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The main argument of this article is that human living systems are open, dynamic, intentional systems and, therefore, are capable of building ever more complex behaviors through self-organization and self-direction. This principle underlying general human development is also applicable to the development of gifted and talented behaviors. These behaviors are dynamic because persons demonstrating such behaviors are forming dynamic, functional relations with a specific environment, with unique temporal trajectories capable of engendering emergent properties that feed into further development. This Contextual, Emergent, and Dynamic Model provides an alternative to traditional static, reductionistic, trait-based conceptions of giftedness. The article further elaborates on three dynamic facets of the making of gifted potential: selective affinity, maximal grip, and being at the edge of chaos. These facets allow for dealing with the genesis of talents, developing expertise over an extended period, and developing creative potential. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The Hamburg Wechsler Intelligenztest für Kinder (HAWIK-IV; the German version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition) and the newly designed Intelligence and Development Scales (IDS) were administered in counterbalanced order to 77 gifted children and 77 nongifted children, aged 6 to 10 years. Samples were matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Results reveal that both the HAWIK-IV and the IDS are able to distinguish between gifted and nongifted children. Moderate correlations between the tests indicate that the measures assess similar, but not identical constructs. Results are discussed as they pertain to the assessment and special needs of gifted children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

At the culmination of an 11-year qualitative, cross-sectional study of life events, 48 high-ability high school graduates fitting common stereotypes associated with giftedness completed an open-ended questionnaire, part of which focused on positive life experiences and sources of support. Findings included that intense investment in academics, activities, and service contributed to new perspectives, vision and direction, confidence in competence, social connections, spiritual growth, and additional opportunities. Some experiences were considered life-changing. Participants' language reflected individual accomplishment, a dominant-culture value, but the main themes reflected fulfillment, validation, satisfaction, and, unexpectedly, many values associated with nonmainstream cultural groups. Findings are presented within a core-values framework associated with positive psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Gifted children and adolescents can display behavioral characteristics similar to those exhibited by children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), leading to potential issues with misdiagnosis. The overlapping characteristics between giftedness and ADHD are often seen as anecdotal or to only exist in theory, such as that explained by Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration and his notion of overexcitabilities. There is a paucity of empirical data to support this perceived relationship between ADHD and overexcitabilities. This study provides empirical support for a relationship between ADHD and overexcitabilities within a sample of gifted adolescents. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Schools often administer brief intelligence tests as the first step in the identification of students who are cognitively gifted. However, brief measures are often used without consideration of underlying constructs or the psychometric properties of the measures and without regard to the links between screening decisions and educational programming. This article provides an overview of these issues and offers recommendations for using brief intelligence measures particularly when screening children who are cognitively gifted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Psychologists working in the schools have an opportunity to affect in new and exciting ways the services they provide to high-ability students. A talent development framework offers a unique lens through which gifted services is conceptualized. The framework moves school psychologists beyond viewing giftedness and high IQ as synonymous to appreciating how talent in specific domains is identified, nurtured, and developed over time. In this framework, an appreciation for nonintellectual skills such as motivation, drive, and playfulness is viewed as important and complementary to high academic and cognitive ability. School psychologists can assume a leadership role in affecting gifted services in a variety of areas, including the following: assessment, consultation, counseling, collaboration, and work with high-ability students with coexisting disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article is a mixed-methods exploration of the levels of stereotypic views about gifted individuals held by current and future educators. Because educators are often asked to provide recommendations for participation in gifted programs, it is important to determine whether those recommendations are based, in part, on stereotypic thinking. Stereotypic views held by educators could bias the selection of participants for gifted programs, preventing students from receiving appropriate gifted educational services. Participants were volunteer undergraduate ( n = 91) and graduate ( n = 20) education majors. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses were conducted to determine both the levels of stereotypic thinking within each group as well as differences in levels of stereotypic thinking between groups. Results suggest both preservice and in-service teachers hold stereotypical thoughts about the gifted in multiple areas. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The concept of “overexcitability” has recently become popular within the field of giftedness and talent research. Some authors argue that overexcitability questionnaires can be used to identify gifted/talented individuals. A sample of intellectually gifted adults ( n =96; mean age: 31.4; SD =0.3) was compared to a sample of adults of average intelligence ( n =91; mean age: 31.4; SD =0.4). Additionally, a sample of 123 high achievers (mean age=30.5; SD =0.3) was compared to 97 average achievers (mean age: 30.5; SD =0.3). The “Overexcitability Questionnaire-Two” was used to assess emotional, imaginational, intellectual, psychomotor, and sensual overexcitability. The gifted adults scored statistically significantly higher on “intellectual overexcitability” (d =.42). High and average achievers differed statistically significantly in “intellectual overexcitability” ( d =.56) and “sensual overexcitability” ( d =.32). For the giftedness sample, the accuracy of group membership prediction (gifted/non-gifted) via discriminant analyses was 60.4%. For the performance sample, the accuracy was 63.4%. The observed differences in the overexcitabilities were small; the risk of misclassification is too big to attempt to identify gifted or high achieving adults solely on the basis of overexcitability scores. