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Presents an overview of the Munich Longitudinal Study of Giftedness (K. A. Heller, 1991), focusing on research related to the underlying multidimensional/typological giftedness model. 754 7th graders and 794 9th graders, representing 2 of the 6 cohorts of the original study, responded to tests that included the German Cognitive Abilities Tests (Heller et al, 1985), a questionnaire of social competence, and selected scales of the Munich Activities Inventory. Results suggest that cognitive abilities best predict academic achievements and spare time activities in science, while the creativity measures correlate with school marks in German, arts, and music, as well as with nonacademic achievements in literature, arts, music, and social activities. Attempts to find a giftedness typology were unsuccessful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Notes that many reasons have been given for the fact that there are few eminent women: lack of opportunity, sex role stereotyping, and the ignoring of known achievements when they have occurred. However, in addition, the definition of giftedness in terms of eminence has been problematic for women. This paper hypothesizes that women's giftedness has followed unique patterns of development, different from those of men. Most often, women's giftedness has been utilized in empathic relationships and creative connections with others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Building on the foundation of J. Galbraith's (see record 1986-31280-001) study of the 8 great gripes of gifted students, this article examined qualitative perspectives on giftedness among 85 7th–9th graders. Ss responded in writing to a probe (i.e., "What's it like to be gifted?") designed to elicit their spontaneous perspectives on their experience of giftedness. Results support Galbraith's indication that these children describe their experience in ways that reflect both positive and negative elements. Ss noted specific concerns about a sense of self-as-gifted, high performance demands, and the social consequences of giftedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Reviews the literature on child prodigies and comments on the paucity of studies on giftedness in very young children. Despite the various shortcomings of IQ testing, published research overwhelmingly equates giftedness with high IQ scores, and these are the only data presented in the literature on symptoms of precocity among infants and toddlers. Given that giftedness develops through an array of unique efforts by a caretaker (e.g., parent) who cares for the child's special qualities and takes steps to accelerate their ripening, longitudinal research would make it possible to determine the staying power of early signs of excellence provided that caretaking practices could also be enriched and monitored systematically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Suggests that problems associated with giftedness cluster around 3 primary areas: self-perceptions, perceptions of others, and personality traits/external factors. Parental response to the gifted child may be problematic, including anxiety/guilt, denial, ambivalence, disagreement between parents, and overinvestment. Family relationships may be affected in the areas of tempo of family interactions, family system makeup, sibling self-perceptions, and collective attitude toward the giftedness. Counseling strategies include a family counseling modality, exposing myths about giftedness, clarifications of family expectations, and developing educational strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Discusses research on the relation of metacognition to giftedness. At Yale University, R. J. Sternberg (1980, 1983, 1984, 1985) and his colleagues have developed an original "triarchic" theory of intelligence and a subtheory of insight. It is maintained that interactions among the elements of the triarchic theory explain giftedness. The question of whether giftedness is a subset of intelligence or vice versa remains controversial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Examines 2 assumptions that underlie both gifted education and the advocacy approaches of those in the field. These assumptions are that (1) gifted children represent an empirically identifiable population and (2) the needs of that population are significantly different from those of children in general. The exclusivity of the definition of giftedness influences the exclusivity of recommended policies and practices, contributing to the appeal of gifted education, and leading to charges of elitism. Restricting giftedness to a small percentage of the population (3–5%) leads to certain other assumptions. An alternative conceptualization of giftedness suggests that gifted education programs be available to all children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Describes profiles of 3 female graduate students with different kinds of intellectual giftedness and argues that conventional intelligence tests provide, at best, a modest assessment of only 1 kind of giftedness. The triarchic theory of intelligence is described. According to this theory, intelligence must be understood in terms of the internal and external worlds of the individual and the interface between these 2 worlds as it unfolds through experience. The theory is explained through the Ss' profiles, and measures based on this theory that better assess all 3 kinds of giftedness are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Discusses several common definitions of the terms giftedness and talent, with particular emphasis on the models proposed by J. S. Renzulli (1979) and S. J. Cohn (1981). The critique of these 2 models leads to a clear differentiation between giftedness and talent: the former is associated with domains of abilities that foster and explain exceptional performance in varied fields of activities, that is, talents. Thus, an individual can be gifted without necessarily being talented (as in the case of underachievers), but not vice versa. Several factors that can act as catalysts for the actualization of giftedness in specific talents are discussed, particularly motivation and environmental quality. