Child prodigy

A child prodigy is an individual who masters one or more skills or arts at an early age. One generally accepted heuristic for identifying prodigies is: a prodigy is someone who, usually around the age of twelve, displays expert proficiency or a profound grasp of the fundamentals in a field usually undertaken only by adults.

The term Wunderkind (from German: "miracle child" or "wonder child"") is sometimes used as a synonym for prodigy, particularly in media accounts, although this term is discouraged in scientific literature. Wunderkind also is used to recognize those who achieve success and acclaim early in their adult careers, such as Steven Spielberg and Steve Jobs.

Cognitive studies on child prodigies
Few studies have examined the neurological activity of prodigies. However, Michael O'Boyle, an American psychologist working in Australia, has recently utilized fMRI scanning of blood flow during mental operation in prodigies to display startling results. “Calculators,” those capable of mentally performing arithmetic, geometry, or other complex mathematical operations, normally reserved for electronic calculators, achieve six to seven times the typical blood flow to parts of the brain observed to be active during mathematical operations.

Mental calculators are not to be confused with other mathematical prodigies, because mechanically carrying out and keeping track of progress in a calculation is very different from having an understanding of the deeper principles behind mathematics. This is potentially one of the reasons why mental calculators do not necessarily go on to become mathematicians. A similar principle, for nearly the same mental mechanism, can be observed among players in games, such as, for example, chess or go. People typically think a few moves (or ply) ahead. Recent studies have indicated that ordinarily university students think 2, 3, or 4-ply when confronted with some kind of game-playing or problem-solving task. Beyond that it becomes very difficult to keep track of the different branches and details. But some people (and chess tournaments are good places to look) are able to look further ahead than that, and the skill sets between games and mathematics are very similar. performed on several math prodigies have suggested thinking in terms of long-term working memory (LTWM). This memory, specific to a field of expertise, is capable of holding relevant information for extended periods, usually hours. For example, experienced waiters have been found to hold the orders of up to twenty customers in their heads while they serve them, but perform only as well as an average person in number-sequence recognition. The PET scans also answer questions about which specific areas of the brain associate themselves with prodigious number-manipulation. One subject never excelled as a child in mathematics, but he taught himself algorithms and tricks for calculatory speed, becoming capable of extremely complex mental math. His brain, compared to six other controls, was studied using the PET scan, revealing separate areas of his brain that he manipulated to solve the complex problems. Some of the areas that he and presumably prodigies use are brain sectors dealing in visual and spatial memory, as well as visual mental imagery. Other areas of the brain showed use by the subject, including a sector of the brain generally related to childlike “finger counting,” probably used in his mind to relate numbers to the visual cortex.

Most researchers recognize that prodigious talent tends to arise as a result of the innate talent of the child, the environment that the individual resides in, the energetic and emotional investment that the child ventures, and the personal characteristics of the individual. This seemingly vacuous statement is necessary to rule out a simplistic view. The environment also plays an extremely important role, many times in obvious ways. Solely environmental theories to account for the performance of prodigies have been developed, examined, and to some degree 'tested'. For example, Laszlo Polgar set out to raise his children to be chess players, and all three of his daughters went on to become world class players (two of whom are grandmasters), emphasisizing the potency an environment has in determining the area toward which a child's energy will be directed, and showing that an incredible amount of skill can be developed through suitable training.

Adjustment into adulthood
The personal growth of child prodigies has traditionally captured a decent share of attention in popular culture, and has over the years been the subject of reasonable historical and sociological inquiry.

In fiction
There have been many films and TV series about child prodigies, mainly family dramas centering on how children with advanced minds cope with a world which sees them either as unique or abnormal.

An early film example is Dear Brigitte (1965) with Bill Mumy as a prodigious son of a professor, although there are films with child prodigies that predate that one. The Royal Tenenbaums, a recent work shows characters who began life as child prodigies. Another example is Little Man Tate (1991), a film depicting the struggles of a doting working-class mother trying to care for a child prodigy.

Child prodigies are also a staple in much science fiction.

The Belgian comic strip series Génial Olivier, which first appeared in 1963, took the paradoxical premise of a little boy who is a brilliant scientist but a dunce in every other respect. His inventions have included robots, life-like holograms and time machines, but he is hopeless at history, geography, spelling and grammar. As a result he is stuck in a normal everyday primary school where his talents are less than appreciated. Many of his inventions are aimed at cheating in exams or getting back at his teacher with whom he is engaged in a never-ending war of nerves. Olivier also uses his creations to deal with bullies or impress the girls, but the results are not always the ones desired.

Several episodes of the X-Files featured varying kinds of child prodigies; ranging from noble to violent and psychotic. Books such as Ender's Game, Matilda, Odd John, Beggars in Spain, Dune, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Artemis Fowl and others deal with child prodigies or focus on them. There is also the Wesley Crusher character in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Princess Azula in Avatar the Last Airbender, and Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars. Another is Lucas Wolenczak, who was a young computer genius in the TV series seaQuest DSV. In the television show Heroes, Micah Sanders appears to be a computer genius before and when he has his ability. The character Malcolm in the hit TV series "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000-2006) is a prodigious young man beset by family problems and has a mostly underplayed intelligence. In the TV series "The Pretender" (1996-2000), the main character Jarod is a prodigal child who, as a man, is capable of emulating any person within various fields of work or situations; Jarod assumes the role of a surgeon and through his mental prowess, is able to mimic an actual surgeon.

