Talent and genius philosophy briefly. What is talent and genius in psychology? Films about talented people

Talent refers to outstanding abilities, a high degree of giftedness in any activity. Most often, talent manifests itself in a specific area.

Genius is the highest degree of development of talent; it is associated with the creation of qualitatively new, unique creations, the discovery of previously unexplored paths of creativity.

Scientists today are unanimous that every person has a huge variety of capabilities stored in him in the form of inclinations. The scientist N. Dubinin’s idea is well known that “any person, no matter how brilliant he may be, during his life uses no more than one billionth of the capabilities that the brain presents to him.” Thus, a person’s memory can contain 20 units of information, that is, approximately the same amount of information as is contained in millions of volumes of the Russian state library. They say that Alexander the Great knew by sight all the soldiers of his thirty thousand army. The famous chess player A.A. Alekhine could play blindly on 40 boards simultaneously. It is clear that similar examples exceptional in their kind, but they provide a clear example of the possibilities that open up for a person in the case of maximum use of the natural data inherent in him.

The problem of giftedness is currently considered as psychological, and there is no doubt that the concepts of “giftedness,” “genius,” and “talent” do not belong only to the psychological categorical apparatus. In essence, the problem of giftedness is a particular problem individual differences, the degree of development of individuals' abilities. It is in this context that many philosophers consider giftedness (genius, talent). It should be noted that a clear division of genius, giftedness and talent occurred much later than even the separation of psychology in independent science, - for a long time these concepts were considered synonymous, and the concept of “giftedness” did not exist at all until a certain time. Due to the fact that the study of the problem of giftedness in philosophy covers a significant period of time, it seems appropriate to divide it into two periods: pre-scholastic and post-scholastic.

Pre-scholastic period
1. Ancient philosophy is a totality philosophical teachings, developed in ancient Greek and Roman slave society from the end of the 7th century BC. up to the 6th century. AD Since antiquity, thinkers have not identified significant differences between such concepts as giftedness, genius, and talent.

The pre-scholastic period regarding views on genius, talent and giftedness can be divided into two movements. Representatives of the first movement adhere to the idea of predetermination of human development, the existence of fate, fate, a certain force that determines any human manifestations. Such philosophers include Plato, Posidonius, Seneca, and Plotinus. Democritus shares partly similar views. A gifted or brilliant person, according to Plato, is a person who has true knowledge. Plato suggests that souls different people differ not only in their virtues and moral virtues, but also in mental and other abilities. Plato considers inspiration to be the main criterion for the manifestation of abilities and at the same time an indicator of the presence of giftedness. Plato examines the manifestation of talent using the example of creativity. The source and cause of creativity is talent - a special type of inspiration imparted to the artist by higher and by nature inaccessible to either challenge or any conscious influence by divine forces. Plato highlights the categorical denial of the role of learning in the development of giftedness. He believes that training contributes to the transformation of activity into a craft, skill.

Plato considered the previous incarnation of man to be the determining force. If in a previous incarnation a person was gifted with singing talent, then in the next he can incarnate either as a bird or as a singer.

The philosophers described above considered giftedness, genius, talent, and wisdom to be a phenomenon that depends on divine arbitrariness.

At the intersection of this and the next point of view is Democritus, who considered inspiration to be a manifestation of talent, like Plato. The second direction of the pre-scholastic period in the development of the problem of giftedness is represented by the works of such philosophers as Heraclitus, Epicurus, Aristotle, Ibn Gabirol. They adhered to the idea of human free will, including his freedom to develop his abilities to the ideal. The ideal for all philosophers is the sage, the ideal person who stands as close as possible to the deities or even becomes a deity himself. Such a person has absolute knowledge and absolute will.

Post-scholastic period.
In the middle of the century, the word “genius”, which appeared in antiquity, disappears from use and is replaced by the expressions “gift of God”, “people gifted by God”. That is, around this time, in fact, the concept of giftedness appeared. This concept refers to innate, God-given abilities that develop to a high level.

From this time on, genius is considered the highest degree of creative talent, which manifests itself as the original ability of understanding (intuition), connection various elements(fantasies, creative formation Images).

Comte defines genius as the ability to create something that cannot be created certain rules, genius is the exact opposite of imitation. Since learning is something other than imitation, the greatest ability to learn cannot be recognized as genius.
Genius is based on the exclusive superiority of the highest centers inherent in one person, the functions of which are thought and will. These two abilities elevate man above the rest of the animal world, and their highest exceptional development gives us genius.
The second category is occupied by thinking geniuses: researchers, experimenters and inventors.
The third category includes geniuses of pure thought, who have a poorly developed will.
These categories are followed by emotional geniuses, who differ from ordinary people only in the strength of automatic processes, and not at all in personal originality. Among emotional geniuses, the first place belongs to poets, followed by painters, sculptors, musicians, etc.

Talent is defined as outstanding abilities, extraordinary talent in any area, inherent in an individual from birth or under the influence of exercises, developing to a high degree, providing a person with the opportunity to most successfully perform a particular activity. Compared to the concept of genius, the concept of talent is less profound.

Interest in the phenomenon of genius flared up during the Renaissance, along with interest in the problem of creativity. The concept of “genius,” according to V. Lange, arose around the end of the 17th century. A genius has always been considered a being endowed with superhuman inclinations and capabilities. There is no consensus on the definition of giftedness. The concept of “talented children” implies only potential development opportunities.

Talent is determined by a high degree of giftedness and is a set of abilities that allow one to achieve high results in activities characterized by novelty, social and personal significance. The definition of genius can be found in C. Lombroso: “The peculiarity of genius compared to talent is that it is something unconscious and appears unexpectedly.”

Genius primarily creates based on the activity of the unconscious, while talent creates rationally, based on a well-thought-out plan.

Genius can be attributed primarily to creatives, and talent to intellectuals.

The psychological “formula of genius” looks like in the following way: genius = ( high intelligence+ even higher creativity) x mental activity.

In modern science, two main approaches to explaining the phenomenon of genius have emerged: egalitarian and elitist.

Supporters of the first believe that there is nothing in the personality of a genius that is not inherent in other people, but in him all the qualities are presented as if in a superlative degree: super smart, super persistent, super independent. The activity of a genius can be considered as the most visual model of the creative process, the essence of which is the same for everyone.

Proponents of the second argue that genius is fundamentally different from other people in that it has characteristics not characteristic of others, and in that it is a completely different human essence, a certain new quality of the system, therefore, genius is a rare, exceptional phenomenon.

The criteria for the genius of a scientific discovery are considered to be:
a) novelty and originality;
b) significance, value for society;
c) perfection of execution.

A brilliant discovery in science is distinguished by the fact that with its help the increase in knowledge does not occur constantly, step by step, but in leaps and bounds, and in this sense it is always ahead of its time.

Necessary prerequisites for the formation of a genius N.V. Goncharenko boils it down to four factors:
innate talent;
own efforts;
entourage;
the situation in society as a whole.

These factors are practically no different from the conditions necessary for the development of any creative activity. Among the main abilities and skills that need to be developed in gifted children are:
intellectual abilities, divergent thinking, cognitive abilities;
creative abilities: originality of thinking, rich imagination, fantasy, developed intuition, willingness to take risks;
independence in decision making, developed self-awareness;
realistic self-concept, tolerant attitude towards criticism;
sense of humor, competitiveness, self-confidence and abilities, internal motivation.

In order for a gifted child to develop naturally and creatively, it is necessary to create special development conditions. This includes a supportive, welcoming atmosphere, avoiding judgment and criticism, encouraging the expression of original ideas, providing opportunities for exercise and practice, and giving children the opportunity to actively ask questions.

The problem of giftedness contains more questions than answers, since there are examples of so-called destructive giftedness, when the activities of gifted individuals are aimed at destruction rather than creation.

The problem of giftedness and talent is closely related to the problem of developing personal creativity as a general universal ability for creativity.

IN modern research You can also find other definitions of abilities. According to Yu. P. Gippenreiter, “abilities are defined as the individual psychological characteristics of a person, which express his readiness to master certain types of activities and to carry them out successfully.”

The question of the role of the environment and innate inclinations in the process of developing abilities in various studies psychologists and educators solve problems differently. There are still extremely contradictory points of view: from biologizing concepts that consider abilities as biologically determined properties, to sociological theories that deny completely or partially the existence of biological prerequisites for abilities.

Studying the nature of abilities, it can be noted that at present there is experimental evidence that allows us to assert the existence of innate prerequisites that are of great importance in the process of developing abilities and the formation of individual characteristics of the human psyche. There is still no exact data on what exactly they consist of. The manifestation and formation of inclinations depends on the conditions of individual development.

The influence of innate prerequisites in the course of personality development becomes more and more indirect, and its results become more and more variable. At each new level of development, additional social and mental factors, which, interacting with certain natural inclinations, increasingly mediate their influence.

In the process of developing abilities, a qualitative transformation of the child’s personality takes place on the basis of his own active activity and his own active attitude to the environment.

According to S. L. Rubinstein, “all special human abilities are, in the end, different manifestations of aspects of his general ability ... to learn and work.”
The general universal internal conditions for implementation are, according to N. S. Leites, activity and self-realization. The age-related relationship between abilities is characterized by the characteristics of activity and self-regulation.

The word “ability” is usually used to describe the degree of expression and originality of those mental properties on which the success of an activity depends. Properties of the psyche that depend on the natural prerequisites for development and can be used in various types of activities include mental processes(perception, memory, thinking and corresponding psychophysical functions). Abilities cannot simply be given from the outside. They necessarily presuppose internal conditions of development, age-related and individual, which have their own natural prerequisites. Therefore, abilities always carry traces of individuality. Every person is unique from the point of view of having certain mental properties, conditioned natural prerequisites(inclinations).

