Neuroscience And Learning In Education
September 15, 2026
Understanding Giftedness: what the Writing of Gifted Women Says about the Linguistic Norm
Letícia Cordeiro de Oliveira Bueno; Sheila Cristina da Silva Victorio
DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-202602258
Article derived from a Final Course Work (TCC), with content based on the student’s original work and adapted to the editorial format of the Revista E&S with the support of the ResumeAI tool, an artificial intelligence solution developed by the Pecege Institute for textual synthesis and organization.
Abstract
This study analyzed texts produced in blogs by women with high abilities/giftedness, aiming to identify linguistic markers related to the use of the standard norm and to understand how such choices articulate with social norms and possible masking strategies. A qualitative, descriptive, and documentary approach was employed, examining ten texts from personal blogs, published between 2018 and 2025, by women who self-declared themselves as gifted and who addressed their experiences. The analysis showed consistent management of the standard norm, but also an oscillation between more monitored uses and more flexible forms, with traces of orality and less formality. This linguistic tension reflected identity negotiations in different discursive contexts. It was observed that social expectations of perfection and linguistic adequacy intensely influence girls, affecting their practices. However, the blog environment favored greater expressive freedom, allowing for intimate and autobiographical discourses. It was concluded that the analysis of writing contributed to broadening the understanding of identity, gender, and inclusion, highlighting the importance of educational practices sensitive to the specificities of students with high abilities.
Keywords: High abilities/giftedness; Blogs; Identity; Masking; Standard norm.
1. Introduction
Neuroscience studies play a fundamental role in understanding the nervous system, its structure, functioning, and impact on human behavior and mental processes (Lent, 2001). In the context of learning, this area of knowledge highlights the dependence of knowledge acquisition on brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability to form, strengthen, and reorganize connections. However, it is crucial to recognize the individuality of each human being and, by extension, of each brain, which implies individualized forms of learning, guided by factors such as genetics, environment, past experiences, and emotions (Reis et al., 2009).
In this sense, the theory of multiple intelligences, proposed by Gardner (1983), offers an expanded perspective on human cognition. It argues for the existence of several types of intelligence, such as linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. This approach justifies that different people possess distinct cognitive abilities and ways of learning, which is particularly relevant to the discussion on giftedness.
Giftedness, seen as the presence of greater ease and performance compared to peers of the same age, culture, and socioeconomic level (Rzezak et al., 2004), should not be evaluated by a single intelligence parameter. The concept of intelligence as a singular measure of competence (Virgolim, 2021) has been questioned, as intelligence is multifaceted and not reducible to a single factor (Gardner, 1983; Virgolim, 2021). Although gifted individuals demonstrate specific cognitive attributes and more developed mental abilities, perceiving and interpreting the world more quickly and broadly (Rzezak et al., 2004), they also face significant challenges. These include school boredom, a mismatch between intellectual and emotional development, social isolation, and performance pressure, which can lead to anxiety, frustration, and underachievement (Alencar and Fleith, 2001; Renzulli, 2005; Pérez, 2003).
Faced with these challenges and the pursuit of better adjustment to the environment, gifted individuals may adopt masking strategies, known as masking. This camouflage behavior can occur both in the school environment, with the student avoiding demonstrating their interests or intentionally answering incorrectly, and in interpersonal relationships, in an attempt to fit into groups (Seng, 2019; Cross et al., 2014). Although masking may provide temporary social acceptance, its emotional consequences are often negative, including anxiety, low self-esteem, and a sense of disconnection from one’s own identity (Seng, 2019; Davidson, 2021).
The phenomenon of masking is particularly observed among gifted women, reflecting not only differences in socialization but also intense social pressures to conform to norms of behavior and communication (Seng, 2019; Cross et al., 2014). In this process, they adjust their attitudes and manifestations of knowledge to feel more belonging and reduce stigmatization (Cross et al., 2014). This adaptation is not limited to behavior, extending to language and influencing vocabulary choices, syntactic structure, and adherence to the standard linguistic norm. Such linguistic strategies, although favoring social acceptance, can conceal intellectual potential and affect the construction of an authentic identity. This opens a reflection on the complex relationship between gifted women and their linguistic practices, and how language use functions as a tool for social integration and expression of intellect.
