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  • The present study aimed to design two instruments and then use them to reveal the psychology of mathematical giftedness in schoolchildren—their mathematical creativity and attitude towards mathematics. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. In the first phase of the study, a mathematical creativity instrument (MCT) and an attitude-scale (AS) towards mathematics were designed. The MCT was composed of nine non-routine mathematical problems aimed to test three factors of mathematical creativity: the ability to discover patterns, the ability to apply symbols and rules, and the ability to express in formalized mathematical language. The MCT was piloted with 209 primary five pupils. The reliability (Alpha) of the MCT was found to be 0.81, and the construct validity of the MCT with the three-factor structure was confirmed by a confirmatory factor analysis with AGFI = 0.99. The AS was composed of twenty-one items aimed to measure five factors of attitude: confidence, perceived value of mathematics, perceived teacher support, interest and commitment, and negative feelings. The AS was piloted with the same 209 pupils. Alpha of the AS was found to be 0.93, and the construct validity with the five-factor structure was confirmed with AGFI = 0.98. In the second phase of the study, the MCT and the AS were used in three groups of primary five pupils: the mathematically gifted group (MG), the average group (AV) and the underachievers' group (U). It was found that MG performed significantly better than both U and AV in all the three factors of mathematical abilities. MG also showed significantly better attitudes than AV in ‘confidence’, ‘value’, ‘interest’ and ‘negative feelings’, and significantly better than U in ‘interest’. In the third phase of the study, five pupils from MG and three pupils from AV were interviewed. Their think-aloud protocols in answering questions from the MCT were studied to reveal their differences in problem solving strategies. It was found that MG tended to spend more time to decode a problem and make suitable analogical transfers. Similarly the five pupils from MG and two pupils from U were interviewed to reveal their differences in attitude towards mathematics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

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