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There is considerable evidence that intelligence as a brain function occurs through the synchronized integration of information processing, involving a myriad of interconnected functional modules. Consistently, the brains of gifted children show relatively higher levels of cerebral interconnectivity when engaged in cognitive tasks. An important part of the evidence for integrated brain function as the seat of intelligence comes from studies into cross-modal processing, where sensory information in one modality, e.g. vision, is processed in multiple sensory areas, e.g. auditory, sensory. Thus, so-called learning styles such as VAK (Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic) based on processing information in a single modality, fail to acknowledge how the brain actually works. This could explain why no independent evidence has been found for the learning efficacy of VAK and similar learning style inventories. Moreover, as an anti-integration pedagogy, VAK is implicitly anti-intellectual and anti-giftedness. Savants are an intriguing example of high-functioning individuals. Despite their extremes of performance, this chapter argues that in terms of their neural interconnectivity, the brains of savants are qualitatively different from those of children we usually classify as gifted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

What will be the turning points in the education of gifted and talented students in the next several decades? As we complete the first decade of the new century, it is appropriate to reflect on the extraordinary changes and advances that have occurred in the last several decades in our field. Consensus on the turning points of the past century may be difficult to reach and admittedly, this perspective is filtered through the lens of one American woman who has spent the majority of her professional life in this area. The turning points suggested as a focus for the next several decades include the following: (1) expanding conceptions of the multidimensionality of giftedness and talent development, (2) eradicating the continued absence of challenge for gifted and talented students, (3) making a difference for underserved populations, (4) changing our focus from ways to identify gifted students to the ways we develop gifts and talents, and finally, (5) applying 'gifted' education pedagogy to talent development, with a focus on strengths, not deficits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Human beings usually live a long time. During their lifetime, certain attributes will follow them from birth to death. The question that has preoccupied me for more than 30 years is where giftedness falls along this dimension. Is giftedness confined to childhood and perhaps adolescence? Or can it be like gender—something that we possess from the moment of conception and which remains with us until the day we die? The attribution of giftedness appears to be a curvilinear inverted-U function of the person's age since conception, with the peak in childhood. Yet I would argue that the actual distribution should be more egalitarian. A gifted child was probably a gifted infant, even zygote, and may later become a gifted adolescent and adult, and may even die being gifted. The only difference across the life span is changes may take place in the nature of the gift or in the degree of its manifestation. To make this case I will offer a brief review of what we know about giftedness from a lifespan developmental perspective. The review starts with conception to birth, turns to childhood through adolescence, and ends with adulthood and maturity. The overview will stress giftedness of the highest order, giftedness that leads to exceptional achievement. In order words, the gift that the individual received eventually creates gifts that are given to others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

(This chapter takes the form of an interview with Carol Dweck about her and her graduate and post-doctoral students' current work, especially as this relates to the field of giftedness. Conducted by Susan Veronikas and Michael F. Shaughnessy, the interview was first published in Gifted Education International 19, 2004, 27-33 and has been updated by Carol Dweck for this volume.) The author describes her research on the malleability of intelligence, and the important effect that mindsets can have on intellectual and academic functioning and success, demonstrating that intelligence, creativity, and giftedness are not the fixed traits that much historical work in the field assumes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: book)

The author has been a strong advocate of evidence-based approaches to gifted education and counseling for many years now, and describes in this chapter the state of affairs in Germany. He makes a compelling case for systematic program evaluation, as well as serious attention to teacher and counselor training in gifted development that every jurisdiction would do well to heed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: book)

The author illustrates the importance of honoring cultural differences as they lead to different conceptions and experiences of what giftedness is, how it develops and how it is best fostered. His chapter on lay conceptions of gifted education in China provides a window on the kinds of fresh conceptions that can be useful to educators and psychologists everywhere. He concludes his chapter and this thematic section by discussing the Chinese practice of ren (benevolence), suggesting the integration of a socio-emotional component into gifted education by fostering the self-cultivation that transforms and changes one's beliefs, attitudes, and values, and leads to a deep concern for the well-being of others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: book)