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Discusses developing social competence in gifted preschoolers in terms of definitions of giftedness, intellectual giftedness and social cognition, intellectual giftedness and social adjustment, and helping gifted youngsters improve social competence. Also discussed are the effects of uneven development and inappropriate educational environments and informal approaches to teaching social skills. It is suggested that social skills development is an important component of a young child's educational program. Gifted preschool children may require special guidance to help them understand and cope with their unusual abilities. A sensitive understanding of gifted preschool children's social and emotional development can provide the foundation for fostering the development of social competence both informally, through classroom interactions, and formally, through structured group lessons. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Discusses 2 issues that have hindered the past development of gifted education—the use of IQ tests as the sole criterion for determining giftedness and criticisms of the tracking system. Current problems are noted with respect to the liberalization of the criteria and the trivialization of the concept of giftedness. It is suggested that the future of gifted education will depend on a new conceptualization of giftedness, derived from developmental psychology, that will attend to affective as well as cognitive factors. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Proposes a subtheory of intellectual giftedness according to which giftedness is understood in terms of 3 types of insight skills: (a) selective encoding, by which relevant information in a given context is sifted from irrelevant information; (b) selective combination, by which relevant information is combined in a novel and productive way; and (c) selective comparison, by which new information is related in a novel way to old information. This conceptualization is compared with traditional views of giftedness and insight in terms of theory and implications for assessment. It is shown how the theory could be tested. Some preliminary data are presented on the relation between insight skills and IQ and measures of inductive and deductive reasoning. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Relates the concept of giftedness and the procedures for identifying the gifted to cognitive-developmental (CD) theory, as represented by Piaget's (1952, 1972) theory of intelligence. The authors define giftedness as academic or intellectual talent that does not include characteristics such as creativity or artistic abilities. The CD approach is characterized by the following assumptions: (1) Cognitive development occurs in a stagelike, sequential fashion; (2) each stage is qualitatively different from one another, but later stages are derivatives of earlier stages; (3) each stage is characterized by the presence of a unique set of cognitive structures that determine the level and form of cognitive functioning; (4) cognitive growth is largely the result of active involvement with the world; and (5) movement from one stage to another is marked by transition points. The concept of giftedness most consistent with CD theory is one that views giftedness as extremely high aptitude within a specific content area. A CD approach can make distinctions between gifted and normal children at the end of the concrete operational level, probably between 8–20 yrs of age. CD theory clarifies identification and definitional issues, highlights problem areas, and directs future research and practical innovations in the field. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

100 children registered in 22 different kindergarten classes served as Ss. Their teachers were asked to make judgments of giftedness after 6 weeks of class and again after 7 mo. of class. No definition of giftedness was given to the teachers. Stanford Binet, Form L-M, and California Test of Mental Maturity (CTMM) were administered to the children. Using a Binet IQ of 130 as the criterion for giftedness it was found that the teacher's 1st judgment agreed with it in 26% of the cases. That teacher's 2nd judgment agreed with it in 38% of the cases and CTMM agreed with it in 39% of the cases. The lack of teacher agreement with the criterion raised a question about her ability to identify gifted children. (6 ref.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

At its meeting held in honor of Leta S. Hollingworth at Columbia University, in December, 1940, the Conference on Education for the Gifted defined giftedness to include those who have special abilities in non-verbal as well as verbal areas, and favored extending college education to those gifted in any field. Social giftedness was emphasized. The conference was against educational segregation for potential leaders as being against the best interests of democracy. It favored a guided and more flexible curriculum, but reached no decision as to whether the curriculum should be selected by the student or the faculty. There was some agreement that financial assistance should be based on giftedness (broadly defined) rather than need. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