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This research examined the advocacy experiences of 16 parents of adolescents and young adults who had been assessed as intellectually gifted. The purpose was to determine the applicability of the four dimensions of advocacy to their experiences (awareness, information seeking, presenting the case, and monitoring). Participants responded to a questionnaire and 14 also participated in individual interviews. The parents advocated individually to have their own children identified as intellectually gifted, to have them placed in specific programs, and, in the case of a dual diagnosis, to have accommodations written in the Individual Education Plans. It was also found that their experiences could be categorized according to the dimensions of advocacy and that there was a process involving a series of key events that triggered activities associated with each dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The current study investigated differences in metacognition between high school gifted ( n=44) and typical ( n=23) students and examined local calibration accuracy as a potential mechanism for partially explaining superior exam performance by gifted students. Metacognition was measured using student self-reports of metacognitive awareness, acquired at the start of a semester-long course on biology, and students’ global (pre- and posttest) and local (item-by-item) confidence judgments to assess monitoring across four biology exams over the course of one semester. Gifted students outperformed typical students on both local and global postdictive measures of calibration. However, there were no statistically significant differences in global predictive judgments or calibration bias. Local, item-by-item calibration accuracy partially mediated the relation between giftedness and exam performance. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This study surveyed 1,234 empirical studies on giftedness, gifted education, and creativity during 1998–2010 (April), using PsycINFO database and targeted journals as main sources, with respect to main topics these studies focused on, methods they used for investigation, and the conceptual spaces they traversed. Four main research topics emerged from the survey: creativity/creatively gifted, achievement/underachievement, identification, and talent development. Rich and broad conceptual spaces linking these four categories to their psychological underpinnings and educational implications have been explored by this body of research, though the conceptual spaces are still too loosely organized to be seen as paradigmatic. Several prominent trends are identified, including the emergent qualitative studies (accounting for a quarter of the total studies) and the dominance of descriptive (comparative and correlational) research. Although most psychosocial studies are conducted in the context of gifted education, there still seems to be a gap between theory and practice, between psychological understanding of gifted development and promoting such development through education. More systematic, sustainable programs of research and more coordination among researchers are warranted to move the field forward. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Adolescence is a period of development particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol use, with recent studies underscoring alcohol’s effects on adolescent brain development. Despite the alarming rates and consequences of adolescent alcohol use, gifted adolescents are often overlooked as being at risk for early alcohol use. Although gifted adolescents may possess protective factors that likely inhibit the use of alcohol, some gifted youth may be vulnerable to initiating alcohol use during adolescence as experimenting with alcohol may be one way gifted youth choose to compensate for the social price (whether real or perceived) of their academic talents. To address the dearth of research on alcohol use among gifted adolescents the current study (a) examined the extent to which gifted adolescents use alcohol relative to their nongifted peers and (b) examined the adjustment profile of gifted adolescents who had tried alcohol relative to nongifted adolescents who tried alcohol as well as gifted and nongifted abstainers. More than 300 students in seventh grade (42.5% gifted) participated in the present study. Results indicated gifted students have, in fact, tried alcohol at rates that do not differ from nongifted students. Although trying alcohol was generally associated with negative adjustment, giftedness served as a moderating factor such that gifted students who had tried alcohol were less at risk than their nongifted peers. However, evidence also suggests that gifted adolescents who tried alcohol may be a part of a peer context that promotes substance use, which may place these youth at risk for adjustment difficulties in the future. Putting the Research to Use: This research demonstrates that a fruitful line of future research would focus on examining the potential mechanisms underlying alcohol use among gifted youth. Individual differences with regard to endorsing a high desirability of gaining social acceptance or fitting in with non-gifted peers or distancing oneself from a “gifted” image may explain why some gifted students use alcohol and others do not. Until the underlying reasons of alcohol use/experimentation among gifted adolescents are better understood and researched further, it is not clear whether current prevention and intervention programs are effective for this subgroup of adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Studies on the well-being of gifted adults are rare, and the available studies are often limited by methodological shortcomings. In a longitudinal project 101 intellectually gifted adults (mean IQ = 136) were compared to 91 adults of average intelligence (mean IQ = 103). Subjective well-being was operationalized by positive and negative affectivity, general life satisfaction and satisfaction with life in specific domains (work, spouse/partner, self and friends, health, and leisure). Gifted and nongifted respondents did not differ statistically significantly in any of the components of subjective well-being. However, gifted adults reported somewhat lower satisfaction with the domain of leisure (d = -.28). In the gifted group satisfaction with the domain of work accounted for a statistically significant amount of the variance in the criterion of general life satisfaction; in the nongifted group both work and self and friends were relevant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

