Elsevier

Intelligence

Volume 40, Issue 5, September–October 2012, Pages 419-426
Intelligence

Child prodigy: A novel cognitive profile places elevated general intelligence, exceptional working memory and attention to detail at the root of prodigiousness

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2012.06.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Child prodigies are unusual for their early and exceptional adoption of what are traditionally thought of as adult abilities. As part of an effort to better understand the underpinnings of these extraordinary individuals' talent, the researcher examined the cognitive and developmental profiles of eight child prodigies by taking their developmental histories and administering the Stanford-Binet 5th ed. full scale intelligence test and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). The collected data reveals a startling picture. While each of the prodigies demonstrated an at least moderately elevated level of intelligence, the prodigies' full scale IQ scores were not consistently on the extreme end of the spectrum. What was consistently extraordinary, however, was the child prodigies' working memory scores—a category in which every prodigy tested in the 99th percentile. Additional results suggest a previously unknown connection between child prodigies and autism. The prodigies' family histories yielded an unlikely number of autistic relatives. And the child prodigies received elevated AQ scores with respect to attention to detail, a trait associated with autism. The prodigies did not, however, display many of the other traits typically associated with autism. This result raises the possibility of a moderated autism that actually enables the prodigies' extraordinary talent.

Highlights

► The cognitive and developmental profiles of eight child prodigies are presented. ► Prodigies' have elevated IQ, extraordinary working memory and attention to detail. ► Autism is over represented in the prodigies and their biological relatives.

Introduction

The term prodigy is most often used to identify individuals who reached professional status in a demanding field at a very young age. By all accounts, child prodigies are unusual in their early adoption of traditionally adult abilities. They are found most often in the rule-based fields of music, mathematics, art, and chess. The limited research available to date indicates that most child prodigies display their talent in a single domain.

But despite some agreement regarding who qualifies as a prodigy, no consensus yet exists regarding the underpinnings of such prodigiousness. This paper will first survey existing theories regarding child prodigies and then, based on the assessment of eight prodigies, propose a new way of understanding the foundation of such extreme talent.

Existing theories regarding the causation of prodigiousness range from an emphasis on inherent ability (nature) to extreme training (nurture). Feldman and Morelock (2011) fall into the first group. Feldman and Morelock propose that, to become a child prodigy, one must have at least a moderate level of general intelligence, coupled with exceptional skill in a specific domain. According to this theory, higher levels of general intelligence may be associated with certain domains, such as mathematics, and with “omnibus prodigies,” children who are exceptional across many different domains.

Putting forth an evolutionary explanation, Vandervert (2009) argues that child prodigies are the product of the improved working memory and visual spatial abilities that may have occurred about 10,000 years ago. At that time, humans experienced a marked increase in the ratio of cerebellum to cerebral cortex in the brain. While an increase in cerebellar mass is generally thought to enhance dexterity in humans, it has been suggested that the newest sections of the cerebellum may play an integral role in boosting the efficiency of information processing in the cortex (Vandervert, 2009). This would increase working memory and visual spatial abilities, which Vandervert argues are integral to prodigiousness.

On the other end of the spectrum, some researchers argue that child prodigies are the product not of evolution, but of intense training. This extreme environmental approach credits advanced contemporary training techniques and upwards of ten years of deliberate practice as the root of all exceptional achievement (Howe, 1990, Ericsson, 1996, Ericsson et al., 1993), including the exceptional achievements of child prodigies. One such researcher, Ericsson, posits that child prodigies are the product of superior training and intense intervention usually carried out by the parents of child prodigies. This theory is pervasive in the public consciousness, and was even one of the focal points of journalist Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller, Outliers.

Detterman and Ruthsatz (1999) first suggested a multivariate approach to exceptional performance, arguing that all exceptional achievement is the product of at least three variables: general intelligence, domain-specific skill, and practice. Turning their attention to the exceptional achievement of child prodigies, the researchers proposed that, because the latter variable, deliberate practice, could not have reached the ten years necessary to support Ericcson's nurture-driven theory, there must be an elevation in the first two variables: general intelligence and domain-specific skills (Ruthsatz & Detterman, 2003).

It was while testing this theory that a chance meeting with a child prodigy's severely autistic first cousin prompted the researcher to first consider the possibility of a familial link between child prodigies and autism. A pilot study by Ruthsatz (2007) explored the possibility that child prodigies are on the autistic spectrum by comparing the biological first-degree relatives of child prodigies and the biological first-degree relatives of individuals with autism with a control group using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) designed by Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, and Clubley (2001). The first-degree family members of autistic individuals and the first-degree relatives of child prodigies reported the broader phenotype for autism in three of the five AQ categories: social skills, attention switching, and attention to detail.

Child prodigies would not be the first group with some form of autism to manifest exceptional achievement. Savants, generally defined as individuals who display talent beyond their expected level of achievement given their general intelligence, often display their talents despite a disability, often autism (Treffert, 2010, Nettelbeck and Young, 1996).

The purpose of the present study is to further investigate the cognitive underpinnings of prodigiousness, including any potential link to autism, and to refine current theories regarding what allows child prodigies to display extreme talent at such a young age.

Section snippets

Participants

The interviewer identified nine child prodigies through the internet, television specials, and by referral. To be selected for the study, the participant had to have reached professional status in a rule-based system at a remarkably young age, usually before the age of 10. The group includes one art prodigy, one math prodigy, four musical prodigies, and two who switched domains (from music to gastronomy and from music to art). All of the child prodigies identified are so exceptional that they

Development description

The first prodigy was 15 years of age at the time of testing. He is an only child who was born seven weeks early. He weighed 4 lbs and 11 oz. His mother was 41 and his father was 50 at the time of his birth. His mother reports that his physical development was typical. However, he began to show an unusual ability to master puzzles at the age of 18 months, programmed computers by age three, and reproduced complicated musical pieces such as The Entertainer after only one or two hearings at age four.

Discussion

The prodigies consistently displayed several traits during testing: an elevated level of general intelligence and exceptional working memory, both as measured by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test, and a spike in attention to detail, as measured on the AQ. The prodigies' family pedigrees, moreover, yielded an over-representation of relatives with autism. This paper will discuss each of these findings, and their implications for understanding the underpinnings of prodigious performance, in

Conclusion

The prodigies consistently displayed an elevated level of general intelligence and exceptional working memory and attention to detail. The exceptional attention to detail combined with the over-representation of autism in the prodigies' families suggests a link between prodigiousness and autism. The fact that the prodigies operate without many of the deficits commonly associated with the condition, however, suggests the presence of a modifier of some sort that prevents the child prodigies from

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