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The primary purpose of this study was to assess certain aspects of the internal structure of the DISCOVER assessment checklist to determine its construct validity. A secondary purpose was to assess gender differences in identifying giftedness using the assessment. The sample of this study consisted of 368 participants from kindergarten, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels divided into three subsamples. Participants were from two culturally diverse populations: Navajo Indians and Mexican-Americans. The methodology consisted of correlational analyses and chi-square tests. Separate, but identical analyses were conducted on each subsample. Three questions guided this study: (a) What is the relationship between observers' ratings of participants' problem-solving ability in one activity and their rating of participants in the other activities? (b) What items characterize each of the four rating categories? and (c) What are the gender differences occurring when using the assessment? The results of this study showed low and non significant inter-rating correlations, indicating high discriminant validity of the checklist. Significant, but low to moderately high inter-rating correlations were found between the Storytelling and Storywriting activities across subsamples. R-squared analyses revealed low percentages of variance accounted for, indicating low convergent validity of the checklist. Moreover, a pattern of higher percentages of item checks was found for higher ratings, indicating that observers checked items at a higher frequency rate for participants given higher ratings. Only items characterizing the "Definitely" category were possible to identify because all items represent superior problem-solving skills, thus were mostly checked for participants who demonstrated superior problem-solving processes or products. Items with zero frequencies were identified as well. Chi-square tests for gender by activity revealed significant gender differences in two activities. In Pablo, a significantly higher number of sixth grade boys were rated "Definitely" and in Storytelling, a significantly higher number of fourth and fifth grade girls were rated "Definitely". No significant gender differences were found for any other activity across subsamples. Similarly, no significant overall gender differences were found across subsamples for gifted participants, indicating that equal proportions of males and females are identified through the use of the DISCOVER assessment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

While research has been performed connecting Multiple Intelligences theory to giftedness, little research has been conducted in either the areas of learning disabilities or Multiple Intelligences theory that speaks to the relationship with each other in a middle school setting. The focus of this study was to explore the use of Multiple Intelligences theory, as defined by the work of Howard Gardner, as an augmentative method of examining the strengths of the learning disabled. Multiple Intelligences theory can be used as a template for educators to use to facilitate the education of the whole child by focusing on what the learning disabled student is capable of doing rather than the more traditional view that often emphasizes deficits. The central purpose of this study was twofold. First was to uncover general intellectual trends of learning disabled students using Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences as the theoretical framework. Second was to produce user-friendly information that would enable teachers to assist students in experiencing success at school. The data collected from questionnaires, observations, and interviews looked at the wholeness and integrity of intelligence. In addition, parents and teachers of the learning disabled students selected for the study were contacted to gain further information that enhanced the data collected. The research design, which was descriptive and qualitative in nature, provided data for educators to use in working with learning disabled students. Emphasis was placed on revealing the types of perceived intellectual strengths learning disabled students possess according to Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. Further, the study offered suggestions on how the information obtained can be directly translated into the classroom experience of learning disabled students. It appeared, from this study, that learning disabled students, while having significant learning disabilities, also have many abilities. These abilities and talents can be represented by Gardner's theory. Clearly there is a need for greater attention to be placed on the abilities, strengths, and talents of students who have been labeled learning disabled. Perhaps one day the label will be changed to reflect the learning "abilities" of the student. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Until recently, researchers have viewed families that were not composed of the traditional biological mother and father as deficient or incomplete. Research comparing the effects of family structure on children has often labeled single-mother families as "female-headed," conceptually reducing the importance of the father and implying that less than optimal development of children is then to be attributed to maternal deficiency or failure. Similarly, the impact of maternal employment on children is increasingly being studied, with many researchers agreeing that adolescent girls with employed mothers are more likely to develop high self-esteem, independence, and nontraditional career aspirations than adolescent girls with nonemployed mothers. This study focused on a unique, understudied population, talented at-risk adolescent girls. Experts on giftedness have found that often talented adolescent girls are at-risk for not accomplishing their career aspirations due to a myriad of internal and external barriers. Using a causal comparative design, this study examined the effects of these two family variables, family structure and maternal employment status, on the self- esteem, educational self-efficacy, at-risk behaviors, and career aspirations of 102 talented at-risk adolescent girls. Girls were classified by family structure (intact, blended, and single-mother families) and a series of oneway analyses of variances were conducted. Only one difference was revealed which indicated that girls from intact families had more suicidal behaviors than girls from single-mother families. When girls were grouped according to maternal employment status (employed or nonemployed), no differences were found across all of the dependent variables. These nonsignificant findings for the majority of the outcome variables help to dispel the stereotypes of the negative effects of blended and single-mother families on adolescents. They also support the need to replace the deficit comparison mo (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This study examined the relationship between IQ and adjustment to divorce to determine whether intellectually gifted children make more successful adjustments to divorce than children with