Historically, women are socially subjected to high expectations of adequacy and perfection, which is reflected in how they behave and use language (Bueno, 2019). With giftedness, these demands intensify, creating a double pressure: the social pressure historically directed at women and the expectations of excellence associated with giftedness. They are expected to be cognitively excellent and socially adequate. In the educational context, this gender issue contributes to gifted girls being less identified, due to behavioral expectations according to sex (Neumann, 2018), such as being “organized, persistent, affectionate, and well-behaved” (Camargo et al., 2013). Language, in this sense, is understood not only as an instrument of communication but as a manifestation of cognitive functioning and thought organization (Zanello, 2014).
The analysis of the writing of gifted women on personal blogs offers a unique opportunity to investigate how the standard linguistic norm is used and how this use relates to social norms and masking strategies. Understanding these dynamics is fundamental to broadening the understanding of identity, gender, and inclusion, as well as highlighting the importance of educational practices that are more sensitive to the specificities of students with high abilities. Thus, the present study aims to analyze texts produced on blogs by women with high abilities/giftedness, in order to identify linguistic markers related to the use of the standard norm and to understand how such choices are articulated with social norms and possible masking strategies.
2. Material and Methods
The main objective of this study was to analyze texts from personal blogs written by gifted women, identifying recurring linguistic markers that demonstrate the use of the standard norm and understanding how such choices articulate with social norms and possible masking strategies. The initial stages of the work included reading and discussing fundamental theoretical texts to ground the study and composing the corpus.
The research has a qualitative approach, of a descriptive and documentary nature. The corpus was composed of ten texts published on personal blogs of women who declare themselves gifted and who directly address their experience with giftedness. The texts, dated from 2018 to 2025, were taken from the blog titled “Supereficiente Mental”. For the selection, the following criteria were adopted: (i) texts publicly available on the internet; (ii) clear identification of the author as gifted or first-person account of the condition; and (iii) texts written in Portuguese.
The collection of texts was carried out through online research, and the selected texts were organized into a digital database, containing information about the author, publication date, and text title. Only public texts were analyzed, ensuring the anonymity of the authors when necessary and respecting copyright, with citation of the original source.
The analysis of the texts followed sequential steps: (i) complete reading for content familiarization; (ii) identification of linguistic markers related to the standard norm; (iii) categorization of these markers into groups; and (iv) qualitative interpretation of the results, highlighting recurring patterns that could demonstrate how these women use the standard norm in their writings.
The linguistic categories observed to identify approximation or distancing from the standard norm included: verbal and nominal agreement (verification of alignment between subject-verb and noun-article-adjective), verbal and nominal government (usage according to the prescriptions of normative grammar), pronominal placement (use of proclisis, enclisis, and mesoclisis in formal contexts), and lexicon used (observing more formal vocabulary choices over slang or markers of orality). Furthermore, the syntactic and organizational structures of the text were considered, such as the use of compound sentences, subordinate clauses, and connectors; the use of punctuation according to the norm; referential cohesion mechanisms (use of pronouns and resumptive expressions), and sequential cohesion (use of connectors that guide textual progression, such as therefore, however, thus). Finally, the formal register was evaluated, checking for the absence of abbreviations, colloquial interjections, and explicit markers of orality. These categories functioned as analytical parameters to identify recurring linguistic markers and their relationship with the use of the standard norm.
Part of the textual organization process, linguistic revision, rewriting of excerpts, and support for argumentative structuring was aided by a generative artificial intelligence tool (ChatGPT, OpenAI). However, all analytical decisions, theoretical selection, data interpretation, and final writing were carried out by the author, with the tool being used exclusively as technical and linguistic support.
