from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)

Specific Academic Ability (i.e. Mathematics):

• Strong memorization ability
• Advanced comprehension
• 1-2 repetitions for mastery
• Intense interest in a specific academic area
• High academic capacity in special-interest area
• Pursues special interests with enthusiasm
• Operates at a higher level of abstraction than peers
• Asks poignant questions
• Discusses and elaborates in detail

General Intellectual Ability:

• Understands complex concepts
• Draws inferences between content areas
• Sees beyond the obvious
• Thrives on new or complex ideas
• Enjoys hypothesizing
• Intuitively knows before taught
• Uses an extensive vocabulary
• Does in-depth investigations
• Learns rapidly in comparison to peers
• 1 - 2 repetitions for mastery
• Manipulates information

Creative Thinking:

• Independent and/or flexible thinker
• Exhibits original thinking in oral and/or written expression
• Generates many ideas to solve a given problem
• Possesses a keen sense of humor
• Creates and invents
• Intrigued by creative tasks
• Improvises and sees unique possibilities
• Risk taker
• Resists conformity

Visual and Performing Arts:

• Communicates their vision in visual/performing arts
• Unusual ability for aesthetic expression
• Compelled to perform/produce
• Exhibits creative expression
• Desire for creating original product
• Keenly observant
• Continues experimentation with preferred medium
• Excels in demonstrating the visual/performing arts

Leadership:

• Takes an active role in decision-making
• High expectations for self and others
• Expresses self with confidence
• Foresees consequences and implications of decisions
• Follows through on a plan
• Appears to be well liked by peers
• Ideas expressed accepted by others
• Sought out by others to accomplish a task