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Many gifted education experts have found that Black, Hispanic, and Native American students are less likely to be identified for gifted programs than Asian American and White students. A study was conducted to ascertain the degree of underrepresentation of these groups in gifted programs in Utah. Using state-collected data from 14,781 students in six representative school districts in Utah, it was found through multiple logistic regression analysis that there was no statistically significant difference in the likelihoods that Black, Hispanic, or Native American students and White students would be identified as gifted; Asian American and Pacific Islander students were more likely to be identified as gifted than White students. After controlling for academic achievement and SES, it was found that all diverse demographic groups of students were more likely to be identified as gifted than White students, although the differences did not reach statistical significance for multiracial or Native American students. Further research into the nature and causes of disproportionate representation in gifted programs is suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Despite their social deficits and behavioral abnormalities, individuals with autism may frequently display unexpected and unusual areas of interest and giftedness in music. In the present work, we discuss the natural predisposition to music shown in autism using a neurophysiological framework, exploring the possible correlations between the musical experience and the connectivity alterations of the autistic brain. After a brief description of the complex cerebral organization in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the article focuses on the microcircuit alterations, in particular on the excess synaptic excitation and minicolumnopathy, which are strongly linked to the peculiar attention in detecting, processing, and focusing on detail, widely described by the weak central coherence theory. Superior pitch discrimination, labeling, and memory, demonstrated in ASD, even seem to derive from these complex mental processes. The connectivity alterations seem to be also present in the cerebellum, where they damage the timekeeper function and produce severe dysfunctions in rhythmicity and synchronization of thoughts and emotions. We propose that music might restore the natural rhythmicity in the cerebellum of patients with ASD and that this could explain the natural predisposition to music seen in this condition. Finally, we focus on the usefulness of music for rehabilitative purposes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article presents an interview with Roland S. Persson, Professor of Educational Psychology and Associate Professor of General Psychology at Jönköping University in Sweden. The interview focuses widely on giftedness and talent but with an emphasis on social context and the gifted individual in society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Severe socioeconomic inequality strongly suppresses and distorts the discovery of aspirations and the concomitant development of talents among the gifted. More comprehensive understanding of this suppression and distortion is available through a wide-ranging interdisciplinary search for research findings and theories that illuminate economic, ideological-political, historical, philosophical, and psychological contextual influences on bright young people. This theoretical synthesis draws from multiple disciplines to reveal some of these contextual influences and then provides some recommendations for ways in which educators and policymakers might attempt to counteract some of the most pernicious effects of growing inequality on the gifted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article argues that research and educational practices relating to gifted students can highly benefit by linking up more closely with the mainstream of research on learning and instruction. The CLIA-model for the design of powerful learning environments that consists of four interconnected components (Competence, Learning, Intervention, and Assessment) is thereby used as a framework. The kind of learning processes needed to acquire adaptive competence are well in tune with features of exceptional performance, namely active, constructive, self-regulated and goal-oriented learning. Therefore gifted students should be taught in powerful learning environments that induce in them learning processes that embody those characteristics. Interventions focused on gifted students such as acceleration, grouping and differentiated instruction can benefit from taking into account the components and characteristics of the CLIA-model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

In the 29 years since the last special issue in the Journal of Counseling & Development focusing on gifted individuals, there has been considerable research regarding giftedness. However, meeting the counseling needs of gifted individuals has not been on the national agenda in counselor preparation. This article outlines the status of counseling the gifted from the standpoint of both the counseling and the gifted education professions and includes recommendations for future directions for both fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This editorial discusses the identification of effective learning environments. Leading models of expertise development and giftedness have placed environmental factors as fundamentally important for understanding attainment. This special issue of Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling highlights the diversity of approaches used by researchers who have examined optimal environments for learning and achievement and the various influences of different forms of educational and learning capital. It is hoped that the papers featured in this special issue will enhance the knowledge of its readers in the field of educational and learning capital. