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Views of giftedness have evolved from unilateral notions to multilateral conceptions. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological validity of the three-mathematical minds model (M3) developed by the author. The M3 is based on multilateral conceptions of giftedness to identify mathematically gifted students. Teachings of Poincare and Polya about mathematical ability as well as the theory of successful intelligence proposed by Sternberg (1997) provided the initial framework in the development of the M3. A secondary purpose was to examine the psychological validity of the three-level cognitive complexity model (C3) developed by the author. The C3 is based on studies about expertise to differentiate among gifted, above-average and average-below-average students at three levels. The author developed a test of mathematical ability based on the M 3 and C3 with the collaboration of mathematicians. The test was administered to 291 middle school students from four different schools. The reliability analysis indicated that the M3 had a .72 coefficient as a consistency of scores. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three separate components explaining 55% of the total variance. The convergent validity analysis showed that the M3 had medium to high-medium correlations with teachers' ratings of students' mathematical ability (r = .45) and students' ratings of their own ability (r = .36) and their liking of mathematics (r = .35). Item-subtest-total score correlations ranged from low to high. Some M3 items were found to be homogenous measuring only one aspect of mathematical ability, such as creative mathematical ability, whereas some items were found to be good measures of more than one facet of mathematical ability. The C3 accounted for 41% of variance in item difficulty (R square = .408, p < .001). Item difficulty ranged from .02 to .93 with a mean of .29. The analysis of the discrimination power of the three levels of the C3 revealed that level-two and level-three problems differentiated significantly among three ability levels, but level-one problems did not differentiate between gifted and above average students. The findings provide partial evidence for the psychological validity of both the M3 and C3 for the identification of mathematically gifted students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

At various times throughout history men of genius have been viewed either as mad or as sane and superior to the general population. This Project Demonstrating Excellence suggests that neither of these extreme views is correct and presents the view that giftedness is the product of a developmental process which involves the synergistic interaction of biological, psychological, and social/environmental forces. While this process may be facilitated by environmental stimulation and support, it may also be inhibited or arrested by oppressive socialization practices which stress conformity to average norms and promote a competitive quest for goods and power. Results of a survey of the life experiences and psychotherapeutic needs of 254 intellectually gifted adults and supplementary data derived from a small pilot survey of 18 psychotherapists suggest that many members of the gifted minority experience painful problems, including feelings of difference, interpersonal difficulties, and social isolation during adulthood as well as during childhood and adolescence. The survey results also suggest that gifted women experience difficulties as a result of their deviance from traditional sex-role norms and expectations. The survey data pertaining to psychotherapy are consistent with other research data demonstrating that positive therapeutic outcomes tend to be associated with therapist variables which include empathy, genuineness, positive regard for patients, nonpossessive warmth, and therapists' intensity and intimacy in therapeutic relationships with patients of all levels of intelligence. At the same time, the data suggest that psychotherapists must be highly intelligent and self-accepting enough not to experience feelings of threat, intimidation, awe, envy, competitiveness, and inadequacy when working with gifted patients and clients. Further analysis of the survey results suggests that therapists also need to be aware of the differing perceptions, experiences, problems, and needs of gifted adults in order to be optimally effective in working with them. These findings are placed within a biopsychosocial context, and recommendations are offered which call for further research and multimodal, integrative interventions on behalf of members of the gifted minority both in psychotherapy and elsewhere. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Gifted adults with learning disabilities (GALD) are a population that is often overlooked, undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed by educators. Because of their often "hidden" condition, these individuals are frequently troubled with a host of psychosocial problems. This study sought to identify unique characteristics of the GALD population with the hope of developing criteria to aid in diagnoses. A thorough search was conducted for relevant literature that examines characteristics of GALD as well as characteristics of the learning disabled (LD)-only and gifted-only populations (among others). The researcher developed an instrument that looked at how the characteristics clustered or grouped into various categories and how they discriminated among the three populations studied. The instrument was sent to an expert in the field to examine content validity. A pilot study was conducted to look at face validity. A field test was conducted at three major universities which supplied subjects for the three population groups of interest (GALD, LD-only, and gifted-only). The research question that guided this study was: "Can discriminations be made among college students who are GALD, LD-only, and gifted-only?" Parametric and nonparametric analyses were conducted. The results showed a clear distinction between the gifted group and both the GALD and LD groups. Some of the statements used in this instrument may help in the identification and characterization of certain individuals who are GALD. Analysis of the composite variables revealed that there were statistically significant differences between the students with a learning disability only and GALD when compared on a few items that characterized giftedness. Discriminant analysis was useful in understanding the distinctions. Results from a discriminant analysis led to the ability to predict group membership at significantly better-than-chance rates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

