor

• Most general factor underlying intelligence
• Measures information processing efficiency
• Correlated with
• brain size
• reaction/conduction/inspection speed
• size of working memory
• energy efficiency of brain

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Neural Hypotheses about g

• glia (support cells) more in Einsteins brain
• myelin better insulation of neural connections
  (axons)
• neural plasticity easier formation of
  connections
• metabolism more efficient energy production

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Neural Propagation Depth

• Spreading activation action potentials propagate
  from neuron to neuron across synapses
• Process is energy intensive, error-prone
• -gt activation weakens with each crossing
• Propagation stops when activation drops below
  threshold
• Average number of steps propagation depth

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Propagation depth D as function of decay factor
c Activation A(t) c.A(t - 1), with c lt 1
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Problem-Solving

• Problem initial combination of concepts
• Solution final combination of concepts
• Problem-solving propagating activation along
  associations between concepts
• Example Problem baby cries
• illness?
• Intermediate step allergy to fish
• Solution fishless diet

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Implications for cognition

• Giftedness g Propagation Depth D
• Higher D
• wider propagation of activation
• more problems can be solved
• larger working memory
• more far-fetched associations
• stronger co-activation of remote concepts
• faster Hebbian learning of associations

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Imagination and Feeling

• Perceptual sensitivitystimuli propagate better
  from senses to consciousness
• Emotional intensityperceptions elicit stronger
  feelings
• Vivid imaginationconceptions more easily
  activate perceptual memories

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Social Feelings

• Empathy imagining/feeling oneself in the others
  place
• compassion
• Morality or Sense of justice
• expanding compassion to remote people/situations
• developing a comprehensive ethics

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Flow Motivation

• Csikszentmihalyipeople seek flow in
  activities
• challenges skills
• flow, happiness
• challenges gt skills
• too difficult, anxiety
• challenges lt skills
• too easy, boredom

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Finding the right challenge

• as people become more skilled,
• they need to raise their challenges to remain
  satisfied

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Gifted motivation

• Skilled at problem-solving
• ambitious, seek difficult challenges
• perfectionist
• Skilled at learning
• intense curiosity
• wide range of interests

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Relations with others

• Question authority/accepted wisdom
• prefer to think for themselves
• Are out of step interaction GP - non GP
• skills GP gtgt skills non GP
• anxiety for non GP
• or boredom for GP
• e.g. hiking, Procession of Echternach

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Social Problems of the Gifted

• May not be recognized as gifted
• too broad range of interests
• dont fit the specialist stereotype of good at
  maths, chess, whizz-kid, ...
• may be dismissed as crackpots
• Others do not understand them
• Others may fear them as competitors
• Non-conformity can lead to ostracism
• e.g. Giordano Bruno

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Personal Problems of the Gifted

• rarely recognize themselves as gifted
• often feel lonely, misfit
• tend to accept dismissive views of others
• dont know what to focus on
• can be so perfectionist they never finish their
  work
• have unrealistic expectations of others
• can be too sensitive (e.g. compassionate)

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Problems of Gifted Women

• fit the stereotypes even less then men
• are more inclined to accept dismissive views
• are pushed by society into non-intellectual
  functions
• tend to be more socially sensitive, compassionate
• cognition is more broad, context-sensitive
• have even more difficulty to focus

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Testing the theory

• Neural propagation depth not directly observable
• Indirect measurements, e.g. indirect priming ?
• Simulation spreading activation over network of
  associated concepts (with Marko Rodriguez)
• solves IQ-test like questions
• e.g. which word does not fit cow, car, bird,
  fish
• number correct propagation parameters
• similar mistakes like real people?