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Many children develop interests in particular things throughout their childhood, but those who are truly interested in learning more about specific things – such as learning all about types of dinosaurs and how they lived – can be more intelligent later in life. In psychological terms, this obsession with learning about dinosaurs or astronomy (for example) would be called an ‘intense interest’.
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According to a study conducted on children aged 4 and 6 by both the University of Indiana and the University of Wisconsin, children who develop these intense interests are more likely to do better later in life. In fact, a child with an intense, long-term interest in something, such as dinosaurs, can improve perseverance, attention and complex thinking skills. It can even improve linguistic skills and be a sign of high levels of understanding.
The catch is that the intense interest must be a ‘conceptual domain’. That is, the interest must be in the topic itself (a desire to learn more about individual dinosaurs and the way they lived) rather than situational (being interested in a large dinosaur roaring at a museum for a brief time).
“Results indicated a significant portion of preschool children do sustain an interest in conceptual domains during some portion of their childhood. Expected gender differences were found, with boys more likely to express an interest in a conceptual domain than girls,” wrote lead researcher, Joyce Alexander.
So, if your child is obsessed with learning all there is to know about an animals, dinosaurs, space or other complex subjects – then you may just have a genius on your hands.
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