Children Who Are Obsessed with Dinosaurs Have Higher Intelligence, Study Finds
Researchers found kids who are interested in dinosaurs grow up to be more intelligent
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Some children are absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs - they have everything dinosaur related; T-shirts, bedcovers, lunch boxes - but scientists now believe there may be more to it.
In the world of psychology, this obsession is referred to as "intense interests" and is a sign of high intelligence.
So, what does this mean exactly?
Intense Interests
According to a study by the University of Indiana and the University of Wisconsin, researchers found that an intense interest has a number of benefits for children.
It can lead to improved attention, enhanced perseverance, and heightened skills in complex thinking, such as the processing of information required for learning.
Furthermore, these intense interests have also been shown to improve linguistic skills and are a good indicator of higher understanding in younger children.
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It doesn't stop there either.
It’s also been shown that the way children study dinosaurs helps them develop strategies to tackle problems throughout their lives, much better than those who didn’t.
This intense interest in dinosaurs in kids is natural and usually develops in the first year of life without any encouragement from their parents.
Most of these obsessions will pass through and only about 20 percent of children will still have these interests going into school at about five or six years old.
It's like a phase that they will go through.
Will any kids keep these interests?
These studies have proven to researchers that once kids start school and have to devote time and effort to learn all these new things, they will lose their free time to explore their interests so they will eventually fade out and be lost although.
In order to keep these interests alive as the child grows up, it is suggested that parents should teach their kids facts about the subject they are interested in, as opposed to letting them have pretend adventures.
Not only does this keep the interest there but is also far more beneficial to the child's learning than just messing around with toys all day.
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This new research is definitely interesting.
How many people can say that they were interested in dinosaurs at an early age?
Did you have an obsession with dinosaurs? Perhaps your kids do?
If so, that's a really good thing, it seems.