3. Results and Discussion
In this section, the results obtained from the analysis of the corpus of texts produced by gifted women are presented, which allowed the identification of linguistic and discursive patterns. Giftedness, which involves a high level of cognitive processing, a broad lexical repertoire, and the capacity for abstraction, can influence the authors’ linguistic choices, both in approaching and distancing themselves from the standard norm of the language (Souza et al., 2020).
The analysis considered the linguistic norm as that which is recurrent in speech and writing, subject to change according to usage (Bueno, 2019). The standard norm, in turn, was understood as an artificial and arbitrary model, constructed by criteria of good taste and linked to a specific social and historical context (Bagno, 2003). The concept of linguistic adequacy was mobilized as an interpretive tool, dialoguing with the resource of masking, without being a psychological diagnosis. The linguistic categories investigated included verbal and nominal agreement, verbal and nominal government, pronominal placement, lexical choice, syntactic structure, use of connectives, punctuation, referential and sequential cohesion, and formal register. Table 1 details these categories and their examples.
Table 1. Grammatical categories analyzed, definitions, and examples
| Grammatical category | Definition | Example extracted from the reports |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal agreement | Relationship between noun, adjective, article, and pronouns, which must agree in gender and number. | “Strong relief when I moved away from the study material.” (Account 1) |
| Verbal agreement | The verb must agree with the subject in number and person. | “The other teenagers went to parties, went out together…” (Account 2) |
| Nominal and verbal government | Relationship between nouns or verbs and their complements, which may require a specific preposition. | “I had difficulty understanding how everything worked.” (Testimony 3) |
| Pronominal placement | Position of the oblique pronoun in relation to the verb (proclisis, enclisis, or mesoclisis). | “I went to hand in an essay and once again I was faced with the highlighting and bullying.” (Account 2) |
| Lexical choice (formal / informal) | Selection of words that highlights the linguistic register. | “Wow!!! Is there a book that explains how everything works?” (Account 3) |
| Compound sentences | Structures with two or more clauses. | “I wanted to study, to know more and more things, but the physical discomfort was enormous.” (Account 1) |
| Subordinate clauses and connectives | Use of connectors and dependent clauses. | “I cried in the office because I felt powerless in the face of inequality.” (Account 4) |
| Use of punctuation | Textual organization through commas, dashes, etc. | “I observed everything, and, even without understanding anything about life, I distinguished intentions with clarity.” (Account 5) |
| Referential cohesion | Resumption of elements by pronouns or equivalent expressions. | “The professors praised my writing, and they also encouraged me to explain to my colleagues.” (Account 6) |
| Sequential cohesion | Connectors indicating logical continuity. | “First I was identified in the master’s program; then, I redid the evaluation with another professional.” (Account 7) |
| Formal registration | Use of standard language, without markers of orality. | “I realized I needed to organize my time, my space, and my activities to maintain balance.” (Account 8) |
Source: Original research results
Linguistic Aspects of Adequacy to the Standard Norm
The initial results highlight the recurrence of adequate uses of the standard norm, evidencing a consistent command of the Portuguese language by the authors. This pattern suggests that gifted women frequently mobilize linguistic resources associated with a more consistent command of the language. The adequate use of nominal and verbal agreement, nominal and verbal government, and pronominal placement was observed, according to grammatical principles. Syntactic structures, including compound sentences, subordinate clauses, and connectives, were also employed in a way that confers clarity and coherence to the texts. Referential and sequential cohesion mechanisms contributed to textual fluency and organization.
Despite the dominance of the standard norm, lexical selection demonstrated fluctuation between formal and informal, with the presence of markers of orality. This oscillation, along with the use of punctuation, which, although generally adequate, presented moments of greater relaxation, suggests flexibility in linguistic register. The recurrent mobilization of formal and normatively stable linguistic structures can be interpreted as a form of alignment with social and academic conventions, which reinforces the applicability of the concept of masking as a strategy for camouflaging anxieties and fears of judgment (Seng, 2019; Cross et al., 2014).
