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The giftedness ideal of the 20th century is a gifted person who is able to fit in, someone whose outstanding abilities and creativity can be diagnosed with tests. Giftedness, however, is not measurable. There an increasing amount of evidence that even thoroughly elaborated methods can fail in the case of people with atypical cerebral structure, in the case of exceptions, the idiosyncratic minority, the number of whom is increasing, and of whom many can be able of outstanding achievements. The first and foremost stumbling-block in the diagnosis of giftedness is creativity. Creative power essentially resists identification. Something is creative by the very fact that it transcends the existent. Creative people appear as a disorder in most cases. The unbalanced profile of abilities and the manifestation of an idiosyncratic personality, charactersitic of the exceptionally gifted, render traditional assessment methods unreliable and unsuitable for identifying the gifted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

For more than ten years, gifted children have attracted media attention. Such a situation contrasts with the limited number of scientific studies devoted to these children. However, several questions about giftedness would deserve substantial research. These questions belong to four main categories. The first category refers to the identification of gifted children. New intelligence tests and current models of giftedness nowadays question the use of IQ as the sole criterion. A second category of questions refers to how to capture the core of giftedness and its development: Which are the variables supporting or hindering the potential of gifted children? A third category of questions concerns the psychological, relational and academic characteristics of these children. Finally, a fourth category refers to the education of gifted children: Which are the most appropriate and efficient educational practices for these children? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

The myth that gifted children constitute 3% to 5% of the school population was addressed in the 1982 issue of the Gifted Child Quarterly by Joe Renzulli, a fact that is more than a little intimidating to one charged with addressing the same myth 27(!) years later. In his 1982 article, Renzulli interpreted the 3% to 5% myth as an implicit endorsement of the belief that giftedness equals high IQ, which he rightly took pains to refute. Moreover, consistent with his Three-ring Conception of Giftedness (e.g., 1978), of which “above-average ability” is a major (and salutarily radical) component, Renzulli argued that “high levels of creative productivity can be achieved by students below the top 5% if we use a more flexible identification process.” Because more than a quarter of a century has passed, the belief that 3% to 5% of the school population is gifted and the belief that giftedness can be reduced to a high score on an IQ test must now be mere historical curiosities from the Reagan years, as outdated as Cabbage Patch Dolls, Milli Vanilli, and supply-side economics. Alas, this is not the case. Both myths still flourish, apparently invulnerable to reason and the lessons of experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

"The gifted and talented constitute one single homogeneous group and giftedness is a way of being that stays in the person over time and experiences." We believe there is no more potentially dangerous and false myth than the one above. Let us, therefore, begin this response with the following resounding statement: There is no single homogeneous group of gifted children and adults, and giftedness is developmental, not fixed at birth. Our current federal definition suggests that gifted and talented students are indeed a diverse group of individuals, students with varying abilities and potentials in one or many domains. This widely accepted federal definition of giftedness (Ross, 1993) highlights students’ intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas; unusual capacity for leadership; or excellence in specific academic fields. This definition discusses outstanding talents present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, in all areas of human endeavor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This issue of High Ability Studies appears to be a further indication that giftedness research and expertise research do not necessarily have to be considered contending fields, and can very well complement one another. Three of the articles in this issue are founded in the area of classical giftedness research. They address theoretical and practical questions associated with the measurement of high abilities, the significance of motivation within the framework of conceptions of giftedness, and issues of social adjustment among gifted children. The fourth contribution creates a link between the two fields in that it examines the academic achievements of talented athletes and describes the structures and qualification profiles of special schools for talented athletes. The three remaining articles pertain to expertise research—two address the concept and significance of early sport specialization, and the third is concerned with excellence and professionalism among environmental experts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The paper presents the author’s views on inspiring creative thinking among students through a folktale. The mbira metaphor is this author’s interpretation of a unique African (Shona) folktale that has the potential to enrich the pedagogy of giftedness. The mbira metaphor is an informative and thought-provoking folktale originating from previous studies on Shona culture’s views of giftedness. The recognition of the mbira folktale as a metaphor that has the potential to enrich gifted programming follows new thinking in research that values the contribution of sociocultural perspectives to our understanding of giftedness and creativity. The author recommends that the mbira metaphor be used in gifted programming to inspire creative thinking among students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