Television characters who are relatively well adjusted prodigies include Charlie Eppes, Doogie Howser, Gregory House, and Lisa Simpson, although in these cases some degree of isolation and difficulty is shown in their stories. A polar opposite to these is Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion, whose extreme arrogance is implied to be largely induced by her extraordinary intelligence and emotional insecurity. Accordingly, despite an appearance of depression over the tragic death of her mother, a young Sydney Bristow from the television series Alias pieces together in minutes a Jenga-like puzzle that her father Jack Bristow could never solve during a flashback scene of the Season Five series finale. He uses this discovery to determine that Sidney possessed a special skill set and essentially labels her a unique girl. During a flash-forward at the end of the episode, her daughter Isabelle pieces together the same puzzle but no one is aware of it, and she knocks it down.

Most fictional examples given here ultimately could be deemed troubled or even tortured prodigies, even the seemingly happy ones.

The final episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. seems to parody the idea: he appears on a talk show with child prodigies who end up confessing outrageous mental problems, but at the end he essentially agrees it applies to him as well. He therefore quits medicine in search of some kind of philosophical answer to his problems. Lisa Simpson is generally shown as having virtually no friends and her obsessive need to go to school seems occasionally pathetic even to her. Wesley Crusher's feelings of abandonment and resentment are more often shown as caused by the early death of his father, but in the last episode featuring him he could be deemed to show signs of "aging child prodigy disease". He is hostile to everyone, disobeys orders, and ultimately abandons Starfleet for his own kind of spiritual/philosophical journey. Anakin Skywalker clashes with authority and eventually falls to the dark side.

A few films take a slightly different approach. In Little Man Tate, the character suffers from burnout in the middle of the film, but by the end he recovers and is ultimately better adjusted than he was before the film story began. A vaguely similar result occurs in Searching for Bobby Fischer where, after a tormenting level of external pressure, the prodigy finds his own way toward stability and even being "a good person."

Films intending to deal, comically or seriously, with the more tortured variety include Shine, the William H. Macy character in Magnolia, and The Royal Tenenbaums, as mentioned. The film Real Genius takes a mixed approach. It seems to indicate that impressive early ability, leading to grand self and external expectations, coupled with obsessive studiousness and a seriousness toward one's work and life, leads people toward burnout, a phenomenon well understood within the real life version of the thinly veiled environment that is portrayed (the California Institute of Technology). The central epiphany in that film occurs when the younger Mitch and the older Chris develop a balance within their lives, fueled by their rediscovered love of science.

Battle Royale antagonist Kazuo Kiriyama is considered a child prodigy in that he quickly learned many skills such as the violin and martial arts only to discard both when they got "boring". He uses his unique mental power to devise plans to kill his fellow classmates.

On the television show Bones, Temperance Brennan's assistant, Zach, was a child mathematic prodigy with an IQ over 176. He learns at a rapid pace and can instantly identify any bone in the body and where it belongs. He also has the ability to recite Basketball Stats at the drop of a hat.

A complication worth mentioning though is that the child prodigy fictional characters thus mentioned often had deeply troubled family histories. In Shine David Helfgott, who is not a fictional character but the story is fictionalized, is shown as having an almost viciously domineering father. As does Macy's character in Magnolia and arguably all of the Tennenbaums. In The Simpsons Lisa's father is a borderline alcoholic, her mother has a gambling addiction, and her brother has been in juvenile hall. By comparison she is sometimes considered to be the most well adjusted character in her family. Wesley Crusher faced the death of his father and also faced the possible death of his mother numerous times. Doogie Howser had a stable home, but nearly died in childhood from cancer. Little Man Tate had a good mother, never had terminal illnesses, and ended up fine. Asuka Langley Soryu's mother committed suicide while institutionalized from apparent schizophrenia. In the anime show Digimon one of the new Digidestined, Ken Ichijouji, was known around the world as a famous child prodigy. In the episode Genesis of Evil, Ken has lost his memory and back tracks his life, to when his brother, Sam, also a child prodigy, would get all the attention from their parents and abuse Ken if Ken disobeyed him. Sam had later died upon a "wish" by Ken hoping that Sam would just "go away" and was struck by a car. Feeling his brother's death was his fault, Ken took his brother's Digivice, and over place in life, and began studying to become the prodigy he would later become, filling the void of Sam. Still a great deal of this is simply the need to add drama to the lives of any fictional character. A comparison of "police characters" or "doctor characters" in film or TV might also show an unusually high rate of burnout or even crippling mental illness when compared to reality.

In the anime and manga series Fullmetal Alchemist there are three child prodigies, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, and Winry Rockbell. Though the series moslty focuses on Edward's genius who is really more of a prodigy is debateable.

Many cartoons also include child prodigies, and some are based primarily around the prodigy themselves. The character Jimmy Neutron from the film and TV series of the same name, Penny Sanchez from Chalk Zone, and Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory would be three such examples. School of Rock includes a number of child prodigies with the school kids as musicians. In real life, these children learned to sing or play musical instruments at a professional level before the age of 10. In the series Artemis Fowl of books by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl II is a 12 year old (turns 13) criminal prodigy, who also experiences family problems, his father was abducted and this led to Artemis's mother going through serious depression. In the Chronicles of Narnia Lucy Pevensie is portrayed as a wunderkind in the movie soundtrack in a song by Alanis Morissette called 'Wunderkind'.