The prerequisite for the internal conditions for the development of abilities (according to N.S. Leites) remains natural properties human brain combined with countless individual variations in ability. Natural (innate) abilities set only one of the internal conditions of development, which only in interaction with other conditions (the social environment and the activity itself) are included in the processes of formation of certain abilities. Therefore, the most complete disclosure of human potential and the greatest effectiveness of educational influences require taking into account the internal prerequisites for development, determined by natural characteristics - individual and age. The humanistic paradigm of modern pedagogy defines the thesis that the inclinations of creativity are inherent in any person, any child. The role of teachers is to reveal these abilities and create conditions for their successful development.

What is genius? Many equate it with talent and confuse it with giftedness. Who can you become, and who was born with innate qualities and abilities?

Brilliant and talented people

What is genius?

Genius is the highest degree of intellectual or creative development of a person, relative to the accepted norms of society, manifested in science, technology, inventions, art, culture and social sphere, where a new milestone has been reached.
Brilliant people give a completely new trend, create unique technologies that did not exist before, and scientific discoveries change thinking and so on in any field.

A talented person can be equated to a genius. How correct is this?

What is talent?

Talent is a person’s ability that develops over time, accompanies the accumulation of experience and knowledge, and contributes to superiority in some field or field over others.

Differences between genius and talent.

A person can have talent in many areas, but with definitely developed experience in one area. A person of genius can manifest himself with the highest degree of developed abilities in different areas and in different directions.

For example, Leonardo Da Vinci is a brilliant person, because with the highest degree of intellectual and creative abilities, relative to the general mass of people, he invented unique objects, wrote paintings, music, and also proved himself as a scientist, architect, sculptor. Talent can be developed and improved based on knowledge and experience, while genius manifests itself at an early age with the highest quality of results.

For example, a person has a passion for the art of drawing and after years of training he will receive an excellent result, and after decades he can achieve outstanding results, thanks to which discussions will begin in society and he will be recognized as a talented person. A brilliant person, as a rule, will immediately produce a result that will excite the public.

We can say that genius is talent, only with the highest degree of development in various areas and areas of activity with maximum quality of execution, which may run counter to accepted standards public and brings a new trend.

Brilliant people make new discoveries, creating a new era in human activity, talented people successfully refine them and introduce changes, creating unique creations.

A brilliant person in the modern world.

In our modern society, it is customary to consider a person a genius if he creates the highest quality, new creation, thanks to his innate highly developed abilities, and is superior to others in one area or field of activity and is universal in it.

How to become a genius?

Genius and talent are innate qualities of a person. Genius and talent can manifest themselves both in childhood and in adulthood based on innate ( biological factor), which matures during human development.

If you engage in one activity for a large amount of time, be a more qualified specialist, understand, know, study or put into practice something better than others, then you can be equated to a talented person, but by definition, this will be giftedness.

For example, anyone can master the skill of drawing, only gifted people draw well, talented people even better, and brilliant people draw in such a way that a new creation, a new genre, a new idea or vision arises.

What is giftedness?

Giftedness is the ability to successfully carry out human activities, with the accumulation of knowledge, experience and skills. A gifted person makes attempts to achieve success based on the experience gained, the period of training completed, through the accumulated knowledge and ability to do.

Signs of genius.

The strangeness of a man of genius

Manifests in early period age. If a person is a genius, then he will express himself and show his abilities from childhood.
Creative, out-of-the-box thinking. Most people will look at a thing in a monotonous way, meaning something understandable that is inclined to a rational conclusion, but a brilliant person will offer an innovative, non-standard approach.
High performance indicator. Able to quickly and effectively perform creative or mental work.
Highest score.
Self-development. Brilliant people receive, process and assimilate information faster than others, easily applying it in practice.
Tenacity and perseverance. Society would not recognize brilliant people if they did not complete their work. Perseverance allows you to achieve a small goal in a short period of time, just as perseverance requires years of painstaking work.
Tendency to diseases. Schizophrenia, or emotional personality disorder, is common to great people.
On your own mind. Such people know what they want to receive, achieve, accomplish and, first of all, will listen to their subconscious rather than the opinions of other people.
Individuality. In the field of activity, skills, culture, development, creativity, they are able to perform work in an original way, as well as in Everyday life may have oddities, expressed in everyday life, in the process of work. There may be an inherent illness that causes nervousness, which will add individuality to the image of a person, but not to the essence.

Genius test.

Brilliant people have no doubt about who they are, because they know what to achieve, what to create, bring or how to change the world through their activities.
How old are you? Genius is inherent from childhood.
Taking an IQ test is an indicator of a person's intelligence level. More than 90% of the mass of people have a value of no more than 110 in relation to their age. Scientists have developed tests that show more reliable results based on the relationship between age and task difficulty. Thus, a child's IQ may be equal to that of an adult, but it will not mean that the child is smarter or developmentally equal to the adult. Choose a test that suits your age.
Can you demonstrate your abilities as well in other areas of activity?
Try to observe yourself as you study information and pay attention to the time it takes to assimilate it. For example, learning foreign languages should not cause difficulties; as a rule, they are easily acquired by a brilliant person.
Can you write text with both hands at the same time?
Pay attention to your existence, achievements, abilities, innovations in culture, inventions, technologies, creativity, art, music, discoveries in science. A brilliant person brings innovations into the world with the highest results.
Pay attention to your recognition or popularity.
Individuality. Brilliant people are individual personalities who are envied, worshiped, praised, spoken, written, imitated, tried to repeat their achievements, copied creations, and improved and refined what was produced.
Do you have any illnesses, mental illnesses, for example: emotional personality disorder?

A person of genius is a rarity; as a rule, the public learns about him, because the desire for self-realization in activity, thanks to abilities developed to the highest degree, is higher than worldly goods. New discoveries or creations surprise the public, change consciousness, directions of development, a vector of movement are created, as a result, people begin to discuss and say that the person is a genius.

Low emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand the feelings and emotions of another person. This concept emerged from research into human success.

Great, brilliant people may not understand your desire, intentions, motivation, and they may also not recognize the emotion and show theirs. For example to a successful seller You need to understand the desires and needs of your client and, thanks to your communication skills, make a sale.

Our emotional emotions varied: we can be offended, angry, happy, sad, etc. A brilliant person may not show his emotions and may not intuitively recognize them.

Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is mental disorder associated with human thinking and emotions, leading to auditory hallucinations, impairment of performance, insanity, delirium.

Patients with schizophrenia experience the following illnesses: depression, nervousness, tremors, muscle tension, sweating, palpitations, dizziness, discomfort, depression, mental disorder, diabetes, heart and lung diseases, infectious diseases, osteoporosis, hyperlipidemia and hypogonadism.

John Forbes Nash Jr. - a talented mathematician who created the basis scientific method about game theories, namely the study of strategies in games from a scientific point of view. Received highest award“Abel Prize” for work done in the theory of nonlinear differential equations. At the age of 30, schizophrenia appeared.

Statistics for schizophrenics:

5 people per 1000 are sick (from 0.4 to 0.6% of the number of people.)
40% susceptible to alcohol and drugs
Life expectancy is, on average, 10 years less than that of a healthy person.
Susceptibility to suicide.
Social problems such as: unemployment, poverty, homelessness.
Illness is equivalent to disability.

Bipolar affective disorder (BAD, MDP).

Bipolar affective disorder is a mental disorder, a set of syndromes accompanied by depression. For example, people who suffer from bipolar disorder are prone to experience anxiety and sadness, joy and fear, elation and anxiety, etc.

Examples of brilliant people.

Vincent van Gogh is a Dutch artist who painted more than 2,100 works, 860 of which were painted in oils. Van Gogh created a new pictorial language and discovered art as modernism. He suffered from bipolar disorder and committed suicide.
Archimedes is an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and engineer who discovered to the world the method of calculating areas and volumes, which formed the basis of integral calculus, created the definition of the volume of a surface and a sphere, gave his definition of the number Pi “\pi”, created a screw that facilitates the lifting of loads, built a planetarium , where the movements of 5 planets are visible. The discoveries and innovations of Archimedes are extensive, in astronomy and physics, he proved many theorems, and according to the ancient Greek philosopher and writer “Plutarch” - Archimedes suffered from an obsession with mathematics, lived without paying attention to his appearance and didn't really take care of himself.
Newton Isaac - English mathematician, physicist, inventor. Created the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of mechanics. Developed differential and integral calculus and many other discoveries and theories. He was good at drawing. Newton was always sad and never laughed, no one noticed that he was irritated or nervous. He was indifferent to entertainment and was in a concentrated state all the time.
Galileo Galilei - Italian physicist, writer, mathematician, astronomer, mechanic, inventor. Made significant contributions to science, was the first to use a telescope for observation and study celestial bodies, which led to discoveries in astronomy. Galileo - a pioneer in experimental physics. In his early years, as a student, he argued with teachers, believing that his opinion should be taken into account.

Introduction

The topic of giftedness and genius in psychology is considered quite widely. “...most often the following classification of levels of development of abilities is found: ability, giftedness, talent, genius” (Yu.B. Gippenreiter).

Talent is an ability inherent from birth. But it reveals itself gradually, with the acquisition of certain skills or experience. Modern scientists identify certain types of talent that people possess to one degree or another. In the early 1980s, Howard Gardner wrote the book "Frames of Mind." In this book, he identified eight types of talent and intelligence:

verbal-linguistic (responsible for the ability to write and read, inherent in journalists, writers and lawyers);

digital (typical for mathematicians, programmers);

auditory (musicians, linguists, linguists);

spatial (inherent in designers and artists);

physical (athletes and dancers are endowed with it; these people learn more easily through practice);

personal (also called emotional; responsible for what a person says to himself);

interpersonal (people with this talent often become politicians, speakers, traders, actors);

environmental talent (trainers and farmers are endowed with this talent). 2

The presence of talent should be judged by high development abilities, primarily special ones, as well as based on the results of human activity, which should be distinguished by fundamental novelty and originality of approach. A person’s talent is usually directed by a pronounced need for creativity and reflects social demands.