This book review is one in a series of modified reviews provided by the Conceptual Foundations Division of the National Association for Gifted Children. This modified review series is an attempt to generate new thinking in the field by importing more insights from diverse disciplines and from the historical, theoretical, and philosophical dimensions of our own field. These modified book reviews attend less to evaluating books and more to drawing implications of borrowed constructs for practice, research, and theory development in gifted education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The study of expertise has along and textured history, and it continues to be an active area of research among researchers and practitioners interested in human performance, giftedness, and achievement. In this literature review, we explore the concept of expertise across disciplines to gain a better understanding of the common elements of expertise and its relevance to the counseling profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Unexcused absence form school is usually correlated with low intelligence and school failure. Truancy does, however, also occur among gifted students. The study presented here explore the phenotypes of school absenteeism in gifted adolescents. Data were drawn for a Swiss longitudinal study on school careers and success. Two types of school avoiders could be identified among the gifted students: The holiday-takers were students of high abilities whose extracurricular activities conflicted with structural aspects of school life, the dissociate students had irregular or even broken school careers, in come cases with manifest school aversion starting in the first school years. They resembled the risk group of truant students discussed in scientific and clinical literature. High intellectual abilities are here discussed as another element in the multi-factorial pattern of potential predictors of absenteeism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The issue is special in two ways. First, it is a combined issue exploring a persistent critical question in the study of talent and giftedness, namely the relationship between nature and nurture in the development of talent. Second, it is the end of the author's role as editor. He notes that his goals as editor were to raise the level of scholarly discourse in the field and to introduce unfamiliar forms of scholarship to the field. He hopes that both have occurred. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The primary purpose of this article is to increase educators' understanding of high ability among those students so that recognizing that ability and subsequently referring these students to gifted education programs can alleviate their underrepresentation in gifted programs. Thirty-nine students from a specialized school for students with visual impairments participated in the study (24 males and 15 females). The limitations of this study should be considered when interpreting the results. These include the small sample size, the geographic location, and the special nature of the school. To raise awareness, organizations for the blind and visually impaired should undertake a marketing and public relations campaign to promote screening and identifying giftedness among students who are visually impaired. These organizations might also develop a position paper to distribute throughout the country to public and private schools on this vital topic. We recommend conducting future research on students with visual impairments to enhance the results of this study. Our research should be replicated in other regions of the United States so that more accurate generalizations can be made about the characteristics of students who are gifted and visually impaired or blind. Gathering more information about this population will empower students to maximize their potential. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Intelligence test scores remain central to determinations of giftedness in school-age children despite proposals to reduce their importance. Historically, some minority groups obtained the lowest mean standard scores on intelligence tests. In this paper, previously published research data are analyzed to illustrate how by virtue of the size of the mean IQ differences among ethnic minority groups, specific intelligence tests differentially influence the disproportionate placement of ethnic minorities in gifted education programs. Although intelligence tests are not statistically biased against minorities, given similar psychometric properties, an intelligence test with better consequential validity will show a smaller disparate mean between relevant subgroups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Presents an interview with Dr. Rena Subotnik on the evolving view of giftedness and talent. Dr. Rena F. Subotnik is director of the Center for Gifted Education Policy at the American Psychological Association. Before she came to APA, Dr. Subotnik was a professor of education at Hunter College and research/curriculum consultant to Hunter's laboratory schools for gifted children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Underrepresentation of African American