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The problem of culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (CLED) student underrepresentation in gifted programs demonstrates a need to examine systemic processes, including the building of systemic capacity at the district and school levels where policies for gifted programs are formed and implemented. To examine the effects of this process on one diverse district’s gifted identification and services, we conducted 10 focus group interviews with 61 participants including gifted coordinators, teacher leaders, and gifted facilitators in the middle of a district initiative aimed at improving equitable identification and services in its gifted program. Data were analyzed using the six-phase approach of Thematic Analysis, which included (1) familiarization, (2) coding, (3) searching for themes, (4) reviewing themes, (5) defining and naming themes, and then (6) writing our report. Three overarching themes emerged from the in-depth analysis: (1) building systemic capacity, (2) shifting conceptions of giftedness, and (3) equitable identification practices and inclusive programming. Findings indicated the importance of systemic capacity building in teachers for improved CLED student identification into gifted programs and services. Essentially, building systemic capacity and shifting conceptions of giftedness share a reciprocal relationship in leading to more equitable gifted identification practices and inclusive programming. Moreover, implementing flexible and nuanced policy that takes into consideration school climate and culture is critical to building systemic capacity while working toward goals of equity. Recommendations are provided for researchers and practitioners based on these major findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The identification of students for participation in gifted education programs has traditionally involved the use of some combination of cognitive ability measures and teacher recommendations. Research has demonstrated that these approaches may limit the participation of students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. In order to address this issue, efforts have been made to develop assessments and techniques that are more equitable for all students. The current study was focused on the development of a scale based on parental descriptions of aspects giftedness displayed by their child. Topic-modeling via latent dirichlet analysis was used to extract themes from 13 written responses by parents. The topics were then used in a nonlinear principal components analysis to develop a scale score. Evidence for validity was then investigated for these scores in a variety of ways. Results demonstrated that scores differed between student groups as expected, and correlations with other measures associated with giftedness were in the expected direction and magnitude. Implications and utility of this scale are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Creativity, giftedness, and leadership are complex, important phenomena, especially in the threatening turbulence of 21st-century conditions; consequently, there is an increasing need to understand how to strengthen them. We can learn much about these phenomena from within the borders of specialized disciplines; however, they are too complex and multifaceted to fit within the walls of disciplinary silos. Interdisciplinary explorations can reveal theories and research findings that expand our knowledge bases about creativity, giftedness, and leadership. This analysis includes the rationale for engaging in interdisciplinary investigations for these purposes. It includes examples of the ways in which interdisciplinary thinking invigorates creativity and cognitive diversity; illuminates the benefits of visual–spatial gifts that strengthen the development of important talents in gifted students who can go on to become creative leaders; and shows how human rights can be strengthened by constraining economic and political corruption. It also describes the benefits of using interdisciplinary navigation through different levels of analysis, each of which includes a number of academic disciplines. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

As a causal attribution, attributing academic success to giftedness might influence students’ academic achievement. According to previous studies, students’ self-regulated learning and negative learning emotions may mediate the association between achievement attribution and academic achievement. Therefore, the present study employed structural equation modeling to examine the association between attributing academic success to giftedness and academic achievement among elementary and secondary students, and included students’ negative learning emotions and self-regulated learning as mediators. The 2018 data from China Family Panel Studies were included in the present study for analysis. Results showed that the full mediation models had satisfactory model fits. After controlling the effects of the covariates, attributing academic success to giftedness had a positive indirect association with their academic achievement, through the mediation of self-regulated learning and negative learning emotions. Based on these findings, possible explanations and suggestions for practices and future research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This case study outlines the challenges of eight Australian mothers with intellectually gifted preschoolers. The ideal ways of nurturing children’s giftedness, the parents’ role in early identification and the effect of maternal depression and possible association with twice exceptionality (gifted with a disorder) are discussed. The narratives of case study parents then describe how and whether the needs of their preschoolers were understood or met in early childhood services, and the advice they received about early entry. It was found that early entry met the needs of children whose parents chose this acceleration option and that the preschoolers who missed out because of intervention by their educators did not fare so well. Findings also indicated an urgent need for the inclusion of compulsory early childhood giftedness courses for Australian pre-service educators and an equally urgent need for professional development courses about giftedness for educators already working in early childhood services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