In this issue of the journal Psihološka Obzorja/Horizons of Psychology we present an interview with Professor Joan Freeman who is a chartered psychologist with a private practice in London specializing in the potential of young children. On interviewing with Professor Joan Freeman we have found her a very pleasant, modest and charismatic woman, a mother who raised four children, and a scientist who travels around the world to share the knowledge and expertise to help professionals and parents to understand giftedness better. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Case studies of extremely gifted individuals often reveal unique patterns of intellectual precocity and associated abnormalities in development and behavior. This article begins with a review of current neurophysiological and neuroanatomical findings related to the gifted population. The bulk of scientific inquiries provide evidence of unique patterns of right prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal activation implicated in gifted intelligence, although additional studies suggest enhanced neural processing and cerebral bilateralism. Geschwind, Behan. and Galaburda (GBG) first hypothesized the possible neurodevelopmental factors that account for unique brain development. This article explores more recent Findings taken from the prenatal exposure literature and offers a proposed model for explaining aberrant developmental forces that may be at work in precocious individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports). The development of ability or talent is a lifelong process. It can be evident in young children as exceptional performance on tests and/or other measures of ability or as a rapid rate of learning, compared to other students of the same age, or in actual achievement in a domain. As individuals mature through childhood to adolescence, however, achievement and high levels of motivation in the domain become the primary characteristics of their giftedness. Various factors can either enhance or inhibit the development and expression of abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) periodically issues position papers that deal with issues, policies, and practices that have an impact on the education of gifted and talented students. When a need for clarification arises on a particular issue, policy, or practice, NAGC assembles a task force of experts, which in this case was the Gifted Terminology Task Force. This task force was formed in 2008 and collaborated to craft a position paper to represent the official convictions of the NAGC organization and to provide guidance for individuals working with gifted children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Students with exceptional academic potential who come from low-income families are frequently not identified for and consequently are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs. Because of this, new means of identifying such children must be developed. This article presents the findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted on the HOPE Scale, a 13-item teacher-rating instrument designed to identify academic and social components of giftedness in elementary-aged students. Participants included 349 teachers who completed HOPE Scales on 5,995 ethnically and economically diverse students from three rural and two metropolitan school districts in the Midwest. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was also used to evaluate measurement invariance between income groups. Findings suggest a two-factor model represents good fit for the data while remaining loyal to the latent constructs of academic and social giftedness. Although showing some legitimate mean differences, invariance test results suggested equivalence of model form, factor loading, and factor variances across income groups. Putting the Research to Use: This research has important implications for practice. Frequently, traditional measures of achievement or aptitude under-identify children from low-income families. Concerns exist about the usefulness of teacher-ratings forms or scales in gifted and talented student identification. However, when given specific items or descriptors, teachers can provide useful information concerning student performance. The HOPE Scale provides items that teachers can use to rate specific social and academic behaviors of their students. Findings from this study revealed that teaches can effectively nominate low-income students for gifted programs. Further, items on the HOPE Scale were not biased against low-income students as rated by their teachers, meaning that the social and academic scales provided similar information concerning students in either income group. However, mean scores for student from low-income families on both scales were lower than their non-low income peers, providing evidence that instruments need to be normed on the specific groups for which their use is intended. Practitioners, should not shy away from using teacher nomination instruments, but they should consider the psychometric information available concerning the use of these instruments or rating forms as used with students in demographic groups of intended use. The HOPE Scale, as developed with indicated revisions, will provide educators and researchers with a simple, psychometrically sound instrument to help with identification of underrepresented student for gifted education services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The history of Olympics of the mind in the former USSR, now Russia, can be connected to the entire system of identifying and fostering giftedness within the country. The development of educational opportunities for the gifted has reflected the country's practical needs in stimulating research and advancing technologically, as well as for major ideological requirements. A research done on over 800 participants in the final round of a Moscow intellectual competition is reported. Tests assessing intelligence, creativity, and personality were administered. The consistency of Olympics' results scales is found to be weak. The APM score correlation with Olympics' results, even in mathematics, did not exceed the value of r = .30. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

For some three decades psychologists and educators have been working with incomplete or outdated ideas of what constitutes giftedness. Conceptual leadership in the field has moved from a definition based on IQ to expertise- and cognitive science-based definitions. Practice lags behind. Similarly, curriculum concepts are changing to foci based on thinking processes and cognitive apprenticeships, communities of learners, teachers and students as coconstructors of curriculum, and inquiry skills and knowledge as explicit parts of the objectives. Practice there also lags behind, but the shift is underway. This discussion elaborates on these two evolving phenomena, illustrated especially by studies completed and underway in the author’s laboratory group at McGill. It juxtaposes central ideas in gifted education, expertise, and inquiry-driven teaching and learning, and illustrates how these strands can come together for the benefit of all students—albeit sometimes in different ways. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)