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There is not even agreement on what the term “gifted” truly means and whom it applies to. Usually, their IQ scores identify gifted children. An “IQ” is typically used as a judgment of intelligence, but “by the [IQ] test companies’ own witnesses…intelligence tests do not measure intelligence,” but they are typically accepted as a measure of intelligence, anyways. (Mensh, Mensh, 1991) The IQ test in itself is not reliable. Children who have the disadvantage of having a different ethnic background tend to receive lower IQ scores “primarily from those test items that depend on their having already learned concepts and skills relevant to educational progress.” However, when the questions pertain to “raw learning and memory capacity,” the children “perform fully up to standard.” The IQ score was not meant to measure intelligence, but instead it was meant to “directly compare the mental abilities of adults and children…but only as a synonym for intelligence, academic aptitude, or…scholastic readiness.” (Whimbey, 1975) In addition, an IQ score can go up or down by as much as 30 points within one year. “The IQ measures what the child has already learned, not his capacity to learn…” (Fine, 1975) Due to the problems inherent in the IQ score and the fact that it was not originally intended to serve as a measure for intelligence, IQ should not be the sole determinant of whether a child is gifted or not.

Other definitions for the gifted child state that they are the ones who score “at the 98th percentile or above on a full scale individual intelligence test” or that they fall in “the top five (or whatever) percent of the school population.” This view, too, is inaccurate. It does not take into account “exceptional performance outside of school and testing situations”; “error in IQ results due to cultural, environmental, and experimental variables”; underachieving gifted students who…perform below potential…”; and “other important factors such as maturation, motivation, drive, and interest.” (McCluskey, Walker, 1986?)

Whether a child is gifted or not is better determined on their rate of brain function. If the rate is advanced or accelerated, the development “can be considered synonymous with high levels of intelligence when intelligence is seen as a whole brain function. When understood in this way, the term gifted refers to those persons who have developed high levels of intelligence or who show promises of such development.” (Clark, 198 cool It does not rely on IQ tests or performance in schools. Instead, there is a variety of ways that it can be determined whether a child is “gifted” or not. Observation of the processes used in learning, results from psychometric instruments, observation of performance or products, and self-reporting and reporting from parents, teachers, and peers can all be used to determine whether a child is gifted or not. (Clark, 198 cool

However, because giftedness is commonly determined by performance in school and IQ scores, many of our gifted children are looked over, and they are not identified as being gifted.

70 is almost a vegetative state.