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Asynchrony is a theoretical construct that views the intellectually gifted child as inherently vulnerable because of disparities arising from the mismatch between his or her chronological age and mental age. Such disparities, for example, between wanting to belong but being intellectually out of step with peers, are said to give rise to a psychological experience of discomfort or tension and to impact upon developing self-concept. Though the theory has been little subjected to empirical research, it does bear strong similarities to the well-established, but broader-based, psychological theory of cognitive dissonance. This article develops a model of asynchrony as a particular case of cognitive dissonance. As such, it may assist understanding of some children's experiences of giftedness, though more research is needed to examine this theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This issue contains a range of interesting articles on topics that are highly relevant for the work of psychologists, guidance and counseling professionals. Many of the articles address aspects of social-emotional functioning and behavior, several are related to social networking and online communication, and one focuses on career guidance. The various authors have highlighted the implications of their research for professional practice, especially with respect to prevention and intervention. Spanning children, adolescents and young adults, and covering topics as diverse as ADHD, giftedness, bereavement, career planning, bullying, virtual connectedness, and online counseling, this is an issue with something for everyone. Those of you who will be enjoying summer vacations over the next few months will undoubtedly find some stimulating articles to intersperse with your usual holiday reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Recent functional neuroimaging studies have shown differences in brain activation between mathematically gifted adolescents and controls. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mathematical giftedness, intelligent quotient (IQ), and the microstructure of white matter tracts in a sample composed of math-gifted adolescents and aged-matched controls. Math-gifted subjects were selected through a national program based on detecting enhanced visuospatial abilities and creative thinking. We used diffusion tensor imaging to assess white matter microstructure in neuroanatomical connectivity. The processing included voxel-wise and region of interest-based analyses of the fractional anisotropy (FA), a parameter which is purportedly related to white matter microstructure. In a whole-sample analysis, IQ showed a significant positive correlation with FA, mainly in the corpus callosum, supporting the idea that efficient information transfer between hemispheres is crucial for higher intellectual capabilities. In addition, math-gifted adolescents showed increased FA (adjusted for IQ) in white matter tracts connecting frontal lobes with basal ganglia and parietal regions. The enhanced anatomical connectivity observed in the forceps minor and splenium may underlie the greater fluid reasoning, visuospatial working memory, and creative capabilities of these children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This contribution presents the design of a theoretically grounded assessment Heuristic concerning students with (suspicion of) the coexistence of Intellectual Giftedness and an Autism Spectrum Disorder (IG + ASD). This Heuristic focuses at various cognitive and psycho-social Strengths and Weaknesses (S&Ws) and is called the S&W Heuristic. It deals with the discrepancy between the lack of a theoretically grounded coherent view on assessment and intervention issues concerning students with (suspicion of) IG + ASD and the concomitant problem of biased diagnoses in psycho-educational practice. It aims at a systematic connection between assessment and intervention-indications, by way of systematic dimensional needs-based assessment. One of its merits is that the assessment departs from IG + ASD characteristics, instead of IG-characteristics apart from ASD-symptoms, so that camouflage and underachievement might be detected more easily. The S&W Heuristic is explorative in nature and serves as a point of departure in theory-development and psycho-educational praxis concerning IG+ASD and may be Twice-Exceptionalities in general. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The paper explores the question of how gifted and talented adolescents experience being gifted in high school. Fifteen subjects were interviewed twice while attending a special summer program in order to answer this general question. The data were analyzed and interpreted using a set of research questions which postulated that the subjects would voice feelings of difference and would make statements indicating recognition that being gifted interfered with full social acceptance. The results support the notion that many, but not all, gifted and talented adolescents experience giftedness as a social handicap. The data also suggested that some students manage information about themselves to minimize their visibility as gifted students to others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The Munich Model of Giftedness (MMG) by Heller and his colleagues, developed for the identification of gifted children, is adapted and expanded, with the aim of making it more universally usable as a model for the pathway from talents to performance. On the side of the talent-factors, the concept of multiple intelligences is introduced, and the moderating factors proposed in the MMG are discussed and categorized. The environmental moderators are interpolated as to incorporate not only “school-settings” but also “work-settings”. