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Children
who are talented in Mathematics exhibit the following characteristics: |
| 1. The ability to grasp the formal structure
of the problem 2. The ability to be logical in numerical and special ways, utilizing symbolic information such as numbers and letters, and to think with mathematical symbols 3. The ability to generalize rapidly using mathematical objects, relations, and operations 4. The ability to learn efficiently by abbreviating and shortening steps in mathematical processes 5. The ability to be flexible in solving problems, to shift strategies, and to take different roads to the desired end 6. The ability to appreciate parsimony (simplicity or economy) and elegance (grace and richness) in solutions to mathematical problems (note that this ability may be a main difference between those who become mathematicians and those who become scientists) 7. The ability to reconstruct problems, to reverse the steps in the mental process 8. The ability to remember the main features of mathematical problems and solutions, and to store mathematical information Mathematical ability of the highest sort, according to Kruteskii (1976) combined strong analytical ability with strong spatial ability and superior rote memory for such things as mathematical tables, saying that average calculating ability and average rote memory were enough. |
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| Talented Children and Adults, Their
Development and Education. Second Edition, Jane Piirto, (1999), Merrill. |
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