While the field of gifted education has relied on educational, cognitive, counseling, behavioral, developmental, and social psychology, the domain of depth psychology offers special insights into giftedness, especially with regard to individuation. The notion of passion, or the thorn (J. S. Piirto, 1999, 2002), the incurable mad spot (F. C. Reynolds 1997, 2001), the acorn (J. Hillman, 1996, 1999), the daimon (C, G. Jung, 1965); the importance of integration through the arts and through dreams; the existence of the collective unconscious; the presence of archetypes; and the transcendent psyche-all have resonance with the binary etymological idea of "gift" as both blessing and poison. Depth psychology offers a way of understanding that is physical, psychological, and spiritual. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Comments on an article by Françoys Gagné (see record 2004-22507-002) on the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT). We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Gagné's interesting paper. In a theory of such large scope, it is hard to know where to begin one's assessment. We have chosen to use Gagné's own criteria. At the close of his paper, Gagné lists four characteristics of the DMGT that make a very distinct and unique conception of giftedness and talent. We will respond to his first two characteristics. The first is that 'the DMGT stands alone in its clearly differentiated definitions of the field's two key concepts'. Although we agree that there has been confusion in how the field defines its terms, it is not clear to us how the distinction Gagné makes between natural abilities and systematically developed skills (of which gifts and talents are merely subsets) differs from the more commonly used labels of aptitude and achievement. Gagné's second criterion is that it is important to set prevalence estimates of giftedness and talent. Although setting the initial cut at 10 per cent seems completely arbitrary, the system of identifying many levels of giftedness has great potential value. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Comments on an article by Françoys Gagné (see record 2004-22507-002). This paper by Françoys Gagné represents a substantial effort to examine a large body of research and theory related to human abilities and interpret it from the perspective of his Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DGMT). While the DMGT is highly speculative and tries hard to relate its message to technical conceptions of giftedness and talent, he has nevertheless done an excellent job of drawing in much of the most relevant theory and research. One major problem with the paper is his efforts to define 'giftedness', a term used very little outside of the professional field of gifted education: high ability, natural ability, precocity, talent, aptitude--which should it be? And then he goes on and tries to give us frequency or numbers or percentages for 'giftedness and talent' reflecting a continuing and often seemingly arbitrary and fruitless quest for the magic numbers. Finally, the author disagrees with Gagné's dismissal of Ericsson's excellent and well-recognized research on the development of skills and expertise--topics which are highly relevant to talent development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The Gifted Rating Scales is a newly published teacher rating scale designed to assess the characteristics of giftedness across a wide range of ages. The GRS is available in two age-differentiated forms: the GRS Preschool Form (GRS-P) and the GRS School Form (GRS-S). The GRS-P was developed for children aged 4 years through 6 years. It contains 60 items that contribute to five scales. Its school-age counterpart, the GRS-S, was developed for children aged 6 years through 13 years. Its 72 items contribute to six scales. The GRS meets several goals outlined by the authors. The GRS is a brief and user-friendly instrument that is easy to complete and to score. Users may find the GRS to be an economical and informative alternative to individually or group-administered intelligence tests when screening groups of children for giftedness. Because the GRS has been linked to the standardization of the Wechsler intelligence scales, users may also feel more confident when engaged in the identification and eligibility process by combining these assessment instruments. In addition, the GRS includes measures of several characteristics of giftedness outlined by the U.S. Department of Education. Thus, the GRS could be widely used for screening or identification because most states have adopted some version of this federal definition of giftedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Whereas perspectives on giftedness have included motivation as a construct related to giftedness, the proposed conceptualization advances a new view that motivation is an area of giftedness in and of itself. Academic intrinsic motivation (i.e., enjoyment of school learning) is the domain focused upon in this conceptualization inasmuch as it has inherent ties to cognition, gifted intellect, and achievement. Research supports the following criteria, advanced as a beginning effort toward the development of a conceptualization of a gifted motivation construct: (a) significantly higher academic intrinsic motivation is evidenced by intellectually gifted compared to their comparison cohort; (b) academic intrinsic motivation is significantly, positively, and uniquely related to academic achievement above and beyond IQ; (c) academic intrinsic motivation evidences substantial continuity from childhood through adolescence; and (d) environment is significantly related to academic intrinsic motivation. The construct of gifted motivation serves heuristic purposes to advance further inquiry and also has implications regarding the development and implementation of giftedness programs. Suggestions are made regarding research needed for further development of a gifted motivation construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)