average ability. This study compared the adjustment of (a) gifted children living in divorced homes and gifted children living in intact homes, and (b) children from divorced homes with average and gifted ability. Gender and age level adjustment comparisons for children in the gifted divorced and total divorced groups were also examined. The subjects, measurement instruments, and procedures for this study were drawn from information collected by the NASP-KSU Divorce Project at Time 1 and Time 2. One hundred forty-four subjects had IQ scores in the gifted range, i.e, 120 to 145, while 308 had IQ scores ranging between 90 and 109, the average ability range. The dependent measures of adjustment included scores and ratings for 4 academic achievement and 25 social-emotional measures at Time 1 and 11 academic achievement and 26 social-emotional measures at Time 2. ANOVAs that compared the adjustment of intact and divorced children within the gifted group revealed no significant differences for the academic variables and very few significant differences for the social-emotional variables. A similar analyses for the average ability group revealed a greater number of significant differences between the marital status groups. Significant differences between the marital status groups within each IQ group indicated that children from intact families were more academically and socially competent than children from divorced homes. The gifted divorced group had a higher level of academic achievement and was more socially competent than the average ability divorced group. Fewer significant differences in adjustment were found between boys and girls within the gifted divorced group than were found for the total divorced group. The grade level analyses yielded similar results. A stepwise multiple regression procedure indicated that IQ was the best predictor of the 29 criterion variables that were used to measure adjustment. The data from the multiple regression procedure and the ANOVAs suggested that giftedness may buffer the adverse effects of living in a divorced home. Implications of the results with respect to intervention services as well as limitations of the research design were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

For the purposes of this research, a counselling programme comprising a series of four sessions was designed to provide parents with information on the gifted child phenomenon and ways in which the gifted child could be accommodated within the context of the family. The objectives of the programme were threefold: to increase the participants' knowledge and self-confidence, and to improve their attitude towards their children and the task of educating the gifted child. The research consisted of a pilot study and the main investigation. Parents of gifted children from standard two to standard three took part in the main investigation. The research established that the programme resulted in more knowledge of giftedness and more self-confidence in implementing the education task. There was no significant change in parents' attitudes, although they did seem relatively positive before the programme was presented. Parents' expectations of the programme included acquiring more knowledge, better understanding and increased self-confidence. They also wanted the programme to be interesting and to include guidelines for stimulating activities which they could do with their children. The programme met all of the parents' expectations, but not all to the same extent. Furthermore, it appears that the programme alone was not sufficient to meet all the parents' needs, and other possibilities to enhance the realisation of gifted potential were considered. These included different processes and different participants. Participants are experts in the field of giftedness, professionals with a multi-disciplinary background, parents of gifted children, the community and the gifted children themselves. Processes include consciousness-raising, advocacy, training, private counselling and support. The researcher formulated a new model for giftedness based on a systems theory, with the emphasis on the dynamic, interactive processes involved in the realisation of gifted potential. Genetic, actualising and mastering aspects were distinguished. Additional factors which had to be considered were regulatory factors, the individual's specific environment and the time in which the events take place. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This case study is an exploration of the life of a highly productive gifted female to understand and describe the individual, family, and educational factors and interactions that promoted her growth. The informant selected for this study was considered to be among a select group of the 11 most successful PEG graduates (as of 1992) on the basis of her exceptional academic and extra-curricular productivity, and judgments of her personal growth by administrators of the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) at Mary Baldwin College. PEG is an early entrance college residential program for gifted adolescent females which began in 1985. Students are given the opportunity to complete their college degree in as few as four years. Prospective students apply to PEG from their eighth grade year on and are accepted based upon giftedness, consistent achievement, and personal maturity. Ruby Kelp was selected as an exemplary graduate who demonstrated optimal development, was reflective, and had good rapport with this researcher. A naturalistic, case study approach provided an interactive perspective acknowledging the critical nature of context in studying such a complex subject as human growth. Theory emerged from: textual data; products selected by the graduate; and in-depth interviews and observations of Ruby, her parents, and mentors. Focus on remarkable human functioning provided an understanding of how that optimal functioning occurred, was fostered, and developed. Rich descriptive information helps explain how a gifted female was nurtured and empowered to be productive at such a young age. A family model of interdependence emerged from the evidence and focused on four themes. First, the Kelps promoted love and commitment in their family. Second, the Kelps promoted authenticity and autonomy by modeling the process of being true to oneself and self-governing. Third, the Kelps promoted uniqueness and purpose by forging unique identities despite norms for their culture. Fou (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