We reviewed neuroscience-oriented research on two subfields of giftedness: creativity and mathematical giftedness. In both fields the early studies focused on hemisphere differences, using methods of frequency analysis of electroencephalography. However, gradually the analysis of network activity became the main issue of research. These investigations applied various methods of electrophysiology and brain imaging. A central theoretical problem of the field is the ill-defined concept of creativity. In the field of mathematical giftedness performance measurement is available, but studies using highly gifted participants are rather rare. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract) Resumen en idioma originalA tanulmány a tehetséghez kapcsolódó két terület, a kreativitás és a matematikai tehetség idegtudományi kutatásait foglalja össze. Mind a két területen az első megközelítések a két agyfélteke feltételezett eltérő működését hangsúlyozták, és alapvető módszerként az elektroenkefalogram frekvencia-összetevőinek változását elemezték az éppen előtérben lévő elméleti általánosítások függvényében. Fokozatosan dominálóvá váltak a hálózati elemzéseken alapuló munkák, melyek egyaránt támaszkodtak elektrofiziológiai és képalkotási eredményekre. A kreativitás témakörében a legnagyobb problémát az idegtudományi kutatásokban is a kreativitást körülvevő bizonytalanság jellemzi. A matematikai tehetség esetében a résztvevők teljesítménye könnyebben hozzáférhető, azonban a kiemelkedő tehetségek sajátságait vizsgáló kutatások ezen a területen is a kezdeteknél tartanak. Közös a két területben, hogy alapvetőnek tartja a frontális területek, a parietális és esetenként a szenzoros területek hatékony kapcsolatát. Ugyanakkor naivitásnak tűnik, hogy akár a kreativitás, akár a matematikai tehetség esetében specifikus strukturális elrendezéseket vagy mechanizmusokat találjunk. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Objective: The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence—Fourth Edition Australian and New Zealand Standardised Edition (WPPSI-IVA&NZ) is one of the most widely used intelligence assessments for children aged 2 years 6 months to 7 years 7 months. Given the impact of clinical and placement decisions that are supported by WPPSI-IV A&NZ results, it is important to provide evidence of criterion-related validity. Criterion-related validity refers to the degree to which test scores are associated with an external criterion (e.g., pre-existing diagnosis or classification). Method: Two studies of children with intellectual giftedness ( n = 19) and intellectual disability ( n = 15) were conducted to determine if the constructs measured by the WPPSI-IVA&NZ perform as expected in criterion groups with known characteristics. Results: Independent sample t-tests revealed mean composite scores for intellectually gifted children were significantly higher than matched controls, with the exception of the Processing Speed Index and Cognitive Proficiency Index. Children with intellectual disability on average obtained significantly lower mean scores on all composites relative to matched controls. Conclusion: Results indicated that the WPPSI-IV A&NZ can provide valid estimates of intellectual ability for children with intellectual giftedness and intellectual disability that align with their previous diagnosis or classification. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

High-profile organizations often emphasize fixed giftedness rather than malleable effort-based criteria as critical for excellent achievements. With giftedness being primarily associated with White or Asian males, such organizational implicit theories of excellence may shape individuals’ sense of belonging depending on the extent to which they match the gifted White/Asian male prototype, i.e., the prototypical gifted person which is typically imagined to be a White or Asian male. Previous research has reported fixed excellence theories emphasizing giftedness (vs. malleable theories emphasizing effort) to impair the sense of belonging of females and negatively stereotyped ethnic minorities. We investigate the combined effects of gender and ethnicity. We predicted that, while individuals whose gender and ethnicity do not match the gifted prototype show a reduced sense of belonging in fixed organizations, White/Asian males who match the gifted prototype show the opposite effect, experiencing a higher sense of belonging in fixed (vs. malleable) organizations. In an experimental study ( N = 663 students), we manipulated advertising material used by a highly selective academic institution in Germany and tested effects on students’ belonging. Whereas the original material emphasized giftedness as essential for excelling (fixed excellence version), our manipulated version stressed effort (malleable version). As expected, females from stereotyped ethnic minority groups felt less belonging in the fixed (vs. malleable) organization, while White/Asian males anticipated stronger belonging in the fixed (vs. malleable) organization. Fixed views of excellence impair negatively stereotyped individuals’ belonging but may even strengthen the belonging of prototypical academic elites. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article investigates conceptions of giftedness amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. It adopts a qualitative case-study methodology involving 14 participants associated with a scholarship program aimed at developing the academic potential of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth from remote and disadvantaged communities. Using semistructured interviews and a grounded-theory analytical approach, a number of themes were identified. These included an egalitarian basis to the construct, an avoidance of the gifted label, an understanding of giftedness as having learned and innate dimensions as well as a relative view of giftedness. Associations with achievement motivation also were highlighted amongst participants suggesting that views of giftedness have been shifting away from traditional associations. Results further revealed a perception of giftedness linked more to leadership and progress than to previously identified associations with elitism, individualism, and broader Australian societal ideals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Research concerning beliefs about the malleability of personal characteristics has recently turned to a focus on heterogeneity, including the exploration of moderators of intervention effectiveness and construct-specificity of implicit beliefs. This moving beyond a mean-level approach can provide insight into the differential types of implicit beliefs endorsed by individuals. In the current study, we used data from 163 pre-service teachers to explore heterogeneity in beliefs about intelligence and giftedness. Analyses from survey data suggest both concordance (dual-incremental, dual-neutral, and dual-entity) and discordance (entity-giftedness, incremental-intelligence) in beliefs. Responses to a pictorial prompt also revealed belief heterogeneity regarding the participants' conceptual beliefs about how academic giftedness and intelligence relate. Findings suggest that pre-service teachers endorse fairly construct-specific implicit beliefs about giftedness and intelligence, consistent with prior research among academically talented adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article discusses kinds of transformational giftedness, or giftedness that makes a positive, meaningful, and possibly enduring difference to the world. We extend previous work by suggesting that there are two kinds of transformation that matter: self-transformation and other transformation. Combining these two kinds of transformation yields a 2 × 2 grid of four kinds of giftedness: non-transformational giftedness (no transformation), transformational giftedness (self and other-transformation combined), self-realized giftedness (whereby one transforms oneself but not others), and other-realized giftedness (whereby one transforms others but not oneself). We open with a discussion of some of the history of conceptions of giftedness. Then we discuss transformational giftedness as it has been defined in the recent past. We then introduce our concepts of self- and other-transformation. We also describe two other kinds of giftedness—inert giftedness, which is giftedness in personal attributes that has not been realized in interactions with others and the world; and transactional giftedness, which is a give-and-take form of giftedness whereby one meets certain societal expectations in exchange for being identified as gifted. We finally conclude that the gifted movement needs to focus much more on developing transformational giftedness, or at least the potential for it, in our young people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Currently, there is an obvious shortage of Russian studies of perceptual processes in the gifted. The study is focused on theoretical and organizational issues of research in the cognitive sphere of giftedness, in particular, perception, which is relevant not only in its fundamental but also applied aspects,—this explains the high research activity of foreign psychologists in this area nowadays. The empirical data presented in the literature on the importance of perceptual processes in the formation of the phenomenon of giftedness are considered from the methodological positions of the perceptual psychology, which allows to identify new approaches in the study of giftedness. The array of empirical evidence that is emerging today is systematized according to the main tasks to be solved in the research: (1) to identify (to measure) the cognitive characteristics of the gifted and to establish connections between them; (2) to determine the parameters of cognitive processes specific to giftedness; (3) to establish the connections between the phenomenon of giftedness and specific cognitive resources. The typical organizational features of modern cognitive psychology of giftedness are highlighted: the use of psychometric tools and comparative research methods, the predominance of child and adolescent samples, the preoccupation with the phenomenon of mathematical giftedness and the involvement of neuroscientific research resources; their capabilities and limitations are shown. Using the neurocognitive studies of mathematical giftedness as an example, the theoretical and organizational threats to the validity of the conclusions drawn in them are discussed, as well as the ways to increase the argumentativeness of the research in the cognitive sphere of giftedness, i.e., to ensure its ecological validity, integrity, ontologicality, particularly by covering a larger number of studied variables on significant groups of participants. The empirical evidence of the key role of visual-spatial processing (spatial thinking) in the cognitive structure of giftedness is systematized. Based on the thesis about the special functional significance of the direct sensory perception, the task of determining the functional characteristics of perceptual processes under the conditions of giftedness is set. The integration of knowledge from different subject areas of psychology for studying the problems of unique cognitive and social functioning, the personality organization of a gifted person is also provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The aim of this review is to explore recent research on the socio-emotional characteristics of gifted children and adolescents. The existing literature from 2009 to 2019 was analyzed through a search carried out in Pubmed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Sapiens and PsycInfo. 14 studies were selected for review. The results showed depressed mood, low self-esteem, and maladaptive perfectionism in gifted children. Regarding their social skills and perceived anxiety, the results obtained are contradictory according to the different studies. More studies are needed to provide evidence. The results obtained help guide the design of assessment and intervention programs for strengthening skills that contribute to gifted children’s adaptation, well-being, and to preventing psychological problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)