Genius – practical implementation of a higher level creative potential personalities relative to other personalities. Traditionally expressed in new and unique creations, belatedly recognized as “masterpieces”. Sometimes genius is explained in the new and unexpected methodological approach to the creative process.

As a rule, a genius creates much more productively and faster than his peers who achieve official recognition in the same field of activity. There is an opinion that genius requires the universal interests of an extraordinary personality.

Psychologists agree that abilities, like muscles, must be developed through exercise. This follows from the very definition of abilities, because they cannot be born on their own, outside of a certain activity. The truth of this thesis can be easily seen using the example of musical abilities. Those who have studied music know that the path to performance mastery lies through daily hours of practice, a significant part of which consists of tedious scales. But these scales are played every day by both beginning musicians and great pianists. However, the point is not so much in the number of exercises, but in the strength of tension, in the systematic nature of mental work, and its methodology.

Nai highest level the development of abilities manifested in creative activity, the results of which have historical significance in the life of society, in the development of science, literature, and art, is called genius. Genius differs from talent of social significance of the problems that a person solves. Genius expresses the advanced trends of his time.

Individual characteristics of abilities are reflected in the versatility or one-sidedness of their development. M. Lomonosov, D. Mendeleev, N. Borodin, T. Shevchenko and others had versatile abilities. For example, M. V. Lomonosov achieved outstanding results in various fields of knowledge: chemistry, astronomy, mathematics and at the same time was an artist and writer , a linguist, had an excellent knowledge of poetry.

However, this “...does not mean that all the individual qualities of a genius are developed to the same degree. Genius, as a rule, has its own “profile”, some side dominates in it, some abilities manifest themselves more clearly.”

The individual characteristics of each person’s abilities are the result of its development. Therefore, for the development of abilities, appropriate social conditions and individual activity are needed.

“There are moments in the life of brilliant people when these people show great similarities with madmen, for example, increased sensitivity, exaltation followed by apathy, originality of aesthetic works and the ability to discover, unconsciousness of creativity and the use of special expressions, strong absent-mindedness and suicidal tendencies, as well as often abuse of alcoholic beverages and, finally, enormous vanity.”

It can be said about brilliant people, just like about crazy people, that they remain lonely, cold, and indifferent to the responsibilities of a family man and a member of society all their lives. Michelangelo constantly insisted that “his art replaces his wife.”

It is not uncommon that, due to the same reasons that so often cause madness, that is, due to illness and head damage, the most ordinary people turn into geniuses. As a child, Vico fell from a tall staircase and crushed his right parietal bone. Gratri, at first a bad singer, became a famous artist after severely bruising his head with a log. Mabillon, completely weak-minded from a young age, achieved fame for his talents, which developed in him as a result of a head wound he received.

This dependence of genius on pathological changes can partly explain a curious feature of genius compared to talent: it is something unconscious and manifests itself completely unexpectedly.

Jürgen Meyer says that a talented person acts strictly deliberately. He knows how and why he came to famous theory, whereas this is completely unknown to a genius: all creative activity is unconscious.

Those people of genius who have observed themselves say that under the influence of inspiration they experience some inexpressibly pleasant feverish state, during which thoughts involuntarily appear in their minds and splash out of their own accord, like sparks.

If we now turn to solving the question - what exactly is the physiological difference between a genius and an ordinary person, then, on the basis of autobiographies and observations, we will find that for the most part the whole difference between them lies in the refined and almost painful impressionability of a genius.

As mental abilities develop, impressionability grows and reaches greatest strength in brilliant individuals, being the source of their suffering and glory. These chosen natures are more sensitive in quantitative and qualitative terms than mere mortals, and the impressions they perceive are distinguished by their depth, remain in memory for a long time and are combined in various ways. This is one of the most important prerequisites for geniuses to create something fundamentally new, which is why they are able to see in small things what is not noticeable to others and make something out of these little things greatest discovery. Many brilliant scientists fainted with delight when reading Homer's works. The painter Francia died of admiration after seeing Raphael's painting. giftedness abilities genius mattoid

But it is precisely this too strong impressionability of brilliant or only gifted people that in the vast majority of cases is the cause of their misfortunes, both real and imaginary. A genius is irritated by everything, and what for ordinary people seems like just pinpricks, with his sensitivity already seems to him like a blow from a dagger. Morbid impressionability also gives rise to exorbitant vanity, which distinguishes not only people of genius, but also scientists in general, starting from ancient times.

The poet Lucius did not rise from his seat when Julius Caesar appeared in the meeting of poets, because he considered himself superior to him in the art of versification. Schopenhauer became furious and refused to pay bills if his last name was spelled with two “n’s.”

Everyone who had the rare good fortune of living in the company of brilliant people was amazed at their ability to interpret in a bad way every action of those around them, to see persecution everywhere and in everything to find a reason for deep, endless melancholy. This ability is determined precisely by the more strong development mental powers, thanks to which a gifted person is more able to find the truth and at the same time more easily comes up with false arguments to confirm the validity of his painful delusion. In part, the gloomy view of geniuses on their surroundings depends, however, on the fact that, being innovators in the mental sphere, they repel most people with unshakable firmness.

A genius has the ability to guess what is not fully known to him: for example, Goethe described Italy in detail without seeing it. It is precisely because of such insight, rising above general level, and due to the fact that the genius, absorbed in higher considerations, differs from the crowd in super-actions or even, like crazy people (but in contrast to talented people), shows a tendency towards disorder - genius natures meet with contempt from the majority, which, not noticing the intermediate points in their work, sees only the discrepancy between the conclusions they made and the generally accepted ones and the oddities in their behavior.

If some of these latter exhibit remarkable mental abilities, then this is only in comparatively in rare cases, and moreover, their mind is always one-sided: much more often we notice in them a lack of perseverance, diligence, strength of character, attention, accuracy, memory - the main qualities of a genius. And for the most part they remain lonely all their lives, uncommunicative, indifferent or insensitive to what worries the human race, as if they were surrounded by some special atmosphere that belonged to them alone.

Summarizing these provisions, we can come to the following conclusions: in the physiological relationship between the normal state of a genius person and the pathological state of a madman, there are many points of contact. Among brilliant people there are madmen and among madmen there are geniuses. But there were and are many brilliant people in whom one cannot find the slightest sign of insanity, with the exception of some abnormalities in the sphere of sensitivity.

Having established such a close correspondence between men of genius and madmen, nature seemed to want to point out to us our duty to treat with condescension the greatest of human disasters - madness and at the same time warn us not to get too carried away by the brilliant ghosts of geniuses, many of whom are not only do not rise into the transcendental spheres, but, like sparkling meteors, having once flared up, they fall very low and drown in a mass of delusions.

Talent and genius are different , first of all, in terms of the objective significance and at the same time the originality of what they are capable of producing. Talent is characterized by the ability to achieve high order, but remaining in principle within the framework of what has already been achieved; genius presupposes the ability to create something fundamentally new, to pave truly new paths, and not just reach high points on already beaten roads. The high level of giftedness that characterizes genius is inevitably associated with excellence in different or even all areas. As an example of universalism, often characteristic of geniuses, it is enough to name Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, R. Descartes, G. V. Leibniz, M. V. Lomonosov, K. Marx. But the talent of a genius also has a certain profile, and some side dominates in it, some abilities are especially identified and formed in the leading direction of his work.

Conclusion

The nature of human abilities causes quite heated debate among scientists. Are our abilities innate or are they developed?lifetime? Do you need to be born a musician, or talent, as follows from the well-known statements, is it 1% ability and 99% sweat? Among scientists there are active adherents of both one and the other point of view.

Proponents of the idea of abilities argue that abilities are biologically determined and their manifestation depends entirely on the inherited genetic stock. Training and education, scientists who take this position believe, can only speed up the process of manifestation of abilities, but even without pedagogical influence they will certainly manifest themselves.

Representatives of another extreme point viewpoints believe that the characteristics of the psyche are determined by the quality of education and training and that every person can develop any abilities. Supporters of this trend refer to cases where the children of the most primitive tribes, having received appropriate training, were no different from educated Europeans. Here they talk about the so-called “Mowgli children”, which convincingly testify to irreparable damage, even the impossibility of human development outside of society.

Abilities are formed and developed in the process of activity on the basis of inclinations - hereditary and innate psychological qualities of a person. Consequently, in order to develop the ability for this type of activity, it is imperative to carry out this activity. Abilities characterize a person as a subject of activity.

The problem of talent and genius has been facing psychologists for a long time and today there is no single concept within the framework of any personality theory that would explain it in in full. Most personality theories consider only some aspects of this problem. Nevertheless, the study of issues of the structure of talent is very important, both for the theory of psychology and for solving specific psychological and pedagogical problems of modern education.

When considering psychological literature, the question arises about the relationship between the concepts of giftedness, talent and genius. In many sources, the concepts of giftedness and talent are interpreted as synonymous and are not separated. Genius is seen as the highest degree of manifestation of talent or giftedness. Hence the need to introduce precise concepts to further clarify the problem.

In modern literature, more and more articles and publications appear that touch on this topic in one way or another. True, they are all just a drop in the ocean of psychological problems that appear among teachers and parents of gifted children in our time, when information changes every five years, and sometimes more often. Today's schoolchildren have to fit so much into their memory that sometimes their young, unstable psyche cannot withstand such loads. Hence the emotional breakdowns and depression. Here we no longer have to talk about the development of creative potential, which requires a careful, thoughtful attitude; there is a continuous race for the quantity and quality of knowledge.

Many figures of modern science highlight the personal factor as the only one thanks to which humanity can move forward. Therefore, both abroad and in our country, new programs for the development of talented children and adolescents are being developed, giving them the opportunity to begin realizing their potential as early as possible. But in my opinion, truly good methods can only be developed on the basis of a solid theoretical basis, after the problem has been comprehensively studied and theoretical positions have been formed within the framework of a unified psychological and pedagogical concept.

List of sources used

Averin V. A. Personality psychology: Textbook. - St. Petersburg: EastNovaPress, 2007. – 398 p.

