Gifted girls demonstrate highly developed language and verbal skills and a wide vocabulary. The gifted girl is typically an avid reader and displays great curiosity about the world around her. She processes information quickly. Gifted girls are sharp observers and learn rapidly. Gifted girls usually exhibit specific aptitudes within academia. The gifted girl typically prefers to study some subjects more than others, and is particularly fond of a few areas of knowledge. The attention span of a gifted girl is very long regarding a topic for which she displays specific aptitude.
A gifted girl often displays extraordinary creativity. She can make unusual connections between remote ideas, tries to improve and adapt things and is often spontaneous and unconstrained in the expression of her ideas. She is easily bored by repetition and memorization, and is unafraid to be different. She also has strong leadership skills. Gifted girls are skilled at recognizing and utilizing the skills and talents of others. The gifted girl has natural talent for organizing others and providing reliable, responsible leadership.
Very young gifted girls often learn to crawl, walk or run earlier than their same-age, nongifted peers. Gifted girls are usually overly energetic, sometimes to the point of disruptiveness in academic and family settings. The gifted girl is often rhythmic and athletic. She may also show psychomotor overexcitability, which manifests as rapid speech, impulsiveness and restlessness.
Heightened emotional sensitivity is a common characteristic of gifted girls. The gifted girl often has a strong sense of empathy and becomes concerned with morality, ethics and fairness early on. She develops an internal locus of control sooner than her peers. She is strongly motivated by self-actualization purposes.
Gender can have a significant impact on gifted girls. Some gifted girls are independent and rebellious toward sex roles and stereotyping. These girls are more interested in male-dominated careers and score more like males on measures of interests, values and personality than nongifted girls. Other girls learn from an early age that social acceptance is easiest when academic prowess is average. These gifted girls learn to hide their giftedness and do not take advantage of their particular skills and potential.