In this study the author explores issues in the screening and identification of gifted children. The author discusses obstacles in the identification process such as expense and effort, as well a rationale for developing screening instruments. The author presents a review of the literature concerning the historical development of gifted theories and programs as well as current issues in defining and identifying giftedness. For the purposes of this study, the variables in use in one Mississippi school district were factor analyzed with a view toward identifying a more parsimonious underlying structure of the construct of giftedness. Three significant factors were extracted from the variables, accounting for 66.3% of the variance of the data. These factors were labelled Gifted Classroom Behaviors, Intellectual Ability, and Processing Speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Gifted children have been studied by educators for many years. However, gifted adults have not been researched as extensively. The subject of this study was to determine whether characteristics which are recognized in the literature as unique to gifted children are also unique to gifted adults. The study explored questions such as: Do gifted college-age individuals have unique characteristics which are not shared by their nongifted peers? If there are unique characteristics what might they be? Do the parents of college-age individuals agree or disagree with their children's perceptions of selected personal characteristics? Are there significant differences between male and female gifted college-age individuals? If there are significant differences what are they? To explore these questions one hundred twenty college-age students, their parents, and one faculty member each were surveyed. The survey developed was a Likert scale containing forty items. Students marked their self-perception for each item. Parents and faculty marked each item indicating how they perceived the student. The student, parent, and faculty responses were compared by t-test to determine whether they showed statistically significant differences in personal characteristics between the gifted and nongifted students. Students' self-perceptions were compared to parent and faculty perceptions. Sixty of the students surveyed had been identified as "gifted" by the public school they attended in Oregon. The other sixty students had not been identified as "gifted" by the Oregon public school they attended. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The purpose of this study was to document qualitative descriptors of student behaviors associated with giftedness as valued by the native Hawaiian community. Four research questions were asked: (a) Within the native Hawaiian community, how is giftedness defined? (b) What characteristics do the native Hawaiian community identify as indicative of giftedness in children? (c) To what degree does cultural distinctiveness affect native Hawaiian students' expressions of traits, aptitudes, or behaviors associated with giftedness? and (d) How does the native Hawaiian concept of giftedness relate to a set of core attributes associated with giftedness? Twenty key informants from the Hawaiian islands of Hawai'i and O'ahu were interviewed and the content of the interviews was inductively analyzed. The Hawaiian viewpoint about outstanding human abilities began with the belief that everyone is given gifts by those who come before. The areas of these gifts comprehensively span the whole spectrum of human experience and were believed to be expressible throughout a person's lifetime and across generations. In the Hawaiian community, individuals who excel with their given gifts are doing what they are supposed to do. Therefore the expression of their gifts is a natural phenomenon, not an anomaly or deviation from common law. Five rucial conditions were identified for the nurturance of given gifts. Topical ideas or categories of valued human qualities also emerged. Descriptions of specific traits, aptitudes, and behaviors valued within the Hawaiian community were given. The findings of this study appear to support the idea that gifted individuals, are present in every cultural group. There are however, differences in the interpretation of what constitutes giftedness in the Hawaiian community. The distinct differences included new dimensions such as spirituality, the conscious awareness of one's self, others (whether others were in the past, present, or future time frames), and one (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

This study examined the relationship between giftedness in women and their perceptions of how their parents behaved toward them in terms of acceptance, psychological control, and behavioral control. Sixty-six gifted and nongifted women constituted the sample of investigation. Giftedness was assessed in four areas: learning, motivation, creativity, and leadership. Perceptions of the three parental behaviors were evaluated separately for the mothers and for the fathers. Findings suggested that perceptions of acceptance, psychological control, and behavioral control were significantly related to giftedness scores in women. In addition, gifted women were found to perceive that their mothers and fathers accepted them, supported their psychological autonomy, and exerted behavioral control over them. Perceived maternal acceptance and paternal psychological control were significantly predictable from giftedness scores. No significant differences were found between the formally identified gifted and nongifted women with respect to perceptions of the parental behaviors. However, significant differences were found between the two groups on their giftedness scores, indicating that giftedness was validly measured in the study. A discussion of the results, implications, and suggestions for future research are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This hypothesis-generating study explored the gender schemata of a select group of 13 gifted male adolescents. Focusing on recent feminist scholarship that has emphasized males' inherently problematic relationship to women and femininity, this study identified the cognitive/developmental and motivational factors facilitating these boys' identification with feminine values. These feminizing influences can be summarized as follows: an identification with a maternal imago; an increased involvement in extrafamilial relationships, especially among opposite-sex peers; and an intellectual perspicacity that rejects patriarchal values. The study also discussed factors that at times impede their internalization of feminine values. Based on the accumulated data, the study generated the following hypotheses to be investigated by further research: (1) Aware of feminist ideology, gifted males construct gender schemata sympathetic with feminist ideology. (2) Gifted male adolescents are strongly motivated to identify with "feminine" values--affectivity and relationality. (3) Although the boys' attachment to the mother inspires an introjection of feminine values, it is in the realm of their reawakened sexuality that deep-seated oedipal and preoedipal fears will resurface and challenge this ideal. (4) Gifted adolescent males, negotiating nontraditional sexualities, are particularly at-risk for feeling anxiety about their sexual and sex-role identities. (5) Gifted adolescent boys have a tendency toward an overintellectualization that can distance them from their own affectivity. (6) Constructing new gender schemata and sexual regimes, these youngsters will be impelled to acknowledge the limits of their own rationalism in achieving an integrated self-concept. Finally, it is suggested that this study's results can broaden and deepen our conceptions of giftedness, gender, and cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)