Su búsqueda

En autores o colaboradores
  • Gifted education exists at the intersection of psychology and education. The roots of gifted education are deeply intertwined with the roots of psychological science (Robinson & Jolly, 2014). Psychology is one of the most wide-ranging of the scientific fields, and it contains numerous perspectives, foci, and philosophical orientations. We speak not of the traditional division of psychology into its recognizable subfields (e.g., clinical, developmental, cognitive, biological, etc.), but rather we note those perspectives and orientations that cut across subdisciplines, providing unified worldviews through which phenomena are understood. One of those dominant perspectives is known as trait theory. This perspective explains individual differences in behavior or performance in terms of differences in underlying traits, which are components shared by all individuals but whose strength or quantity varies between individuals (Elkind, 1981), exemplified by the psychometric approach to studying human intelligence (cf. Carroll, 1993), as well as personality psychology from Allport (1937) to the present. We summarize the trait theory perspective as follows: Individuals are collections of traits—general intelligence (g), Big Five personality components (e.g., extraversion and openness), grit, narcissism, aggression, mindfulness, and so on. These traits exist as latent variables and can be measured using carefully designed and validated psychological or educational instruments. Typically, there is no intrinsically meaningful metric for measuring these traits, so they are often expressed on a norm-referenced basis. These traits are relatively stable over time, though this stability varies considerably according to the nature of the trait. For example, conscientiousness (a Big Five personality component) is more stable than depression (a psychological condition that is responsive to stress, medication, and treatment). Individuals vary widely in their endowment with respect to these traits. The quantity of each trait possessed by individuals results in observable differences in behavior and performance that are relatively stable across contexts. Gifted education is rooted in this perspective, which has been fruitful, led to many important discoveries, and provided the underlying rationale for a large portion of the interventionist wing of psychology. However, like all perspectives, the focus on traits has significant limitations and “blind spots.” In this chapter, we argue that moving beyond this perspective is necessary for our field to make continued progress with respect to its scientific agenda—understanding the nature of precocious intellectual talent in childhood and exceptional achievement in adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Última actualización de la base de datos: 4/10/26, 6:08 (CEST)

Explorar

Tipo de recurso

Año de publicación