Ananyev B.G. Man as an object of knowledge. – L.: Lenizdat, 1999. – 215 p.

Introduction to psychology / Ed. ed. prof. A.V. Petrovsky. – M.: “Academy”, 1996. – 496 p.

Leites N. S. Early manifestations of giftedness // Questions of psychology. - 1998. - No. 4. - P. 98-107.

Luria A.R. Lectures on general psychology. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2006. – 320 p.

Maklakov A.G. General psychology: Textbook. Benefit. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. – 592 p.

Matyushkin A.M. The concept of creative talent // Questions of psychology. – 1989 - No. 6. – pp. 29-33.

Mukhina V.S. Age-related psychology. Phenomenology of development. – M.: “Academy”, 2006. – 608 p.

Nemov R.S. Psychology: In 3 books. – M.: VLADOS, 2003. – Book. 1: General fundamentals of psychology. – 688 p.

General psychology: Textbook / Ed. Tugusheva R. X., Garbera E. I. – M.: Eksmo, 2006. – 592 p.

Popova L.V. Gifted girls and boys // Primary school: “plus – minus”. - 2000. - No. 3. – P. 58-65.

Psychology: Textbook / Ed. prof. K.N. Kornilova, prof. A.A. Smirnova, prof. B.M. Teplova. – M.: Uchpedgiz, 1988. – 614 p.

Shcheblanova E.I., Averina I.S. Modern longitudinal studies of giftedness // Questions of psychology. – 1994. - No. 6. – pp. 134-139.

Shcheblanova E.I. Unsuccessful gifted schoolchildren: their problems and characteristics // School of Health. -1999. No. 3. – P. 41-55.

Slutsky V.M. Gifted children: www.friendship.com.ru

http://psylist.net/difpsi/genials.htm

1 Teplov B.M. Abilities and giftedness: Psychology of individual differences. - M.: Moscow University Publishing House, 1982. – 404 p.

2 Gardner G. Frames of the mind. – M.: Nauka, 1980. – 250 p.

3 Psylist. net [Electronic resource] – access mode to the article: http://psylist.net/difpsi/genials.htm

The position of a person in society, his social status, well-being, recognition of others largely depend on personality traits. And everyone who strives for success dreams of becoming, if not a genius, then talented or at least gifted. In psychology, the concepts of “giftedness,” “talent,” and “genius” are in one way or another connected with abilities. Sometimes they are even called the highest levels of development of abilities, but this is not entirely true.

- this is a complex formation, a combination of a variety of human qualities that give him the opportunity to achieve success in a certain activity. It is the opportunity, but whether this potential opportunity becomes a reality, depends on the hard work, perseverance and determination of the individual.

Abilities are formed and developed throughout life. There are cases when people achieved success in painting, literature, and invention at a fairly mature, or even old age.

The basis of abilities are natural inclinations, which are congenital (but not necessarily hereditary) in nature, for example:

ear for music;
high sensitivity to color discrimination;
large lung capacity;
increased activity of the right or left hemisphere of the brain, etc.

It is difficult to achieve success without the inclinations, but also natural qualities a person is not guaranteed it. Inclinations can develop into abilities only in the process of mastering an activity, systematic study and hard work.

Along with special abilities associated with a specific one and manifested in it, there are also general abilities, primarily cognitive ones. You cannot do without them in any activity. A person with a low level of intelligence will not be able to become an outstanding composer even if he has a phenomenal ear for music. Level general abilities determines the efficiency and speed of receiving, storing and processing information and the effectiveness of human interaction with the environment, including society.

This is a set of inclinations that presuppose a high level of general abilities, most often called giftedness.

Giftedness and its role in human life

In psychology, there is no consensus on what giftedness is, and most often this concept is used in pedagogy. There, giftedness is considered as a complex of personality qualities that contributes to the successful acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills in educational activities.

In psychology, there are several points of view on the essence of this concept, but most often giftedness is associated with cognitive abilities: attention, memory, etc. The concept of “giftedness” thus includes the following individual characteristics:

observation and high level of concentration;
the ability to quickly and often spontaneously remember diverse information;
free access to information stored in memory and, as a result, associative thinking;
flexible thinking, capable of operating with concepts and categories from different fields of knowledge;
high level of logical thinking;
developed creative thinking and imagination;
ability to think original, creatively and find non-standard solutions tasks.

Thus, giftedness provides a person with the opportunity to master various types of activities, but this opportunity is potential, since special abilities are also necessary for success. Although, given that giftedness presupposes a penchant for creativity and significant general activity, a person with a high level of this characteristic will always find an area of self-realization and an area where he can achieve success. And a number of psychologists also identify special talent associated with special abilities.

Talent as a natural gift and level of ability

You can often hear the expression: “He was given talent by God.” The assessment of talent as a kind of gift is connected, of course, with the desire to somehow justify one’s own “talentlessness” - if it’s not given, it’s not given. But there is a certain amount of truth in this statement.

Talent is a very high level of special abilities and, indeed, it is not given to everyone. Talent is based on inclinations - natural qualities, a person’s innate predisposition to a certain activity. It most often manifests itself in anatomical, physiological or psychophysiological features:

ear for music;
sensitivity of the visual analyzer;
center activity mathematical abilities in the cerebral cortex;
speed of mental reactions, etc.

All this creates conditions for potential success in activity. But you still need to master this activity, and not at an average level, but at the level of mastery - only then will people talk about your talent.

That is, although talent presupposes natural data, it is, first of all, work, perseverance in mastering techniques, methods of activity, the process of developing and improving abilities. Even if a person was born with excellent inclinations, but does not show perseverance and hard work in developing his abilities, he will not achieve success; at best, he will become a strong average peasant, an artisan, and not a master. This is what they usually say about such people: “I buried my talent in the ground.”

But, one way or another, talent is a fairly common phenomenon; moreover, almost all children are born potentially talented. And it depends only on upbringing and your own perseverance whether potential talent will turn into real talent.

But genius is a phenomenon of a completely different order, although it is also related to the level of ability. But we can say that genius goes beyond upper limit mental norm, and therefore occurs extremely rarely.

Superpowers or gifts? Learn from the superhumans themselves about their powers.

What is genius

When we say that genius goes beyond the norm, we do not mean pathology or disease, but the fact that the abilities of a genius significantly exceed a certain standard norm accepted in society. This allows geniuses not only to achieve success, often in several types of activities, but also to influence the very course of development of human civilization.

A talented person differs from a simply capable person quantitatively - in the level of development of abilities, but a genius differs qualitatively.

Highest level of human ability

Characteristics of a genius:

unusual perception of the environment;
out-of-the-box thinking;
the highest level of creativity.

Moreover, spontaneous creativity, when new, original ideas are born as if on their own, and intuitive thinking is ahead of rational thinking.

No less important is such a quality of genius as interest, passion, often turning into obsession. Brilliant people are often interested in different fields and types of activities, and are able to achieve success everywhere not only thanks to their giftedness and talent, but also to their tremendous hard work, perseverance, and determination. For the sake of new knowledge or mastering a new activity, a genius can sacrifice many things, including his own health and the well-being of loved ones.

Geniuses have the ability of scientific foresight not only due to their analytical abilities, but also because they themselves were in many ways ahead of their time, and their discoveries and creations seemed to be taken from the future.

The basis of genius is a very high level of giftedness and talent, which is manifested in various types of activities. It would seem that a genius is capable of achieving success in everything. For example:

Leonardo da Vinci was not only an artist, but also an architect and an outstanding inventor, whose ideas were hundreds of years ahead of his time.
Giordano Bruno is known not only as a brilliant astronomer who expressed ideas that were incomparable with the level of development of science of that time, but as a poet and philosopher.
Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of planetary motion solar system, became famous as a famous mathematician, mechanic and optician.
The outstanding philosopher Rene Descartes was also the creator analytical geometry, physicist and even physiologist. By the way, the Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov considered him his predecessor.
One of the brightest Russian geniuses, Mikhailo Lomonosov, showed abilities in very different fields: in poetry and mechanics, chemistry and history, painting and metallurgy, geography and astronomy.

Reading about geniuses, you understand that these are people who are clearly outside the norm. But how abnormal are they?

Maybe it's still a pathology?

This is precisely the idea that a number of researchers who studied the phenomenon of “genius” came to at the beginning of the 20th century - the activities of these brilliant people and their behavior were too different from ordinary ones.

One of the most famous proponents of the idea of connecting genius with mental pathology was the Italian psychiatrist Charles Lombroso. He wrote the book “Genius and Madness”, in which he collected and analyzed large statistical material of various deviations talented people. Lombroso concluded, albeit rather cautiously, that genius is often associated with the manifestation of illness, and not only mental illness. Is he right?

Partly yes, I’m right. But it’s not that there is an obvious connection between genius and madness, but that brilliant people are often predisposed to illness, including mental illness. There are several reasons:

Geniuses are characterized by a high degree of sensitivity; they, like a sponge, absorb all information, including emotional information. Therefore, brilliant people are often distinguished by exaltation, lack of restraint and vulnerability.
Possessing high efficiency and often obsession with their activities, geniuses spend much more physical and mental energy than ordinary people. Therefore, they often suffer from a “rollback” - a sharp decline in activity, when an emotional upsurge is replaced by a sharp decline, and often depression.
Due to mobility, instability of the nervous system and increased emotionality, geniuses endure life's troubles more difficult than ordinary people, they more often have problems social nature, they get along worse with other people. Therefore, they often suffer from loneliness.
The achievements of brilliant people are ahead of their time, so they often do not receive recognition from their contemporaries, and sometimes they are persecuted. And as a result of rejection by society, they may develop neuroses and depression. Even Leonardo da Vinci, seemingly one of the most prosperous geniuses, was recognized by his contemporaries (and not only his contemporaries) as a great artist, and not at all as a brilliant inventor. But he himself considered painting an unimportant hobby and attached greater importance to inventions, which, alas, were never brought to life in the 15th–16th centuries.