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This editorial introduces the current issue of the Roeper Review: A Journal on Gifted Education. The papers featured in this issue explore a critical thinking program in a Chinese context, the dynamics of over-excitability in the arts and athletics, some additional nuances in the always difficult process of identifying giftedness and talent, and some systemic-contextual influences on the development of mathematical ability. The issue also includes interesting interviews with a prominent champion of the gifted and with domain-specific experts who discover and develop “lost prizes." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

The author illustrates how the child who will become an artist is immediately gifted (and more so than a normal child) with a remarkable, heightened sensory sensitivity in relation to his/her mother's body. This sensitivity is transferred, during the course of development, to collective alternates, thus initiating a sort of love affair with the world that will push the person to high-level creation. Particularly significant are all those sensations of vigour and awe characteristic of the phallic phase of libidind development that are described with a special intensity by some particularly gifted individuals: they are connected to artistic inspiration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The release of the Marland Report in 1972 is often described as a watershed moment in the field of gifted education and remains a touchstone for the field today. The report presented the federal government’s formal definition of giftedness and outlined the unique learning needs of gifted students and the challenges faced by these students in U.S. schools. This article presents an examination of the goals and outcomes set forth in the Marland Report, the context within which the report evolved, and lessons learned, which can lead to an improved understanding of this legislation and the state of the field today. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Although the use of multiple criteria and informants is one of the most universally agreed on practices in the identification of gifted children, few studies to date have examined the convergent validity of multiple informants and objective ability tests in gifted identification. In this study, we illustrate the use of the correlated traits–correlated (methods—1) or CT–C(M—1) model (Eid, Lischetzke, Nussbeck, & Trierweiler, 2003) to examine the convergent validity of self, parent, and teacher ratings relative to objective cognitive ability tests in a sample of 145 4th to 6th graders. The CT–C(M—1) analyses revealed that teacher ratings showed the highest convergence with the objective assessments, whereas self-ratings had the lowest reliabilities and insufficient validity. Parent ratings were more reliable and valid than self-reports, but were outperformed by teacher ratings for most abilities. Overall, the CT–C(M – 1) analyses showed that the convergent validity of the ratings relative to the objective test battery was highest for numerical and lowest for creative abilities. Furthermore, whereas part of the shared variance between parent and teacher ratings reflected true convergent validity, agreement between parent and self-reports was entirely due to a shared rater variance. Our analyses demonstrate the usefulness and proper interpretation of the CT–C(M—1) approach for examining convergent validity and method effects in multitrait–multimethod data. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Human intelligence (also called general intelligence, g, or Spearman’s g) is a highly useful psychological construct. Yet, since the middle of the 20th century, gifted education researchers have been reluctant to discuss human intelligence. The purpose of this article is to persuade gifted education researchers and practitioners to reincorporate modern human intelligence theory (as expressed in Cattell–Horn–Carroll, or CHC, theory) and research into their work on gifted children. There are five reasons to make intelligence part of gifted education research: (a) intelligence is one of the best studied constructs in psychology; (b) educators know more about how to adjust educational plans in response to intelligence than many other traits; (c) grounding research in CHC theory strengthens the links between gifted education and psychology, making gifted education more relevant to “outsiders”; (d) intelligence is an excellent predictor of long-term general life outcomes; and (e) many issues in gifted education (such as curriculum planning and underidentification) are best understood if considered in relation to intelligence and related cognitive abilities. The article ends with some caveats that gifted education researchers should keep in mind when integrating human intelligence research and CHC theory into their work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This research explores the manifestation of dual exceptionality, regarding self-image and the experiences students have had with classmates and teachers. The sample was comprised of four students ages 8 to 15 that exhibited ADHD with giftedness and ASD with giftedness. In-depth interviews were conducted with the students. Results showed that students who had a notion of their discrepancies were motivated towards learning, but became bored when tasks were not challenging. They also had good relationships with their teachers and peers. However, meaningful social interactions had a negative connotation for the gifted/ASD group. Implications for research and practice are discussed further. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract) Resumen en idioma originalEsta pesquisa explora a manifestação da dupla excepcionalidade referente à construção da autoimagem e o tipo de experiências com colegas e professores. Os casos de quatro (4) estudantes de 8 a 15 anos que apresentavam transtorno do déficit de atenção (TDAH) com alta capacidade e transtornos do espectro autista (TEA) com alta capacidade, foram anali-sados. Os resultados indicam que os estudantes tinham uma noção da discrepância de sua condição, apesar de ignorá-la. Eles estavam motivados a aprender, mas ficavam entediados com tarefas pouco desafiantes ou repetitivas. Além disso, apresentavam boas relações com colegas e professores, no entanto, para o grupo de alunos com TEA e alta capacidade, esta relação tinha uma conotação negativa. As implicações para a pesquisa e a prática educativa, são discutidas. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract) Resumen en idioma originalEl presente estudio explora la construcción de autoimagen y el tipo de experiencias ocurridas con compañeros y profesores en la condición de doble excepcionalidad. Se analizan cuatro casos de estudiantes de 8 a 15 años que presentaban trastorno de déficit de la atención (TDAH) con alta capacidad y trastorno del espectro autista (TEA). Los resultados indican que los estudiantes presentaban una noción de la discrepancia de su condición a pesar de desconocerla; estaban motivados al aprendizaje, pero se aburrían con tareas poco desafiantes o repetitivas; presentaban buena relación con profesores y compañeros, sin embargo, para el grupo de estudiantes con alta capacidad y TEA existía una connotación negativa. Se discu-ten implicancias para la investigación y práctica educativa. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Artificial neural networks have a wide use in the prediction and classification of different variables, but their application in the area of educational psychology is still relatively rare. The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy of artificial neural networks in predicting students’ general giftedness. The participants were 221 fourth grade students from one Croatian elementary school. The input variables for artificial neural networks were teachers’ and peers’ nominations, school grades, earlier school readiness assessment and parents’ education. The output variable was the result on the Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven, 1994), according to which students were classified as gifted or non-gifted. We tested two artificial neural networks’ algorithms: multilayer perception and radial basis function. Within each algorithm, a number of different types of activation functions were tested. 80% of the sample was used for training the network and the remaining 20% to test the network. For a criterion according to which students were classified as gifted if their result on the Standard Progressive Matrices was in the 95 th centile or above, the best model was obtained by the hyperbolic tangent multilayer perception, which had a high accuracy of 100% of correctly classified non-gifted students and 75% correctly classified gifted students in the test sample. When the criterion was the 90 th centile or above, the best model was also obtained by the hyperbolic tangent multilayer perception, but the accuracy was lower: 94.7% in the classification of non-gifted students and 66.7% in the classification of gifted students. The study has shown artificial neural networks’ potential in this area, which should be further explored. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract) Resumen en idioma originalUmjetne neuronske mreže imaju široku upotrebu u predikciji i klasifikaciji različitih varijabli, no njihova primjena u području psihologije obrazovanja je još uvijek relativno rijetka. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati točnost umjetnih neuronskih mreža u predviđanju nadarenosti učenika. U ispitivanju je sudjelovao 221 učenik 4. razreda jedne hrvatske osnovne škole. Kao ulazne varijable za umjetne neuronske mreže korištene su nominacije učitelja i drugih učenika, ocjene, ranija procjena spremnosti učenika za školu i obrazovanje roditelja. Kao izlazna varijabla korišten je rezultat učenika na Standardnim progresivnim matricama (Raven, 1994), prema kojem su učenici svrstani u darovite ili nedarovite. Testirali smo dva algoritma umjetnih neuronskih mreža: mrežu s radijalno zasnovanom funkcijom i višeslojni perceptron. Unutar svakog algoritma, testirano je više aktivacijskih funkcija. 80% uzorka korišteno je za uvježbavanje mreža, 20% za testiranje njihove uspješnosti. Za kriterij prema kojem su u darovite učenike svrstani oni koji postižu rezultat na Standardnim progresivnim matricama u 95. centilu ili više, najuspješnijom se pokazala mreža višeslojnog perceptrona s funkcijom tangens hiperbolni, koja je na testnom uzorku postigla visoku točnost od 100% u klasifikaciji nedarovitih učenika i 75% u klasifikaciji darovitih učenika. Kada je kriterij bio rezultat u 90. centilu ili više, najuspješnija je bila također mreža višeslojnog perceptrona s funkcijom tangens hiperbolni, no točnost je bila niža: 94,7% u klasifikaciji nedarovitih učenika i 66,7% u klasifikaciji darovitih učenika. Istraživanje je pokazalo potencijal umjetnih neuronskih mreža u ovom području, koji treba dalje istražiti. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)