Question

All persons do not have the same intellectual capacity. How do individuals vary in their intellectual ability? Explain.

Answer 1

As all the person have different physical appearance likewise all persons do not have the same intellectual capacity. Some are exceptionally bright and some are below average.

There are two forms of variations in the intellectual ability of the individuals i.e. intellectual deficiency and intellectual giftedness.

1. Intellectual Deficiency :- These individuals face enormous difficulty in learning even very simple skills and are termed as ‘intellectually disabled’. Individuals who are categorised as having intellectual disability show significant variation in their abilities, ranging from those who can be taught to work and function with special attention, to those who cannot be trained and require institutional care throughout their lives. They can be trained in self-care skills and simple social and communication skills.

2. Intellectual Giftedness :- Intellectually gifted individuals show higher performance because of their outstanding potentialities. Giftedness is exceptional general ability shown in superior performance in a wide variety of areas.These have high ability, high creativity and high commitment.

Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD) views  intellectual  disability  as “significantly sub-average  general intellectual  functioning  existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifested during the developmental period” while Gifted children show early signs of intellectual superiority. Even during infancy and early childhood, they show larger attention span, good recognition memory, preference for novelty, sensitivity to environmental changes, and early appearance of language skills.