There is another reason not directly related to genius. Geniuses are noticeable in the crowd; they are too extraordinary, non-standard, to be considered normal. They seem strange, and rumors sometimes greatly exaggerate these oddities.

But geniuses can be called the real engines of civilization. What about weirdness? Everyone has them. Modern psychologists generally claim that normal people do not exist; the norm is an abstraction. To a genius, at least, oddities are forgivable.

Schools for gifted children: good or bad?

Introduction

Relevance The topics of our course work are revealed by the following provisions. A few decades ago, S. L. Rubinstein wrote: “A lot of work has been devoted to the study of giftedness. However, the results obtained are in no way adequate to the amount of labor spent on these works. This is explained by the fallacy of the initial assumptions of so many of the studies and the unsatisfactory nature of the methods that were mostly used in them.”

Unfortunately, sometimes, with the help of inexorable analysis, those bright, rainbow illusions with which a person deceives and exalts himself are destroyed and destroyed one after another. So we come to the conviction that love is, in essence, nothing more than the mutual attraction of stamens and pistils... and thoughts are the simple movement of molecules. Even genius - this only sovereign power that belonged to a person, before which, without blushing, one can kneel - even many psychiatrists put it on the same level with a penchant for crime, even in it they see only one of the teratological forms of the human mind, one of the varieties madness.

Issues of giftedness, talent, genius, as Rubinstein correctly noted above, despite the regularity of study, remain not fully understood, with such different options for cause-and-effect relationships that it is difficult to talk about any logical connection between these theories. For example, in the psychological literature, the question of the relationship between the concepts of giftedness, talent and genius often has very contradictory answers. In many sources, the concepts of “giftedness” and “talent” are interpreted as synonymous and not separated, and genius is considered as the highest degree of manifestation of talent or giftedness.

The lack of development and at the same time the importance of the topic of the course work also emphasizes the relevance of our theoretical research.

Object of study are such psychological concepts as giftedness, talent, genius.

Subject of research– features, time of appearance, development, disclosure of such aspects of the psyche as giftedness, talent, genius.

Target our course work is to study the features and conditions of the emergence, development and disclosure of such aspects human psyche as giftedness, talent, genius.

The goal is achieved by the following tasks:

Give a general description of a person’s abilities, describe the levels and development of special abilities, the relationship between abilities and age;

To study the general concept of giftedness, the characteristics of children's giftedness and its types, the influence of the social environment on giftedness;

Study the theoretical and psychological foundations of talent;

Reveal the general concept of genius, the similarity between brilliant people and crazy people;

Describe the intermediate stage of genius - mattoids (according to Ch. Lombroso);

In the process of revealing the stated topic, we studied the works of such psychologists as: Ananyev B.G., A.V. Petrovsky, Gardner G., Gippenreiter Yu.B., Leites N.S., Luria A.R., Matyushkin A.M., Nemov R.S., Popova L.V., Rubinshtein S.L., Teplov B. M., Shcheblanova E.I.

Our work is written on 36 pages, consists of an introduction, 5 paragraphs with subparagraphs, a conclusion, a list of references (30 sources) and is exclusively theoretical in nature.

The first chapter of our course work is devoted to abilities as the basis of the processes we study, the 2nd chapter describes giftedness, the 3rd - talent, the 4th - genius and its intermediate stage, in the 5th chapter we give general recommendations for working with gifted children.

1. Abilities

1.1 General characteristics of human abilities

In the study of abilities domestic psychology M. Teplov made a great contribution. In addition, the theory of abilities was created by many other domestic psychologists: Vygotsky, Leontiev, Rubinstein, Ananyev, Krutetsky, Golubeva.

Teplov identified 3 main signs of abilities:

· individual psychological characteristics that distinguish one person from another;

· features that relate to the success of an activity or several activities;

· features that cannot be reduced to existing knowledge, skills, abilities, but which can explain the ease and speed of acquiring knowledge and skills.

According to S. L. Rubinstein, “abilities are a complex, synthetic formation that includes a whole range of data, without which a person would not be capable of any specific activity, and properties that are developed only in the process of organized activity in a certain way.”

V. S. Yurkevich understands types of activities as abilities, V. D. Shadrikov understands the properties of functional systems that implement individual mental functions, etc. But we will focus on Teplov’s definition. Summarizing all the above characteristics, we get the following definition:

« Capabilities– individual personality traits, which are subjective conditions for the successful implementation of a certain type of activity. Abilities are not limited to the knowledge, skills and abilities an individual has.”

It should also be noted that abilities can only exist in constant process development. Without development, the ability is lost. That is why the success of a particular activity depends on the development of the abilities necessary for this activity.

They highlight natural (or natural) and specific abilities . Natural abilities are biologically determined and associated with innate inclinations. Many of the natural abilities are common to humans and animals, especially higher animals, for example, monkeys (for example: memory, thinking, the ability to communicate at the level of expression). These abilities are formed through learning mechanisms such as conditioned reflex connections.

Specific the same abilities have a socio-historical origin and ensure life and development in the social environment. In turn, specific abilities can be divided into 3 more types:

· theoretical, which determine a person’s propensity for abstract-logical thinking, and practical, which underlie the propensity for concrete practical actions;

· educational, which influence the success of pedagogical influence, a person’s assimilation of knowledge, abilities, skills, the formation of personality traits, and creative, associated with success in creating works of material and spiritual culture, new ideas, discoveries, inventions.

· ability to communicate and interact with people.

We also note that theoretical and practical abilities do not combine with each other, unlike natural and other specific ones. In this case, most people have either one or the other type of ability. Together they are extremely rare and mainly occur in gifted and versatile people. Abilities help a person develop and, with a certain combination of various well-developed abilities, determine the level of development of abilities, in general, for a particular person.

The prerequisite for this development of abilities is the innate abilities with which the child was born. However, abilities are not determined by biologically inherited properties. The brain contains only the ability to form these abilities. How abilities develop depends on:

1) on the quality of existing knowledge and skills, on the degree of their integration into a single whole;

2) from the natural inclinations of a person, the quality of the innate nervous mechanisms of elementary mental activity;

3) from the greater or lesser “training” of the brain structures themselves involved in the implementation of cognitive and psychomotor processes.

1.2 Levels and development of special abilities

Abilities have complex structure, which depends on the development of personality. There are two levels of development of abilities:

reproductive

· creative

A person who is at the reproductive level only displays a high ability to assimilate knowledge, master activities and carry them out according to a given model. At the creative level, a person creates something new and original.

If humanity were deprived of the opportunity to create or did not have educational (reproductive) abilities, then it would hardly be able to develop. Therefore, some authors believe that reproductive abilities are, first of all, general abilities, and creative abilities are special ones that determine the success of creativity. And their interaction determines the development of humanity.

It is worth taking into account that these levels are interconnected; all creative activity includes reproductive activity, and reproductive activity includes creative activity. Also, both levels are quite dynamic. They are not something frozen. In the process of mastering new knowledge or skills, a person moves from one level to another, the structure of his ability changes. It is known that even extremely gifted or even brilliant people began by imitation.

The development of one or another ability takes place in several stages:

· Makings of

· Capabilities

· Giftedness

· Genius

Makings of– these are only peculiar anatomical and physiological prerequisites for the development of abilities. Abilities can be formed from inclinations only during activity and under favorable conditions. In addition, every deposit is multi-valued, i.e. under different conditions, different abilities can be formed from it.

Ability- This basic property personality, which is a condition for the successful performance of a certain activity. The vast majority of people have the ability to perform several types of activities.

Giftedness connected with the development of abilities, but at the same time independent of them. B.M. Teplov defined giftedness as “a qualitatively unique combination of abilities, on which the possibility of achieving greater or lesser success in performing one or another activity depends.” Giftedness does not ensure success in any activity, but only the opportunity to achieve this success. Those. To successfully perform an activity, a person must have certain knowledge, skills or abilities. Giftedness can be special - that is, applicable to one type of activity, and general - to different types activities. Often general talent is combined with special talent. Signs that indicate giftedness include early development abilities or more pronounced compared to other members of the same social group.

· verbal-linguistic (responsible for the ability to write and read, inherent in journalists, writers and lawyers);

· digital (typical for mathematicians, programmers);

· auditory (musicians, linguists, linguists);

· spatial (inherent in designers and artists);

· physical (athletes and dancers are endowed with it; these people learn more easily through practice);

· personal (also called emotional; responsible for what a person says to himself);

· interpersonal (people with this talent often become politicians, speakers, traders, actors);

· environmental talent (trainers and farmers are endowed with this talent).

The presence of talent should be judged by the high development of abilities, especially special ones, as well as by the results of human activity, which should be distinguished by fundamental novelty and originality of approach. A person’s talent is usually directed by a pronounced need for creativity and reflects social demands.

Genius– the practical embodiment of an increased level of creative potential of an individual relative to other individuals. Traditionally expressed in new and unique creations, belatedly recognized as “masterpieces”. Sometimes genius is explained by a new and unexpected methodological approach to the creative process.

But all this relates to training existing abilities. The formation of new abilities takes place in several stages:

1) Identification of inclinations. This is a very important stage at which it is necessary to identify the prerequisites for certain abilities for their further formation. This can be done through observation, however the most common approach to this process is to conduct various tests. A similar technique is widely used by child psychologists to identify the inclinations of a child, but can also be applied to an adult, which is practiced by employers during an interview with a candidate.

2) Provision favorable environment to develop abilities. A favorable condition can be considered a sensitive period of human development, that is, a period when the conditions for the development of certain abilities are most optimal. This period is often called a period of special sensitivity. Sensitive periods are typical for children, but the time of their occurrence and duration depend on the individual characteristics of each particular child. The adult’s task at this stage is to anticipate or notice such a period in time and provide the child with what he needs to develop this or that ability. An example would be learning to play the violin. Most teachers do not begin to teach children over nine years of age, since usually after this age the sensitive period for a given musical ability ends.

