🇵🇦 High Abilities and Educational Neuropsychology in Panama

🤓 In this article, we would like to address some considerations related to high abilities.

🧐 Are high abilities a learning need? You will discover the answer to this question throughout this article.

🌟 Definition: High Abilities vs. Talent

🧠 When we refer to high abilities (formerly called giftedness), we are referring to individuals who demonstrate intellectual performance above the normative group to which they belong, showing a wide range of strengths in various aptitudes, which allows them to learn with relative ease in any area of knowledge (Torrego et al., 2011). It is worth highlighting the difference between high abilities and talent, since talent involves the advanced development of very specific skills or areas, for example, mathematical talent, verbal talent, musical talent, or artistic talent, while high abilities involve homogeneity in the performance shown across several skills or aptitudes.

🧠 Neuropsychological Perspective: Keys to Cognitive Functioning

🔎 Various theories and studies in the field of neuropsychology have attempted to explain giftedness. In this regard, some key points have been identified regarding the cognitive functioning of this population.

✅ People with high abilities make better use of their cognitive resources. For example, neuroimaging studies have found greater interhemispheric activation as a result of a thicker corpus callosum (Luders, 2007). The corpus callosum is the anatomical structure that facilitates communication between the two cerebral hemispheres.

✅ Related to executive functions, high intelligence is correlated with elements related to cognitive flexibility and inhibition. Recall that cognitive flexibility is the ability to generate original responses to novel problems; likewise, it is a cognitive skill that allows for the rapid consideration of multiple solutions (Cartwright, 2002; Rojas-Barahona, 2017).

✅ From a neurofunctional perspective, individuals with high abilities exhibit greater neuronal efficiency, manifested by increased activation of alpha wave frequencies, and also show lower metabolic consumption. This results in much more effective and selective performance, allowing the individual to optimize time and effort (Sastre-Riba & Ortiz, 2018).

📝 Key Areas to Evaluate

⚡️ Next, dear reader, I will mention some of the areas that should be considered when evaluating a case related to high abilities:

✅ Intelligence: Theorists agree that one of the criteria associated with giftedness is above-average intellectual ability (IQ of 130 or higher). Therefore, the person being assessed must demonstrate a certain degree of consistency across their four intelligence indices (verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed).

At our center, we use tests such as the WPPSI-IV, WISC-V, and WAIS-IV to measure intelligence in different age groups.

✅ Personality (16-PF-APQ): The assessment of giftedness should not be based solely on cognitive aspects; it is essential to consider personality traits. Obviously, each gifted child will be unique, so it is important to avoid labeling or generalizing in this regard. With that clarified, some of the personality traits associated with giftedness often include: curiosity to learn and delve deeper into the topics taught in class, high standards, a tendency towards perfectionism, boredom when learning does not meet expectations, introversion, anxiety when goals are not achieved, and a strong sense of justice. I will elaborate on this topic later in the article.

✅ Vocational and professional interests (Explore): It is essential to contextualize educational support for individuals identified as gifted. Therefore, in the case of adolescents, an assessment of vocational and professional interests using the Explora test can serve as career or occupational guidance.

✅ Creativity: Creative thinking is related to various criteria. For example, creativity considers elements related to fluency (generating many ideas), originality, and flexibility. Creativity helps to create novel works and adapt to changing environments (Gómez-León, 2020).

✅ Neuropsychological factors: In general, gifted individuals exhibit high levels of abilities related to attention, memory, executive functions, and processing speed. Sometimes, the behavioral and socio-affective characteristics of this population are confused with those of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), which is why we cannot exclude neuropsychological tests from the assessment of giftedness to help refine the detection process for each individual case (García-Rona & Sierra, 2011). Tests such as the d2-R Attention Test, TOMAL (Memory and Learning Test), BANFE-3, ENFEN and ATENTO can be useful when objectifying the neuropsychological functioning of patients.

💡 Beyond the Diagnosis: Strengths and Expectations

✋🏻 It's worth mentioning that if your son or daughter doesn't meet the criteria for giftedness or high abilities in the assessment, this isn't a negative thing. On the contrary, it's a wonderful opportunity to understand their strengths and areas for improvement, and based on this, to support them and give them the tools they need to reach their full potential in their academic and learning environment. This leads us to reflect on the fact that the topic of giftedness encompasses other aspects, such as the importance of guiding families on managing the expectations they place on their children. In our experience as a center, caregivers often set high expectations, which can psychologically lead to perfectionism or anxiety in children, both gifted and non-gifted.

