Now - if you leave the G word out and said, "Do you think Jeanie is in the top 3% of intelligence compared to other kids her age?" More might say yes.
I also disagree with this. I think if you said, "Would you say your child is very bright? Could he or she be gifted?", you would get a lot of people--10-15%--saying yes. If you said, "Is your child in the top 1 or 2% of all children this age?" I think fewer parents would say yes. If asked that way, I think parents would be much more likely to guess correctly.
I have long been aware that my DD is smart, but wasn't sure myself if DD was a top 5-10% or a top 1-2% kind of kid until she was tested. It's easy to see "smart," but harder to see what level of smart. There is also the confounding factor of environment. Thought DD did test in the 99th percentile, I don't think she's nearly that statistically rare in our peer group.