3) Introduction to the activity. This stage is the practical implementation of the previous one and has many similarities with it. Once identified favorable conditions To develop a particular ability, it is necessary to immerse a person in activities related directly to this ability. Because as mentioned above, ability can arise and develop only within activity. The variety of activities that a person engages in contributes to the most versatile and at the same time complex development of his abilities. It is also important to take into account some requirements, the observance of which will allow the most effective development of a particular ability.

· Creative character activities. Such an activity requires a person to be quick-witted and have some originality. In addition, this approach will allow you to achieve complete immersion in the environment, completely capturing your attention. This is most relevant for children; the most effective methods of teaching and developing abilities today are based on creative, often playful activities.

· Optimal difficulty level. It is necessary to take into account the characteristics of each individual, his mental abilities, physical qualities and some individual properties such as memory, attention, etc. If the activity is too simple, it only ensures the implementation of existing abilities; if it is overly complex, it becomes impossible to implement and, therefore, also does not lead to the formation of new skills.

· Ensuring a positive emotional state contributes to the formation of interest in activities and increasing their effectiveness. A positive attitude can be achieved through a system of successes and failures. Within its framework, every failure must be supported by a victory, thus some variety is introduced into the process of activity, excitement arises, which does not allow the individual to quit this or that type of activity.

· Proper motivation. Stimulating motivation also maintains an individual's interest in a given activity. It turns the goal of activity into current need person. For the formation and development of human abilities, learning is necessary, and according to the theory social learning, this process cannot occur without appropriate reinforcement. The stronger the reinforcement, the faster and more effective the development of a particular ability will be. Stimuli such as encouragement and punishment can be used as reinforcement. Encouragement is considered a more effective method because... Punishments often lead to the suppression of unwanted behavior rather than its elimination.

Thus, the development of a person’s abilities for various types of activities largely depends on the external environment. There is an opinion that the development of a person’s creative abilities has some special, internal sources. Proponents of this idea support their point of view by the predisposition of some people and the complete inability of others to certain types of activities. However, they forget and distort the main thing - the source of development of abilities. Spontaneously developed initial abilities are mistaken for innate.

So, the initial abilities of people develop very quickly, but they reach only the lowest level. In order to continue the development of certain abilities or to form new ones, the development process must be organized and managed.

1.3 Relationship between abilities and age

Of course, abilities develop throughout life, because they are closely related to the development of a person’s personality, which never tires of improving. However for the most part abilities are revealed and developed in childhood.

The development of children's abilities occurs in the process of training and education. A child’s abilities are formed in the process of learning material and spiritual culture, technology, science and art. The prerequisite for this development is innate inclinations. They are both common to all people and completely unique to each person. In the process of development of a person and his personality, inclinations turn into diverse and more advanced abilities. The very first manifestations of inclinations transform them into elementary abilities.

At the same time, each ability that begins to take shape is, as it were, a deposit for the further development of abilities. Each ability, when manifested, at the same time develops, moves to a higher level, and its transition to a higher level opens up opportunities for new, higher manifestations. The role of inclinations in development different abilities different. It is more significant and specific, for example, in the development of a musician, in whose talent the specific innate properties of the hearing aid play a significant role, than in the development of the abilities of a literary scholar, historian or economist.

An essential stage in the development of a child’s abilities is the development of his so-called readiness to learn. This ability to learn continues school age, as those who associate it with a certain period of age maturation are inclined to say. The practice of mass adult education to eliminate illiteracy in the Soviet Union has proven this. But, of course, youth is still an exceptionally favorable time for learning; in the process of this learning, abilities are formed that open up greater opportunities for successful further learning and improvement in adulthood.

There are always individual differences in children's abilities. They can manifest themselves in successful studies, in the fact that different children have different inclinations to different subjects, and they master knowledge with different depths. However, success in something cannot be turned into a criterion for giftedness, because children may have different motivations. Therefore, the same successes of different students can be indicators of different abilities. And with the same abilities, successes can be different.

2. Giftedness

2.1 General concept of giftedness

The concept of giftedness has not received a single generally accepted definition. The most common is the definition of the German psychologist W. Stern, a leading psychologist in the modern interpretation of the problem of giftedness:

“Giftedness is the general ability of an individual to consciously orient his thinking towards new requirements; this is the general ability of the psyche to adapt to new tasks and living conditions.”

Giftedness is something like a natural gift, or something hereditary. Giftedness is a function of the entire system of living conditions in its unity, a function of the individual. It is inextricably linked with the whole of human life and therefore finds itself at different stages of its development.

The natural inclinations of the body do not in themselves uniquely determine a person’s talent. They are only an integral component of the system of conditions that determine the development of the individual and his talent. Giftedness expresses internal capabilities development not of the organism as such, but of the personality.

Giftedness manifests itself only through its relationship with the conditions in which specific human activities occur. It expresses the internal data and capabilities of a person, that is, the internal psychological conditions of activity in their relationship with the requirements that this activity poses. For the dynamics of giftedness, the optimal level of requirements put forward in the course of human activity, for example, the requirements that the curriculum sets for the student, is essential. To stimulate development, these requirements must be high enough.

The question of the relationship between giftedness and special abilities faces a fundamental problem - the problem of the relationship between general and special development, the solution of which is of great importance for children's pedagogical psychology. In genetic terms, the relationship between general and special development, and accordingly - between giftedness and special abilities - changes with age. Application of each of these psychological concepts is legitimate, but we should not forget about their relative nature, because special abilities are both genetically and structurally related to giftedness, and giftedness is specifically manifested in special abilities and develops in them.

Giftedness is a unique combination of abilities on which the possibility of achieving greater or lesser success in performing a particular activity depends. Understanding giftedness significantly depends on how much weight is given to certain types of activities and what is meant by the successful implementation of each specific activity.

People's talents and abilities vary not quantitatively, but qualitatively. Qualitative differences in giftedness are expressed not only in the fact that one person is gifted in one area, another in another, but also in the level of development of giftedness. Search in abilities qualitative differences - important task psychology.

The purpose of giftedness research is not to rank people by their level, but to develop ways scientific analysis quality features giftedness and abilities. The main question is not how gifted or capable special person, but what the giftedness and abilities of this person are.

2.2 Children's giftedness

The main difficulty in identifying signs of giftedness during childhood is that it is not easy to identify what is actually individual in them, relatively independent of age. Thus, the high mental activity observed in a child, a special readiness for tension, is internal condition mental growth. And it is not known whether it will turn out to be persistent feature and at subsequent age stages. A child’s creative aspirations and his production of new trains of thought can also be classified as harbingers of giftedness, but it is not a fact that they will receive further development. At the same time, early manifestations of giftedness do not yet predetermine a person’s future capabilities: it is extremely difficult to foresee the course of the further development of giftedness.

Determination of a child's giftedness - difficult task, in solving which it is necessary to use both the results of a comprehensive psychological examination and information about the child’s school and extracurricular achievements obtained by interviewing parents, teachers, and peers. Only such an integrated approach to diagnosis is recognized by all scientific concepts, while the question of the structure and factors of development of giftedness remains debatable. Numerous psychological studies have changed the initial ideas about a high IQ (intelligence quotient) as the only criterion for outstanding achievements, demonstrating the critical role of creativity and personal sphere, interests and special abilities, as well as social conditions in the development of giftedness. In most scientific concepts, giftedness and the prerequisites for its development are associated with the creative capabilities and abilities of the child, defined as creativity. Gifted children exhibit a strong desire to engage in activities for which they are capable.

They can literally spend hours every day doing something that interests them, without getting tired and without straining at all. This is both work and play for them. All experiences, interests, searches, questions are concentrated around these activities. It is easy to understand how much, as a result of such almost continuous activity, a child manages to learn, understand and assimilate, and how much time and effort would be required for a teacher to specifically teach him all this.

There is a certain age sequence in the manifestation of giftedness in different areas. Giftedness for music can manifest itself especially early, then for drawing; In general, talent for art appears earlier than for science. General intellectual talent can manifest itself in an unusually high level of mental development (all other things being equal) and in the qualitative uniqueness of mental activity. Gifted children are characterized by enthusiasm for their activities and manifestations of creative moments in their activities.

A child’s giftedness, like his individual abilities, are not given by nature in a ready-made form. Innate inclinations of abilities are only one of the conditions for very complex process the formation of individual psychological characteristics, which largely depend on the environment and the nature of the activity. The signs of giftedness cannot be judged solely on the basis of the results of standardized tests (tests). The giftedness of children can be established and studied only in the process of training and upbringing, during the child’s performance of one or another meaningful activity.

Special schools (for example, with music, mathematical bias), various clubs and studios, children's technical stations, holding school Olympiads, children's amateur art competitions, etc. Caring for gifted children involves combining the development of special abilities with broad general educational training and comprehensive personality development.

2.3 Types of giftedness

Gifted children differ extremely greatly from each other in terms of types of giftedness.

Types of giftedness include the following:

a) Artistic talent.

This type of giftedness is supported and developed in special schools, clubs, and studios. It implies high achievements in the field of artistic creativity and performing skills in music, painting, sculpture, and acting abilities. One of the major challenges is to ensure that these abilities are recognized and respected in mainstream schools. These children devote a lot of time, energy to exercise, achieving mastery in their field. They have little opportunity to successful studies, they often need individual programs for school subjects, in the understanding of teachers and peers.

b) General intellectual and academic talent.

The main thing is that children with this type of giftedness quickly master fundamental concepts and easily remember and retain information. Their highly developed information processing abilities allow them to excel in many areas of knowledge.

Academic talent has a somewhat different character, which is manifested in the success of learning certain academic subjects and is more frequent and selective.

These children can show high results in the ease and speed of progress in mathematics or foreign language, physics or biology and sometimes have poor performance in other subjects that are not so easy for them. The pronounced selectivity of aspirations in a relatively narrow area creates its own problems at school and in the family. Parents and teachers are sometimes dissatisfied that the child does not study equally well in all subjects, refuse to recognize his giftedness and do not try to find opportunities to support and develop special talents.

c) Creative talent.