In this chapter, I want to capture what it is like to be young, gifted, and Black in America. My theoretical perspective is that of a motivational psychologist, so I focus on how contemporary approaches to motivation research can shed light on giftedness in African American adolescents. I organize my discussion of African American gifted adolescents around overarching questions about "can" and "want." In framing my discussion, I focus on both the normative challenges of adolescence relevant to giftedness as well as the unique challenges that gifted Black adolescents are likely to encounter. To do this, I must cast a broad net and begin with factors that are unique to the everyday lives of people of color. Everything that I write in this chapter is shaped by the recognition that many racial and ethnic minority groups in contemporary America are positioned at the bottom of a status hierarchy wherein barriers to opportunity often override personal strivings for achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Lynn Liben raises three broad, thought-provoking issues in her chapter on giftedness in the spatial-graphic domain (see chap. 4, this volume; see record 2009-00231-004). First is the role of the study of giftedness in developmental psychology and the question of why giftedness is such a neglected area of study within psychology. Second, she prods readers to consider just how one should undertake the study of spatial giftedness, which is itself a much neglected domain of study within the area of giftedness relative to the study of mathematical and verbal giftedness. And finally, she leads readers to recognize what can be learned from the study of spatial-graphic giftedness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The consideration of giftedness and talent in a developmental perspective requires an understanding of the current issues in developmental theory with respect to the origins of individual differences and prediction across the life span—from infancy through the adult years. In this chapter I discuss these matters along with changes in the definition of giftedness and talent, the emerging themes in the developmental discourse on giftedness and talent, the role of cultural contexts and matters of diversity, and the implications of all of these issues for setting the research agenda in the field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Giftedness, a dynamic construct, develops over time. During the transition from adolescence into adulthood, gifted individuals move first from broad educational experiences to more narrowly focused efforts in universities, colleges, institutes, or conservatories, followed by the pursuit of scholarly productivity, innovation, or artistry. The focus of this chapter is on the catalysts for these transitions. I take the view of talent development as the transformation of abilities into competencies, competencies into expertise, and expertise into outstanding performance or seminal ideas. Finally, I explore the stages of talent development experienced by gifted adolescents as they move into scholarly productivity or artistry in adulthood, focusing on the increasingly important role played by psychosocial variables in the fulfillment of their potential. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Although there is considerable overlap in the scientific study of giftedness and of child development in terms of research traditions as well as participating investigators, it is important to recognize that there are substantial differences in the history of each research tradition. The historical divergence in the core conceptual frameworks guiding each field has led to conflicting positions at least as often as to a productive connection between them. At the risk of overemphasizing the conflict between these conceptual frameworks, it is important to draw out the distinctions because they illuminate many important issues, particularly with relevance to the goal of this volume, an integration of developmental science and the study of giftedness. I thus first provide a brief history of those two approaches, recognizing of course that there is a personal filter through which such a historical analysis must proceed. I take up the implications for a life-span integrative framework in the final section. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The purpose of this chapter is to expand the perspective of psychology to include the dynamics of the later years of life. I describe the stages of late life that have been proposed and the diversity of the older population as revealed by longitudinal studies. The abilities of older adults are described in terms of social intelligence, self-regulation, creativity, and wisdom. Unique contributions by elderly persons are described as the products of late-life bloomers, or individuals who express latent talents late in life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

I was asked to respond to chapter 7 of this volume by Sandra Graham on giftedness in adolescence (see record 2009-00231-007). When I read the chapter, I found, as expected, that Graham's social-psychological perspective and my psychosocial perspective have much in common, including a focus on the interaction of motivation and social context. Therefore, I have endeavored to expand on some of the issues that Graham addresses in her chapter, in the hope of stimulating discussion among researchers and practitioners concerned with giftedness in adolescence. In this chapter, I discuss identification practices in some detail, as I believe that there are some fundamental misunderstandings in this area. I highlight some of the more recent research on teachers and the messages that they send. I also address the potential role played by identity variables such as stereotype threat. In addition, I discuss the concept of oppositional identity, which relates to Graham's notion of "I can, but do I want to?" Finally, I briefly discuss the idea of cultural learning styles. Although much of what I discuss is applicable to adolescents of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, the implications may be different for youth who are traditionally underrepresented in gifted and talented education (e.g., African Americans, Latinos). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Although my own research program was not intentionally designed to study gifted and talented developmental processes or outcomes, it nevertheless offers some relevant data and perhaps insights. The work discussed here concerns children's developing competencies in understanding and producing spatial-graphic representations. These may be defined as stand-for symbols (the representational aspect) that involve marks of some kind (the graphic aspect), whose representational components are distributed over the surface in a way that corresponds to the distribution of components of the referent (the spatial aspect). This chapter is organized as follows. First, I expand on what I mean by spatial-graphic representations (in the section entitled "Defining Spatial-Graphic Representations"). Second, I sample from work that my colleagues and I have conducted to study children's developing spatial-graphic competencies. In doing so, I highlight performance that might well be classified as gifted ("Illustrative Empirical Work"). Finally, I offer some speculations about implications this work has for research, public policy, and education ("Implications for Research and Practice"). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

