ABSTRACT
Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm, This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. In fact, Wang et al. showed that approximate number sense is related to math giftedness in teens enrolled in the center for Talented youth program at Johns Hopkins. Math anxiety will impact more advanced problem solving, so the impact increases with age and mathematics level. But math anxiety also impacts the number processing used for basic arithmetic. Because math anxiety leads to avoidance of courses or career choices that involve mathematics, it severely impacts not only individual lives, but also whole societies. Math difficulties can be overcome with targeted accommodations and prescriptive remediation, and new brain pathways can be established. In addition, math anxiety may interact with other math difficulties and can impact gifted/high-achieving math students disproportionately.