First of all, debate continues about the very need to distinguish this type of giftedness. The essence of the disagreement is as follows. Some experts believe that creativity is an integral element of all types of talent, which cannot be presented separately from the creative component. So, A.M. Matyushkin insists that there is only one type of giftedness - creative: if there is no creativity, there is no point in talking about giftedness. Other researchers defend the legitimacy of the existence of creative talent as a separate, independent type. One of the points of view is that talent is generated either by the ability to produce, put forward new ideas, invent, or by the ability to brilliantly perform and use what has already been created.

At the same time, researchers show that children with a creative orientation often have a number of behavioral characteristics that set them apart and that cause not at all positive emotions in teachers and people around them:

· Greater independence in judgment;

· Subtle sense of humor;

· Lack of attention to order and organization of work;

· Bright temperament;

· Social giftedness.

Definition social talent states that it is the exceptional ability to establish mature, constructive relationships with other people. There are such structural elements social giftedness such as social perception, prosocial behavior, moral judgment, organizational skills, etc.

Social talent is a prerequisite for high success in several areas. It presupposes the ability to understand, love, empathize, and get along with others, which allows you to be a good teacher, psychologist, and social worker. Thus, the concept of social giftedness covers a wide area of manifestations associated with the ease of establishing and high quality interpersonal relationships. These features allow one to be a leader, that is, to show leadership talent, which can be considered as one of the manifestations of social talent.

There are many definitions of leadership talent, in which it is possible, however, to highlight common features :

· Above average intelligence;

· Ability to make decisions;

· Ability to deal with abstract concepts, planning for the future, and time constraints;

· A sense of purpose, direction of movement;

· Flexibility, adaptability;

· Sense of responsibility;

· Self-confidence and self-knowledge;

· Perseverance;

· Enthusiasm;

· Ability to express thoughts clearly;

The listed types of giftedness manifest themselves in different ways and encounter specific barriers to their development, depending on the individual characteristics and uniqueness of the child’s environment.

2.4 The influence of the social environment on giftedness

The results of various researchers considering the influence of the social environment (socio-economic relations, material support, social conditions, etc.) on giftedness is not clear. But it is possible to draw the following conclusions: socio-economic conditions influence the development of giftedness, because they determine a person's standard of living; The more economically developed a society is, the more favorable the opportunities for human development.

A very important condition for the development of giftedness is the family, namely:

Family structure and emotional climate;

Styles of parent-child relationships;

Parents' attitudes towards children's giftedness.

The issue of styles of parent-child relationships has been studied in more detail. Scientists are unanimous that styles based on strict control and forceful pressure do not provide opportunities for the development of a gifted personality. An important aspect is the attitude of parents towards children's giftedness. Obviously, this factor is one of the main ones influencing the realization of a child’s capabilities.

Relationship types:

Negative;

Ignoring;

Positive;

Hypersocialization (when parents see giftedness as prestige, an opportunity for self-affirmation through the outstanding abilities of their children or the realization of their unfulfilled opportunities).

Talent is a high level of a person’s ability to perform a specific activity. It's a combination of abilities that give a person the opportunity to successfully, independently and original perform certain complex labor activity.

Talent is a high level of development, especially special abilities. This is a set of such abilities that make it possible to obtain a product of activity that is distinguished by novelty, a high level of perfection and social significance.

Already in childhood, the first signs of talent in the field of music, mathematics, linguistics, technology, sports, etc. can appear. However, talent may appear later. The formation and development of talent largely depends on the socio-historical conditions of human life and activity.

Talent can manifest itself in all spheres of human labor: in organizational and pedagogical activities, in science, technology, in various types of production. Hard work and perseverance are of great importance in developing talent. Talented people are characterized by a need to engage in a certain type of activity, which sometimes manifests itself in a passion for the chosen business.

The combination of abilities, which are the basis of talent, in each case is special, characteristic only a certain person. The presence of talent should be inferred from the results of a person’s activities, which should be distinguished by their fundamental novelty and originality of approach. Human talent is directed by the need for creativity.

In various areas, talent can manifest itself in different time. Thus, in music, drawing, mathematics, linguistics, and technology, it usually manifests itself at an early age; and talent in the literary, scientific or organizational fields is discovered at a later age.

The maximum productivity of talented people also manifests itself at different ages: in science at 35 - 40 years old; in poetry at 24 - 30, etc. .

Talent and genius differ, first of all, in the objective significance and at the same time the originality of what they are capable of producing. Talent is characterized by the ability to achieve achievements of a high order, but remaining, in principle, within the framework of what has already been achieved; genius presupposes the ability to create something fundamentally new, to pave truly new paths, and not just reach high points on already beaten roads. The high level of giftedness that characterizes genius is inevitably associated with excellence in different or even all areas. As an example of universalism, often characteristic of geniuses, it is enough to name Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, R. Descartes, G. V. Leibniz, M. V. Lomonosov, K. Marx. But the talent of a genius also has a certain profile, and some side dominates in it, some abilities are especially identified and formed in the leading direction of his creativity.

4.1 General concept of genius

The highest level of development of abilities, manifested in creative activity, the results of which have historical significance in the life of society, in the development of science, literature, and art, is called genius. Genius differs from talent of social significance of the problems that a person solves. Genius expresses the advanced trends of his time.

4.2 Similarities between geniuses and crazy people

“A genius is an obsessed person, but he is a creator...” - N. A. Berdyaev.

No matter how cruel and sad this kind of paradox may be, considering it from a scientific point of view, we can say that in some respects it is quite reasonable, although at first glance it seems absurd.

This dependence of genius on pathological changes can partly explain a curious feature of genius compared to talent: it is something unconscious and manifests itself completely unexpectedly.

Jürgen Meyer says that a talented person acts strictly deliberately. He knows how and why he came to a certain theory, while this is completely unknown to a genius: all creative activity is unconscious.

Those people of genius who have observed themselves say that, under the influence of inspiration, they experience some inexpressibly pleasant feverish state, during which thoughts involuntarily arise in their minds and splash out on their own, like sparks.

Napoleon said that the outcome of battles depended on one moment, on one thought that temporarily remained inactive. When a favorable moment arrives, it flares up like a spark, and the result is victory. Socrates was the first to point out that poets create their works not as a result of effort or art, but thanks to some natural instinct. In the same way, diviners say amazing things without realizing it.

“All works of genius,” says Voltaire in a letter to Diderot, “are created instinctively. The philosophers of the whole world together could not have written the Armides of Cinema or the fable “The Sea of Beasts,” which La Fontaine dictated without even knowing well what would come of it. Corneille wrote the tragedy “Horace” as instinctively as a bird builds a nest.”

Thus, the greatest ideas of thinkers, prepared, so to speak, by impressions already received and by the highly sensitive organization of the subject, are born suddenly and develop as unconsciously as the rash actions of madmen. This same unconsciousness explains the unshakability of convictions in people who have fanatically adopted certain beliefs. But as soon as the moment of ecstasy, excitement has passed, the genius turns into an ordinary person or falls even lower, since the lack of uniformity (balance) is one of the signs of a genius nature. There can be no doubt that there is a complete similarity between a man who is mad during a seizure and a man of genius thinking about and creating his work. The Latin proverb says: “Aut insanit homo, aut versus fecit” (“Either a madman or a poet”).

Obviously, they all instinctively used drugs that temporarily increase the flow of blood to the head to the detriment of the rest of the body. Here, by the way, it is worth mentioning that many of the gifted and especially brilliant people abused alcoholic beverages.

It has been noticed that almost all the great creations of thinkers receive their final form, or at least become clear, under the influence of some special sensation, which plays here, so to speak, the role of the last straw. Facts prove that all great discoveries were made under the influence of the senses. Several frogs, from which it was supposed to prepare a healing decoction for Galvani's wife, became the reason for the discovery of galvanism. The isochronic (simultaneous) swinging of a chandelier and the falling of an apple prompted Newton and Galileo to create great systems.

It should also be added that inspiration and ecstasy always turn into real hallucinations, because a person sees objects that exist only in his imagination. So Bal says about Reynolds’ son that he could make up to three hundred portraits a year, since it was enough for him to look at someone for half an hour while he sketched a sketch, so that later this face would constantly be in front of him, as if alive. Luther heard arguments from Satan that he could not previously come up with on his own.

As mental abilities develop, impressionability grows and reaches its greatest strength in brilliant individuals, being the source of their suffering and glory. These chosen natures are more sensitive in quantitative and qualitative terms than mere mortals, and the impressions they perceive are distinguished by their depth, remain in memory for a long time and are combined in various ways. This is one of the most important prerequisites for geniuses to create something fundamentally new, which is why they are able to see in small things what is not noticeable to others and make the greatest discovery out of these small things. Many brilliant scientists fainted with delight when reading Homer's works. The painter Francia died of admiration after seeing Raphael's painting. giftedness abilities genius mattoid

Everyone who had the rare good fortune of living in the company of brilliant people was amazed at their ability to interpret in a bad way every action of those around them, to see persecution everywhere and in everything to find a reason for deep, endless melancholy. This ability is determined precisely by the stronger development of mental powers, thanks to which a gifted person is more able to find the truth and at the same time more easily comes up with false arguments to confirm the validity of his painful delusion. In part, the gloomy view of geniuses on their surroundings depends, however, on the fact that, being innovators in the mental sphere, they repel most people with unshakable firmness.

But still, the main reason for melancholy and dissatisfaction with the life of selected natures, according to C. Lombroso, is the law of dynamism and balance, which also governs the nervous system, the law according to which, after excessive expenditure or development of strength, there is an excessive decline of the same strength.