This chapter addresses the issue of whether the dominant conception of 'gifted and talented' is justified by psychological research, and what effects holding this conception have for learners. It argues that both the research base and practical and moral considerations should lead us to exclude ideas of innate and unchangeable degrees of 'giftedness' from our educational practice as incorrect, inhuman and counter-productive. It is easy to forget that 'brightness' or 'giftedness' are inferences and attributions, not statements of self-evident fact. In this chapter we want to go back to the behaviors and dispositions on which these inferences and attributions are based and explore the ways in which they might have been learned, and thus could be subject to further systematic modification. We ask: To what extent do young people learn to act in ways that will lead parents and teachers to attribute 'brightness' to them? To what extent are such behaviors capable of further modification? (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

One of the controversies in the field with a history of conflicting findings concerns whether or not giftedness leads to a preference for independent study. The authors provide a comprehensive review of the literature on this topic, describing a study they have recently completed, and reporting on their nuanced findings. They conclude that it is really a question of 'match': when exceptionally capable learners do not feel supported, they prefer to learn alone, but when they are in situations that facilitate their learning goals, they can thrive in mixed groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: book)

The authors describe the Renzulli Learning System (RLS), a way that teachers can use technology to differentiate effectively for a broad range of individual differences and diverse student needs, and increased pressures to improve student achievement. The main goal of the RLS is simultaneously to increase achievement and the enjoyment of learning by making available an easy-to-use, research-based system that promotes student engagement. Research on the role of student engagement is clear and unequivocal: high engagement results in higher achievement, improved self-concept and self-efficacy, and more favorable attitudes toward school and learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In France, educational practices concerning gifted and talented young people have long been the object of discussion. These discussions can be traced back to work carried out by Binet (1911), whose name is usually associated with studying pupils with learning difficulties, but whose research also led to pedagogy for young people with high results in his intelligence test. There is a real contrast when we compare the attitude of the educational authorities in France toward the gifted on one hand, and the talented on the other. Conclusions in this chapter include the need for teacher education concerning giftedness, and for providing the same kind of support to intellectual and academic development as is provided for athletic and artistic development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

The authors grapple with the fundamental questions surrounding creative giftedness and talent, addressing issues of definition, development, identification and education. They recommend infusing creativity into teacher development, as well as taking it into consideration in gifted identification and curriculum design and delivery, and also affirming the importance of supporting the development of creative giftedness in all students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: book)

The contemporary Russian educational system is struggling with the many economic and social issues that resulted from the global instability following the collapse of the Soviet Union, when much of the financial, political, and social support for education in general and gifted education in particular eroded. This chapter addresses the current state of affairs in mathematics and science education for the gifted in post-Soviet Russia and describes (a) the infrastructure of gifted education; (b) the identification of giftedness; (c) the nature and scope of gifted and specialized programs (and schools), with a separate discussion of programs in mathematics and science; and (d) the trajectory of talent development and realization (i.e. performance in mathematics and science olympiads for youth compared with adult employment). The chapter expands and supplements the discussion offered in Yurkevich and Davidovich (this volume; see record 2008-17742-013) on general trends in the education of gifted children in Russia and focuses specifically on such trends in the teaching of mathematics and science, the domains in which gifted education in Russia has previously been recognized as one of the world-leaders (Grigorenko 2000). Today, there are many interesting innovations in teaching the social sciences and humanities to gifted children, but this field is still in development and needs further crystallization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)