students in gifted programs has alarmed the Office of Civil Rights. Achievement gaps between children from minority and low-income homes and Caucasian students from middle-high income homes is a pressing concern in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation of project-based learning as a school-wide initiative to increase levels of achievement and to recognize potential in a population of students that is typically underserved in gifted programs. Through qualitative case study methodology, the researcher reveals the voices of participants as they explore the effects that the reforms had on their beliefs and practices. The instructional changes altered their perspectives of their students and their total classroom environment. Implications for creating environments that actively engage students and aid teachers in identifying potential are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The constructs of risk and resilience and their implication in the life of individuals who are gifted, learning disabled, and gifted/learning disabled will be explored in this paper. The intent is to understand further how the constructs of risk and resilience affect individuals who are gifted/learning disabled. The paper includes a discussion of risk and resilience, followed by a discussion of learning disabilities, giftedness, and learning disabilities combined with giftedness. Each of these sections addresses the risk factors that hinder normal development and make the individual more vulnerable and the protective factors that serve to buffer the individual's response to adversity. Interventions that may foster resilience in the individual who is gifted/learning disabled are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

One of the principle reasons responsible for the fact that nurturing the gifted and talented in Germany has (once again) advanced to a pedagogic concern in the 1990's lies in the dichotomy of equality and excellence. Are these two pedagogic goals actually incompatible, as often maintained in open discussions? After a long period of oscillation between these two poles, in the age of information a new emphasis has increasingly been placed on excellence. "It becomes more and more important for bright students to be using their abilities to stimulate this new era with economic and political productivity. But this will not happen if the current 'laissez faire' approach to gifted students continues into the next decade" (Gallagher, 2000, p. 691). Following a short definition of giftedness and related conceptions, arguments for gifted education stemming from the areas of learning psychology and instructional psychology will be discussed. The central problems concerning identification and programming will then be addressed in greater detail. Hypotheses will be developed, on the basis of the ATI model that gifted students need creative, stimulating learning environments. Various approaches will be presented here and discussed in the context of TIMSS and PISA. The second part of the article will deal with guidance and counseling issues with respect to the special needs of gifted children and adolescents and their social contact persons (peers, parents, teachers). In conclusion, German program evaluation, studies in the fields of gifted education, counseling and nurturing giftedness and talent will be presented. The outcomes of these studies and their consequences for improvements for the quality of gifted and talented education and counseling in Germany will be discussed. Excellence is one of the most important educational-psychological challenges of the new century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Robert Albert examined key conceptual shifts in the pertinent professional literature language over the first part of the 20th century in his 1969 American Psychologist article, "Genius: Present-Day Status of the Concept and Its Implications for the Study of Creativity and Giftedness." His findings indicated profound changes in pertinent terminology in the professional knowledge base after 1945 from an emphasis on concepts such as genius, eminence, fame, and distinction to giftedness, talent, and creativity. The goal of the current project was to investigate empirically changes in conceptions of exceptional ability and performance, as reflected in the professional literature published since 1969. Over 28,000 articles were culled from three data bases: Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), PsycINFO and Exceptional Children Educational Resources (ECER). Conceptual themes and types of research were analyzed for a sample of the articles, drawn from the midpoint year of each decade. Significant results include: an increase in the number of articles relating to creativity; a rise in the number of practice-oriented articles; and a small but steady increase in the number of articles employing qualitative research methods. Articles were also analyzed for evidence of a "paradigm shift" also discussed in the literature; however, the paradigm shift was not significantly reflected in practice. Implications are addressed relative to the conceptual trends in the literature and qualities of the knowledge base. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Traditional conceptions of giftedness assume that only talented individuals possess the necessary gifts required to reach the highest levels of performance. This article describes an alternative view that expert performance results from acquired cognitive and physiological adaptations due to extended deliberate practice. A review of evidence, such as historical increases in performance, the requirement of years of daily deliberate practice, and structural changes in the mediating mechanisms, questions the existence of individual differences that impose innate limits on performance attainable with deliberate practice. The proposed framework describes how the processes mediating normal development of ability and everyday skill acquisition differ from the extended acquisition of reproducibly superior (expert) performance and how perceived "giftedness" gives children access to superior training resources, resulting in developmental advantages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The aim of the study was to examine whether there are differences in depression between children who differ in giftedness-status, school performance, age and sex. The study was carried out on students in grades 7 and 8 of 5 elementary schools, who were subjected to a process of identification of gifted children when they were in 3rd grade. The sample consisted of 75 children who had been identified as gifted and 75 children randomly assigned to a comparison group. There was a similar number of girls (n=70) and boys (n=80), as well as of students from 7th (n=77) and 8th (n=73) grades. According to school performance, the children were divided into two groups: the group of highly successful students (n=71), and the group of less successful children (n=79). Identification of gifted children was based on the results on the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, the PROFNAD scale and the PRONAD-U scale (Koren, 1989). Depression was assessed with the self-rating scale. Results of the ANOVA in which giftedness, school performance, sex of the child and age were used as independent variables, while scores on the depression scale had the status of dependant variable showed that the older students were more depressive than the younger, with the difference especially pronounced among girls. Gifted and non-gifted children did not differ in their depression. However, the interaction between giftedness and school performance was significant, showing that the group of less successful gifted children was the most depressive one, while the group of very successful gifted children was the least depressive one. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of investigating factors related to depression in children and adolescents, as well as of recognizing subgroups of children who are at risk for developing depression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The article describes Israel's approach to the education of gifted and talented children. It describes the programs for gifted and talented children in Israel and the process for selecting students for these programs. The method of selecting students for programs is consistent with the Ministry of Education's definition of giftedness, the goals of the giftedness programs, and the characteristics of these programs. The selection method is affected by the standards required of the instruments as well as other constraints, such as the constraints on funding for this purpose. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This paper examines the Chinese literature on giftedness and talented performance (TP) and compares its dominant theoretical features with some influential models to be found in the North American literature. One significant feature to emerge from the Chinese literature is a deemphasis on giftedness as an innate ability and an emphasis on the concept of talented performance. Such a finding is congruent with a Confucian cultural outlook that encourages effort, rather than the identification of giftedness. In order to test this finding against the perceptions of Chinese educators, a preliminary study was carried out involving 14 secondary school teachers. The results confirmed the findings from the literature survey, suggesting that these teachers' perceptions conformed to a model of TP with a developmental conception as its central organizing feature. It is hoped that the implications of this study will contribute to the practice of gifted and talented education in China and will also provide basic theoretical grounds for further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

In this article, I propose that various conceptions and theoretical models of giftedness can be understood along a continuum from the most reductionist to the most emergentist. Along with this continuum, I specify four levels of analysis based on the human functional hierarchy: the biological, operational (computational), intentional, and activity levels. I illustrate how reductionist and emergentist approaches provide contrasting views of intelligence and giftedness, with the former seeking basic elements and lower level explanations and the latter stressing complexity and higher level organization. I suggest that clearly articulating levels of analysis and principles for efforts of the reductionist or emergentist nature will enhance conceptual clarity and methodological rigor. Whether giftedness is understood in the reductionist or emergentist frameworks has many practical and policy implications for gifted education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This study investigated the thinking styles of Korean gifted students in Korea and examined whether thinking styles based on the theory of mental self-government could predict scientific giftedness based on Korean people's implicit concepts. Participants were 179 students from the two science high schools and 176 students from the general high schools in Korea. Participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (Sternberg & Wagner, 1992) and Scientific Giftedness Inventory (Shim & Kim, 2003). Results indicated that Korean gifted students had higher scores than nongifted students in all factors, including scientific accomplishment, leadership, creativity, morality, motivation, and cognitive experimentalism. In addition, Korean girted students prefered the legislative, judicial, anarchic, global, external, and liberal styles, whereas Korean nongifted students prefered the executive, oligarchic, and conservative styles. Results from the stepwise multiple regression analysis procedures indicated that the subscales of thinking styles could be significant predictors of scientific giftedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)