📚 High Abilities are a Learning Need

✍️ As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, high abilities are a learning need, and below we will explain some considerations that invite us to reflect on this.

✅ It's a myth that gifted children will always achieve high academic performance. One of the challenges families and schools face is the uncertainty and confusion surrounding whether the cognitive and socio-emotional needs of this population are being met. In the worst-case scenario, the feeling that a child's learning expectations are not being met can lead to boredom and demotivation. These factors can result in poor academic performance, consequently impacting their ability to learn effectively in the curriculum.

⚠️ Challenges in the Academic Context

✅ Due to high learning expectations, this population may sometimes adopt a critical, questioning, and nonconformist stance regarding the material they are learning from teachers.

✅ In the case of high-ability individuals with high processing speed and mental agility, it can cause them to finish their assignments ahead of schedule, a situation that can cause behavioral problems in the classroom, thus distracting other classmates.

✅ Sense of humor and social asynchrony: Sometimes, high intellectual ability can lead to interests, tastes, and preferences that are not in line with the individual's chronological age. What does this cause? It can make it difficult for the student to enjoy interacting with peers. Similarly, sometimes feeling superior to other students can trigger a peculiar sense of humor that may create awkward situations in the classroom.

🏛️ Legal Framework and Detection Process in Panama

From a legal point of view, the topic of giftedness is regulated by MEDUCA through the Outstanding Aptitudes and Specific Talents Program , which you can learn more about by clicking here:

✋🏻 It is worth highlighting that the formal diagnosis of high abilities in Panama is the responsibility of the Educational Support Service of the Directorate of Special Education (Ministry of Education), which is why this government department will formally determine the guidelines, directives and recommendations that private and official educational centers in the country that have students with high abilities must follow.

👉🏼 Many parents ask, "Can I go directly to the Educational Support Service to request an evaluation to determine if my child is gifted or talented without needing a referral?" The answer is yes, you can go directly, and it is the first recommended option.

🔎 From a private perspective, what can be done is an initial screening assessment and subsequent report preparation to help refer the student to the Educational Support Service, always emphasizing that the final decision on possible recommendations to the educational center will be made by this department as stipulated in article 4 and article 5 of the Outstanding Aptitudes and Specific Talents Program of the Ministry of Education dated February 25, 2016. This is the second recommended option.

🤝 Resources and Support Foundations in Panama

🇵🇦 In Panama, there are foundations and professionals that provide support to families with gifted children. For example:

✅ Sparkids Foundation:   Foundation focused on providing support to children with high abilities, including precocity, giftedness and talents.

✅ Community of High Abilities and Exceptional Talents in Panama: A non-profit organization that works hand in hand with international organizations, civil society, and professionals, with the purpose of providing education, advice, support, and knowledge to families who wish to expand their knowledge about High Abilities and Outstanding Aptitudes in children, young people, and even adults in Panama.

If you are interested in a giftedness assessment that offers recommendations for your family, please feel free to write to us or contact us at +507 6535 6362 and we will be happy to assist you.

🔗 References and Additional Material

✅ Cartwright, K. B. (2002). Cognitive Development and Reading: The Relation of Reading-Specific Multiple Classification Skill to Reading Comprehension in Elementary School Children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 56-63.

✅ García-Rona, A., & Sierra-Vázquezb, J. (2011). Children with high intellectual abilities. Warning signs, neuropsychological profile and their academic difficulties. An pediatr contin, 9(1), 69-72.

✅ Gómez-León, MI (2020). Psychobiological bases of creativity in gifted children. Biological Psychiatry. 27(1), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psiq.2020.01.004

✅ Luders, E. et al. (2007). Positive Correlations between Corpus Callosum Thickness and Intelligence. Neuroimage, 1, 1457-64.

✅ Torrego, JC, Boal, M., Bueno, A., Calvo, E., Expósito, M., Maillo, I., ... & Zariquiey, F. (2011). Students with high abilities and cooperative learning. An educational response model, 89-124.

✅ Sastre-Riba, S., & Ortiz, T. (2018). Executive neurofunctionality: a comparative study in high abilities. Journal of Neurology, 66(1), 51-56.

A discussion on giftedness in Panama was held in collaboration between the Comprehensive Center for Educational Neuropsychology and the Panamanian Community of Gifted and Exceptionally Talented Individuals (ALCATEP Community). We invite you to learn more at the following link 👇🏻