Sometimes sensitivity becomes distorted and becomes one-sided, focusing on one point. Several ideas of a certain order and some especially favorite sensations gradually acquire the significance of the main (specific) stimulus acting on the brain of great people and even on the entire organism. Poisson said that life is worth living only to do mathematics. D'Alembert and Menage, who calmly endured the most painful operations, cried from the slight stings of criticism. Lucio de Lanceval laughed when his leg was cut off, but could not bear Geoffroy's harsh criticism.

It should also be noted that among the geniuses, or rather learned people Often there are those narrow specialists whom Vahdakof calls “monotypical” subjects. All their lives they are engaged in one kind of conclusion, which first occupies their brain and then covers it completely. So, Beckman continues whole life studied the pathology of the kidneys, Fresner - the moon, Mkayer - ants, which represents a huge similarity with monomaniacs.

Due to such exaggerated and concentrated sensitivity, great people and madmen are extremely difficult to convince or dissuade of anything. And this is understandable: the source of true and false ideas lies deeper and more developed among them than among ordinary people, for whom opinions constitute only the basic form, a type of clothing, changed at the whim of fashion or as required by circumstances. The extreme and one-sided development of sensitivity, without a doubt, is the cause of those strange actions due to temporary anesthesia and analgesia, which are characteristic of great geniuses along with madmen.

Thus, they say about Newton that when he happened to leave the room to bring some thing, he always returned without taking it. Beethoven and Newton, having set to work, one on musical compositions, and the other on solving problems, became so insensitive to hunger that they scolded the servants when they brought them food, assuring them that they had already dined. Gioia, in a fit of creativity, wrote an entire chapter on the board desk instead of paper.

In a similar way, it is explained why great geniuses sometimes cannot grasp concepts that are accessible to the most ordinary minds, and at the same time express such bold ideas that seem absurd to most. The fact is that greater impressionability also corresponds to greater limited thinking. The mind, under the influence of ecstasy, does not perceive too simple and easy positions that do not correspond to its powerful energy. Thus, Monge, who did the most complex differential calculations, found it difficult to extract the square root, although any student could easily solve this problem.

Hagen considers originality to be the quality that sharply distinguishes genius from talent. In the same way, Jürgen Meyer says: “The fantasy of a talented person reproduces what has already been found, the fantasy of a genius reproduces something completely new. The first makes discoveries and confirms them, the second invents and creates. A talented person is a shooter who hits a target that seems difficult to reach; genius hits a target that we cannot even see. Originality is in the nature of genius.”

A genius has the ability to guess what is not fully known to him: for example, Goethe described Italy in detail without seeing it. It is precisely because of such insight, rising above the general level, and due to the fact that genius, absorbed in higher considerations, differs from the crowd in super-actions or even, like crazy people (but in contrast to talented people), reveals a tendency towards disorder - genius natures are met with contempt from the side of the majority, which, not noticing the intermediate points in their work, sees only the discrepancy between the conclusions they made and the generally accepted ones and the oddities in their behavior.

If some of these latter exhibit remarkable mental abilities, then this is only in relatively rare cases, and moreover, their mind is always one-sided: much more often we notice in them a lack of perseverance, diligence, strength of character, attention, accuracy, memory - the main qualities of a genius. And for the most part they remain lonely all their lives, uncommunicative, indifferent or insensitive to what worries the human race, as if they were surrounded by some special atmosphere that belonged to them alone.

4.3 Intermediate stage of genius - mattoids (according to Ch. Lombroso)

Mattoids Cesare Lombroso calls a variety that constitutes an intermediate link, a transitional stage between brilliant madmen, healthy people and actually crazy and possessing some kind of exceptional skill.

This is a special type of individuals who were first pointed out by Maudeli, calling them “people with a crazy temperament” and who were later called by Morel, Legrand de Sol and Schule “suffering from hereditary neurosis”, Ballinsky and others - psychopaths, and Raji - neuropaths.

The latter, who carefully and for a long time studied such subjects, proposed dividing them into four categories, depending on whether their abnormality belongs to the area of sensual, affective or intellectual.

The first category consists of partly hysterical subjects, partly hypochondriacs with more acute impressionability than other people, and with a tendency to explain their imaginary misfortunes by fictitious reasons.

The second category includes subjects with perverted instincts, abusing either excesses or abstinence and prone to various abnormalities. Affective moral mattoids form, in the full sense of the word, a substrate or transitional stage to innate criminals. Typically, such individuals become, according to Lombroso, the heads of secret societies that meet in a cafe or political club, become the founders of new sects, etc. Vain to the extreme, they often commit crimes out of a desire to become famous, forgetting that along with the loss of prestige, they lose both their honest name and the respect of others, which they so passionately sought.

Intellectual mattoids, according to Raja, are those uncontrollable talkers who, once they speak, cannot stop the flow of their eloquence, even if they wanted to. Under the influence of some kind of feverish mental excitement, they speak without logical connection and often come to conclusions completely opposite to what they wanted to prove. Sometimes they have an unusually developed memory, so that they remember entire pages of what they read, or they only remember numbers well, foreign words, but they forget the facial features of even their friends. Such subjects differ very little from the mentally ill, suffering from prideful insanity, etc., and often become one at the first occasion.

A variety of the same type, combining the intellectual mattoid with the moral or affective one, is represented by graphomaniacs. Distinctive feature mattoid - an exaggerated opinion about oneself, about one’s merits and at the same time the unique ability to express one’s convictions more on paper than in words or in deeds, without being indignant in the least by those adversities and contradictions that are encountered at every step in practical life and usually haunt both brilliant people and crazy people. The abnormality of mattoid writers is not always easy to notice if, for all the apparent seriousness and passion for this idea - in which they show similarities with monomaniacs and people of genius - their works were not often mixed with a lot of absurd conclusions, constant contradictions, verbosity and most importantly the image of selfishness and vanity, which constitute the predominant characteristic of brilliant people who have lost their minds.

It happens, however, that among the chaotic delirium in the works of mattoid graphomaniacs one comes across completely new, sound judgments.

Passanante, in his articles, and especially in conversation, sometimes expressed apt, original judgments that made many doubt whether he was really crazy. For example, his saying: “Where the scientist is lost, the ignorant succeeds.” Or here’s another thing: “History taught by peoples is more instructive than that which is studied from books.”

However, abnormality is reflected not so much in exaggerations regarding this or that tendency, but rather in inconsistency, in constant contradictions, so that next to sublime, sometimes beautifully presented views, there are judgments that are pitiful, absurd, paradoxical, contradictory to the main plan of the essay and social status author. When reading such articles, one involuntarily recalls Don Quixote, whose generous actions, instead of sympathy, evoke a smile of compassion, although in another time they might have been recognized as heroic, worthy of surprise. In general, genius traits are a rare exception in the works of the Mattoids.

Mattoid geniuses. Intermediate forms and imperceptible gradations exist not only between the mad and the sane, but also between the insane and the mattoid. Even among the latter, who represent a complete lack of genius, there are individuals who are so richly gifted that it is difficult to determine whether they are mattoids or people of genius.

It should be remembered that no matter how gifted a child is, he needs to be taught. It is important to teach perseverance, to teach to work, to make decisions independently. A gifted child does not tolerate pressure, harassment, or shouting, which can lead to problems.

It is difficult to cultivate patience and unobtrusiveness in such a child. A huge load of the child is required, with preschool age he should be included in creative work, create an environment for creativity.

To develop their talents, gifted children must have freedom of time and space, be taught an expanded curriculum, and feel individualized care and attention from their teacher. Wide time frames contribute to the development of the problem-search aspect. The emphasis is not on what to study, but on how to study. If a gifted child is given the opportunity not to rush through a task and not jump from one thing to another, he will best comprehend the mystery of the connection between phenomena and learn to apply his discoveries in practice. Unlimited opportunities to analyze expressed ideas and assumptions, to delve deeply into the essence of problems contribute to the manifestation of natural curiosity and inquisitiveness, the development of analytical and critical thinking.

One of the forms of working with talented, brilliant children in modern conditions is the creation of Children's Creativity Houses.

It is important, when you see a child’s talent, not to leave it to chance, not to think that he will find his way on his own. We need to ensure maximum development. Without helping, it is not difficult to lower his capabilities below zero.

Conclusion

In modern literature, more and more articles and publications appear that in one way or another touch on this topic of giftedness, talent and genius. True, they are all just a drop in the sea of psychological problems that appear among teachers and parents of gifted children when information changes every five years, and sometimes more often.

The nature of human talent causes quite heated debate among scientists. Is giftedness innate or developed during life? Do you need to be born a musician, or is talent, as the famous saying suggests, 1% ability and 99% hard work?

In this regard, there is a widespread opinion among scientists that abilities are biologically determined and their manifestation depends entirely on the inherited genetic fund. Training and education, scientists who take this position believe, can only speed up the process of manifestation of abilities, but even without pedagogical influence they will certainly manifest themselves.

Others believe that giftedness, talent, genius can manifest themselves in connection with the combination of a number of coinciding factors: genetic predisposition to a certain type activity due to only a slight distinctive physical feature, the presence of certain random or special conditions precisely during a sensitive period for this ability, painstaking and long in further work in line with this activity.

The best period for the development of abilities, the discovery of giftedness and talent is childhood. It is precisely this period of a person’s life that is the most favorable, because recognition of the world takes place and at first certain abilities are developed involuntarily, and then parents and at school help to develop them.

The problem of talent and genius has been facing psychologists for a long time, and today there is no single concept within the framework of any personality theory that would explain it in full. Most personality theories consider only some aspects of this problem. Nevertheless, the study of the structure of giftedness, talent and genius is of great importance, both for the theory of psychology and for solving specific psychological and pedagogical problems of modern education.

Both abroad and in our country, new programs for the development of talented children and adolescents are being developed, giving them the opportunity to begin realizing their potential as early as possible. But in our opinion, truly good methods can only be developed on the basis of a solid theoretical basis, after the problem has been comprehensively studied and a unified psychological and pedagogical concept has been formed.

Thus, we solved the tasks set for ourselves, revealed the necessary content of the topic and gave general recommendations for working with gifted, talented and brilliant children.

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