Orality, Punctuation, and Discursive Rhythm in Accounts of Gifted Women
In the analyzed texts, a reduced use of punctuation marks, especially commas, was observed, which limits pauses and affects reading rhythm. This characteristic can be associated with the accelerated thinking and cognitive fluency commonly observed in gifted individuals (Souza et al., 2020), reflecting in the materialization of written thought and the syntactic organization of texts.
This linguistic manifestation can also be understood in light of psychomotor overexcitability, a characteristic of gifted individuals that manifests as excess energy and rapid speech (Ackerman, 2009; Sousa and Fleith, 2024). The transposition of these characteristics to writing can result in fewer punctuation marks and pauses. Furthermore, the blog textual genre, being a more fluid, rapid, and informal writing environment (Marcuschi, 2010; Angeli, 2012), favors the incorporation of orality markers and justifies punctuation deviations. In this discursive space, where the authors explicitly declare themselves gifted, the need for masking tends to be attenuated, allowing for more spontaneous and less monitored writing, with normative flexibilizations.
Identity, gender and education: when giftedness is present
Women, historically subjected to greater expectations of adequacy and perfection, tend to adopt more elaborate language, closer to the standard norm, to avoid stigmatization in competitive environments (Bueno, 2019; Costa, 2005; Petry and Silva, 2005). For gifted women, these demands intensify, creating a “double pressure”: social demands directed at women and expectations of excellence associated with giftedness. They are expected to be cognitively excellent and socially adequate.
In the educational context, gender issues often prevent the identification of gifted girls due to expectations of feminine behavior (Neumann, 2018). This tension between external expectations, self-demand, and masking strategies manifests in the analyzed reports. Although some gifted female authors with linguistic giftedness express difficulties in organizing their ideas in writing, others demonstrate a search for a safe space in blogs to narrate their imperfections and to relax the standard norm, distancing themselves from the idea of perfection that is often attributed to them. These statements reveal an identity positioning and forms of subjective negotiation in the face of social pressure.
In summary, this study observed that texts by gifted women on blogs exhibit consistent command of the standard norm, with appropriate use of grammatical structures and textual cohesion. However, this homogeneity is permeated by a linguistic tension, evidenced by the oscillation between formality and the presence of deviations, especially in punctuation, which can be associated with the accelerated pace of thought and the blog’s textual genre. The results suggest that gifted women experience a dual pressure of cognitive excellence and social adequacy, but find in blogs a space to express their identities more authentically, by flexing linguistic norms and distancing themselves from the pursuit of perfection.
4. Conclusion
The present study aimed to analyze texts produced in blogs by women with high abilities/giftedness, seeking to identify linguistic markers related to the use of the standard norm and to understand how such choices articulate with social norms and possible masking strategies. It was verified that the texts presented a consistent management of the standard norm, with adequate use of grammatical structures, syntactic organization, and textual cohesion mechanisms. However, a linguistic tension was observed, evidenced by the oscillation between formality and the presence of deviations, especially in punctuation, which were associated with the accelerated pace of thought and the nature of the blog textual genre. The results indicated that gifted women experience a double pressure of cognitive excellence and social adequacy, but find in blogs a space to express their identities more authentically, by making linguistic norms more flexible and distancing themselves from the pursuit of perfection.
The analysis of these women’s writing contributed to broadening the understanding of identity, gender, and inclusion, by giving visibility to their voices and challenging historically naturalized expectations about language, gender, and performance. This study reinforces the need for educational practices more attentive to the singularities of students with high abilities, especially girls, who frequently face social expectations of perfection and linguistic adequacy. In this context, writing is perceived not only as a product but as an expression of trajectories, a powerful path to recognize the complexity, sensitivity, and potential of these experiences from an early age.
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Article originating from a Final Course Work on Neuroscience and Learning in Education
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