A selective review of past and present neuropsychological research on savant skills is highlighted, including both empirical findings and theoretical accounts. Results from this research are then compared to extant results within the giftedness literature. Three major conclusions are taken from this review of the research: (a) savant skills are inextricably linked to autism spectrum disorders; (b) neuropsychological models of autism spectrum disorders may help to explain the raised incidence of savant skills in this population and provide promising directions for future research; and (c) neuropsychological research into savant skills may have direct implications for better understanding the neuroscience of giftedness, particularly as it relates to domain-specific skills (e.g., mathematics), as opposed to general (i.e., high IQ) giftedness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Reviews the book, Gifted children: A guide for parents and professionals by K. Distin (2006). This book is a helpful tool for parents and professionals alike. The authors effectively outline how giftedness influences familial relations, interpersonal relations, and academic life and profile different types of gifted students. Additionally, the authors provide suggestions for effective communication with gifted children and conclude the book by explaining how to live with giftedness. According to the authors, the specific purpose of the book is to provide an understanding of how giftedness affects children and their parents socially, emotionally, and interpersonally. The second part of the book takes a more idiosyncratic shift as individual authors write about their particular areas of expertise, including the challenges of Asperger's syndrome and other special needs. Attention also is given to the special talents of those who are gifted linguistically and musically and how to effectively communicate with those who are gifted. Although the authors do an adequate job of presenting relevant research to the reader, a major limitation of this book is the lack of empirical evidence used to support the authors' assumptions and advice. Another limitation of the book is the abrupt introduction of case studies. Although they were helpful, they were consistently distracting. Overall this book would be a beneficial addition to any parent's library. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This study examined the accuracy of three shortened measures of intelligence: the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability, Third Edition Brief Intellectual Ability (WJ III COG BIA) score; the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fifth Edition Abbreviated IQ (SB5 ABIQ); and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test IQ Composite (K-BIT) in predicting giftedness as assessed by the SB5 Full Scale IQ score (SB5 FSIQ). Participants were 202 third grade students who were individually administered the SB5, WJ III, and KBIT. Four scores (SB5 ABIQ, KBIT, WJ III COG BIA, and SB5 FSIQ) were extracted. Correlational analyses revealed positive, significant relationships among the four scores. Discriminant function analyses, conducted to examine the accuracy of the three shortened measures of intelligence in predicting giftedness, revealed that overall, the WJ III score was the most accurate, and the K-BIT score was the least accurate in identifying giftedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Giftedness' identification is a tricky subject nowadays. The only criterion stays the IQ whereas some theoretical models emphasize the important role of creativity in this phenomenon. We propose a literature's review which deals with links between creativity and giftedness. The main question is to know how creativity is involved in a general intelligence's theory point of view. Another point of view is to consider creativity as a specific module which would be independent. From these two theoretical views, some elements could change psychological evaluation and diagnosis of giftedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article proposes a new approach to the psychological assessment of potential intellectually-creative abilities of the gifted based on the new cognitive-developmental theory of giftedness developed by the author. The major limitations of conventional intelligence tests are shortly analyzed. The nine methodological and procedural principles, which constitute this approach, are presented along with the examples of new intelligence tests. The principles state that new intelligence tests should first of all examine the psychological mental context generated by gifted individuals themselves. These tests should have an "open character," evaluate the basis of giftedness (not its numerous traits or manifestations), and allow both retrospective and prospective assessment. New tests should not evaluate psychological functions/processes (e.g., attention or memory) and mental speed, and they should not be very long or time-consuming. Cognitive styles, metacognitive and extracognitive abilities should also be assessed. Child's sensitive periods--which form the developmental foundation of giftedness--should be examined as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Although the association between giftedness and genius has been the subject of several retrospective, longitudinal, and historiometric studies, this research concentrated on majority-culture samples. In the current study, Cox's (1926) findings regarding 301 geniuses were replicated on a sample of 291 eminent African Americans. Relative genius was measured by two archival eminence measures (majority White and minority Black culture) and by scores on the Creative Achievement Scale (Ludwig, 1992). Giftedness was assessed by raters blind to the identity of the individuals being evaluated. Control variables were defined for gender, year of birth, status as a living contemporary, and 18 domains of achievement. Multiple regression analyses indicated that adulthood eminence and creative achievement are positively correlated with early giftedness, with an effect size comparable to that found in the Cox study. Furthermore, this association was not moderated by gender, birth year, or most of the remaining variables. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This paper reviews major research findings on social cognition in gifted adolescents. We discuss interpersonal and intrapersonal perceptions of giftedness (i.e., how gifted students view themselves, and how they perceive others' views of them), the social coping strategies of this population (e.g., denying and hiding one's giftedness, conforming to mask giftedness, and helping others), and the gender, age, and self-concept differences shown in strategy choice when interacting with others. Results suggest that both American and Chinese gifted students employ social coping strategies to manage the visibility of their abilities in social situations, and there is a consistent link between coping strategy and self-concepts; but the findings with regard to social cognitive strategies, themselves, are conflicting. Implications of these findings and recommendations are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article presents a discussion on giftedness and how to define and measure intelligence. During the past few years, the researchers have been having a renewed discussion about the definition of giftedness and how to define and measure intelligence. Actually, much of the discussion is a replay of earlier debates. Questions are being asked as though they were fresh and new when they have been asked and answered before. The author cites some examples of the studies conducted by his favorite philosophers and psychologists including the works of George Santyana and Lewis Terman and J. P. Guilford. The data they collected and models that they presented were steps to the present and future research in the field of giftedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The lack of a unified definition of giftedness leads researchers to use very different operationalizations when selecting a sample of gifted individuals for use in research. We found 104 empirical articles from 38 journals that differentiated between gifted and nongifted students which were analyzed to determine the most common methods of identifying individuals in research. Results of the analysis show a lack of consensus as to what qualifies a person to be defined as gifted for the purposes of research. This lack of consensus leads to lower generalizability of research about giftedness and to an inability for researchers in the field to compare results of studies. An agreed-upon unified definition of giftedness for the purposes of research will lead to a more homogeneous group of participants, which in turn would lead to multiple benefits, including higher external validity in research designs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

This article examines the cultural-activity approach to the study of giftedness, which is based on the ideas of L. S. Vygotsky, A. N. Leontiev, and O. K. Tikhomirov. Three basic principles of this approach are described: the principle of polymorphism, the dynamic principle, and the principle of the holistic analysis of the giftedness phenomenon. The article introduces the results of empirical research (including a 10-year longitudinal study), which verifies the efficacy of the cultural-activity approach and its prospects for solving actual problems in the psychology of giftedness in light of the creation of new diagnostic procedures and methods of education and the development of gifted children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

In this article, we present a subtest of the Aurora Battery, Metaphors, a new measure for the identification of gifted students. Metaphors is an assessment of analytical thinking in the verbal domain with an open-ended response format, an alternative to the conventional achievement measures or analytical assessments in multiple-choice format often used for giftedness identification. The comprehension of metaphors requires a combination of comparative, categorical, and evaluative thinking, and an ability to map meanings—literal and figurative—from one word to another. In this article, we first show that performance on Metaphors can contribute to the identification of giftedness, and we identify the items that seem to contribute to this discrimination most effectively (Study 1). Next, the comparative terms of each subtest item were characterised according to two key aspects—the concreteness and similarity of their comparative terms (Study 2). Results showed that gifted children may be better identified when these aspects are considered. New perspectives on metaphor processing in gifted students and premises for the identification of giftedness are then discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

To compare the occurrence of bullying among students with and without characteristics of giftedness and talent it was applied a questionnaire to 339 elementary school students, being 59 of them gifted students. No significant differences were found between subgroups with and without giftedness in regard to their involvement with bullying, types of aggression suffered and sociometric variables. Gifted students more often adopt the behavior of calling for help to combat bullying. Students with talent for arts tend to be more victimized than the ones gifted in other domains. Although few variables related to socioemotional adjustment have been investigated, the results may imply that students with giftedness do not necessarily differ from peers regarding that aspect of human development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Comments on an article by Albert Zieglera & Shane N. Phillipson (see record 2012-16824-002). Current gifted education clearly has its problems as outlined by Ziegler and Phillipson. The focus on personal traits and the assumption of an autocatalytic development of gifts into extraordinary achievement has not been proved a valid approach for designing effective supportive measures. At least one of the reasons proposed by Ziegler and Phillipson—lacking consideration of the very individual contexts the gifted persons find themselves in—is also acknowledged by counselors in the field of giftedness. To sum up, all counseling centers show at least tendencies towards systemic counseling strategies. Obviously, these principles are viewed as essential to reach long-term effects in fostering giftedness. Despite this practical need for a holistic–interactive theoretical approach common theories of giftedness do not explain the complex process of talent development in a realistic way. Gifted education as well as counseling practice show the need for a paradigm shift which has already begun.But the empirical and theoretical foundation must extend dramatically to ensure the required professional standards an educational system should fulfill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Comments on an article by Albert Zieglera & Shane N. Phillipson (see record 2012-16824-002). The beginning of China’s gifted education programs in universities seemed promising. However, its proceeding was frustrating. By the end of the 1990s, eight out of the 13 universities had ended their programs for various reasons. How can Chinese gifted education best emerge from this predicament? Undoubtedly, AMG has some implications for the possible solutions. According to the AMG, there is no choice but to go in two directions. First, if we continue to put gifted children into special programs, we must pay more attention to the systematic characteristics of gifted education, particularly to the dynamic, interdependent, interconnected, and interactive characteristics of the system. Second, we must lay more emphasis on the equifinality of the gifted education system. Giftedness is not a personal trait, but a product of systematic achievement behaviors. A gifted education program, even if it is very specialized, does not necessarily bring about giftedness. Common college education, if meeting students’ needs well, can also cultivate giftedness. Thus, another realistic solution to China’s gifted education problems is to offer good developmental opportunities for the ordinary students. In my view, this is a broader way forward. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)